Baltimore Orioles 2 — New York Yankees 1 (13 innings)
In a close game, Yankees fall to the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 2-1 to force a Game 5.
In following his other fellow starting pitchers, Phil Hughes gave the Yankees a quality outing. In 6.2 innings, Hughes was hurt by just one thing, the one flaw in his game, the home run. In the 5th inning, outfielder Nate McLouth led off the inning with a home run but it didn’t phase Hughes as he proceeded to strikeout the next 3 to follow. Hughes would get 2 more outs before exiting the game and the bullpen to follow Hughes kept the game tied. Boone Logan would finish off the 7th inning and David Robertson had a clean 8th inning. Rafael Soriano pitched 2 innings and in the 9th inning, Soriano picked off pinch-runner Lew Ford to assist in extending this game. In the 11th inning, Joba Chamberlain had a quick inning but the 12th inning did not go as well. The first batter that Chamberlain faced was catcher Matt Wieters who hit a broken bat single into left field but the startling thing was that the broken part of the bat stuck Joba Chamberlain on the mound. Despite some warm-up tosses following the injury, Chamberlain would leave the game and David Phelps would take over to finish the inning. In the 13th inning, A lead off double and a ground out would put the eventual go-ahead run on 3rd base. J.J. Hardy hit a double into left field to put the Orioles ahead before Clay Rapada and Derek Lowe would combine to finish off the 13th inning. The pitching is clearly doing an outstanding job this entire series.
The offensive woes carried over to another game. Jayson Nix got to start at shortstop as Derek Jeter got the DH role and made the most of the opportunity. Nix went 2 for 3 in tonight’s game and would have had a better night had Nate McLouth not robbed him of what would have been a run-scoring double in left field, instead becoming a double play. The only run for the Yankees came on a ground out by Robinson Cano after a double and some small ball. The Yankees had another good opportunity to score in the 8th inning when two singles and a ground out put two in scoring position but a strikeout of Alex Rodriguez and a fly out by Nick Swisher ended the inning with the game still tied. The weak offense continues to baffle fans as they went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base. Robinson Cano left 5 on base by himself. Notably, Alex Rodriguez was pinch-hit for with Eric Chavez in the 13th inning as the Yankees attempted to regain the lead.
Win – Pedro Strop (1-0)
Loss – David Phelps (0-1)
Save – Jim Johnson (2)
Notables
Orioles
*J.J. Hardy – 2 for 6, 2B, RBI (1)
*Nate McLouth – 2 for 5, R, BB, 2B, Solo Home Run (1) in the 5th, RBI (3)
Yankees
*Derek Jeter – 2 for 6, R, 2B
*Jayson Nix – 2 for 3, 2B
Current series: Tied 2-2
