BALTIMORE – Tuesday night is Will Warren’s rotation turn, and he’ll be trying to prevent the Yankees from dropping a fifth straight game.
Warren is coming off a rough start, but he’s more than earned his spot. So has Ryan Weathers, who took a no-hitter into Monday night’s seventh inning at Camden Yards.
But if there’s still a healthy starting five by the end of this month, either Warren or Weathers gets bounced to make room for Gerrit Cole, which is what they call in the business a good problem to have.
Sunday was Cole’s latest minor league rehab start, and it went well. “I watched it this morning,’’ said Boone, noting Cole’s 99-mph fastball on his final strikeout.
Before Sunday, Cole was working on some things, “but I think (Sunday) was a little more competitive, trying to get outs and stuff.
“I thought he threw the ball really well, I thought his stuff was good,’’ said Boone. “So, another good sign for him.’’
It’s also not a decision the Yankees have to make right now, not with Cole being two rehab starts away from his personal Opening Day after rehab from Tommy John surgery.
So, the Yanks immediate issue is to try to restart a lineup that was stalled by Milwaukee Brewers pitching during a four-game weekend sweep.
Despite Weathers’ best efforts, the Yankees lost a 3-2 game Monday, while getting only five hits (to the Orioles’ three) against four O’s pitchers.
Trying to unlock Yankees’ offense
“Got to get some guys unlocked,’’ said manager Aaron Boone, and one of them is Jazz Chisholm Jr. – in a 3-for-24 slide with 11 strikeouts.
“Got to execute some small things,’’ said Boone, who watched his team strand Aaron Judge after a leadoff double in the sixth, and Max Schuemann after a one-out double in the seventh.
Ben Rice broke free of an 0-for-13 spell since suffering a bruised left hand, but his two-run homer off O’s starter Brandon Young was it for the Yanks (26-16), who saw their nine-game winning streak against the Orioles (18-24) come to an end.
And it ended with pinch-runner Jose Caballero caught trying to steal second base, with all of Camden Yards knowing he was going.
Caballero will be going for an MRI on Tuesday morning to see if his right middle finger issue is more serious than just a day-to-day discomfort.
At least the Yankees were satisfied that Weathers had no lingering effects from the viral infection that scratched him from Thursday’s scheduled start.
With three extra days of rest, and plenty of fluids, Weathers gained back some of the nine pounds he lost and maintained the zip on his five-pitch arsenal.
Six of his nine strikeouts came on changeups, and his sweeper-slider/fastball-sinker mix limited the O’s to just two baserunners (both walks) until Adley Rutschman’s clean, leadoff single in the seventh.
Two batters later, Brent Headrick was greeted by Coby Mayo’s three-run homer to left, putting the O’s up 3-2.
These were the first inherited runners of 2026 allowed to score by Headrick, who was 14-for-14 in that department in his previous 21 appearances.
Ryan Weathers: A no-hitter in progress?
As to Weathers’ no-hit bid, he wasn’t aware of it until someone on the bench mentioned it after his seventh inning exit.
“To be honest, I had zero idea. I was walking guys,’’ said Weathers, who walked three O’s and threw 101 pitches. “So, I guess it never rang a bell that it was going on.’’
Boone’s lineup hasn’t had much going on lately, averaging two runs per game over these four straight losses.
Chisholm’s tough string of at-bats lately have stood out, but Austin Wells is batting .177, Trent Grisham is at .174, Judge – even with 16 homers – is still looking to get on an extended hot streak, and Cody Bellinger has to pretend every road park is Yankee Stadium, where he’s a completely different and dangerous hitter.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees offense stalls again, tough pitching decisions ahead
