NEW YORK—What happened? Starting pitcher Albert Suárez allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings, walking a career-high five batters as the Orioles lost to the New York Yankees, 4-2, on Tuesday night.

The Orioles, who trail the Yankees by 2 ½ games in the American League East, had just six singles in the first eight innings until Anthony Santander hit a two-run home run in the ninth.

Yankee starter Nestor Cortes gave up five hits in six scoreless innings.

Third baseman Jordan Westburg left the game after New York’s Juan Soto collided with him while he was trying to field a ball and was called out for interference for the third out of the first inning. Ramón Urías replaced him.

“That’s a strange play. You don’t see that a ton,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “A routine groundball. Just ran into him on it.”

Hyde said that Westburg’s hip was “pretty sore,” and that the team would check on him on Wednesday. Connor Norby was removed for a pinch-hitter from Triple-A Norfolk’s game at Allentown, Pennsylvania and could replace Westburg if he needs to go on the 10-day injured list

New York slugger Aaron Judge was hit by a pitch by Suárez on the left hand, forcing him to leave the game an inning later. X-rays and a CT scan were negative.

“You never want to see your guys get hit, especially up in the hand area. We’ve been hit before, too,” Hyde said.

Hyde said that the Orioles are deciding on starting pitcher Dean Kremer’s next step. Kremer is on the 15-day injured list with a strained right triceps and threw a rehab game for Norfolk on Sunday.

What was wrong with Suárez? As a swingman, the 34-year-old Suárez been dependable, but he was sloppy on Tuesday night.

“It’s not like him to walk five,” Hyde said. “Behind in the count a lot. This team doesn’t chase. A lot of balls didn’t get hit hard, but unlike him to walk five guys.”

When Kremer returns, the Orioles could go to a six-man rotation, but Hyde seems to prefer five starters.

“I have to go tomorrow and look at videos,” Suárez said. “I wasn’t just throwing my best pitch in the strike zone and that really hurt me today.”

It was his first time pitching against the Yankees.

“I don’t focus on how tough they are,” he said. “I focus on how I can execute, and today I didn’t. That’s why I think we got the loss.”

Suárez said that the pitch to Judge just got away.

“I was trying to go up and in,” he said. “I guess it was too much. I did it before. He fouled it off and I was trying to go in again and it happened to hit him.”

Outfielder Austin Hays said that Suárez just had a bad night.

“It’s a long season. He’s going to make a lot of starts for us,” Hays said. “He can’t be A-plus every time you go out there. We have no worries about him. We know he’s going to bounce back and have a good start five days from now.”

What was with the Orioles offense? Could it be that the Orioles had an emotional series against Philadelphia last weekend, winning two of three, and it took something out of them?

“I didn’t think that played a part at all,” Hyde said. “I thought Nestor Cortes was really good, and we had a tough time squaring up balls against him. We didn’t have a lot of offense until Tony hit the two-run home run in the ninth. We’ve seen that from Nestor before. We just didn’t’ square enough balls enough offensively.”

Hays and Gunnar Henderson said Cortes is difficult to hit.

“He used his changeup a little bit more than he has in the past to righties,” Hays said. “He did a good job of controlling the bottom of the zone with that, kind of running some stuff off. He’s just commanding the four-seam and the cutter up at the top of the zone.

“He did a good job working the plate and mixing speeds like he always does, changing timing. He didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes tonight. We fouled a whole lot of pitches off. We battled, battled, battled, waiting for him to miss middle with a couple of more pitches, but he just didn’t do that, and we just didn’t get anything going.”

Henderson was hitless in three at-bats against Cortes. He singled right before Santander’s home run.

“He was just controlling both sides of the zone.,” he said.

Henderson said that the games are important, but too much shouldn’t be made of the loss.

“It’s still June. We’ve still got three, four months left to play,” he said. “Still a lot of games left. You obviously want to win every series you can against an AL East rival, but at the same time, it’s still a long season.”

What happened to Westburg? The Orioles seemed baffled by Soto’s collision with Westburg.

“I didn’t really understand it,” Henderson said. “He was having to come and make the play in. Just kind of a freak thing, but hopefully Westy’ll be back out there tomorrow.”

“[Soto was] running hard to third, saw the ball and then saw Westburg breaking on the ball,” Hays said.

“He kind of slowed down and looked like he tried to avoid him. It was a little late to get out of the way. It was one of those things. Westy’s going for the ball hard. Soto was running hard, and it was unfortunate they ran into each other.”

What does it mean? While the season isn’t yet at the halfway point, there are only eight games remaining between the Orioles and Yankees, and they’re all important for the Orioles because they trail the Yankees in the AL East.

What’s the word? “They’re the Yankees. We know that they’re a good team. They’re always at the top of the division. We always play tough series.”-Hays on the Orioles playing the Yankees

What’s the stat of the day?  11. Henderson has an 11-game hitting streak, which equals his career best. He’s also reached base in 25 consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors this year.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? In his first game back with Norfolk after missing a month with a fractured rib, designated hitter Coby Mayo was hitless in four at-bats in the Tides’ 9-5 loss to Allentown. Third baseman Nick Maton hit a two-run home run.

Second baseman Collin Burns hit a two-run home run in Double-A Bowie’s 3-2 win over Binghamton.

Shortstop Carter Young hit a three-run home run and drove in four in High-A Aberdeen’s 12-7 loss to Wilmington.

Third baseman Anderson De Los Santos hit a grand slam and second baseman Aron Estrada homered in Single-A Delmarva lost to Fayetteville 16-8.

Norfolk catcher Blake Hunt was placed on the injured list with a strained left groin.

Catcher Connor Pavolony and right-hander Morgan McSweeney were transferred from Bowie to Norfolk. Infielder Noelberth Romero was promoted from Aberdeen to Bowie. Infielder Angel Tejada was promoted from Delmarva to Aberdeen and IronBirds outfielder Reed Trimble was activated from the injured list. Right-hander Carter Baumler was transferred from Aberdeen to Delmarva.

What’s next? Cade Povich (0-1, 4.76) will face Gerrit Cole in his season debut on Wednesday night at 7:05.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]