The Yankees were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 6-2 on Tuesday afternoon in Tampa.
Here are the key takeaways…
–Clarke Schmidt, making his first appearance of the spring following back issues, gave up some hard contact early. After giving up a pair of singles and a hard-hit line drive out to left to start the game, Schmidt allowed a three-run homer off the bat of Ryan Mountcastle, an opposite field laser to right.
In the first inning alone, Schmidt allowed three earned runs on four hits. He ended up going 1.2 innings, allowing those three earned runs with four strikeouts and one walk. He threw 38 pitches, 23 of which were strikes.
–Austin Wells once again hit leadoff for the Bombers, and it’s looking more and more like he could be the team’s leadoff hitter to start the season. Wells singled in the third, his only hit of the afternoon.
-Something that will be top of mind for the Yankees all season long is how they’ll be able to protect Aaron Judge in the lineup. On Tuesday, Judge hit second, with Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt behind him. That duo combined to drive in the Yanks’ first run in fourth inning, when both Bellinger and Goldschmidt doubled back-to-back.
The duo of Bellinger and Goldschmidt combined for three hits and two runs scored
-Later in the fourth inning, Dominic Smith reached down and singled on a breaking ball, scoring Goldschmidt to make it a 4-2 game. Smith went 1-for-3 with a strikeout and now has a spring OPS of .954. With Giancarlo Stanton starting the season on the IL, there’s a chance Smith finds a way to make the Opening Day roster as a first base/DH option.
-Third base anyone? Both Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza, two candidates to start at third base, played on Tuesday, but neither really helped his cause. Cabrera started at the hot corner and went 1-for-3, while Peraza went 0-for-3 with a couple strikeouts.
Who was the game MVP?
For the Yankees, Bellinger was the only starter to record two hits. Mountcastle set the tone early for Baltimore, and his homer proved to be all the offense Baltimore would need.
What’s next
The Yankees are off on Wednesday and will visit the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Fla. on Thursday at 1:05 p.m.
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