Yankees Recap: Chapman Blows Save, Series to Baltimore

For much of the afternoon, things seemed to being the way of the Yankees. CC Sabathia battled through another strong outing, the bullpen began to pick up where he left off, and the offense supplied the one run Joe Girardi needed to get to his big three.

Then the skies opened up over Baltimore. After a rain delay that lasted 97 minutes, Aroldis Chapman finally came into the game with one out in the eighth inning and promptly blew his first save of the season.

Prior to the stoppage, Dellin Betances put two runners on in the eighth. As Girardi was coming out to get him– and to bring in Chapman for a five-out save– Mother Nature had other plans, forcing the grounds crew to unfurl the tarp at Camden Yards. Once play resumed, Chapman struck out the first batter he faced. He then surrendered a base hit to Francisco Pena to load the bases. The very next batter, Matt Wieters, tagged Chapman for the game-winner. Jacoby Ellsbury airmailed the throw home, allowing all three runners to score. The double gave the O’s a 3-1 lead that Zach Britton saved in the ninth.

It was the first time all year the Yankees lost when leading after seven innings, and it wraps up a disappointing 4-6 road trip.

Sabathia didn’t have his best stuff, but he was able to fight through five innings while only surrendering two hits. What did him in was his pitch count. Oriole hitters made him work hard for those 15 outs, and the six walks he allowed didn’t help matters. The final free pass– with no outs in the sixth– chased him from the game with 111 pitches.

Thanks to a pair of key strikeouts– both to Mark Trumbo with the bases loaded and two outs in the third and fifth innings, respectively– Sabathia was still in position to earn a win with the 1-0 lead in tact. The 35-year-old’s remarkable resurgence continued. His ERA is down to 2.58. If he had enough innings to qualify, that would be sixth-best in the A.L.

The Yankees had chances to tack on more than just one run– they had 10 hits on the afternoon– but as has been a familiar refrain in 2016, they failed to come through in the clutch. They stranded 10 men and were just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

The one run they were able to push across came in the third inning. Ellsbury singled and got to third base thanks to a wild pitch and a ground ball out. Alex Rodriguez drove him in with a base hit of his own. Rodriguez had another hit in the seventh and is now 8-for-21 in his previous five games.

The Yankees are 26-30 and will open up a seven-game home stand on Monday with the first of three against the Angels. Masahiro Tanaka (3-1, 2.78) will get the start for the Bombers, while the Angels will counter with Matt Shoemaker (3-6, 5.50). First pitch is set for 7:05.

Notes

• Betances has allowed six earned runs in his last four appearances.
• The Yankees’ three-headed monster has a 7.11 ERA in 9.1 innings this month.
• Brett Gardner was 3-for-4 on Sunday. He had seven hits in the three games in Baltimore and his average is up to .237.