The only champagne sprayed at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night came from the visitors’ locker room.
In the clubhouse it was much quieter and drier, Gleyber Torres stayed tries to explain his mistake in baserunning which thwarted a comeback by the Yankees with Aaron Judge at the helm.
A play by the Yankees to cut the deficit to one run in the seventh inning ended with Torres being hit on a rundown, costing them their first chance at the American League East title, losing 5-3 to the Orioles.
“When it comes down to it, this kind of thing can’t happen,” Judge said. “We can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot by making mistakes like this on the basepaths. But it happened and we have to move on and get ready for (Wednesday).”
The Yankees (92-65) will try again to win the division on Wednesday and only need a win or a loss against the Orioles (87-70) in their last five games.
While the Orioles secured a playoff spot with the win, Tuesday’s loss hurt the Yankees after they missed the chance to easily decide their game in the series’ opening game.
Trailing 4-1 at the start of the seventh inning, it looked as if the Yankees could use their magic to secure one final victory.
Torres (3-for-4) hit a ground-rule double to right field against Yennier Cano, cutting the deficit to 4-2 and bringing in Juan Soto as the crowd jumped to its feet and was on the verge of erupting.
Soto hit an RBI single into right field and, after the late home throw, ran to second base to score Alex Verdugo for the run that made it 4-3.
Torres had initially circled third base, but was almost back on his way to base when he ran straight to home base while catcher Adley Rutschman threw to second base and tried to catch Soto.
Soto slid in safely, but the Orioles got Torres into a rundown and eventually retired him, ending the inning and denying Judge – who had hit his 56th home run earlier in the game – a chance to tie or take the lead.
“I was just trying to protect Soto,” said Torres, who thought his teammate was in danger of making the third out and was trying to keep the Orioles from making a play on second base. “I was a little late getting to home plate. I think I was a little late and after that they threw me out.”
“I feel like I need to be a little more aggressive when I make that decision – go right out and steal the run.”
Manager Aaron Boone said Torres would have to either fake going home or commit to it sooner.
“Once Rutschman is on the right track (to throw to second), are you going to go all out or are you going to bluff him to try to pull it off?” Boone said. “He got caught in the middle.”
This was the sixth time this season that Torres recorded an out at home plate, which is the most in the major leagues.
“Do you know the context of all the outs at home plate?” Boone said. “Some of them are two outs, bang-bang plays on an aggressive send. So it’s important to know the context of that. He’s actually making some mistakes on the bases. He’s improved that from last year and the year before that when he got himself in trouble a lot.”
The Yankees had another prime opportunity to come back with no outs in the fifth inning when they were down 2-1 with runners on first and second base, but Alex Verdugo got a double play that drew boos from the 41,419 fans before Torres flew to the warning track.
The Orioles hit a home run in three consecutive innings – one each against Clarke Schmidt (who ended his night in the sixth inning), Tim Mayza and Ian Hamilton.
It was a reminder that, despite their recent struggles, the Orioles have the Yankees under control (they would win the season series on Tuesday if it came down to a tiebreaker) and could face them again in the postseason.
“I think it’s going to be back and forth for the rest of this series,” Judge said. “I even talked to Rutschman at home and said, ‘I’ll probably see you later.’ I’m looking forward to it.”
