Yankees 5, Orioles 6: Bullpen falters for the first time this season

Heading into this game, the Yankees’ bullpen had not allowed a run all season. It was only through three games, but that’s quite good. It was a streak that was obviously going to end at some point. It just happened at the worst possible time.

After the top of the fifth, the Yankees had a 5-1 lead. Starter Luis Severino had looked mostly good through 4.2 innings, and the Yankees looked in control of the game. By the time the seventh inning was over, the Orioles were up 6-5, and the Yankees never led again.

The Yankees got on the board pretty quickly against Ubaldo Jimenez. Brett Gardner led off the game with a single. After a Gary Sanchez walk, Greg Bird struck out, brining up Matt Holliday. The Yankees’ DH punched through a single, scoring Gardner, and giving the Yankees an early lead.

The lead wouldn’t last particularly long. Seth Smith led off the game for the Orioles with a double, immediately followed by a Adam Jones single. Before Severino recorded an out, the game was tied.

The Yankees retook the lead two innings later thanks to Holliday again. Gardner led off the third with a single, and moved to second on a Sanchez ground out. After another Bird strike out, Holliday homered to left, making it 3-1.

In the fifth, the Yankees added to their lead. Gardner picked up his third hit of the game with a one-out double. Sanchez then recorded his first RBI of the season with a two-run home run, chasing Jimenez from the game.

Severino settled down after the first inning, and had allowed just one run on four hits through four innings. Then in the fifth, Jonathan Schoop led off with a single. Severino came back and got the next two outs. However, he then issued a two-out walk to Jones. That walk kept the inning alive and allowed Manny Machado to come to the plate. He would do a very Manny Machado thing and hit a three-run home run. The Yankees’ breathing room was gone, and it was now 5-4.

Severino’s day would be done after the fifth inning, as Jonathan Holder came out to start the sixth. Holder and Layne combined for a scoreless sixth before Tyler Clippard came in for the seventh.

Schoop reached on an error to start the seventh after Chase Headley, who had made some nice plays at third earlier in the game, bounced a throw. After JJ Hardy bunted Schoop to third, Seth Smith homered off Clippard, giving the Orioles their first lead of the game.

After that, the Yankees still had two innings to come back, but they didn’t put a runner on in the eighth or ninth, and lost by a score of 6-5.

Masahiro Tanaka will make his second start of the season tomorrow in game two against the Orioles. Kevin Gausman will take the ball for Baltimore.

Box score.