Had you accidentally fallen asleep and taken a nap from 7-9 p.m., you wouldn’t have missed a thing.
The Yankees and Orioles blazed through their rubber match as Kevin Gausman and Masahiro Tanaka tried to see who could throw the most zeroes up on the scoreboard. They each completed eight scoreless innings, Gausman in 97 pitches, Tanaka in 102.
Offensively, there was nothing doing on either side. Starlin Castro was the only player in the game to reach third base before the 10th inning, getting there after a double and groundout in the 4th. Matt Wieters even tried to bunt for a hit at one point.
But Baltimore finally broke through in the 10th inning. The Orioles got runners on the corners and nobody out off of Johnny Barbato, and Pedro Alvarez drove in the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Thursday night was the third time the Yankees have been shutout this season. Their first shutout last season didn’t come until May 17th, and their third wasn’t until June 25th.
THE PLAY — Jonathan Schoop singles to center in the 10th (+.225 WPA)
The Orioles’ first runner to third base came in the bottom of the 10th. After Hyun Soo Kim singled to lead off the inning, Jonathan Schoop hit a single to center with Kim advancing to third base. Johnny Barbato, who the Yankees wanted to pitch in a close game, gave up the two singles and was removed immediately after for Andrew Miller.
Kim was removed for pinch-runner Nolan Reimold who came home on Alvarez’s fly ball during the next at-bat.
Any time you get a runner on third with no outs, your chances of scoring a run increase dramatically, so it makes sense that Schoop’s single was the biggest play of the game.
TOP PERFORMERS
Yankees — Masahiro Tanaka: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K
Orioles — Kevin Gausman: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
THE HIGHLIGHT — Dustin Ackley momentarily saves the game
Wieters almost walked off with a 2-run homer in the ninth, but Dustin Ackley made a nice catch against the right-field wall to preserve the double-shutout. The umpires would review the catch to make sure it didn’t hit the wall first and the call was confirmed. The double play sent the game to extra innings.
NOTES
— Joe Girardi was ejected for arguing a non-balk call in the third, a play that would have given the Yankees a 1-0 lead. He had been arguing and motioning towards the third base umpire in the dugout following the play, and was immediately ejected after the Yankees were retired when ran out of the dugout steps.
— Andrew Miller did not start the bottom of the 10th inning. Instead, Barbato came in and well, you know the rest.
— With two outs in the top of the ninth, Brian McCann was batting with Castro on second base. McCann had just swung at a 3-1 pitch in the dirt when Wieters fired down to second base, catching Castro napping and picking him off.
— Aside from Castro, the only Yankees to get hits tonight were Mark Teixeira and Aaron Hicks. They each recorded singles, and Hicks raised his batting average to .091 this season. Baby steps.
— Additionally, Wieters and Castro were the only players in this game to record multiple hits. Wieters notched two singles on the night before he tried to bunt for a third, while Castro managed a double and a single.
UP NEXT
The Yankees try to once again rekindle their rivalry with the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. Rick Porcello (5-0, 2.76 ERA) will take on Michael Pineda (1-3, 6.33 ERA).
Lead photo: Evan Habeeb / USATSI