Aaron Judge's return: New York Yankees captain committed to turn things around despite chastening loss to Orioles

The New York Yankees missed out on an opportunity to make up some ground on their division rivals the Baltimore Orioles.

The team lost a hard-fought pitching duel between one of MLB's most established pitchers and one of the league's rising stars. Despite the return of team captain Aaron Judge and a stellar outing from their ace Gerrit Cole, the Yankees fell 1-0 on the night.

With just 59 games remaining, New York is running out of time to revive their ailing season. The loss takes the team's record to 54-49 and they remain last in the American League East, trailing the Orioles by nine games. More importantly, the team is now 3.5 games out of the last wild card spot.

It has been a turbulent and grueling 2023 season for the Yankees team that started the year with the second-highest payroll in the majors. They are stacked with former MVPs and a long-list of All-Stars, but failed to deliver when it counts.

Per a recent article in the New York Post, Aaron Judge, who played his first game since June 3rd, chose to look forward and is focused on Saturday.

"You gotta bounce back...We can’t sit here and pout about it."

The Yankees outfielder finished 0-1 on his return with three walks on the night.

"Gerrit Cole talking out loud on the mound as he gets through seven scoreless" - Talkin' Yanks

However, the one bright spot in Friday's loss was the performance of Gerrit Cole. The six-time All-Star showed why he is one of the favorites for the AL Cy Young. He completed seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and striking out five hitters.

The New York Yankees offense has struggled without captain Aaron Judge

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees looks on after flying out at Oriole Park at Camden Yards

The New York Yankees lineup as a whole managed just four hits on the night against 23-year-old pitcher Grayson Rodriguez. The offense currently ranks 29th in the MLB in hits (773), 23rd in OPS (.704) and 21st in runs (446).

"Anthony Santander walks off the Yankees Orioles" - B/R Walk-Off

It won't get any easier for New York in the coming weeks as they will face the Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox in August.

If the Yankees fail to win on Saturday, it will mean the club would have won just one of their last eight series. Those numbers are just not good enough from a team that is expected to compete for a championship every year.