Craig Albernaz Describes Missed Chances After Orioles Fall to Yankees

There were not many complaints about the Orioles pitching on Tuesday.

Shane Baz came out and dominated a Yankees lineup that had won its previous game, striking out 10 batters over 6.1 innings while allowing just four hits and two walks.

The problem was a first-pitch fly ball from Trent Grisham in the third inning that landed in the right-field seats for a solo home run.

Coby Mayo answered with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the third to tie it at one, but that was the only run Baltimore could manage all night.

Baz kept pitching into the seventh, but a single by Spencer Jones and another by George Lombard Jr. forced manager Craig Albernaz to go to the bullpen with two runners on and one out.

Josh Walker came in and walked Paul Goldschmidt to load the bases, and after Amed Rosario struck out, Grisham came through again with a two-run single to center that scored Jones and Lombard to make it 3-1.

It was Grisham's second hit and third RBI of the night, and it was the at-bat that separates winning teams from losing ones.

Albernaz called the bases-loaded situation the biggest missed chance of the night for his side, noting that they were unable to cash in there early when they loaded the bases in the second inning on a single, a walk, and an error by Jazz Chisholm Jr. but could not push across a run.

"Baz was outstanding, just that one mistake," Albernaz said.

That single sentence captured the frustration of a night where the pitching did everything it was supposed to do and the offense could not match it.

The loss dropped Baltimore to 61-65, which puts them 14.5 games behind the Rays in the American League East and half a game behind the Blue Jays for fourth place.

The Orioles have now lost two straight after dropping Monday's game in Tampa Bay, and the schedule does not get any easier with two more games against the Yankees on Wednesday and Thursday before the Rays come to Camden Yards for the weekend.

Gunnar Henderson went 0-for-4 and Jackson Holliday was 0-for-4 as well, and those two going quiet at the same time makes it very difficult for Baltimore to score enough runs to support pitching performances like the one Baz delivered.

When the best arms on the staff pitch well enough to win every time out and the lineup cannot hold up its end, the imbalance eventually catches up to a team.

The Orioles need their top hitters to start carrying the offense again, because the pitching staff is doing more than its share.

Baz has now struck out 10 or more in a loss, and having that effort go to waste captures everything about a frustrating summer in Baltimore.

Albert Suarez threw two scoreless innings in relief, so the depth is there on the mound.

The runs just need to follow, and if Henderson and Holliday find their swings over the next few games, there is still time for the Orioles to make a push before the calendar runs out.