BALTIMORE — It would have been a gift run, but one Joe Girardi believed the run-starved Yankees deserved.
And with Masahiro Tanaka and Kevin Gausman locked in and throwing zeroes, it was one his club needed.
And so a non-balk call by third-base umpire Chris Guccione with a runner on third and one out in the fourth inning incensed Girardi, who soon was ejected.
Starlin Castro would be stranded at third, and there were few scoring chances the rest of the way by either club until the 10th inning.
That’s when the Orioles finally won it on Pedro Alvarez’s sacrifice fly off Andrew Miller, handing the Yankees a dispiriting 1-0 loss Thursday night that closed a dispiriting trip.
The Yankees (9-17) finished the nine-game trip 2-7.
It was the 19th time in 26 games that the Yankees have scored three or fewer runs (they’ve gone 3-16 in those games) and the 14th time they have scored two or fewer (0-14).
Against righthander Johnny Barbato, Hyun Soo Kim opened the 10th with a high chopper to second for an infield single. Kim went to third on Jonathan Schoop’s single to left. As pinch runner Nolan Reimold replaced Kim, in came the lefthanded Miller to face the lefthanded-hitting Alvarez, who lifted a fly ball to medium center. Reimold easily beat Jacoby Ellsbury’s weak, off-line throw to the plate.
As was the case much of the trip, and season, the Yankees had their chances.
With two outs in the top of the ninth and Castro on second, Brian McCann swung through a 3-and-1 pitch and Matt Wieters picked off Castro to end the inning.
McCann worked a walk to start the 10th but pinch runner Brett Gardner was stranded as Zach Britton struck out Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran and Dustin Ackley.
Defense saved the Yankees in the ninth. With one out and pinch runner Joey Rickard on first against Dellin Betances, Wieters skied one deep to right. Dustin Ackley made a leaping catch against the wall, robbing Wieters of an extra-base hit, and when Rickard wandered all the way to second, thinking the ball had hit the wall first, he was doubled off first.
Tanaka turned in by far his best start of the season, not to mention the best by any Yankees starter this year. The righthander, with a terrific splitter, sinker and slider, followed up the Yankees’ 7-0 shutout on Wednesday night by allowing five hits and a walk in eight innings, striking out seven, and lowered his ERA from 2.87 to 2.29.
Gausman equaled a career best by going eight shutout innings and lowered his ERA from 2.45 to 1.42. He allowed two hits through six innings and three overall, did not walk a batter and struck out four.
The Orioles (16-11) put their first runner in scoring position in the third. With one out, No. 9 hitter Ryan Flaherty singled to right, beating the shift. After Manny Machado lined out to Ackley, Adam Jones reached on an infield single. Tanaka got Chris Davis to bounce to first to end the inning, dropping the Orioles to 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position to that point in the series.
The Girardi-Guccione fireworks soon followed.
Castro doubled into the leftfield corner on the first pitch of the fourth inning and went to third on McCann’s fly to medium center. Teixeira followed with a sharp grounder to first, and Chris Davis held Castro at third before stepping on the bag.
With Beltran at the plate, Girardi walked to the third-base end of the dugout and began jawing with Guccione, arguing that Gausman had committed a balk earlier in the at-bat. The two continued yelling and gesturing at each other throughout the at-bat, which ended with Beltran popping out.
As the Orioles came off the field, the shouting continued and Guccione, responsible for Girardi’s first ejection as Yankees manager back in 2008, tossed him.
After an animated on-field argument, Girardi began walking away from Guccione, who cupped one hand over his mouth to yell something more at Girardi. Girardi stopped in his tracks, spun back and verbally sparred some more with the umpire before departing.
..... - Newsday