Why Yankees series proves Orioles are class of AL

Strictly speaking of the play between the white lines, the Orioles proved they have just a bit more firepower than the Yankees in all facets. The series opened with a Gunnar Henderson leadoff home run, something the Yankees have yet to benefit from all season. Both teams have shortstops who were former top prospects entering their age-23 seasons, but Henderson has proved to be head and shoulders above Anthony Volpe thus far in the two of their careers. The O’s would go on to take game one 2-0 when Volpe made a crucial error in the bottom of the eighth that allowed the second run to score.

Then despite a moonshot home run by Soto, followed by a staredown of Dean Kremer, the Orioles casually won again in game two thanks to ugly defense by the Yankees early on and timely hitting when the opportunity came. It was a common theme in the series that the O’s played cleaner baseball, making just one error to the Yankees’ three. They also ran the bases better (i.e. Giancarlo Stanton being thrown out at second on what should have been a line drive single) and capitalized on the Yanks’ mistakes at every possible opportunity.

The Yankees did come back to win game three thanks to a perfectly placed foul pole shot from Oswaldo Cabrera and a terrific pitching performance from Luis Gil. But Baltimore came storming back Thursday afternoon, hammering three home runs and knocking Carlos Rodon out of the game in the fifth inning. And while the Orioles were getting longballs from Jorge Mateo and Ryan McKenna, Aaron Judge went 1-for-13 in the series with four strikeouts, dropping his season average back below .200.

Orioles’ psychological advantage over Yankees

It would be one thing if the Orioles merely beat the Yankees on the field this series. They did have home-field advantage, after all, and only one game needed to swing the other way for the Yankees to leave Baltimore feeling good. But it’s clear that in terms of mental warfare, the Orioles have a clear edge. Whether it was the players, broadcasters or fan base, the Yankees spent most of the series upset about one thing or another, while Baltimore did its talking on the scoreboard.

In game one, Cabrera hit a ball deep to left field that got swallowed up by the cavernous Camden Yards expanded outfield. It would have been a home run in just six of 30 ballparks, but YES Network broadcaster Michael Kay lamented that before the wall was moved back, it would have tied the game. But from the way certain pockets of Yankee fandom were talking about it for the following 24 hours, one would think the Orioles specifically designed their ballpark to torment the Yankees, allowing the Orioles’ team store to hilariously troll the Yankees the next day when they put the ball up for purchase with the caption, “‘3 years ago it’s a tie game’ – Michael Kay.”

Then, the following day, after Soto stared down Kremer on his home run, he was asked about the exchange after the game and said, “He didn’t like the shuffle. I bet he didn’t like the homer, either.” To which Kremer simply had to say, the following day, “He hit a solo homer in a three-run game.” Sure, the home run looks great on Soto’s Baseball Reference page, but Kremer threw seven innings of two-run ball and helped his team to a win. And it’s not like Soto is a bad person for saying what he did, but why give the Orioles any more bulletin board material after consecutive losses?

Soto was at the center of attention once again in game four, when he called a timeout at the plate and pointed to center field, apparently distracted by the sun gleaming off the watch of a police officer in center field. YES was all over it, finding the perfect shot of the glare that Soto saw, but after the officer moved, Soto still struck out. Then, he hit a triple to left field that would have ironically been a home run in every other ballpark in the majors, but ended up stranded at third. Then in the ninth, he took exception to strike one from umpire Dan Iassogna and got his hitting coach, James Rowson, tossed from the game.

What’s next for O’s, Yanks?

Gleyber Torres, who finally hit his first home run of the season Thursday, but also made a careless error at second base, summed it up best postgame. Torres said to reporters, “We got punched in the face… we have to figure out a way to beat them,” according to a tweet from MLB.com reporter Bryan Hoch.

It’s May 3. There are roughly 130 games left in both teams’ seasons. And the Yankees are only a game back of Baltimore in the standings. But series like these show which teams have their ducks in a row and which still have some loose ends to tidy up. And in all facets, the Yankees are a bit too loosey goosey right now. They need to play much better baseball when they face the O’s again in mid-June and they need to keep the drama at a minimum.

No more fixating on ballpark dimensions. No meaningless arguments about strike calls. No bulletin board material for an Orioles pitching staff that just kept the “Bronx Bombers” to six runs in a four-game series. The Yankees need to outshine the Orioles on the field if they want to prove they’re back to being serious contenders, because right now, the road to the World Series in the American League runs through Baltimore.