BALTIMORE – In a forgettable year, the Baltimore Orioles are destined to lose over 100 games.
And if they’re remembered for anything, it is how they bloodied the Yankees and damaged their chances at a postseason berth.
Down to their last strike, the Orioles tied Thursday night’s game on a wild pitch by Yankees reliever Clay Holmes, who was seeking to nail down a two-inning save.
And in the 10th, Austin Hays bounced a one-out single over a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded, giving the Orioles – losers of 99 games – a 3-2 victory over the Yankees.
Out of Baltimore’s no-name bullpen, Cole Sulser pitched the final two scoreless innings, retiring Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres with free runner Brett Gardner at second base in the 10th.
Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery struck out a career-high 12 batters in just 5 2/3 innings, but was lifted after 99 pitches.
And with 15 games left, the Yankees – battling with the Blue Jays and Red Sox for a wild-card spot – are smarting after going just 11-8 against Baltimore in their regular-season series.
Anatomy of a loss
After using Albert Abreu and Joely Rodriguez, Holmes was sent back out for the ninth after delivering a quick eighth inning.
But after DJ Stewart’s one-out single, pinch-runner Kelvin Gutierrez went to second on Holmes’ wild pitch and moved to third on a groundout.
Before striking out for the fourth time Thursday, Austin Wynns was at the plate – with a 2-2 count – when Holmes buried a sinker that plated Gutierrez with the tying run.
Asking Holmes to convert a two-inning save was a product of closer Aroldis Chapman having pitched on three consecutive days entering Thursday.
Plus, Chad Green has struggled lately and threw 25 pitches in Wednesday night’s 4-3 Yankees win, yielding a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth before the Yanks came back in the ninth.
Heavily relied upon, especially in the absence of Jonathan Loaisiga (rotator cuff strain) and Zack Britton (elbow sugery), Green has yielded one run in each of his last four appearances.
And the right-handed Green has given up a home run in each of his last three games.
Jordan Montgomery makes his stand
Once more, the Yankees provided minimal run support for Montgomery, but he made their two-run second inning look big with an effective mix of breaking stuff, sinkers and change-ups.
Joey Gallo’s 35th homer of the year – his 10th as a Yankee – and Gio Urshela’s sharp RBI double to right, following two one-out walks, made it 2-0 against O’s righty starter Chris Ellis.
Ellis wobbled through 4 2/3 innings and walked four batters, but the Yankees kept missing chances.
Gallo’s bid for a grand slam faded at the right-center field warning track to end the fifth. Giancarlo Stanton’s sure one-out double in the seventh became a single, as the rocket grounder struck first base ump Lance Barrett in foul territory.
As a steady drizzle began, Montgomery served up a leadoff homer to Ryan Mountcastle in the sixth, and was lifted with two outs, after issuing his only walk of the night.
DJ LeMahieu’s night off
Brett Gardner was in Thursday’s leadoff spot, with DJ LeMahieu rested from the starting lineup.
Boone felt thaLeMahieu was “a little banged up,’’ the same term he used for resting Gallo from Wednesday night's lineup (Gallo was subbed in defensively in the eighth inning of that game).
Entering Thursday, LeMahieu had started 24 of the Yankees’ previous 25 games.
After hitting a home run in his last at-bat Tuesday, LeMahieu went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts Wednesday night, making him 2-for-13. But overall in September, LeMahieu is batting .288 (15-for-52).
“He’s fine,’’ Boone said. “Just felt like he needed a day (of rest).’’
