New York Yankees swept by Baltimore Orioles

Entering the bottom of the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s contest at Camden Yards, the Yankees led the Baltimore Orioles by 2-1 and were on the verge of salvaging a split of the abbreviated two-game set. Then, New York’s bullpen imploded.

Baltimore (69-50) tallied four runs in the frame to pull out a 5-3 triumph over the Yankees (61-58). The Bombers have now lost four straight contests and sit eight games behind Baltimore in the American League East.

The Orioles knotted the score, 2-2, on a one-out solo home run by 2B Jonathan Schoop off RHP Dellin Betances in the eighth inning. Betances had previously pitched 2.1 scoreless frames, tying his major-league career-high for innings pitched in a single game. He also threw 2.1 innings at the Mets on May 15 and at Houston on Sept. 29, 2013.

RHP Shawn Kelley replaced Betances and, after recording the inning’s second out, gave the game away. RF Nick Markakis singled to centerfield, 3B Chris Davis worked a walk, and CF Adam Jones launched a three-run home run over the left-centerfield wall. Kelley (2-4; 4.74 ERA) hung a slider on Jones’ blast.

Prior to the dramatic finish, the story of the night was the return of Yankees’ RHP Michael Pineda, who hadn’t pitched since April 23 because of a pine-tar suspension and a shoulder injury. All things considered, Pineda was impressive. Over five innings, the starter allowed one run on two hits while striking out four and walking nobody. Pineda’s fastball velocity ranged from 91-mph to 95-mph.

Pineda got away with several hanging sliders. LF Delmon Young flew out to the left-field warning track in the second inning, and Davis was denied extra bases in the fourth inning on a leaping grab by RF Martin Prado.

RHP Chris Tillman fired seven solid frames for Baltimore. Tillman allowed two runs on five hits while striking out three. He retired the final 10 batters he faced.

Tillman’s most noteworthy battles came against 2B Stephen Drew. After Drew doubled and scored in the third inning, he grounded to second base with runners at the corners to end the fourth inning and was called out amidst controversy for the last out of the seventh inning. Though Drew reached second base on an apparent throwing error by C Nick Hundley, he was called out for running outside the baseline. Manager Joe Girardi was ejected upon arguing the call.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead when C Francisco Cervelli launched a hanging curveball into the left-field seats in the third inning. Cervelli’s dinger was the Yankees’ first hit in their last 25 at bats with runners in scoring position dating back to the sixth inning of last Friday night’s win over Cleveland.

Baltimore pulled to within 2-1 in the fifth inning. A double by DH Nelson Cruz and a single by 1B Steve Pearce put runners at the corners with one out, and SS Ryan Flaherty brought home Cruz with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

The Yankees scored a run in the ninth inning on a RBI groundout by 3B Chase Headley, but a shaky Zach Britton managed to retire Drew on a grounder to first base to end the game.

Notes:

1) The Yankees lost their first four series against the Orioles for only the second time since the advent of the unbalanced schedule in 2001. New York also dropped its first four sets to Baltimore in 2007.

2) Four of Schoop’s 11 home runs this season have come against the Yankees.

Monday: Orioles 11 Yankees 3

1) The Yankees appeared to be in control of the game in the bottom of the third inning. With one on and one out, New York held a 3-1 lead, and Orioles’ star 3B Manny Machado was forced to leave the game with a sprained right knee endured on a swing that resulted in a groundout to shortstop.

Rather than slumber, however, Baltimore’s bats began to erupt after Machado’s injury. Jones promptly cut New York’s lead to 3-2 with a two-out RBI single, and a two-run dinger by Davis afforded Baltimore a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning. Ironically, Davis had been benched due to his anemic .193 batting average and only entered the game to replace Machado.

2) LHP Chris Capuano fired six serviceable frames for the Bombers. Capuano (1-3; 4.13 ERA) surrendered four runs on six hits while striking out seven. He effectively mixed his sinker, off-speed pitches, and breaking pitches, but a hanging slider to Davis proved costly.

3) The Orioles extended their lead to 7-3 with a three-run seventh inning against RHP Adam Warren. Another two-out RBI knock by Jones, this time a double, plated Baltimore’s fifth run. Cruz concluded the rally with a two-run dinger.

4) Baltimore continued the onslaught in the eighth inning, scoring four runs against RHP Chase Whitley for an 11-3 edge. A three-run home run by Schoop highlighted the rally.

Baltimore’s 11 runs were the most allowed by the Yankees in a loss since they surrendered 12 runs to the Mets in a 12-7 setback on May 13.

5) The Yankees’ offense started the game effectively against RHP Bud Norris, tallying three runs over the first two frames. A RBI groundout by SS Derek Jeter following a triple by LF Brett Gardner commenced scoring in the opening inning.

Baltimore knotted the contest, 1-1, on a sacrifice fly by Cruz in the home half of the first inning, but the Yankees retook the lead, 3-1, in the top of the second inning on what might become an all-time baseball blooper. With DH Carlos Beltran at third base and Headley at first base with one out, the trail runner bolted for second base on a botched hit-and-run play. Realizing that he would be out by a wide margin, Headley instigated a rundown during which Beltran eventually broke for home plate and scored when Machado launched a wild throw.

The play wasn’t over. Norris (10-7; 3.75 ERA), who was backing up the throw behind home plate, lightly tossed the ball to nobody, and Headley alertly scored from first base. Headley and Beltran were awarded steals of second base and home plate, respectively, in the sequence, while Machado and Norris were charged with errors.

6) Norris labored to 108 pitches through five innings but kept his composure after the botched rundown and early control issues. Aside from Gardner’s leadoff triple, the Yankees didn’t hit Norris hard. New York finished 0-8 with runners in scoring position on the night.

Following an off-day on Thursday, the Yankees will travel to St. Petersburg, Fla. for a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays.