Left for dead at the trade deadline, the New York Yankees walked into the month of September only 2.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. An improbable month of August in which the Yankee bats came alive and were resurged by their youth brought them to this position, and they began a pivotal three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles. The very same Orioles who held that 2.5 game lead over the Bombers in the Wild Card standings.
Sometimes things don’t go as you want them to and the Yankees wound up learning that the hard way. They were blitzkrieged by the Orioles on Friday night en route to an 8-0 defeat which was as poorly timed as it was backbreaking. Their shot surely isn’t completely snuffed out here on September 2, but was weakened for certain and the priority of victory is now raised sevenfold in this series.
Baltimore’s bats mostly provided impact via the long ball. The home team hit four homers against Yankee pitchers as Chris Davis, Mark Trumbo, Pedro Alvarez and Manny Machado were tagged with doing the damage on the scoreboard. Apart from Adam Jones’ RBI single in the second inning, the home run was the entire source of offense for the home team Friday as Yankee pitchers could not keep the ball in the yard.
Starting pitcher Dylan Bundy kept the Yankee hitters at bay despite issuing four free passes. Bundy struck out five and allowed two hits over 5.2 innings, and the Yankees shot themselves in the foot many a time even with baserunners aboard.
The Play: The Bull goes on parade (WPA +.169)
Chad Green proved to be no matador in this at-bat against Baltimore’s Pedro Alvarez. El Toro went on a parade around the bases after unloading a crushing two-run shot to right field that excited the Camden Yards faithful to say the very least.
Notes
– Chad Green left the game in the earlygoings after experiencing elbow issues.
– Jonathan Holder was impressive in his first performance of the season. Holder had a clean inning, throwing a strikeout and allowed zero hits or baserunners in the frame.
– The Orioles amassed six extra-base hits, with the aforementioned four home runs joined by two doubles by JJ Hardy and Matt Wieters.
The Highlight: Yankees, Orioles team up for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Tonight in Baltimore and around the league, MLB teams wore yellow wristbands for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in conjunction with Stand Up 2 Cancer. All told, a very good move by Major League Baseball to help a worthy cause and initiative.
Up Next
The Yankees and Orioles will meet again on Saturday evening. CC Sabathia (8-11, 4.31 ERA) and Kevin Gausman (6-10, 3.73 ERA) will be your starters for the game. You’ll be able to catch the game on the YES Network.