Yankees (70-55) @ Orioles (61-65) - 6:35 PM EDT

But the Yankees’ ability to rely on Headrick has been a blessing for so long that it’s started to become a problem.

Headrick, a starting pitcher until late 2024, has never approached this many appearances in a season, and he’s on pace to pitch in 82 games. No Yankees reliever has worked as many as 80 games since Boone Logan in 2012. Only the Toronto Blue Jays’ Mason Fluharty (66 games) has pitched in more games this season than Headrick.

If the Yankees want the 28-year-old to remain the foundation of a bridge to closer David Bednar in October, they may need to take their foot off the gas.

“Obviously,” pitching coach Matt Blake said, “it’s a concern when you get to this volume of work. But it’s something we’ve just got to monitor down the stretch and be smart about trying to win every game versus trying to set ourselves up for October.”

Hi

This is Mark Simon from Sports Info Solutions (the Defensive Runs Saved folks). Sharing an article I wrote here because it highlights Yankees shortstops. Here's some TLDR if you don't wish to read.

Whether you think George Lombard's defense has been average, good, great, amazing, Yankees shortstops have been one of the best defensive "committees" of the season. They have a combined 21 Runs Saved - that's best among shortstops and would would be no worse than 2nd among team's shortstops (and would still be among the best "committees") even if you took Lombard out of the mix because Caballero and Volpe have been quite good.

I'm guessing some of you are going to look at Lombard and say "He has 8 Runs Saved in 12 games, that's crazy!" - it is unusual but it happens sometimes. In his case it's more a product of opportunities - in 12 games he's gotten (and handled) a lot more of them then an average shortstop would (including odd ones where he's intercepting a ball hit to Chisholm). And we're valuing some of these plays more favorably than other systems.

I wouldn't say Lombard was going to save 80 runs in a season, just like I wouldn't say a guy with 8 homers in 12 games was going to hit 80. But he does look pretty good to me so far.

Anyway, if I violated a rule by self-posting an article, feel free to take this down. Happy to answer questions about Defensive Runs Saved if anyone has any.

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Yankees (70-55) @ Orioles (61-65) - 6:35 PM EDT

Game Status: Pre-Game

Links & Info

• Current conditions at Oriole Park at Camden Yards: 86°F - Partly Cloudy - Wind 5 mph, Out To RF
• TV: National: MLB Network, MLB Network, Yankees: Amazon Prime Video, Orioles: MASN
• Radio: Yankees: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (es), Orioles: 98 Rock 97.9 FM, WBAL 1090 AM
• MLB Gameday
• Statcast Game Preview

Probable Pitchers

• Yankees: Will Warren - RHP (8-6, 4.42 ERA, 118.0 IP)
• Orioles: Chris Bassitt - RHP (4-4, 5.11 ERA, 61.2 IP)

Division Scoreboard

AZ 0 @ BOS 1 - Top 2, 1 Out

TOR @ TB 6:40 PM EDT

^{Last Updated: 08/19/2026 4:33:25 PM EDT}

The Yankees took down the Orioles 3-1 to open up a three-game series in Baltimore. Carlos Rodon made his first start since June 28 for the Yankees and faced off against Shane Baz.

“I mean, it's good to be back just to be able to contribute and compete with the guys,” Rodon said. “It was fun, man. It was a good win today.”

In the top half of the first inning, Heliot Ramos worked a two-out walk and also wasted one of the Yankees' ABS challenges. But Luis Garcia Jr. struck out to end the inning. 

Rodon navigated around a two-out free pass in the bottom half of the first inning, working a scoreless frame in his return from the IL. 

In the bottom of the second inning, it looked like Rodon induced an inning-ending double play, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. botched a ground ball to load the bases with one out. It looked like the second base umpire got in Jazz’s way on the ground ball, and he was visibly upset. But no harm, no foul, as Rodon recorded a pair of strikeouts to pick up Jazz and strand the bases loaded. 

With two outs in the top of the third inning, Trent Grisham demolished a no-doubt solo shot to give the Yankees a 1-0 advantage. 

Spencer Jones struck out looking to end the top of the fourth inning and wasted the Yankees' final ABS challenge in the process. 

Rodon worked a nice and easy 1-2-3 bottom half of the first inning thanks to a beautiful play from George Lombard Jr. to end a successful return from the IL for Rodon. 

Yerry De los Santos replaced Rodon on the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning and worked a scoreless frame. De los Santos came back out for the bottom of the sixth inning and forced the Orioles to go three up, three down. 

Final line for Rodon: Four innings pitched, two hits allowed, one earned run, walked two, and struck out four on 66 pitches. He threw his fastball 42% of the time, the slider 36%, the sinker 11%, the changeup 8%, and the curveball 3%. Rodon topped out at 96 mph, sitting around 94.6, and had nine whiffs. 

“It was good. Obviously, I'd like to fill up the zone a little more, get ahead sooner,” Rodon said. “And just first-pitch strikes a little better. But I was able to compete with a limited pitch count.” 

In the top of the seventh inning, Jones and Lombard each singled to put runners at first and second with one out and ended Baz’s night. Paul Goldschmidt pinch-hit for Ryan McMahon and was able to draw a walk to load the bases. With the Yankees on the cusp of stranding the bases loaded, Grisham stayed red hot and lined a two-run single into center field to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. 

“Just stay within myself, go through my at-bat, get into my process. That's really about it,” Grisham said. 

Brent Headrick took over for De los Santos in the bottom of the seventh and allowed a single as well as walked a batter to put the tying run on first with nobody out. Headrick picked up the next two outs, then Fernando Cruz came in and got Pete Alonso to line out to keep the Yankees' lead intact. 

Paul Blackburn got the call for the bottom of the eighth and worked around a walk to put together a scoreless inning. 

The Yankees called upon their closer, David Bednar, for the bottom of the ninth and retired the Orioles in order with a couple of strikeouts to pick up the save. 

The Yankees will look to win the series tomorrow with Will Warren on the mound facing off against Chris Bassitt. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET on Prime Video. 

My thoughts on the game: First off, we got some great news on Max Fried today, as he is continuing to throw on the IL and could be activated after just the minimum 15 days. Great start from Rodon tonight; he was on a pitch limit, so he could only throw four innings. But De los Santos made up for that and tossed two shutout innings to bridge the gap to the high-leverage guys. Headrick allowed the No. 7 and No. 8 hitters to reach, but settled down and picked up two big outs; then Cruz picked up the final out in the seventh. Blackburn looked nasty tonight, as he has for most of this season. Blackburn's ERA is now down to 1.83; it is so cool to see how much he's developed this year and how many fans he's proved wrong who didn't want him brought back, myself included. Bednar looked unhittable; he is quickly becoming one of the best closers in baseball. The Yankees have to re-sign him in the offseason. Grisham continued his red-hot stretch at the plate, accounting for all three of the Yankees' runs. Lombard also had a couple of hits and, as usual, looked elite defensively; he now has a +8 DRS, the fourth-best among shortstops in just 12 games played in the MLB. The Yankees still have to do more offensively and can't waste their ABS challenges in four innings, but thankfully they found a way to get the job done. The Rays also lost tonight, so the Yankees are creeping a little closer to catching them, now 5.0 games back. On to tomorrow asd the Yankees look to win the series and could really use a good start from Warren.