So for the Orioles, the process of regrouping after Friday's blown eight-run lead is going to take a little while. At least longer than a day after they were crushed 12-4 by the Yankees on Saturday afternoon.
The O's pitchers entered the weekend with the third-best team ERA in the American League at 3.41 and now it is 4.24. The rotation ERA has gone up the last two days from 3.77 to 4.28.
In 17 1/3 innings in the series, the O's staff has allowed 24 hits and 26 runs on nine homers. New York hit five homers in Friday's comeback and four Saturday. Brett Gardner began the game yesterday with no homers in 76 plate appearances and then homered twice in the first two innings off right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez.
Jimenéz put his team in a 5-0 hole by the second inning. Once again, he walked too many while pitching too few innings. He went 3 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) and his ERA is at 7.43. He has pitched 4 1/3 innings or less in four of his five starts.
He has probably pitched so poorly that the club would find no takers for him via a trade. His salary is $13.5 million for this season and no team is likely to want to take on any of that.
There were times last year we wondered if the club would release Jiménez. We are about at that point again. Yes, it's still early, but yesterday the Orioles needed a long outing and to bounce back to try and stay in first place. They could not do any of that and the early five-run deficit was a problem.
Jiménez is one of the nicest and perhaps among the most respected players in the clubhouse. But the front office can't consider any of that in making hard decisions. They have to win games in what is likely baseball's toughest division and he is hurting the team right now. How much longer can they stick with Ubaldo? Perhaps they let him try to work it out in the bullpen.
Right now, the O's are without Chris Tillman, who will pitch Tuesday for Triple-A Norfolk. Jiménez's spot in the rotation will come up again Thursday at Boston's Fenway Park. We don't yet know the starter for Tuesday in Boston, although we now know it will not be Tillman.
The Orioles got to 14-6 in large part due to their rotation. They are now 14-8 and Kevin Gausman and Jiménez have allowed 11 earned runs in 9 1/3 innings in this series.
This is probably overdramatic, but this feels like an early crisis. Yet the team is six games over .500 and didn't lose any series until yesterday. The worm can turn fast in the major leagues.
The Orioles have been outscored 25-6 by the Yankees since they led 9-1 after the top of the sixth Friday. The Yankees have scored at least one run in 10 of their past 14 at-bats.
Catcher Austin Romine had five RBIs all year, then homered and drove in five runs Saturday. Aaron Judge is 4-for-6 this series with three homers, five RBIs, six runs scored and three walks. The O's have gotten him out just twice in nine plate appearances. In 10 home games, Judge is batting .382 with seven homers, 14 RBIs and an OPS of 1.547.
Left-hander Wade Miley, a pitcher that had an ERA of 8.41 after his first eight starts with the team last season, now needs to be a stopper today.
Miley is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA this year. Over his past two starts, he allowed three runs in 15 innings. In seven starts dating to last Sept. 18, Miley is 2-1 with a 2.01 ERA and .185 batting average against.
A pitcher that didn't produce much confidence this winter among the fanbase will take the mound today in New York and try to restore order for the Orioles. They need to avoid being swept and falling two games out of first place before they head to Boston for a series that starts Monday night.
Saturday's minor league notes:
* Double-A Bowie outfielder DJ Stewart has a red-hot bat. In last night's 8-5 win over Akron, Stewart had a three-run triple, homer and four RBIs in five at-bats. The four RBIs tied his career high. Over his past seven games, he is batting .406 (13-for-32) with five doubles, a triple, two homers and 11 RBIs. In that seven-game stretch he has raised his batting average over .100 points - from .143 to .257.
* Single-A Frederick outfielder Austin Hays missed the Keys' doubleheader sweep of Carolina on Saturday with a hamstring cramp. He should only be out a few days. The Keys also put third baseman Jomar Reyes on the seven-day disabled list with a right hand injury. Frederick added pitchers Reid Love and Bobby Bundy.
Frederick is one game over .500 (12-11) for the first time after its second doubleheader sweep of the year. The Keys won Game 1 4-3 on Randolph Gassaway's walk-off single. Frederick took Game 2 7-3. On Friday night, perhaps the Keys built the momentum for this sweep by scoring eight runs in the last of the eighth inning. Frederick rallied from 9-3 down to beat Carolina 11-9. So despite the injuries to Hays and Reyes, the Keys have had back-to-back pretty good days.
* Triple-A Norfolk beat Syracuse 4-3 as right-hander Gabriel Ynoa had his best start of the season. Over 6 1/3 innings, he allowed six hits and two runs. That was the longest outing of 2017 by a Tides' starter. Ynoa is 1-4 with an ERA of 6.65 in five games. Right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis picked up his fourth save in four chances, getting the last four outs. On the year, Yacabonis has thrown 11 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits with one walk, seven strikeouts and a .079 (3-for-38) batting average against. Logan Schafer walked twice, stole a base and scored two runs, giving him five walks over his last two games
* Single-A Delmarva lost 4-1 at home to Charleston. Right-hander Matthias Dietz (0-2) took the loss for the Shorebirds (11-13) despite his finest pitching effort as a pro. Dietz allowed two runs on four hits in six innings with one walk and three strikeouts, throwing 82 pitches. Delmarva has scored just 10 runs the past six games.