Old-Timers’ Day wasn’t particularly kind to one of the youngest Yankees.
Rookie starting pitcher Will Warren struggled in the Yankees’ 9-2 loss to the last-place Rockies on Saturday, four days after the right-hander was recalled to replace the injured Luis Gil.
Warren, the Yankees’ leading pitcher, gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits in three innings in the Bronx. He suffered the loss and fell to 0-2 after four career MLB starts.
Although he tied a career high with six strikeouts, Warren struggled to put hitters in key spots, allowing four of Colorado’s runs to score on two-out hits.
The Rockies scored four times in the third inning, in which Warren allowed four hits — including a two-run double to Nolan Jones with two outs — and made two foul calls. Austin Wells also committed catcher’s interference in that tough inning, after which Colorado led 6-0.
Warren, 25, now has a 9.68 ERA in 17.2 major league innings. He pitched to a 6.11 ERA in 95.2 innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, up from his 3.35 ERA in the minor leagues last year.
Warren had the best start of his MLB career in his last outing on Aug. 14, when he held the MLB-worst White Sox to two runs in five innings.
Former Yankees player Jake Cave also went 4-for-5 with three RBIs on Saturday. He hit a two-run home run off reliever Michael Tonkin in the seventh inning to cap Colorado’s scoring.
The Yankees drafted Cave in 2011, then traded him to the Twins in 2018 for Gil before they reached the major leagues. The power-throwing Gil is 12-6 with a 3.39 ERA in a breakout season in 2024, but he was placed on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with a lower back strain.
Offensively, the Yankees (76-54) couldn’t get much going against Rockies rookie Bradley Blalock, who held them to two runs in 5.1 innings in his third career start despite walking four.
The Yankees, who won the series opener 3-0 on Friday night, have totaled five runs in two games against the Rockies (48-82), who are the only MLB team with an earned run average above 5.00.
Saturday marked the first time in five games that Aaron Judge didn’t hit a home run, keeping his MLB-best 49 home runs. Judge is on pace to hit 61 home runs, which would be one short of the 62 he hit in 2022 to set an American League single-season record.
With a solo hit in the fourth inning, Alex Verdugo hit his first home run since July 6.
The lopsided loss came after a pregame ceremony to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Yankees’ 2009 title. Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada were among the members of that team who attended.
The Yankees also lost 9-2 on Old-Timers’ Day last year, when they honored the 1998 World Series-winning team.
The Yankees will look to win a series Sunday afternoon, with Marcus Stroman (8-6, 3.82 ERA) set to pitch against Colorado left-hander Austin Gomber (4-8, 4.64 ERA).
