Clarke Schmidt’s struggles continue in Yankees’ loss to Orioles

BALTIMORE — The Orioles’ home opener featured fireworks before and during their 7-6 win over the Yankees on Friday.

Following a pregame ceremony that involved actual pyrotechnics and Oriole orange smoke, both teams provided explosives via their lineups. Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt was hardly a fan of the display, as he labored for the second time in as many starts.

Baltimore batters touched him up for five hits, four earned runs and 11 hard-hit balls — which are represented by fire emojis on Baseball Savant. Seven of those balls came off the bat at more than 100 miles per hour.

Injuries have Schmidt in the Yankees’ rotation to begin the season, but he has allowed seven earned runs over 6.2 innings thanks in large part to his struggles against left-handed hitters.

“That’s something that I want to be good at,” Schmidt said when asked if his future as a starter is contingent on improving against port-side swingers. “Whether it’s starting or relieving, you need to be able to get a left-handed hitter out.”

Schmidt gave up three earned runs and two homers to the Giants’ Joc Pederson and Brandon Crawford in his first start of the season on April 1. On Friday, rough second and fourth innings and doubles from Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson put Schmidt and the Yankees in a hole.

Schmidt and Aaron Boone also discussed the pitcher’s command issues Friday after he walked three and missed multiple spots. Schmidt said that he was trying to “nibble” at the strike zone and “make the perfect pitch” while acknowledging that his cutter is still a work in progress. He added that that “kind of pigeon-holes me a little bit sometimes, when you’re trying to be too fine with it. Sometimes it’s a mindset thing. Sometimes, I feel like just gotta continue to attack guys throughout the whole outing.”

Boone, meanwhile, said that he sometimes notices Schmidt “chasing the best shape or the nastiest pitch,” rather than focusing on location.

“He’s done all the work. He’s done all the prep. He’s got all of the pitches,” the manager added. “Trust that and focus on the glove.”

The Bombers picked the 27-year-old up with a few hard-hit balls of their own. The most notable blast came off the bat of Franchy Cordero, whom the Orioles released at the end of spring training.

The lefty-swinger extracted his revenge on Friday, crushing a three-run homer in the fourth inning off O’s starter Dean Kremer. The 411-foot, 105.3-mph blast made it a 4-3 ballgame.

“He’s done a great job. He’s got a couple of big hits for us,” Boone said of Cordero, who is hitting .300 after a few games. “It’s been fun to see him get off like this.”

Oswaldo Cabrera proceeded to line a double in the gap in the sixth inning. That 100.3-mph hit scored two runs to put the Yankees up, 5-4.

Kremer also allowed four earned runs while totaling five innings of work.

But the Orioles still had some fight in them, as phenom Adley Rutschman tied things up with an RBI single off Ron Marinaccio in the seventh. An erratic Jimmy Cordero followed, paving the way for a 105.5-mph Ramon Urias RBI double and a run-scoring wild pitch.

“I missed the locations and cost the game,” the right-handed Cordero said after spiking a few pitches. He added that he had some trouble gripping the ball on what was a cold day in Baltimore.

The Yankees had some rockets left though, as Giancarlo Stanton led off the eighth with a 117.1-mph double to left field, easily the hardest-hit ball of the game. A Gleyber Torres single moved him to third before Cabrera drove in another run with a base knock, making it 7-6.

But Urias neutralized the threat with a pretty double play, forcing an out at third before firing to first. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who pinch-hit for Cordero earlier in the game when Baltimore turned to lefty reliever Danny Coulombe, ended the inning with a strikeout.

Afterward, Boone was asked why he preferred Kiner-Falefa a second time, opposed to using Aaron Hicks, whose limited role has become an early-season talking point.

“We’re looking for a hit in that spot,” Boone said. “It’s not an on-base situation, necessarily, it’s more of a hit situation, so I liked IKF there.”

Kiner-Falefa does not have a hit this season. Neither does Hicks.

From there, Orioles closer Felix Bautista, one of the Orioles’ 2022 breakouts, took care of business in the ninth. The towering righty added some heat himself, striking out Anthony Volpe and DJ LeMahieu before eventually retiring Anthony Rizzo, thus shutting the door on a back-and-forth afternoon.

In fitting fashion, the Orioles launched more fireworks as soon as the final out was recorded.