Carlos Rodon has worst start of season as Yankees drop series to Orioles

BALTIMORE — Before the Yankees arrived here on Sunday night, Aaron Boone was not overly interested in putting too much weight into their four-game series against the Orioles.

Just part of the long season, Boone insisted, a true (if cliché) statement that likely would have remained the message even if the Yankees had come into Camden Yards this week and aced their first test against the defending AL East champs.

But they didn’t exactly put their best foot forward.

With a chance to salvage a split on Thursday, the Yankees played their worst all-around game of the series and fell to the Orioles 7-2, as they dropped three of four.

“First series, we got punched in the face,” Gleyber Torres said. “We have three more, so we have to figure out a way to beat them.”

Following three tight games to begin the series, Carlos Rodon had his roughest start of the season and did not get much help behind him or from the Yankees’ bats.

After scoring 36 runs on 43 hits during their series against the Brewers over the weekend, the Yankees (20-13) mustered just six runs on 22 hits across four games against the Orioles (20-11).

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They hit just .177 as a team against the Orioles and went 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

The Yankees pitching staff limited the Orioles to batting .197 and 6-for-23 with runners in scoring position, but they made the most of their chances.

“That’s a good team,” said Rodon, who gave up seven runs (six earned) across four-plus innings. “I thought we played pretty well. We gotta figure out how to scratch [out] another one there. Today obviously I was coming in, I wanted to leave here with an even series and unfortunately it didn’t go that way. I wish I would have performed better, for sure.”

Aaron Judge had looked more like himself over the weekend in Milwaukee, but went 1-for-13 with two walks during this series, though he was far from alone.

Anthony Rizzo, who also entered the series red-hot, went 1-for-14, his lone hit briefly giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead on Thursday.

Anthony Volpe went 2-for-16 with a walk while Giancarlo Stanton went 1-for-10 with two walks before sitting Thursday.

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The Yankees also missed one of their hottest hitters, Alex Verdugo, for the first three games before he was reinstated from the paternity list on Thursday.

“I’ve had stretches like these, plenty in the major leagues, plenty throughout my life,” said Judge, who is now hitting .197 with a .724 OPS through 33 games. “It’s part of it. I can’t sit here and dwell on it. It’s May. It’s a new month, time to get going.”

The offense’s frustrations were epitomized Thursday when hitting coach James Rowson was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing balls and strikes.

While the Orioles’ athleticism and defense were on display throughout the series, the Yankees were not as crisp.

Torres’ second error of the series came back to hurt on Thursday during the Orioles’ four-run fifth inning that broke the game open.

Rodon had given up three solo home runs entering the fifth, matching his season total through his first six starts.

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Adley Rutschmann led off the inning with a double before Ryan Mountcastle singled him home to put the Orioles up 4-1.

Anthony Santander then hit a grounder up the middle that Volpe made a diving stop on, but his flip to second base was dropped by Torres, who tried to barehand it in a rush to complete the double play.

“You gotta secure the ball,” Boone said. “It’s the big leagues, you gotta make the play and he didn’t make the play.”

Jordan Westburg followed with a triple to the gap that scored both runs for the 6-1 lead and knocked Rodon out of the game.

“That type of error, there’s no excuse,” said Torres, who hit his first home run of the season an inning later. “I think those couple runs were on me after my mistake. I feel bad for making that type of error in that situation.”

Given the way the Yankees struggled to score runs in the series, it may not have mattered. Instead, they were forced to look ahead to their next opportunity to face the Orioles in June.

“Really good team, obviously,” Boone said. “They can pitch, they’re athletic, they got thump. They’re a complete team you got to play well [against]. Know they’re going to be there all year long. Look forward to more battles with them. They’re certainly formidable.”

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