Yankees survive fear, rally Orioles in ninth place for 4-3 win

Brett Gardner closed a ninth inning rally with a simple two-run bloop as the Yankees snatched victory from the jaws of a devastating loss to defeat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3. A loss would have put them behind the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, but the Yankees managed to survive, maintaining the status quo for another night.

Down 3-2 after losing a lead in the eighth inning, Luke Voit opened up the top of the ninth for the Yankees by knocking out reliever Tyler Wells; Tyler Wade immediately ran with a pinch, which later proved to be decisive. One out later, Gleyber Torres made a single to put the runners in first and second. Wade and Torres then performed a double steal, removing endgame double play from the equation and forcing the Orioles to bring the infield.

With two hits already in the day, Brett Gardner then managed to drop a third perfectly in No Man’s Land:

Wade scored easily, but Torres – who was in many ways responsible for the deficit – was the one who made the big play.

I know it’s a popular dunk on Torres right now, and for good reason, but it was a fantastic play. He had a good reading of the ball from the start, knew the infield was in the field, recognized that the ball was going to be very difficult to catch and took off to be able to score. Is it possible that Richie Martin could have caught this? Absolutely – and if he had, it would have been a double game ending the game. But it would have taken a fantastic game. There is a time and place for assault on the basic paths, and that was it. Will it still work? No, but it was still the right decision here.

This thrilling ninth inning wouldn’t have been necessary, however, if the Yankees had been able to maintain the 2-1 lead they held before the previous half-inning. Receiver Austin Wynns opened the frame with a single from Chad Green. Cedric Mullins then laced a line at Torres’ feet, setting up what should have been an easy 4-6-3 double play… except Torres simply threw in first, allowing the equalizer to stay on base and move on to the second.

Wynns then advanced to third over wild terrain which was very far on the outside, and while Green gave Ryan Mountcastle a shot that wasn’t at home, Austin Hays hit his second homer of the night to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead.

Wandy Peralta would end the bleeding there, allowing the Yankees to make a comeback, but even so, that performance from Green continued on a stretch that is, frankly speaking, no good. The once reliable right-hander has now allowed one home run in three straight games for a career-high 14 this season. While it can be argued that Hays wouldn’t even have come to plate if Torres had played a proper defense, the Yankees have yet to figure out what’s wrong with Green if they are to be successful in the past two weeks.

What shouldn’t be overlooked in the excitement of the final rounds is how good Néstor Cortes Jr. was tonight. As mentioned in the game preview, Cortes has been throwing an off ball in recent weeks, but tonight he’s taken his game to the next level. Taking advantage of home plate umpire Ryan Additon’s wide strike zone, he limited the Orioles’ offense to a single point on three hits, striking out 11 – four more than his previous career record – and walking only a pair in 6.1 sleeves.

Cortes absolutely baffled the Baltimore hitters, who only produced five hard-hit balls and a barrel against him when they made contact; this was equivalent to an xBA of only 0.180. He recorded three strikeouts in two separate innings, working around a double and a walk in the second and striking out the side in the fourth. In the process, he made history, as the 2021 Yankees became the first team in franchise history to have six different pitchers register 10 out games.

Cortes’ only mistake came thanks to a two-strikeout solo shot from Hays, which he stoked in his first two home plate appearances. It all comes together to be Cortes’ best start to career, and one of the best this season by any Yankees pitcher.. I know pitchers’ wins aren’t that important, but it’s a shame he wasn’t credited with the win.

Of course, none of that would have been a problem if the Yankees offense had, you know, managed to score more than two runs in the first eight innings against literally the worst pitching staff in the American League. As a reminder, the O’s allowed an average of 6.00 points per game, 0.88 points more than the second worst Minnesota Twins.

The Yankees hitters only had five hits before the ninth. Fortunately, one of those hits was a two-point shot from Gio Urshela in the third that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead:

Recorded at 102.6 mph at the start and covering 397 feet, this was Urshela’s first home run since July 4.

Sánchez can also be absolved of blame, as he pierced the ball twice, but unfortunately both practices found gloves. At the top of the second, Mullins hit the wall to pull back what would have been a two-point shot, using his entire 5-foot-8 frame and battling a fan in the process.

Sánchez then took the lead in seventh as he pulled a line at 111.1 mph on the third baseline, a hit with an xBA of 0.820, but one that found Kelvin Gutierrez’s glove. Sometimes luck isn’t on your side, and tonight it wasn’t for Sánchez. If he can continue to string battles like this one together, however, the Yankees should be able to score more runs than they have for most of tonight.

Outside of those two and Gardner, the Yankees offense has floundered against a weak pitching staff. John Means is the ace of the Orioles, and it’s good that they didn’t light him up, but he only played 5.2 innings. Baltimore doesn’t have a large bullpen; a competitor must score against them.

After two consecutive half-innings with lead changes, Aroldis Chapman came to nail the save, making his third appearance in as many days. Fortunately, he threw a frame without incident, putting the Orioles in order. Michael Kay was right; this match was indeed “a microcosm of the season”.

Peralta gets the credit for the win and improves to 5-3, while Wells drops to 2-3; Chapman gets credit for his 27th stop of the year. With the win, the Yankees improved to 82-64, winning their 29th consecutive season with a winning record. The Red Sox and Blue Jays both won, leaving the AL Wild Card race in a virtual tie for another night.

The Yankees wrap up the season series with the Orioles tomorrow night with an unusual start time of 5:05 p.m. ET. Jordan Montgomery recovers the ball for the Yankees as they embark on a series critical sweep; he will face right-hander Chris Ellis.

The score of the box.