Because the bigger story in Baltimore wasn't Thursday's lineup card — it was the one general manager Mike Elias had already rewritten. Adley Rutschman, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells and Taylor Ward were all traded away at the deadline, leaving a roster that looks a lot closer to auditioning for 2027 than chasing anything left in 2026.
That surge matters more than it might look on paper. New York is trailing the division leader but sitting on a comfortable cushion for the top wild-card spot, and every game against a last-place club is a chance to bank an easy series without burning the bullpen. Cole's been steady all year doing exactly that kind of unglamorous, keep-the-line-moving work.
Bradish, for his part, had worked through the control issues that plagued him earlier in the season and strung together a better summer stretch — but a rotation trying to hold a last-place team together doesn't have much margin for a bad night, and Thursday turned into one.
The Yankees broke it open with a 3-run 3rd, tacked on 2 more in the 6th and added an 8th-inning run to close out the 6-1 final. New York out-hit Baltimore 11-4, and an Orioles error didn't do the home team any favors on a night the ball needed to bounce right just to keep it competitive.