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New York Yankees Recap: New Look Bullpen Struggles In Yanks Loss to Orioles

By Ricky Keeler

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With closer Andrew Miller on the 15-day disabled list, the New York Yankees have had to re-shuffle how they handle their bullpen. With tonight’s game tied at four in the bottom of the sixth, the bullpen of Chris Martin and Sergio Santos gave up five combined runs as the Baltimore Orioles won the game 9-4. The O’s have won six straight and taken the first two games in this series while the Yankees have lost three in a row.

Even in tonight’s loss, it was New York who got on the board first in the top of the first against Orioles’ starter Bud Norris. With Chase Headley on second and two outs, Mark Teixeira drove Headley in with a RBI single to left. Brian McCann would follow that up with a double to center field that scored Teixeria and gave New York a 2-0 lead.

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In the third inning, the Orioles would find a way to get those runs back. After a leadoff single by Manny Machado, Nolan Reimold stepped to the plate. The O’s left fielder hit a foul pop up that should have ended the at-bat, but the ball dropped between Teixeira and McCann. Reimold would make the Yankees pay by driving a ball over the wall in right center for a two-run homer. Reimold’s second of the season tied the game at two.

Then, in the fifth, Baltimore took their first lead of the game with yet another home run. After a Ryan Flaherty leadoff single, Machado hit a two-run home run of his own to center. His 11th of the season gave Buck Showalter’s club a 4-2 lead. Machado was 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI’s in the win.

While CC Sabathia would allow a triple to Reimold in the inning, he retired Adam Jones, Delmon Young, and Chris Davis consecutively to keep the Yankees in the game. Sabathia, who took the no-decision in this game, gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings of work. He struck out three batters and walked no one on 93 pitches. While Sabathia did not walk a batter, he has now given up six home runs over his last four starts.

New York would bail Sabathia out by tying the game in the top of the sixth. Headley, who went 3-for-5 on the night, led off with a single. That set the stage for Alex Rodriguez. He took a 1-2 pitch from Norris over the wall in right center for a game-tying two-run home run. A-Rod’s 12th of the season gave him 666 home runs on his career and made him the second player in MLB history to reach 2,000 career RBI’s.

The Yankees had a chance for more as they loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth. However, the game stayed tied when reliever Chaz Roe got Chris Young (who was pinch-hitting for Mason Williams) to fly out to center to end the scoring threat.

New York’s bullpen struggles began in the bottom of the sixth when Chris Martin made his first appearance with the big league club since May 8. In that inning, Martin had three wild pitches and gave up three runs. J.J Hardy would give the O’s the lead with a base hit to center that scored Matt Wieters from third. Three batters later, it was Machado who picked up two more RBI’s with a base hit to right to give Baltimore a 7-4 lead.

Saturday night saw the debut of Sergio Santos in a New York Yankees uniform, but it was not the start he could have hoped for. David Lough, who was the first batter he faced, hit a solo home run that barely got over the right field wall to make it 8-4 Orioles. It wasn’t initially ruled a home run, but the umpires reviewed the call and determined the ball did bounce above the wall for a home run.

Later in the inning, it was Steve Pearce who drove in Wieters with a RBI double to left to extend the lead to 9-4. Santos gave up two runs on three hits and struck out one in two innings of work.

The Yankees had one more chance to cut into the lead against Roe in the eighth when they had runners on the corners with one out. However, Stephen Drew hit a line drive right to Flaherty, who flipped it to first to double up Beltran and end the inning.

Tonight, the Bronx Bombers were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Chaz Roe (2-0, 1.17) recorded the win for the Orioles while Chris Martin (0-2, 5.27) took the loss.

Next Game: The New York Yankees (33-28) will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles  (31-30) at Camden Yards. You can catch the game at 1:35 PM ET on YES. Adam Warren (4-4, 3.64) will get the start for New York against Mike Wright (2-1, 2.96) for Baltimore. Wright is in the rotation because Miguel Gonzalez is on the disabled list due to a groin injury.

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