Baltimore won a series at Yankees vs Orioles Stadium for the first time in over two years. In the seventh inning, the O’s overcame a three-run deficit to win the series. Baltimore is currently 7-9 against the Yankees. They have never beaten another team more than four times.
The O’s won this weekend’s series at Yankee Stadium for the first time since their opening series in 2019, where they won two of three. This was also their first series victory against an AL East team, since they beat the Red Sox at Fenway Park in the first series of the season. Baltimore is now at 2-15-1 against division rivals.
Two Gary Sanchez home runs and a grand slam in the second inning gave the Yankees a 7-4 lead going into the seventh. This was Sanchez’s first home run with two RBIs since Sept. 3, 2019, when he faced the Rangers.
The Yankees vs Orioles had to hold Chad Green back Sunday because Jonathan Loaisiga, their ace setup man, was hurt and Aroldis Chapman was unavailable due to his current workload. It cost them dearly. Andrew Heaney pitched the seventh inning — Heaney was recently moved to the bullpen after Corey Kluber returned from the injured list. Heaney retired only one of the six batters he faced.
Jorge Mateo’s single to center scored the Orioles, who tied the game. Mateo was a former Yankees prospect. He was traded to the Athletics for the Sonny Gray trade. The Orioles took the lead with Kelvin Gutierrez’s solid single to left. Six out of seven Orioles batters reached base in the seventh inning.
The Yankees vs Orioles was 2-13 in their 15 previous Yankee Stadium games and 3-24 overall in their 27 last games. This was their second series win since July. Baltimore is currently at 43-92, and has been eliminated from the postseason race.
The Yankees have lost six of their eight games since their 13-game winning streak. They are still half-game ahead of the Red Sox in the first wildcard spot, and four games ahead of the Mariners in the general wildcard spot.
Yankees vs Orioles Is it too Early?
Jon Lester announced his retirement Wednesday. For a long time, the lefty was a regular in major baseball rotations. It has been a long time since we didn’t think about him before entering a season, even if (as last year) he was on the fringe.
When a career ends like this, it’s natural to do two things. First, take a look back at all the wonderful memories that this player has brought to your life. There was plenty to be said about Lester, especially with two fan bases. Ask the second question about whether or not Lester is a Hall of Famer. Let’s get into the former.
Lester’s case isn’t a good one if you only look at his regular-season JAWS. He ranks 149th among all starting pitchers in JAWS. We are still not even halfway to Lester, even if we add in active players such as Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander, along with hopefuls such as CC Sabathia, Kevin Brown, and Luis Tiant.
Lester’s case seems more like a peak than a compiler, so perhaps WAR treats him better. Nope. He’s 153rd there.
This means that Lester’s case is completely opposite to some of the new-school inductees, such as Larry Walker, Scott Rolen, and even trickling back at Bert Blyleven — although he shouldn’t have required such a push).
Yes, Lester’s case was built on the strength and support of other things. As far as we know, it isn’t Hall of WAR and Hall of Stats. Every player has a story to tell and every Hall of Famer does not have to be the same. Walter Johnson and Catfish Hunter, both all-timers, are still in the mix.
Lester’s tale is also compelling. He was a Yankees vs Orioles cancer survivor who went on to have an amazing career as the ace of both Red Sox’s and Cubs World Series champion teams. Imagine if that was 20 years ago. This is a good idea.
At 22 years old, Lester made his debut with the Red Sox in 2006. However, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and had to be removed from the team. In 2007, he returned to the Red Sox with a clean bill. To complete a sweep of the Rockies in 2007, he would throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings at Coors Field in Game 4.
Lester was a regular in the Yankees vs Orioles Red Sox lineup for six more seasons. He went 89-54 with a 3.65 ERA and 120 ERA+. Lester was also a hard worker, logging over 200 innings five times, and 190 all six. The 2013 World Series title was the culmination of this span. Lester posted a 1.56 ERA over five games that postseason and won his Games 1 through 5 in the World Series.
His peak season, as an individual, was the 2014 season. He had a career-best 2.46 ERA, career-best 1.10 WHIP and 220 strikeouts. He finished fourth in Cy Young voting. After the season, he was set to become free agent. Once the Red Sox were not contending, trade rumors began swirling along with talk about an extension. Red Sox made the decision to trade him to A’s, and try to bring him back in offseason.
It didn’t work. Instead, Lester signed to be the Cubs’ staff ace against the Orioles. They had only been 73-89 last season so Lester took a chance. It paid off. After a 97-win regular year, they reached the NLCS in 2015. They won the World Series in 2016.