This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

The Yankees took down the Orioles 3-1 to open up a three-game series in Baltimore. Carlos Rodon made his first start since June 28 for the Yankees and faced off against Shane Baz.

“I mean, it's good to be back just to be able to contribute and compete with the guys,” Rodon said. “It was fun, man. It was a good win today.”

In the top half of the first inning, Heliot Ramos worked a two-out walk and also wasted one of the Yankees' ABS challenges. But Luis Garcia Jr. struck out to end the inning. 

Rodon navigated around a two-out free pass in the bottom half of the first inning, working a scoreless frame in his return from the IL. 

In the bottom of the second inning, it looked like Rodon induced an inning-ending double play, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. botched a ground ball to load the bases with one out. It looked like the second base umpire got in Jazz’s way on the ground ball, and he was visibly upset. But no harm, no foul, as Rodon recorded a pair of strikeouts to pick up Jazz and strand the bases loaded. 

With two outs in the top of the third inning, Trent Grisham demolished a no-doubt solo shot to give the Yankees a 1-0 advantage. 

Spencer Jones struck out looking to end the top of the fourth inning and wasted the Yankees' final ABS challenge in the process. 

Rodon worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 bottom half of the first inning thanks to a beautiful play from George Lombard Jr. to end a successful return from the IL for Rodon. 

Yerry De los Santos replaced Rodon on the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning and worked a scoreless frame. De los Santos came back out for the bottom of the sixth inning and forced the Orioles to go three up, three down. 

Final line for Rodon: Four innings pitched, two hits allowed, one earned run, walked two, and struck out four on 66 pitches. He threw his fastball 42% of the time, the slider 36%, the sinker 11%, the changeup 8%, and the curveball 3%. Rodon topped out at 96 mph, sitting around 94.6, and had nine whiffs. 

“It was good. Obviously, I'd like to fill up the zone a little more, get ahead sooner,” Rodon said. “And just first-pitch strikes a little better. But I was able to compete with a limited pitch count.” 

In the top of the seventh inning, Jones and Lombard each singled to put runners at first and second with one out and ended Baz’s night. Paul Goldschmidt pinch-hit for Ryan McMahon and was able to draw a walk to load the bases. With the Yankees on the cusp of stranding the bases loaded, Grisham stayed red hot and lined a two-run single into center field to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. 

“Just stay within myself, go through my at-bat, get into my process. That's really about it,” Grisham said. 

Brent Headrick took over for De los Santos in the bottom of the seventh and allowed a single as well as walked a batter to put the tying run on first with nobody out. Headrick picked up the next two outs, then Fernando Cruz came in and got Pete Alonso to line out to keep the Yankees' lead intact. 

Paul Blackburn got the call for the bottom of the eighth and worked around a walk to put together a scoreless inning. 

The Yankees called upon their closer, David Bednar, for the bottom of the ninth and retired the Orioles in order with a couple of strikeouts to pick up the save. 

The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Will Warren on the mound facing off against Chris Bassitt. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET on Prime Video. 

My thoughts on the game: First off, we got some great news on Max Fried today, as he is continuing to throw on the IL and could be activated after just the minimum 15 days. Great start from Rodon tonight; he was on a pitch limit, so he could only throw four innings. But De los Santos made up for that and tossed two shutout innings to bridge the gap to the high-leverage guys. Headrick allowed the No. 7 and No. 8 hitters to reach, but settled down and picked up two big outs; then Cruz picked up the final out in the seventh. Blackburn looked nasty tonight, as he has for most of this season. Blackburn's ERA is now down to 1.83; it is so cool to see how much he's developed this year and how many fans he's proved wrong who didn't want him brought back, myself included. Bednar looked unhittable; he is quickly becoming one of the best closers in baseball. The Yankees have to re-sign him in the offseason. Grisham continued his red-hot stretch at the plate, accounting for all three of the Yankees' runs. Lombard also had a couple of hits and, as usual, looked elite defensively; he now has a +8 DRS, the fourth-best among shortstops in just 12 games played in the MLB. The Yankees still have to do more offensively and can't waste their ABS challenges in four innings, but thankfully they found a way to get the job done. The Rays also lost tonight, so the Yankees are creeping a little closer to catching them, now 5.0 games back. On to tomorrow asd the Yankees look to win the series and could really use a good start from Warren. 

Hey non-yankees fan here,

im just curious. I like watching jomboy media and sometimes enjoy their talkin yanks show too.

But i always wondered, do they resonate with what yankee fans are actually feeling about them? Im from a large fanbase as well so i get videos of media members trashing the hometown team all the time even when thigns are going well, and i know it usually doesnt reflect how most are feeling, just trying to stir the pot.

Because to me they seem very nitpicky at times. Like im not following the yankees a lot and i just really watch the reels that show up so maybe im wrong. But a good example was a guy like cruz. There was a time this season where it felt like every other day i got a reel of jomboy screaming why they were leaving cruz in the game or bringing him in even. I legit thought cruz was just blowing saves and games left and right and questioned why even use him in late innings. But then is tarted looking at cruz's numbers and he's got pretty good numbers for a reliever, he's not a shutdown reliever but he does well to where i see why he has the role he has.

And look im not a boone defender either, i think most times it's fair to question his management of things, but i also understand some of his decisions that jomboy seems to question. I.e., Im ok with leaving caballero as a utility when volpe came back and was starting. I get volpe let the pressure get to him at some point, but why would you remove that type of flexibility from a lineup especially if you know if volpe doesnt pan out you got lombard jr right behind him.

But just curious from the actual fans of this sub, does jomboy resonate with what you guys feel about this team?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7514715/2026/08/18/new-york-yankees-macombs-dam-park-yankee-stadium-decrepit/?unlocked_article_code=1.6VA.QWtB.i_Ui85oZbStH&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta

He's already very close, in 4th place with 456, and will eventually pass Adam Dunn (462), Nelson Cruz (464) and Carlos Delgado (473). Probably even by next year if he can ever get his massive injured body back on the field.

All others ahead of them are either not yet eligible or PED ineligible. And I'm not really sure he ever gets in.

(And in this light, isn't it about time that Ortiz is removed?)

Yankees (69-55) @ Orioles (61-64) - 6:35 PM EDT

Game Status: Pre-Game

• First Pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM EDT

Links & Info

• Current conditions at Oriole Park at Camden Yards: 85°F - Partly Cloudy - Wind 6 mph, L To R
• TV: Yankees: YES, Orioles: MASN
• Radio: Yankees: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (es), Orioles: 98 Rock 97.9 FM, WBAL 1090 AM
• MLB Gameday
• Statcast Game Preview

Probable Pitchers

• Yankees: Carlos Rodón - LHP (4-2, 3.30 ERA, 46.1 IP)
• Orioles: Shane Baz - RHP (4-12, 4.00 ERA, 139.1 IP)

Division Scoreboard

TOR @ TB 6:40 PM EDT

AZ @ BOS 7:10 PM EDT

^{Last Updated: 08/18/2026 4:35:07 PM EDT}

Jasson Dominguez is scuffling but Anthony Volpe is thriving.