New York Yankees 1, Baltimore Orioles 2
NEW YORK — Friday’s game was a double blow for New York fans. Aaron Judge couldn’t get his 62nd home run despite all expectations while the New York Yankees lost the game 2-1 to the Baltimore Orioles.
One game after matching the American League home run record that Yankees great Roger Maris established in 1961, Judge struck out in the first inning, singled in the third, and walked in the sixth against Jordan Lyles. After that, Judge was deliberately walked in the eighth inning by rookie Félix Bautista.
Aaron Judge still has a total of six games to play, two of which will take place this weekend against the Orioles, and the remaining four will take place against Texas and conclude the regular season.
Yankees reliever Zack Britton looked hurt when he threw a wild pitch that broke a tie in the sixth inning, and the Orioles (81-76) kept their slim chance of making the AL wild-card game. The Yankees said that Britton, who had returned from Tommy John surgery just the previous week, was suffering from left arm fatigue.
On a brisk autumn evening at Yankee Stadium, the venue was packed to capacity with 47,583 spectators watching the game. When Aaron Judge stepped up to the plate, the crowd erupted into a frenzy, and the spectators gave the impression that they were making an effort not to fall into complete silence with each pitch that was delivered to the slugger, as they had done during the previous week’s homestand.
The Yankees power hitter is attempting to become the first player to win the Triple Crown since Miguel Cabrera of Detroit in 2012. He has 130 runs batted in, which places him in first place in the American League, and his batting average of .3147 is only slightly behind that of Luis Arraez of Minnesota, who has a .3141 average.
Baltimore has made a determined bid to avoid losing for the fifth season in a row. But in order for the team to make the playoffs, it must win its final five games, as well as receive some assistance from Seattle and Tampa Bay. Following a season in which they finished 52-110, the Orioles have a chance to become the first team since at least the year 1900 to post a winning record in the year following a season in which they lost 110 games or more.
His 84th run was driven in by a single hit by Ryan Mountcastle in the first inning. Oswaldo Cabrera hit his fifth home run since making his debut on August 17, and it was the one that tied the game for the AL East champion Yankees in the fifth inning.
In 2019, Jordan Lyles tied the number of wins that was his career high. He did so by allowing four hits in seven or more innings. He only walked one batter while striking out nine batters, which tied for the season high.
In the sixth inning, Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán (2-4) forced the first two Orioles batters to walk and retired Mountcastle on a groundout. Britton relieved him and walked Gunnar Henderson. But Jesus Aguilar hit him to the backstop while Britton couldn’t prevent him. Ron Marinaccio took over for Britton in this role. A pitcher is required to face three batters or finish a half-inning by the rules of baseball, but if he is injured, he can be removed from the game earlier.
DL Hall, a Class A rookie, threw a perfect ninth inning while striking out two batters to earn his first save since 2019 at that level.
UP NEXT
On Saturday, Nestor Cortes (11-4, 2.56) will face Baltimore’s Austin Voth (5-3, 4.19) Rain is in the forecast for Saturday.
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