New York Yankees

The back end of the bullpen failed the New York Yankees in their series finale against the Baltimore Orioles.

  • New York Yankees: 1 (26-30)
  • Baltimore Orioles: 3 (32-23)
  • American League, FINAL, Box Score
  • Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD

The New York Yankees could have very well left Baltimore with a sweep. Instead, they let two games slip away and dropped two out of three this weekend at Camden Yards.

CC Sabathia was stellar, the Yankees gave Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman a one-run lead, Mother Nature greatly aided them, and they still found a way to lose the rubber game.

CC gave them five gritty shutout innings, allowing only two hits while laboring through six walks. Kirby Yates and Betances came on to hold the Orioles in check, but Betances left two men in scoring position when a torrential downpour erupted over Baltimore.

With that being said, the Yankees were fortunate. They did not have to waste Aroldis Chapman as the one hour, 37-minute rain delay began right as he left the bullpen.

However, Chapman did not succeed in cleaning up Betances’ eighth-inning mess. Matt Wieters knocked a two-run single off the left-hander, with a third run scoring due to his inability to back up home plate.

Zach Britton did not have any issue retiring the Yanks 1-2-3 in the ninth to earn his 17th save in front of the approximate 500 individuals who stuck around.

Betances dropped to 2-4 with the loss and his ERA rose to a lofty 3.54, while Chapman blew his first save with New York.

Turning Point:

Mother Nature provided the turning point in this one. The Yankees maintained a 1-0 lead when she released her wrath. At the start of the downpour, the Yankees may viewed it as a blessing. By the end, they were wishing the tarp never came out.

The near two-hour delay completely altered nature the game and gave the Orioles a chance against a relatively cold Aroldis Chapman.

Back-end blunder:

The so-called “three-headed monster” has been a constant strength of this Yankee team since its formation as the club has relied heavily upon each and every of them.

This weekend, the back-end cost them two games. Dellin Betances allowed the Orioles to pull ahead on Friday night and was charged with the tying and go-ahead runs today as Chapman allowed the inherited runners to score.

When the offense scores a mere one run and the bullpen falters, it is a recipe for pure disaster.

What’s next?

The Yanks will head back to the Bronx to start a seven-game home stand which will feature four against the Los Angeles Angels and three against the Detroit Tigers. Monday will mark the start of the eighth annual ‘Hope Week’ for the organization in which they give back to the community in a different form each night.

Tomorrow night’s series-opening pitching matchup will feature Masahiro Tanaka (3-1, 2.78 ERA) and Matt Shoemaker (3-6, 5.50 ERA)

Tanaka has pitched like an ace all year and was no different in his last start, allowing one run over six grind-out innings. However, the start entailed a tough-luck loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Shoemaker has been a disappointment as have the 25-30 Angels this year. With that being said, the right-hander has started to step it up of late. He has strung together three consecutive starts of seven or more innings pitched and two runs or less allowed, striking out a combined 31 batters over the stretch.

First pitch will commence at 7:05 pm ET from Yankee Stadium. The game can be seen on the YES Network and heard on 660 WFAN/101.9 FM. ESNY will have an extensive series preview will all you need to know ahead of the Yankees-Angels clash.

NEXT: Evaluating Mark Teixeira’s Tenure In The Bronx