The Yankees were well aware of their slim hopes of making a playoff run in the last two weeks of the season and fought bravely to sweep the series against the Pirates. With a home run by Anthony Volpe, they came back to tie the game. However, a hit bouncing off the third-base bag deceived Oswald Peraza and let the Pirates regain the lead and defeat the Yankees by a slender margin of 3-2.
Carlos Rodon had an opportunity to make amends at PNC Park, and he delivered his most impressive start of the season, even though the final outcome remained unchanged. This marked the first time he pitched into the seventh inning in pinstripes, striking out a season-high 10 batters. However, the Yankees squandered his strong performance and ended in a 3-2 loss to the Pirates.
Despite their recent 5-2 road trip, the Yankees (76-74) missed a crucial opportunity to sweep the Pirates (70-80), a feat they likely needed to have any remote chance of reaching the playoffs. With 12 games remaining, they find themselves trailing the final AL wild-card spot by 6 ½ games.
Yankees bounced off
The Yankees struggled to get a hit in the initial five innings of the game, facing Colin Selby for two innings and then right-hander Andre Jackson. This offensive drought resulted in them falling behind 2-0. However, Estevan Florial broke the hitless streak with a leadoff single in the sixth inning and scored from first base on DJ LeMahieu’s double down the left-field line.
Carlos Rodon began the game strong, retiring the first six Pirates he faced. However, in the third inning, Jared Triolo initiated the scoring with a double off the right-centerfield wall, followed by Liover Peguero’s two-out RBI single, putting the Pirates ahead 1-0.
In the fourth inning, the Yankees starter achieved a career milestone by recording his 1,000th career strikeout when he struck out Ke’Bryan Hayes. Just two pitches later, former Yankees player Miguel Andujar hit a home run off the rightfield foul pole, extending the Pirates’ lead to 2-0.
The Yankees’ first hit of the game came in the form of a single to right-center by Estevan Florial on the first pitch of the sixth inning. DJ LeMahieu followed up with an RBI double inside the third-base bag.
Anthony Volpe leveled the score at 2 with a 417-foot home run to center in the seventh inning, marking his 21st home run.
However, the turning point came in the bottom half of the seventh inning. Rodon allowed a one-out double to Jared Triolo but struck out Alika Williams. Jason Delay then hit a line drive toward third base. Oswald Peraza was positioned deep and close to the line, ready to catch the ball and make a long throw to first. While it would have been a challenging play, it was within his reach. Instead, the ball struck the bag and ricocheted into foul territory down the leftfield line, allowing Triolo to score and giving the Pirates the lead.
Boone mentioned that there was an unfortunate bounce off the bag.
Rodon (3-6, 5.90 ERA) was in disbelief. Despite delivering a strong performance, he saw his outing come to an end after setting personal records with 6 2⁄3 innings pitched, 103 pitches thrown, and tying his career-high in strikeouts with 10 while playing for the Yankees.
In the ninth inning, the Yankees had one last opportunity when Austin Wells smashed a one-out double to deep center field. However, their comeback aspirations were dashed as David Bednar struck out Volpe and Peraza to conclude the game.
Yankees fought back
After securing their third consecutive victory on Saturday and narrowing the gap to six games behind the final American League wild-card position with 13 games remaining, the Yankees entered Sunday’s game with only a 0.9% chance of making the playoffs, as per FanGraphs. Baseball Reference was even more pessimistic, giving them a mere 0.3% chance.
In order to mount a serious playoff push, the Yankees needed both favorable circumstances and assistance from other teams. What they didn’t need was a seventh-inning ground ball on Sunday that took an unfortunate bounce off the third-base bag, resulting in a double that drove in the decisive run in the Pirates’ 3-2 victory.
The game was deadlocked at 2-2 with two outs and a runner on second in the seventh inning, following a missed called third strike by Rodon. Jason Delay hit a ground ball that struck the third-base bag and rebounded into foul territory, allowing the Pirates to take the lead.
Losing pitcher Carlos Rodon acknowledged that it was just part of the game and mentioned that he wished the ball didn’t hit the bag, expressing his desire to get the punchout and keep the game at 2-2.
The Yankees, who had recently won 14 out of their last 19 games, now have a record of 76-74. While their playoff chances still exist, they are hanging by a thread and are as close to zero as one could imagine.
Boone stated before the game that they couldn’t predict what might happen, as strange things tend to occur in baseball. He emphasized the importance of playing well, taking care of their own performance, and playing good baseball as they move forward. Boone mentioned that they would assess their situation at the end.
The Yankees would need to surpass two out of the three teams (Texas, Toronto, and Seattle) currently ahead of them to secure one of the last two wild-card spots. They are set to play six games against the Blue Jays, with a three-game series starting at home on Tuesday. However, they will not have any matchups against the Rangers or Mariners.
Aaron Judge conveyed the message that they needed to go out and secure some victories. He emphasized that they were not out of contention and would continue to fight.
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