Orioles' momentum comes to screeching halt in 6-2 loss to Yankees

Jacob Calvin Meyer, The Baltimore Sun on May 12, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — The Orioles won Monday on an Earl Weaver special. They lost Tuesday because of his wise words.

“Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.”

The myth of momentum was on full display Tuesday in Baltimore’s 6-2 loss to the Yankees. The Orioles quickly squandered any positive vibes from Monday’s comeback victory that featured Coby Mayo’s three-run homer as the Bronx Bombers scored five runs in the third inning off Trevor Rogers in his return from the injured list.

Rogers, who missed two starts with the flu, came back and looked like himself in the first two frames, allowing only a solo homer to Paul Goldschmidt on the first pitch of the game. But the Yankees wore down Rogers in the third, and the left-hander’s defense didn’t help him as two runs scored on ground balls that could’ve ended the inning.

Then came the big blow: a three-run homer from Trent Grisham that narrowly cleared the wall in right-center field. The long ball put New York up 6-0, and the momentum that Baltimore didn’t have in the first place was all gone.

The loss drops Baltimore (19-24) back to five games under .500 and well behind the Yankees (26-16) and Rays (27-13) atop the American League East.

The defeat snaps the Orioles’ brief two-game winning streak after they had back-to-back one-run victories. The Orioles haven’t won three straight games since April 11-13 against the Giants and Diamondbacks when they had a season-best 9-7 record. They’re 10-17 since.

Rogers was the Orioles’ opening day starter after his miraculous 2025 campaign in which he posted a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts to earn an AL Cy Young Award vote. He started this season the way he left off last year, delivering three straight quality starts with a 1.89 ERA.

Then the downturn started, and he’s still trapped in quicksand since.

Rogers has allowed 19 runs over his past 15 1/3 innings, ballooning his ERA to 5.77. His worst start of the season came on April 25 when he couldn’t make it out of the second inning. A few days later, he was placed on the 15-day IL after a serious bout with the flu. His velocity was up a tick Tuesday, and his stuff looked sharp, but he was still unable to keep the Orioles’ offense in the game.

Even if Rogers had pitched better, the Orioles probably would have still lost this game because their offense is in perhaps its worst slump of the season. Baltimore’s bats have scored three or fewer runs in six straight games.

They had their chances Tuesday against Yankees starter Will Warren and his bullpen. Samuel Basallo hit a one-out double in the second, but Tyler O’Neill and Colton Cowser couldn’t drive him in. The Orioles then loaded the bases with no outs in the third thanks to a walk by Coby Mayo and two bizarre defensive miscues by the Yankees’ infield.

But they squandered the opportunity after Taylor Ward flew out and Adley Rutschman grounded into a double play.

The Orioles finally got on the board off Warren in the sixth after Basallo singled home Ward, who reached on a double, and then scored on O’Neill’s opposite-field double. It was only O’Neill’s second extra-base hit of the season, and his first since March 29.

Basallo and O’Neill had another opportunity in the eighth against lefty reliever Tim Hill, but they both grounded out to strand Ward and Pete Alonso, who both reached on singles.

The Orioles were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position in the loss. They left seven men on base.

Yankees closer David Bednar slammed the door in the ninth, sending the New York half of the 20,344 announced attendance home happy and the Baltimore half back sad.

The Orioles will look to win the series on Wednesday afternoon against Yankees ace Max Fried. Baltimore has yet to announce its starter. The game’s start time was originally 6:35 p.m., but the Orioles moved it up to 1:05 p.m. because of the weather forecast.