NEW YORK — The dichotomy of Friday night to Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium was stark. Those gritty Orioles of the night before? Perhaps life looks different in moonlight, because Baltimore slept through the second game of the series against the New York Yankees.

By the end, the Orioles were lucky to avoid a no-hitter. Right-hander Clarke Schmidt reached a career-high 103 pitches through seven innings, and after he allowed just three baserunners (two walks and a hit batter), the Yankees turned a dominant pitching performance over to their bullpen.

And, with right-hander JT Brubaker on the mound for the eighth inning, Gary Sánchez’s line-drive single to center erased the doughnut in the Orioles’ hit column — but it did little to break into what became a 9-0 loss that included another poor performance from right-hander Zach Eflin.

The Orioles were shut out for the seventh time this season, although this is the first time it has happened under interim manager Tony Mansolino.

“Nobody wants to be no-hit, whether it’s by a single pitcher or multiple,” Mansolino said. “There’s pride involved right there. Gary saved our pride a little bit for the night.”

A night earlier, Baltimore’s comeback win was full of promise. It featured three runs against Max Fried, one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Plus, he’s a left-hander, a matchup that usually gives the Orioles fits. But Baltimore pulled through behind a stout bullpen effort and an eighth-inning rally.

On Saturday, a second straight short start was coupled with two injury worries. First, catcher Adley Rutschman landed on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain. Next, infielder Jordan Westburg exited with left hand discomfort suffered when he slid into second for a stolen base in the first inning. X-rays on his left index finger were negative, and Westburg said he’s “trying to stay optimistic” that he won’t miss much time.

The combination of issues concluded with infielder Luis Vázquez on the mound for the Orioles. His first pitch lofted in at 37.6 mph, but he finished a scoreless frame — a better result than some other arms.

“I never imagined pitching, even less so at Yankee Stadium,” Vázquez said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Just trying to throw it over the plate and letting them hit.”

After the Orioles acquired Eflin at last year’s trade deadline, his 2.60 ERA in nine games made him one of the best acquisitions in baseball, and Eflin entered 2025 with similar expectations.

But, since a lat strain early in the season, Eflin hasn’t looked himself. His ERA has inflated to 5.46, and his two most recent outings were particularly worrisome.

“Poor execution,” Eflin said.

Against the Tampa Bay Rays, Eflin allowed 12 hits and seven runs in five innings. He followed that with 10 hits and six runs against him in three innings at Yankee Stadium. The 22 combined hits are the most in a two-start span in Eflin’s career, according to Stathead, although the issues are more prolonged than this two-game sample.

For two months, Eflin has suffered from the long ball. In his last seven starts, including Saturday, Eflin has conceded 13 home runs. The Yankees hit three Saturday, with Trent Grisham, J.C. Escarra and Ben Rice all going yard. And New York added three runs in the third inning — a bloop single from Oswald Peraza brought home two runs after an errant throw from Cedric Mullins allowed runners to take second and third.

“A couple of pitches didn’t go his way,” Mansolino said. “When he did miss something middle, they hit it, so credit to those hitters. They handled him really good today.”

Eflin walked off the mound having thrown 90 pitches, and his short start coincided with Tomoyuki Sugano’s 3 2/3-inning performance in Friday’s win to further tax the bullpen.

“In a game where I needed to go deep into the game, I didn’t do that,” Eflin said. “It doesn’t feel good letting the team down.”

New York added three runs off Andrew Kittredge and Scott Blewett, the Orioles finally broke through in the hit column, and Vázquez featured in a surprise pitching performance. It was much flatter than the perseverance shown Thursday and Friday — to rebound from an epic collapse Wednesday in Tampa to finish the series with a win, then take the first game of the series in New York.

The lowlight of Saturday won’t matter much, though, if the Orioles win the series finale Sunday. When attempting to escape this hole, one loss can’t become two — or more.

“The expectation is, tomorrow we come in, we’ve got a chance to win a series in New York, which is really hard to do,” Mansolino said. “Especially walking in off the series in Tampa, 16 [games] in a row, the heat, the bullpen being smoked. So there will be a lot of energy when they show up tomorrow, no doubt.”

This article has been updated.