Catcher Jesús Sucre set an outside target this afternoon with an 0-2 count on Gleyber Torres, the Orioles still holding a two-run lead with two outs in the sixth inning in their home opener. One more strike, one more out, and they could inch a little closer to their latest win.
Mike Wright's 95 mph fastball tailed over the plate, moving up and in, and Torres didn't miss it. Contact was made and Sucre bolted out of his crouch, spun toward the home dugout and ripped off his mask.
A chase pitch changed the course of the game.
The Orioles have their first losing streak of the 2019 season, with the Yankees prevailing 8-4 before an announced crowd of 44,182.
No walk-off win for the Orioles (4-3) this year.
Gary Sánchez homered with two outs in the sixth and Wright replaced Alex Cobb, who was making his season debut following a 10-day stay on the injured list with a strained groin.
Greg Bird and D.J. LeMahieu singled, the latter on a ground ball that sneaked into center field, and Torres clubbed his second homer of the day.
Clint Frazier singled and Wright was gone. Four batters, no outs. And Cobb remained winless at Camden Yards since signing his four-year, $57 million deal last spring.
Torres had a career-high four hits and came within a triple of the cycle.
Miguel Castro inherited two runners from Mychal Givens in the ninth and Luke Voit greeted him with a three-run homer. Seven unanswered runs from the Yankees and the outcome was decided.
Trey Mancini received the loudest ovation among players introduced as he becomes a face of the franchise due to popularity and by default. There also was a significant amount of cheering for Chris Davis, with only a smattering of boos, but fans vented after his strikeout in the first inning and continued to pour it on in his next two plate appearances.
Manager Brandon Hyde was given a warm welcome and made it down the orange carpet without incident. The day started out positively and unraveled as it moved along.
Yankees fans didn't travel for this one. Pretty much silence during their team's introductions, with the exception of reliever Zack Britton, cheered by Orioles fans upon his return to Camden Yards.
Jonathan Villar homered on the second pitch thrown by Yankees left-hander James Paxton, a 93 mph fastball that landed inside the right field foul pole. Villar has six career leadoff home runs, with today marking his first as an Oriole.
The at-bat and ensuing skip toward the dugout after crossing home plate alleviated any concerns about Villar after he came up limping following his tag of Aaron Judge that completed a double play. Voit struck out and Sucre made a perfect throw to cut down Judge.
The Orioles loaded the bases with one out and a balk and wild pitch increased the lead to 3-0. Paxton threw 32 pitches in the inning. The bullpen stirred before he could get back to the dugout.
Working exclusively from the stretch, as he did in spring training before sustaining a groin injury, Cobb allowed only solo home runs to Torres in the third and Sánchez in the sixth. The split-changeup was a big swing-and-miss pitch, as it used to be prior to his elbow surgery. He struck out D.J. LeMahieu to end the second and twice got Aaron Judge.
Sánchez homered on a 92 mph fastball and Cobb left to a standing ovation. Cobb threw 87 pitches and allowed two runs and five hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Cobb received a mound visit from pitching coach Doug Brocail and assistant athletic trainer Patrick Wesley with Torres at second base and one out in the fifth inning. The conversation was brief. Cobb stayed in the game, but Wright began to warm.
Wright sat down after Cobb retired Tyler Wade and Brett Gardner as part of an eight-pitch inning that left his total at 74.
Renato Núñez celebrated his 25th birthday with a single in the fifth that scored Dwight Smith Jr. and increased the lead to 4-1. He also singled in the first.
Davis struck out in all three at-bats before Hanser Alberto pinch-hit for him in the eighth inning and is 0-for-17 with four walks and 11 strikeouts, his last hit a double in the second inning of a Sept. 14, 2018 game against the White Sox. Davis was hitless in his last 21 at-bats of the season.
The booing increased in volume as Davis missed badly on a 3-2 cutter from Paxton after Joey Rickard led off the bottom of the sixth with a single. Davis made the slow walk back to the dugout, tapping his spikes with the handle of his bat as he neared the steps.
Alberto lined a two-out single into right field off Britton, putting two runners on base, but Sucre grounded into a force.
Tommy Kahnle had replaced Paxton and worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Britton escaped a jam in the eighth and Aroldis Chapman stranded a runner in the ninth.
Givens replaced John Means with two on and no outs in the eighth, his first appearance since throwing a career-high 49 pitches Sunday afternoon, and he stranded two runners. He picked off Sánchez at second base.
An infield hit and walk put Givens in a jam in the ninth, and he left after Judge's fourth strikeout. Voit followed with his home run and the Orioles had back-to-back losses.