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The Yankees have more than their fair share of frustrating losses over the past few weeks. But this is probably the worst.
After trailing by two going into the ninth, the Yankees managed to load the bases with no one out, only to score just one run. While this seems like a very 2012 Yankees thing to do, Mark Teixeira appeared to be incorrectly called out at first for the final out of the game. Teixeira looked to have beaten JJ Hardy's throw from short, which would have allowed Chris Dickerson to score from third to tie the game. However, he was called out, and the Yankees again found themselves tied for first in the AL East.
Having seemingly found their bats the night before, the Yankees started strongly, with Alex Rodriguez's sacrifice fly scoring Derek Jeter in the top of the first. They would add another run in the top of the second as Ichiro Suzuki doubled to bring home Russell Martin. But that's when the frustration started again.
CC Sabathia continued the recent trend of Yankees' pitchers not being able to hold a lead, as Mark Reynolds and Lew Ford would hit back to back home runs. A JJ Hardy double gave the Orioles the lead in the bottom of the third.
For the next few innings, Sabathia appeared to steady himself, but it wasn't to last, as the Orioles added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth. Hardy homered, and Ford would drive in Adam Jones after the latter doubled, taking the Orioles lead to three runs.
After being mostly shut down after the second, the Yankees offense showed some life as Alex Rodriguez homered in the top of the eighth. And then of course we go back to the top of the ninth. Ichiro and Eric Chavez singled to lead off the innings. Derek Jeter's bunt got Manny Machado to hesitate, leaving everyone safe and the bases loaded. Nick Swisher grounded into a force play at second, but Ichiro scored cutting the lead to one. The game would end on Teixeira's aforementioned double play.
Sabathia went an unspectacular 6.1 innings, allowing 8 hits and striking out five. Cody Eppley was solid in relief, going 1.2 innings with just 1 walk.
This one is going to sting for a while. The calls for instant replay is only going to intensify, especially if the Yankees continue struggling and miss out on the division, or even the playoffs, by one game. While it's impossible to say for sure that the Yankees win had Teixeira been ruled safe, the fact that we'll never know just flat out sucks.
The Yankees will hand the ball to Freddy Garcia tomorrow, as they hope to escape Baltimore with a split and the division lead.