Yankees miss chance to sweep Orioles in embarrassing fashion following Anthony Volpe, Alex Verdugo blunders

BALTIMORE — The Yankees had a chance to sweep the Orioles on Sunday, but they blew it in spectacular fashion in a 6-5 loss prior to the All-Star break.The Yankees, 58-40 (.592), will enter the off days with a second-place record, as Baltimore is now 58-38 (.604). The two foes face off again at Yankee Stadium during the final week of the regular season.On Sunday, the Yankees had a chance to win late, as Ben Rice gave his team a 5-3 lead with a three-run homer in the ninth. However, a fielding error from Gold Glover Anthony Volpe gave Baltimore a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth before Alex Verdugo misjudged a Cedric Mullins double and fell to the ground in left.“To me, that’s a routine groundball,” Volpe said, adding that he didn’t move his feet well on the play. “The game’s gotta be over.”Verdugo, meanwhile, took a step in before realizing Mullins’ hit was over his head. In an attempt to make up lost ground, Verdugo tripped as the Orioles celebrated a walk-off win.The ball, hit off Clay Holmes, had a catch probability of 99%.“It’s the wrong first step,” said a visibly distraught Verdugo, who sat at his locker with his head down before talking to reporters. “I mean, just leave it at that. I take a lot of pride out there defensively, and this one’s on me.”Just like that, a teeter-totter affair ended on a humiliating note for the Yankees and two of their best defenders.“There’s no one you’d rather have the ball hit to, frankly,” Aaron Boone said of Volpe before talking about Verdugo’s blunder. “Just misread it. Simple as that. It’s a play we should make, but I think he just misjudged it.”Added Clay Holmes, who walked two in the ninth: “Two guys that never take plays off. They’re in it. They compete out there. Obviously, two tough plays, but we all know that’s not them. Not an ideal situation there, but the defense they play is incredible.”Meanwhile, Carlos Rodón offered support for Verdugo, who ranks third among all left fielders with four Defensive Runs Saved.“I always appreciate the effort from Dugie out there,” the starting pitcher said. “He’s always hustling, running into walls. It happens. He’s a good player.”Prior to the costly mishaps, Rodón labored but limited the Orioles on a muggy day in Baltimore.The lefty only lasted four innings in the sun, as long second and third innings jacked up Rodón’s pitch count. Gunnar Henderson, meanwhile, smoked a hanging slider off the starter in the third inning. The two-run blast, Henderson’s 28th homer of the year, gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead after Trent Grisham gave the Yankees the game’s first run with an RBI single in the second.Volpe scored on the knock after doubling.Despite pitching into multiple jams, Rodón didn’t allow any runs before or after Henderson’s homer. He also totaled four hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.Rodón’s pedestrian day did see him avoid the early damage that plagued him over his previous five starts. Rodón, well-aware that he was too dependent on his fastball in the opening frames of those games, surrendered 15 first-inning runs over that stretch.On Sunday, he used just four heaters during a scoreless, 17-pitch first inning that saw him strike out two.“It was a little bizarre at first,” Rodón said, “but just wanted to show that I can throw sliders and breaking balls and kind of show the fastball late.”Of the 98 pitches Rodón threw in the game, 37 were fastballs. The pitch also averaged 97.1 mph, a 1.7-mph increase from his season average.Rodón also threw 40 sliders, 12 curveballs and nine changeups.The Yankees tied the game in the fifth when Grisham hit a solo homer off O’s starter, Dean Kremer, who logged 4.2 innings, four hits, two walks and four strikeouts.However, Baltimore regained the lead when Anthony Santander took Tommy Kahnle on a trip to Eutaw Street in the bottom of the inning. The bases-empty blast traveled 421 feet.While the Yankees missed out on a chance to sweep the Orioles, the Bombers had failed to win eight straight series and had lost 20 of their last 31 games before the three-game set in Baltimore. They’ll take a series win over a division rival going into the All-Star break, something Boone described as “good for the soul” prior to Sunday’s game.“That’s a killer, right? Let’s acknowledge that,” Boone said afterward. “And it’s been a rough several weeks here for us. Acknowledge that. The reality is, from the last couple of games in Tampa and into here, I feel like we’re competing our asses off and starting to turn the corner and see the signs we want to see as we turn this thing around while acknowledging that the other reality is we’re in a great spot.“It’s all right there in front of us. We got the pen. We get to write this amazing script. And that’s because we’ve put ourselves in that position.”
Originally Published: July 14, 2024 at 5:09 p.m.

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