Yankees lose Mariners marathon because of baserunning disasterclass

On Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, the New York Yankees went four extra innings against the Seattle Mariners without scoring a single run, a feat that should be impossible given every inning these days begins with a smiling man at second, just begging to be driven in.

After a bounce back 9-4 victory in the opener than announced their presence in the AL postseason race for the first time in weeks — they even gained a game in the East! — the Yanks put forth one of the sleepiest Seattle sequels possible in Game 2.

They were bedeviled by Luis Castillo for the third time this month — even though he’s pitched for Cincinnati and Seattle, two teams the Bombers almost never face. That happens sometimes, though. He’s an ace. The type of guy you surrender top prospects for. No, the indignity happened in the additional frames, where the Yankees finally fell in the bottom of the 13th, succumbing to inevitability.

How did the Mariners go the 10th, 11th, and 12th without scoring their free runners? Credit goes to Yankee relievers Scott Effross, Wandy Peralta and Lou Trivino. Effross was untouchable, Peralta induced a key double play, and Trivino overcame a bout with wildness to send the game to the 13th.

How did the Yankees fail to score four straight frames? Keystone Cops gibberish, where Andrew Benintendi sprinted off second base during a moment of silence, Miguel Andújar got caught on a liner, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa just kept running on a grounder to the pitcher.

Yankees run themselves out of 4 extra innings in loss vs Mariners

Seven brilliant shutout innings from Gerrit Cole. Another scoreless appearance for Aroldis Chapman. A Clay Holmes bounce back. All that bullpen work.

And yet, without fail, every single inning there was a piece of Yankee malfeasance on the bases to ruin the whole party. Remember when this team zoomed out to a record-setting start because of a rededication to fundamentals? Barely.

In the 13th, when New York finally seemed to relax and loaded the bases with one out, Gleyber Torres came up with a chance to gap one and steal the momentum that had been floating above the ballpark for damn near four hours. He whiffed, never giving us the chance to see what shenanigans the Yankees might’ve invented if a sacrifice fly had been lifted in the air. Maybe a two-out triple play?

Kiner-Falefa summed things up best after the game was mercifully over — and by “best,” we mean we completely understand why the Yankees lined up on the wrong side of history here.

It doesn’t happen unless you make it happen. Let Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu bat, folks. They’re two of the top-10 players in the league offensively, at this point.

Nope. Instead, all you want to do is run around, adding more blues to this team’s travels. Hopefully, the hook eventually brings ’em back to respectability.

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