Yanks Beat Orioles With Ease, 7-2

By Andy Singer

May 2nd, 2026

When they're good, the Yankees sure make it look easy. That was the case last night in the Yankees' first match up of the season with the Orioles. While the Orioles, along with the Blue Jays and Red Sox, have gotten off to a slow start this season, they still boast a formidable lineup and remain a threat to crawl back into the AL East race. The Yankees saw to it that the climb wouldn't begin on Friday night.

By the end of the 2nd inning, the Yankees had the game well in-hand. In the first inning, Aaron Judge went first-to-home for the Yankees' first run on a Cody Bellinger double with a one-base error as the right fielder, Beavers, briefly bobbled the ball after it bounced off the wall. After Pete Alonso evened the score in the top of the 2nd inning on a loud homer into the upper deck in RF, the Yankees opened up a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Jose Caballero got the scoring started in the 2nd inning with a loud, one-out 108.5 MPH homer around the LF foul pole that just barely stayed fair. It was Caballero's hardest hit ball of the year thus far...if someone's play could shout out loud to keep the starting SS job, I think that was it. From there, the floodgates opened. With two outs, Grisham smoked a double to RF. Following a walk by Paul Goldschmidt to put 2 runners on, Ben Rice swatted a hard liner over the short porch on a hanging slider from Cade Povich to put the Yankees up 5-1. The Orioles never came close to making the Yankees sweat thereafter.

Will Warren was simply magnificent in this one, throwing 6.1 innings while allowing just 1 earned run. He struck out 9 and allowed just 3 hits. When he was pulled in the 7th inning, the bullpen actually did its job, chucking 2.2 no-hit innings.

Rosario and Judge would each stroke RBI singles with 2 runners on in the 7th and 8th innings, respectively, to give the Yanks a 7-2 win.

Warren Staking Claim To Maintain Rotation Spot

Will Warren might be the most improved pitcher on the Yankee roster this season. There's been a lot of talk about who will maintain their rotation spots when Rodon and Cole are healthy again. Right now, it's coming down to Warren and Weathers, and it's becoming clearer by the day that Warren has the edge.

I have never been Warren's biggest supporter, but his improvement is proving me wrong. Warren's velocity was down by almost a full 1 MPH across the board last night, but it didn't matter. He did a fantastic job of living at the edges of the zone:

Yes, there are few too many pitches in the meat of the plate, but Warren is now mixing pitches so effectively that hitters are off-balance when a pitch finally hits the heart of the plate. So many of his pitches lived around the edges of the zone - back-door, front-door, and diving just barely below the strike zone, Orioles hitters were rarely able to get comfortable against Warren.

Warren generated an elite 35% whiff rate overall last night, and 50% and 76% on his sweeper and change-up, respectively. Anecdotally, I thought this was the best command and shape I've ever seen from Warren's change-up. It was a real asset last night, and he got his first strike out on one that started just above the hitter's knee and dove just barely beneath the bottom of the strike zone.

Warren was very impressive last night. I hope it continues against better teams.

A Tale Of Two Defenses

The Yankees started the game with a fantastic play in RF by Aaron Judge. Warren allowed a loud shot to RF in the first inning, and it appeared to be heading at least to the top of the wall, if not squeeking out of Yankee Stadium's short porch. Having a good 6'7" defender in RF is a real asset, and Judge set the tone for the Yankees by making a really tough grab at the wall, leaping at just the right moment to grab the liner.

Throughout the game, the entire defense looked good, save for one moment. Trent Grisham got caught in-between on a liner to CF and allowed it to bounce by. He can look so good one moment, but his smooth style makes his errors look that much uglier. It's already his 2nd of the season. Grisham is running better this season, but his CF defense looks more middling in the aggregate than an asset. This particular blunder led to an unearned run.

Deuling MVPs

What a time to be a Yankee fan. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge are genuinely two of the best players in the AL, and I think they'll be competing with one another for the MVP all season long. Hard to imagine that the Yankees weren't starting Rice against lefties earlier this season, huh?

Rice's play is going to force an uncomfortable conversation at some point when Stanton is healthy. Paul Goldschmidt just doesn't seem to have a spot when everyone is healthy. At this point, you can't ever justify sitting Rice unless he needs a breather.

Looking To Tomorrow

The Yankees take on the Orioles in game 2 of their first series at 1:35 at Yankee Stadium. Ryan Weathers gets a chance to make a statement of his own as he takes on Kyle Bradish.