Yankees RISP struggles haunt them in 7-4 extra innings loss to Orioles

The battle for the AL East lead continued on Sunday, as the Yankees looked to sweep the Orioles and build on their first place, one-game lead. Another crazy, extra-inning game, each team fought all day long in a back-and-forth thriller. The story of the game was the Yankees’ inability to capitalize with runners on base/in scoring position, as evidenced by the just two runs on 13 baserunners in the first five innings. They also had plenty more RISP fails, including the bottom of the tenth, in which the bases were loaded with one out and Starlin Castro and Aaron Judge couldn’t knock anyone in. A combined 31 runners left on base between all the hitters combined, it came back to bite them, as Mark Trumbo’s RBI single in the top of the 11th put the Orioles ahead, avoiding the sweep. The 7-4 Orioles win ties the AL East back up between these two teams.

Photo Credit: Seth Wenig/AP

Matt Holliday got things going to start the day, hitting a solo homer in the first inning, the 299th of his illustrious career and fourth as a Yankee. The Yanks then got a few more runners on in the inning, but were unable to capitalize. Adam Jones tied it up in the third with an RBI single to make it 1-1, knocking in former Ranger Craig Gentry. Chase Headley followed up in the next half of the inning with an RBI single himself in what would be their last run of the day, scoring Starlin Castro and putting the Yanks up 2-1 for the time being. The sixth inning was the turning point, where three runs came across to score. Trey Mancini beat out what would’ve been a double play, making it an RBI fielder’s choice. Jonathan Schoop gave them the 3-2 lead on an RBI double and Craig Gentry increased the lead with another RBI groundout. After a few scoreless innings from both teams, Didi Gregorius had a huge, game-tying two-run single in the bottom of the ninth before Chris Carter struck out to end the inning. As mentioned, the Yanks had their chance in the bottom of the tenth, as a Starlin Castro ground ball was thrown to home for the force out and Judge struck out with two outs and the bases loaded. The struggling Mark Trumbo, who’s coming off a season in which he hit 47 homers, hit the go ahead RBI against Bryan Mitchell, followed up by two insurance runs.

On the mound for the Yankees today was rookie left-hander Jordan Montgomery. Monty pitched another solid outing in his sixth start of the season, lasting five-plus innings, allowing three hits, four walks, and striking out seven Oriole hitters. His struggle came in the sixth, as he came out and walked the bulk of the lineup, Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo, to start the inning before being pulled. To most everyone’s disgust, Jonathan Holder came on in relief of Montgomery and allowed a plethora of baserunners. Montgomery ended up with three earned runs on the day, as Holder couldn’t stop the bleeding. Holder also got charged with an earned run and might have earned himself a trip down to Triple-A. The argument should definitely be made for bringing on a guy such as Betances in a situation like that, rather than a young, unseasoned righty in Holder. Unsurprisingly, Joe Girardi brought on Betances for a useless eighth, as Dellin struck out three and walked one. The bullpen was shaky, including Bryan Mitchell’s collapse in the 11th inning.

Photo Credit: Seth Wenig/AP

Wade Miley, a 2012 All Star for the Diamondbacks, looked to continue his stellar start to the season. Now on his fourth team, Miley has gotten worse and worse as his career has gone on, but had four very good starts heading into Sunday’s game. The lefty got out of trouble plenty of times, only surrendering two runs despite allowing eight hits and five walks. His pitch count was also a problem all day, thanks to the walks he allowed, as he already had 95 pitches after four innings. Mychal Givens, quietly one of the more underrated relievers in baseball, followed up Miley’s grittiness with two scoreless innings, including striking out Aaron Judge and Chase Headley to end the seventh with a runner on. Brad Brach followed up with a scoreless inning of his own, but Darren O’Day then continued his rough start to the season by blowing a save in the ninth. Donnie Hart came in for a crucial out and former Met Logan Verrett was able to escape trouble and pick up the win.

The game was very well balanced, as there wasn’t one particular standout. For the Orioles, Adam Jones was three for six with an RBI single and Craig Gentry was one for four with a walk, including a run scored, RBI, and two stolen bases. The Yankee standouts were Matt Holliday, who hit his second homer of the series, and Didi Gregorius, who continued his hot start since returning from the DL by sending the game to extras with his two-run single.

Tomorrow night, the Yankees face a division foe for the third consecutive series, with first pitch being at 7:05 PM ET. Heading into Sunday, the Yankees held the best record in baseball and the Blue Jays held the worst. It’ll be Luis Severino on the mound, who’s coming off of a dominant start against Boston and was rather consistent in April. He’ll face off against veteran righty Marco Estrada, who has build upon his impressive 2016 season. The 8-17 Blue Jays will come to New York to face the 15-8 Yankees.

Winning Pitcher: Logan Verrett (1-0, 0.00 ERA) 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 K

Losing Pitcher: Bryan Mitchell: (1-1, 6.35 ERA) 2.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Notables:

Matt Holliday: 2-4, HR (4), BB

Didi Gregorius: 3-6, 2 RBI

Chris Carter: 2-5, 2B

Aaron Judge: 1-3, R, 2 BB

Article by: Spencer Schultz

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