The Yankees only needed to win one game to secure home field in the Wild Card game on Tuesday, but instead were swept by the Orioles in a doubleheader to leave their fate very much up in the air. New York fell behind early when Luis Severino allowed a leadoff home run to Nolan Reimond to put Baltimore on the board. The Yankee offense rallied to tie it, but even in rallying seemed to waste too many opportunities to push themselves ahead. The result was a loss that could be very important in the playoff picture.
Severino allowed three runs in his seven innings of work. Steve Pearce drove in a run with a double to make it 2-0 Orioles, though the ball beat the runner to home plate and Brian McCann couldn't handle the throw. Manny Machado continued to victimize the Yankees with a home run for the third Oriole run. Didi Gregorius drove in the first Yankee run with a sac fly that brought McCann home after he was plunked to reach base. Batters were hit left, right, and center before both benches were warned. It didn't seem like anyone was throwing at anyone intentionally, and the rain probably didn't help, but the umpires were going to make sure it didn't get out of hand. There were no further incidents.
An RBI double by Slade Heathcott scored Rob Refsnyder to pull the Yankees to within one before Carlos Beltran worked a walk with the bases loaded to tie the game. With runners on second and third and less than two outs you'd hope for more than just one run. but the Yankees couldn't make it happen. Failing to do so would prove to be costly.
Dellin Betances has struggled recently, and his struggles tonight ultimately blew the game. He threw two wild pitches in the eighth inning, one of which scored the runner from third, That misstep was enough to put the Yankees behind for good. Rico Noel came on as pinch runner in the ninth before being picked off by Zach Britton for the second out of the ninth. The Yankees couldn't muster any further offense.
As of this moment the Astros are leading the Diamondbacks 3-0 in the 5th inning in Phoenix. The Yankees need a win or an Astros loss to host the Wild Card game on Tuesday. That means that it will likely be up to Michael Pineda tomorrow to keep the Yankees from limping into the postseason fresh off a sweep, and probably having to go to Houston to try and win a one-game playoff against a team that has been terribly good at home all season. The Yankees have had their fair share of chances and haven't been able to come through. Now they have really put themselves behind the eight ball. It'll all come down to tomorrow to see just how much of an uphill climb they face to make it into the ALDS.