For two years, it seemed the Yankees could always find a way to defeat the Orioles in The Bronx.
And on Wednesday, it seemed only a matter of time before the Yankees made thirteen in a row against Baltimore.
But a costly error by Gleyber Torres, a bloop-hit allowed by Chad Green and a nice throw from rightfield by Anthony Santander led to a 4-3, 11-inning loss for Yankees.
Chance Sisco’s flare-single to leave Green in the 11th scored automatic runner Rio Ruiz from third place to put the Orioles ahead for good.
Brett Gardner bumped Gio Urshela into third place in the bottom of the 11th before DJ LeMahieu, with one out, flied out to the right shallow. Urshela tried to score, but was thrown out by Santander.
In the previous inning, Green appeared to have escaped problems when he got Pedro Severino to Torres with Santander on third base and two outs. But Torres made another bad play and bounced the pitch first on Jay Bruce. Bruce couldn’t choose it and Santander scored the go-ahead run on the error.
Ahead of the game, manager Aaron Boone defended Torres’ performance in defense after the short stop committed another error on Tuesday.
Torres was released on bail in the bottom of the tenth inning, when Kyle Higashioka singled to the right and pinch-runner Tyler Wade rushed home with the tying run, but the Yankees were unable to score in the 11th.
They were behind by one run on their way to the bottom of the eighth after leaving nine runners despite hitting the ball hard all night.
But with two outs and no one on, Gary Sanchez singled on a liner to the left and the ball was misplayed by Ryan Mountcastle.
Sanchez was replaced by pinchrunner Mike Tauchman. That move paid off immediately when Urshela doubled to left-center and Tauchman rushed home, just below Pedro Severino’s tag on the plate.
It equalized the game to 2-2, and Gardner followed with an infield-hit that sent Urshela to third base, but LeMahieu grounded out to end the inning.
Aroldis Chapman started the ninth after Nick Nelson, Darren O’Day and Jonathan Loaisiga combined 3 ¹ / ₃ scoreless innings in relief.
Chapman successively hit the side.
The bullpen sparkled in relief from Jameson Taillon, who made his first start in nearly two years, returning from a second Tommy John surgery. He was great to start the game, retiring the first nine batters he faced, while the Yankees consistently threatened left-wing John Means from Baltimore.
In the bottom of the first inning, Torres walked with one out and moved to third base on Giancarlo Stanton’s hard single to center, but Clint Frazier lined to center for the last out after LeMahieu and Aaron Hicks did the same earlier in the inning.
They broke through in the third.
Gardner led off with a single from the right, and LeMahieu followed with a liner in the middle, which gave the Yankees runners on first and second base without one out. After Torres sniffed, struggling Hicks delivered another hit in the middle and drove to Gardner for the game’s first run. The rally ended when Stanton grounded into a double play.
The Orioles tied the game shortly thereafter, as Cedric Mullins led off the fourth with a long homer in the rightfield grandstand. He was the first batter to reach base against Taillon, who then struckout Trey Mancini for the first out. But Santander followed and took Taillon deep again, this time into the Yankees’ bullpen in center-right to give Baltimore a 2-1 lead.
Taillon was retired with two outs in the fifth and was replaced by Nelson. Taillon gave up two runs and struckout seven and walked none.
The Yankees tried to get Taillon off the hook in the bottom of the fifth, with singles by Torres and Stanton – this one measured at 115 mph – by Means, but former Yankees-prospect Dillon Tate got Frazier to end the threat.
In the sixth, Sanchez doubled down the left-field line with one out and moved to third base on Urshela’s fly to center, but stranded when Gardner struckout.
LeMahieu started the seventh with a hit, but Torres flied out to the right and Hicks and Stanton sniffed, while Stanton heard from the small crowd.