Ryan Weathers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Monday and the Orioles beat the Yankees 3-2 in Baltimore after Coby Mayo’s home run turned the game around. The loss was New York’s fourth straight and came one night after the Yankees had already been swept over the weekend in Milwaukee.
Weathers had nine strikeouts and left with a 2-0 lead after 101 pitches, tying his career high. His run ended when Adley Rutschman singled in the seventh and Brent Headrick then gave up Mayo’s three-run homer, Mayo’s fourth of the season. The Yankees could not answer.
Ben Rice provided New York’s offense with a two-run homer in the third inning, his 13th of the season, and finished 2-for-4. But the rest of the lineup did not hold up. The Yankees went 5-for-31, struck out nine times and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while leaving five men on base.
Aaron Boone said the club needs “everything” from its offense and suggested he may need to “go a little shorter” with some players while trying to get more production. He added that the Yankees have “got a handful of guys that are scuffling” and need to get “a little more competitive up and down the lineup.”
Rice said opposing pitchers have done a good job in key spots, and that New York needs to keep working quality at-bats with runners on and force opposing pitchers to work. Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 0-for-4 and Austin Wells was 0-for-3, underscoring the broader slump that has tightened around a team still sitting at 26-16 with the second-best record in the American League.
That record still looks strong on paper, but the Yankees’ offense has not matched it. They came in after the Brewers held them to 16 hits in 95 at-bats with 39 strikeouts during the weekend sweep, and Monday’s loss showed the same problem in a different park. For a club chasing the top of the league, the margin is starting to shrink quickly.
