BALTIMORE — The Yankees rode their low-leverage relievers long and hard Thursday night at Oriole Park. Manager Aaron Boone rode them until the wheels fell off and a near win turned into a devastating loss.
The Baltimore Orioles tied the game with two outs in the ninth on a wild pitch by Clay Holmes, then won it in the 10th with Wandy Peralta pitching.
Austin Hays’ bases-loaded, seeing-eye single to left was the final blow in a 3-2 Yankees loss that sunk them to third in the American League Wild Card standings a half game behind the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.
“We should have closed it out,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “So frustrating.”
The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the second inning and stayed in front until the ninth when Holmes was closing with Aroldis Chapman and Chad Green unavailable. Chapman had pitched three days in a row, while Green threw 25 pitches in Wednesday’s game.
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In the Baltimore ninth, DJ Stewart singled with one out and went to second on a wild pitch, then Holmes retired Pat Vailaika on a groundball that moved the tying run to third with two down. With Austin Wynns batting, Holmes threw a high and outside 2-2 fastball that deflected off catcher Gary Sanchez’s glove and to the backstop. Pinch-runner Kelvin Gutierrez raced home and the game was tied.
Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery racked up a career-high 12 strikeouts holding the O’s to one run over 5 2/3 innings, then the Yankees bullpen held a 2-1 lead until the ninth.
The Yanks did all of their scoring with one out in the second inning when Joey Gallo hit a homer to right, Gary Sanchez and Tyler Wade walked, and Gio Urshela rapped an RBI double.
Baltimore remained down two runs until the sixth when Ryan Mountcastle hit a leadoff homer off Montgomery, his 29th of the season setting a new Orioles record for a rookie.
Montgomery was a K machine from the start, as he began his outing striking out Orioles leadoff hitter Cedric Mullins and No. 3 hitter Austin Hays in a 1-2-3 first. He fanned two more in the second and third, three in the fourth, two in the fifth and one more in the sixth for an even dozen.
This big effort from Montgomery was a huge rebound from his last start last weekend at Citi Field when he allowed a career-high seven runs, five of them earned, over 3 1/3 innings in a loss to the Mets.
NOTABLE
-- Sanchez was 0-for-2 with two walks, leaving him 6-for-49 in his last 15 games. He has been productive during the stretch with four homers and nine RBI. Also, Sanchez just missed a two-run homer on Wednesday when Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins leaped high over the outfield wall to make a great grab.
-- The Orioles claimed reliever Brooks Kriske off waivers from the Yankees and optioned the right-hander to Triple-A. The righty pitched in eight games with the Yankees this season and allowed 13 earned runs over 7 2/3 innings for a 15.26 ERA. The 2016 sixth-round draft pick debuted in the majors for the Yanks in 2020 and pitched to a 14.73 ERA in four games.
--Injured reliever Jonathan Loaisiga will begin a throwing program on Friday.
-- Rehabbing starter Luis Severino will throw a two-inning sim game on Friday.
LOOKING AHEAD
Friday: Indians at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. RHP Zach Plesac (10-5, 4.45), WPIX.
Saturday: Indians at Yankees, 1:05 p.m., YES & MLB Network. RHP Aaron Civale (10-4, 3.76) vs. RHP Luis Gil (1-0, 2.88)
Sunday: Indians at Yankees, 1:05 p.m., YES. RHP Eli Morgan (2-7, 6.03) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (15-7, 2.75).
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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