Will Warren struggles, Yankees' bats go cold in loss to Orioles

BALTIMORE — On yet another night Will Warren didn’t have it, and neither did the Yankees’ offense.

Not until it was a tad late, at any rate.

Warren, coming off a solid start in Cleveland but two starts removed from lasting just 1 2⁄3 innings in Tampa, more resembled the latter pitcher on Monday night, failing to get out of the fourth inning.

That, coupled with the pitching-deficient Orioles getting a brilliant eight-strikeout performance from righthander Tomoyuki Sugano and just enough from their rickety bullpen, sent the Yankees to a 4-3 loss at Camden Yards.

The Yankees (17-12) did not score until the seventh, getting one that inning and two more in the eighth. Trent Grisham (2-for-5), Aaron Judge (2-for-5) and Cody Bellinger (1-for-4) went down in order against Felix Bautista in the ninth.

Warren (1-1, 5.63), battling command issues much of the night, allowed four runs and six hits in 3 1⁄3 innings, walking two and striking out five in his 72-pitch outing. The big blow against the righthander was Ryan O’Hearn’s three-run homer in the third that gave the Orioles (11-17) a 4-0 lead. The homer came on the heels of back-to-back walks to start the inning.

“Never trying to start off the inning with back-to-back walks,” Warren said, “ and then, obviously, O’Hearn did the damage on a pitch that didn’t get quite in [enough]. It sucks.”

Sugano, a rookie who came in as one of the few Baltimore starters to pitch with any degree of consistency in a positive sense (2-1 with a 3.54 ERA), had his darting splitter in top form. The righthander allowed five hits and a walk in five scoreless innings to go with his eight strikeouts.

“Stayed out of the middle of the plate and made some pitches on the corners,” said Grisham, who had one of the Yankees’ five hits against Sugano.

Despite outhitting the Orioles 10-8, the Yankees left nine men on base and struck out 15 times.

“We had some chances and couldn’t break through on him,” Aaron Boone said of Sugano. “He didn’t make the big mistake. He was hurt by the long ball in his first few starts [six homers in his five previous starts], and I didn’t really see that miss. He was in and around the edges. And his split was really good.”

The Yankees made it interesting in the eighth inning, cutting a 4-1 deficit to 4-3. Paul Goldschmidt led off with a single against erratic lefthander Gregory Soto and went to second on a wild pitch.

After Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck out for the third time, Anthony Volpe, celebrating his 24th birthday Monday, sliced an RBI double down the rightfield line to make it 4-2. Austin Wells’ followed with an RBI double to the gap in right-center to bring the Yankees within a run.

But Jasson Dominguez struck out on a check swing and Oswaldo Cabrera, who pinch hit in the seventh and scored the Yankees’ first run after reaching on an infield single, grounded out to third.

Deposed Yankees closer Devin Williams struck out one in a perfect bottom of the eighth to keep it a 4-3 game.

“Really good,” Boone said of Williams, who had an 11.25 ERA in 10 games before his demotion. “Just liked his look out there. He was aggressive, in the strike zone, aggressive with his fastball. I thought every changeup he threw, I liked the depth on the pitch.”

Bautista made quick work of the heart of the Yankees’ lineup in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Orioles had runners on second and third with none out. But Warren settled in and retired the next three batters.

After getting two quick outs to begin the second, Warren ran into trouble and the Orioles took advantage. The righthander retired the first two batters before Jackson Holliday singled to right. Ramon Laureano followed by launching a 2-and-2, 95-mph fastball over the head of Grisham, who said he momentarily lost track of the ball, for an RBI double that made it 1-0.

“Got a good read,” Grisham said. “Took my eye off it [when] I went back to look, and by then the ball was over my other shoulder.”

The Orioles, who were in a 6-for-63 skid with runners in scoring position, improved those numbers in the third.

Warren walked Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman to open the inning, then served up an inviting 2-and-2 sweeper that O’Hearn knocked out to right for his fifth homer. Warren wanted better location on the home-run pitch but much more lamented the walks preceding it.

“At the end of the day,” Warren said, “you’ve got to force them to put the ball in play.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.