New York Yankees 4 – Baltimore Orioles 9
The Yankees were not able to finish the season on a strong note, at least not by their own doing.
Against Chris Tillman in the first inning, the first two batters flew out but Alex Rodriguez walked and Carlos Beltran hit a single to put runners on the corners. Unfortunately, Brian McCann flew out to right field, stranding two runners.
Michael Pineda took the mound for his final regular season start and started with a strikeout of Nolan Reimold. Gerardo Parra got on base with a single and then with two outs, Chris Davis hit a double to put two in scoring position. Matt Wieters came through with two outs and hit a single to right, scoring two runs.
The bats needed to respond and Greg Bird started the second inning with a ground-rule double in the left field corner. On a ground out to first base by Chase Headley, Bird advanced to third. Then, on a ground out by Dustin Ackley, Bird scored to cut the deficit in half.
Pineda followed his first inning with a pair of scoreless innings but the fourth inning was enough to knock him out. After a leadoff double by Matt Wieters, Pineda got the next two outs. The elusive third out was not found when J.J. Hardy hit a single to center field that scored Wieters and put the Orioles back ahead by two. Chris Capuano entered the game in relief of Pineda and generated a ground ball but it came off a deflection. On the deflection from Ryan Flaherty off of Capuano, Ackley was unable to handle it and he reached base with a double. Following an intentional walk of Reimold for a force out at every base, Gerardo Parra hit a single to center field, scoring two. Parra was out trying to go to second base but the Orioles extended the lead to 5-1.
In 3 2/3 innings, Michael Pineda allowed four runs on six hits without a walk and five strikeouts.
Dustin Ackley got on base with two outs in the fourth inning when he hit a triple to center field but Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out following a Gregorius walk. The Yankees stranded two more in the fifth inning before the Orioles struck again in the fifth inning.
Against Bryan Mitchell, Manny Machado led off with a walk before Chris Davis delivered with a two-run home run to left center field. Mitchell retired one more batter before a walk was his cue to exit. James Pazos gave up a single before striking out the next two batters and end the inning.
In the sixth inning, Dustin Ackley got on base with a one-out single and Didi Gregorius came through with a triple to put a run on the board. Reliever T.J. McFarland came in to get Ellsbury and Gardner out, ending the inning.
The Yankees scored a run in the seventh inning but they were still trailing entering the eighth inning. Following their half of the inning, the Houston Astros were defeated in their game with the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing home field advantage in the Wild Card game to fall into the Yankees’ lap.
Justin Wilson, Andrew Miller and Caleb Cotham combined for the eighth inning. Cotham surrendered the two-run home run to Chris Davis, his second of the night, before ending the inning.
The Yankees removed their starters from the game in the ninth inning and were set down in order. The regular season ended on a awful skid but the road is not over, Tuesday extends the life of this year’s campaign.
Win – Chris Tillman (11-11)
Loss – Michael Pineda (12-10)
Notables
Yankees
*Dustin Ackley – 2 for 4, R, 3B, 2 RBI (30)
*Didi Gregorius – 2 for 3, BB, 2B, 3B, RBI (56)
Orioles
*Chris Davis – 3 for 4, 3 R, BB, 2B, 2 Two-run home runs (47) in the 5th & 8th, 4 RBI (117)
*Gerardo Parra – 2 for 4, 2 R, 2 RBI (51)
Final Yankees Regular Season Record: 87-75
