Yankees loss to Orioles as AL East title remains on hold

The Yankees volition person to hold astatine slightest 1 much nighttime to clinch the American League East.

The second-place Orioles played spoiler Tuesday nighttime successful the Bronx, defeating the Yankees, 5-3, to support the celebratory champagne connected ice.

But immoderate of the nonaccomplishment was self-inflicted.

A seventh-inning Yankees rally was chopped abbreviated erstwhile Gleyber Torres got caught successful a rundown for a important 3rd out.

Trailing 4-2 with runners connected 2nd and third, Juan Soto laced an RBI azygous into close tract to chopped the shortage to one. Third basal manager Luis Rojas held Torres astatine third, but erstwhile Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman threw to 2nd basal arsenic Soto slid successful safely, Torres started toward location plate.

A 9-2-6-2-5-2-6 rundown ensued, and Torres was retired with Aaron Judge connected deck.

Down 5-3 successful the ninth, the Yankees brought the tying tally to the plate, but pinch hitter Jasson Domínguez grounded retired for the 2nd out, and Alex Verdugo flied retired for the third.

The Yankees entered Tuesday with a six-game pb implicit Baltimore successful the East with six games to play, giving them a magic fig of one. A triumph — oregon an Orioles nonaccomplishment — astatine immoderate constituent successful the season’s last week would wrapper up the part for the Yankees.

But neither happened Tuesday.

The Yankees trailed, 2-0, aft starter Clarke Schmidt surrendered an RBI groundout to Heston Kjerstad successful the 2nd inning and a two-out, run-scoring azygous to Ryan O’Hearn successful the fourth.

Judge got the Yankees connected the committee successful the bottommost of the 4th with a solo changeable against Baltimore starter Dean Kramer for his MLB-leading 56th location run.

Judge has present homered successful 3 consecutive games and leads the majors with 139 RBI. One much RBI would marque Judge the archetypal MLB hitter to thrust successful 140 runs successful a play since 2009.

Still trailing 2-1 successful the fifth, the Yankees threatened by putting runners connected archetypal and 2nd with nary outs. Verdugo grounded into a treble play, however, and Torres followed with a warning-track flyout to extremity the frame.

Anthony Santander enactment Baltimore up, 3-1, with a sixth-inning solo location tally that clanged disconnected of the right-field foul pole. It was the 44th location tally of the play for Santander, who ranks 2nd successful the American League, down lone Judge.

That was the last batter faced by Schmidt, who allowed 3 runs and struck retired 7 implicit 5.1 innings. Schmidt owns a 2.61 ERA successful 4 starts since returning from a lat strain that kept him retired much than 3 months.

Colton Cowser tacked connected a tally successful the eighth inning with a solo homer disconnected of Ian Hamilton, completing the scoring for Baltimore.

The Yankees (92-65) and Orioles (87-60) traded blows successful their divisional dogfight passim the archetypal 5 months of the season, with their head-to-head matchups repeatedly featuring tense moments and, astatine 1 point, a benches-clearing spat.

This week’s three-game bid successful the Bronx had agelong been circled arsenic a imaginable winner-take-all meeting, though a September surge by the Yankees eliminated overmuch of the urgency.

Baltimore led the East by a half-game connected Sept. 6, but the Yankees pulled backmost into archetypal spot the adjacent time and padded their part vantage from there. They entered Tuesday with 12 wins successful their past 16 games, portion Baltimore had dropped 11 of 16.

The Yankees missed the postseason past year, going conscionable 82-80, successful a play successful which Judge missed 42 games owed to a torn ligament successful his close large toe. They retooled successful the offseason by trading for Soto and Verdugo and signing starter Marcus Stroman, past bolstered their roster again with a midseason commercialized for Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Each has contributed to the Yankees boasting the champion grounds successful the AL, but Baltimore refused to bow retired of the divisional contention Tuesday.

The Yankees volition effort again to clinch the East connected Wednesday night, with left-hander Nestor Cortes (9-10, 3.77 ERA) scheduled to start. Baltimore is acceptable to antagonistic with right-hander Zach Eflin (10-9, 3.53 ERA).