The Yankees are frustratingly downplaying their struggles against the Orioles

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander crosses the plate after hitting a three-run home run against the New York Yankees

The New York Yankees entered this week with a chance to put some meaningful distance between themselves and the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East. Instead, they lost two of three games and all but blew their lead in the division – and they don’t seem very upset about it.

“The first couple series, they’ve had their way with us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told New York Post reporter Greg Joyce. “They’ve had the upper hand. But there is a long way to go in all this. You never like losing, especially in your division and up against a team you’re battling neck and neck with. It’s also an opportunity to hopefully grow for us.”

Sure, there’s still a lot of season left, but the Bombers have already played more than half of their matchups with Baltimore. The teams face each other just six more times before the the start of the postseason, with the Orioles currently up 5-2 in the season series.

What’s worse for Yankees fans is the way the Orioles accented their latest series win with a 17-5 drubbing that forced New York to put catcher Jose Trevino on the mound.

Oh, and let’s not forget how Baltimore pitching nearly sent Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres to the IL in the first game of the series.

Judge joined his manager in glossing over the Orioles’ domination of the Yankees.

“It’s gonna be back and forth all the way to September, that’s for sure,” the Yankees captain told Joyce. “I think we’re looking forward to having those battles back and forth. But what it really ultimately comes down to is us just taking care of ourselves. We go out there and play baseball the way we’re supposed to, clean it up on defense a little bit … we’ll take care of it and be where we want to be.”

Players who thrive under pressure might be looking forward to those battles. Members of the media who need late-season drama to drive clicks might be eagerly awaiting such skirmishes.

But Yankees fans, who’ve been waiting since 2009 for another championship, would likely prefer their team had taken a comfortable division lead into the second half of the season.

Want more articles like this? Follow Yardbarker on MSN to see more of our exclusive MLB content.

More must-reads:

Trending slideshow: Which players have hit the most home runs in a season for every MLB franchise? (Provided by Yardbarker)