Wilkerson outrighted, Orioles down 3-0 (O's lose 7-2)

NEW YORK - Infielder Stevie Wilkerson has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk, the announcement coming this afternoon while the Orioles opened their season at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles designated Wilkerson for assignment on Saturday to make room for catcher Pedro Severino on the 40-man roster.

Wilkerson already had been optioned to Norfolk after going 8-for-36. He appeared in 16 games with the Orioles last season in a utility role and batted .174/.224/.239.

With Austin Hays recovering from a thumb injury, Wilkerson could get some starts in center field with the Tides while displaying his roving skills. He also can move around the infield.

He's a handy guy to keep in the organization.

The first hit for the Orioles in 2019 came off the bat off second baseman Jonathan Villar with two outs in the top of the first inning.

The first blunder came off his leg.

Trey Mancini's ground ball struck Villar as he approached second base, resulting in the final out. Mancini was credited with a single, a small consolation prize.

Villar kept motoring to third base, where he was tagged, but the out occurred farther back.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton singled off Andrew Cashner with one out in the bottom of the first and Luke Voit crushed an 87 mph slider to straightaway center field for a 3-0 lead.

Cashner fell behind 3-1 to Voit, the designated hitter today. The ball was demolished, with an exit velocity of 112 mph per Statcast and little doubt that it would bounce off the netting over Monument Park.

Stanton topped Voit at 120.6 while lining a single into right-center. Judge came in at 108.4 to the same location.

Stanton's ball is the fifth-hardest base hit in the majors in the Statcast era since 2015.

Cashner showed some frustration when Gary Sánchez poked a single into right field against the shift. A routine ground ball with no one to field it. But Greg Bird struck out on three pitches, the last a changeup, and Cashner was back in the dugout at 22 pitches.

Miguel Andújar had flied to the left field fence for the second out, coming within inches of padding the lead.

Cashner threw only 12 pitches in the second, with Gleyber Torres's leadoff single followed by a 6-4-3 double play ball from Troy Tulowitzki.

Masahiro Tanaka struck out the side in the top of the second, getting Chris Davis after falling behind 3-0 in the count. The 3-1 pitch appeared to miss the strike zone.

Update: The Yankees scored again in the third on Miguel Andújar's double play grounder after they loaded the bases with no outs, but the Orioles answered back in the fourth with Rio Ruiz's run-scoring single.

Update II: Cashner walked the first two batters in the fifth and they both scored after Mike Wright replaced him, and that gave the Yankees a 6-1 lead. Wright hit Voit with the bases loaded after issuing his own walk, and Andújar had a sacrifice fly.

Update III: Mancini collected his third hit, a double that scored Dwight Smith Jr. in the sixth and reduced the lead to 6-2.

Update IV: Greg Bird homered off Paul Fry in the eighth for a 7-2 lead.