BALTIMORE — Before the Yankees went their separate ways Sunday night — some to a beach, others back home and three to the All-Star Game — they had a chance to finish off the first half in style and alone atop the AL East.
Instead it ended in devastation, their dejected left fielder sitting at his locker with his head in his hands in disbelief and the Orioles giving them something to chase in the second half.
One out away from securing one of their best wins of the season, the Yankees ended up with one of their worst losses of the season as two of their best defensive players and Clay Holmes combined to blow a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth to suffer a gutting 6-5 loss on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.
Ben Rice had given the Yankees a chance to put a miserable four weeks further behind them with a sweep when he clubbed a go-ahead, three-run homer off Craig Kimbrel in the top of the ninth.
But Holmes loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the frame before Anthony Volpe and Verdugo each committed brutal defensive gaffes that allowed the Orioles (58-38) to take sole possession of first place in the division into the break with a one-game lead over the Yankees (58-40).
“This one’s on me,” said Verdugo, still in full uniform 15 minutes after the loss as his teammates showered and left for their break.
Volpe’s error came first. After Holmes issued his second walk of the inning, this one to Adley Rutschman to load the bases, he got Ryan Mountcastle to hit a ground ball to shortstop.
The typically sure-handed Volpe waited back on it and bobbled the hop, allowing all runners to be safe and the Orioles to pull within 5-4.
“To me, that’s a routine ground ball,” Volpe said. “The game’s got to be over. … I didn’t move my feet.”
Cedric Mullins followed with a fly ball to left field that Verdugo started in on, only to turn back and lose his footing multiple times. By the time the ball fell a few feet behind him, Verdugo was sprawled out on the ground as the Orioles dugout spilled onto the field to celebrate.
“Saw it coming my way, took a step in and that little step in was enough to beat me back,” Verdugo said.
In stunning fashion, the Yankees stunted some of the momentum they had gained over the last few days. They had been atop the AL East for most of the first half before their lead evaporated during a 6-17 skid.
But they spent the first two games in Baltimore looking more like the team they were for the first two-plus months of the season, only to cough up a chance to enter the break with sole possession of first place in the AL East for the first time since June 26.
“That’s a killer,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s been a rough several weeks here for us. Acknowledge that. The reality is, from the last couple games in Tampa into here, feel like we’re competing our asses off and starting to turn the corner and see the signs we want to see as we turn this thing around.
“While acknowledging that, the other reality is we’re in a great spot. We’re [98] games in and because of the first half, even through some rough, rough stretches — which we acknowledge — it’s all right there in front of us. We got the pen. We get to write this amazing script, and that’s because we’ve put ourselves in that position.”
After Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil turned in strong starts in the first two games of the series, it was much more of a slog for Carlos Rodon on Sunday.
The left-hander gave up only two runs, both scoring on a home run by Gunnar Henderson, but lasted just four innings because he needed 98 pitches to record 12 outs.
Still, he left with a 2-2 tie after Trent Grisham, who singled home Volpe in the second inning, belted a solo shot in the fifth.
But Anthony Santander got the run right back in the bottom of the frame by taking Tommy Kahnle deep to put the Orioles ahead 3-2.
If it had just ended that way, it would not have been nearly as crushing as how it ultimately unfolded. Rice momentarily played hero in the top of the ninth before the Yankees cost themselves in their last meeting with the Orioles until the final week of the regular season.
“It’s going,” Rodon said, “to put a little fire in us.”
