BALTIMORE -- Two interested observers lingered near Ryan Weathers’ locker late on Monday evening, eavesdropping as the Yankees left-hander revealed he hadn’t been aware a no-hitter was in progress when the game entered the seventh inning.
“I had zero idea,” Weathers said after the Yankees’ 3-2 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards. “I was walking guys and stuff like that, so I guess it never really rang a bell to me that was going on. It was cool, but I wish we would’ve pulled out a win.”
Weathers may not have been looking at the scoreboard, but his teammates were. When Max Fried and Carlos Rodón found an opening to approach, they first offered handshakes, then hugs. Fried spoke for the clubhouse: “Really good stuff. Keep it going.”
Coby Mayo’s three-run homer off Brent Headrick tipped the balance in the club’s fourth consecutive loss, but Weathers’ rotation mates found plenty to be encouraged about -- especially considering the hurler’s hectic last three weeks.
After his most recent start on May 2, also against Baltimore, Weathers became so violently ill that he lost nine pounds -- forcing him to keep a respectful distance not only from his teammates, but also from his wife, Thayer, and the couple’s newborn son.
Insisting that he felt back to full strength, Weathers showed it, striking out nine while holding the Orioles hitless through six frames.
“My job is to go out there and compete and give as many pitches as I can give,” Weathers said. “It got us into the seventh inning. My job is to give the bullpen a breather and I feel like I did that tonight.”
After walking the first batter he faced, Weathers clicked into form. With his sweeper and changeup generating plentiful swings and misses, Weathers set the next 13 O’s down in order, including five consecutive strikeouts beginning with Tyler O’Neill in the second inning.
The Yankees have had 13 no-hitters in their history, the most recent of which was Domingo Germán’s perfect game in 2023. At 85 pitches entering the seventh, Weathers seemed unlikely to finish the task himself.
“I was probably going to go a little shorter with him, but we ended up staying a little longer with him,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I started thinking, ‘How deep could he go?’ But shoot, he was pretty darn strong until the end.”
Adley Rutschman settled the matter with a clean single to right field. Weathers exited two batters later, which is when he said someone mentioned there had been a no-hitter in progress.
“I try not to think about that stuff,” he said. “My job is to go out there and pound the strike zone.”
Operating with a thin bullpen, Boone said he preferred Headrick vs. Mayo over Jake Bird vs. Dylan Beavers. Mayo has been struggling; he wasn’t in Monday’s original lineup, inserted after Samuel Basallo was scratched.
“I liked that matchup,” Boone said. “He hung a slider. Mayo put a good swing on it.”
As in the sweep this past weekend in Milwaukee, when the Yankees were held to six runs across three games, offense was hard to find.
“I think opposing pitching has done a good job making the pitches they need to in certain situations,” said Ben Rice, who hit a two-run homer in the third inning off Brandon Young.
It was Rice’s 13th homer, second on the club behind Aaron Judge (16). Judge and Rice are the first Yankees teammates with 13 or more homers in the team’s first 42 games.
The Yanks finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, leaving five on. Boone said he sees Jazz Chisholm Jr. “probably pressing a little too much,” including a sixth-inning strikeout that failed to bring in Judge from third base, part of an 0-for-4, three-strikeout night.
Max Schuemann was also stranded at third after a seventh-inning double, and José Caballero -- limited to pinch-running duties due to an ailing right middle finger -- was thrown out trying to steal second base to end the game.
“We’ve got to capitalize when we’ve got some opportunities,” Boone said. “The pitching has been there and continues to be there. We’ve got a few guys that are obviously swinging the bats really well. But we’ve got to get through this stretch and get some more contributions.”