Yankees let lowly Orioles escape with one strike to go, then fall in 10

BALTIMORE — No one said it was going to come easy for this Yankees team, but no one imagined a loss this hard. The Bombers were just one strike away from escaping Camden Yards with a sweep when it absolutely fell apart. Clay Holmes coughed up the one-run lead on two wild pitches in the ninth and then Wandy Peralta gave up an RBI-single to Austin Hays in extras as the Orioles rallied for a 3-2 win, 10-inning upset of the Bombers at Camden Yards.

“I thought Clay threw the ball well and should have closed it out and so frustrating but then we just weren’t able to add on (runs) at all today,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought we actually swung the bats well the first half of the game and didn’t have a lot to show for a lot of hard outs…..It seemed like but we got to be able to add on and put teams away and we weren’t able to do that today. We let them hang around and they were able to get us.”

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Yankees (82-64) and was a blow to their playoff hopes. They are now half a game behind the Red Sox and Blue Jays in the American League wild card race and currently out of a playoff spot. With 15 games to go, the Yankees have six more against sub-.500 teams beginning Friday against Cleveland in the Bronx. Then the road gets tougher with nine games to end the season against the Red Sox, Blue Jays and American League East-leading Rays.

At least the Yankees are done with the Orioles, finishing the season series 11-8. Baltimore (47-99) held off suffering their 100th loss for at least one more day. Baltimore has no more than four wins against any other team this season.

“There’s definitely been a little bit of a roller coaster ride, but I think just hearing the resiliency and the way that people are able to bounce back,” Holmes said of the clubhouse after the game. “We’re not out of the fight.”

Holmes could not work around a one-out single from DJ Stewart in the bottom of the ninth. Pinch runner Kevin Gutierrez advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored the tying run on another, a 98-mile an hour sinker that he yanked and it got away from catcher Gary Sanchez.

That was the 16th blown save for the Yankees in the second half of the season, the most in the big leagues over that span.

Orioles shortstop Richie Martin laid down a perfect bunt along the third-base line to lead off the 10th, advancing the ghost-runner to third base. Wandy Peralta intentionally walked Cedric Mullins to load the bases. He struck out Ryan Mountcastle on a change-up away for the first out. Austin Hays singled through the hole at shortstop to score the winning run.

The Yankees have been riding their bullpen hard this season because their offense has underperformed and it’s showing down the stretch. Thursday was their 84th game decided by two or fewer runs, tying the big league lead with the Mets.

Jordan Montgomery allowed one run on six hits. He walked one and struck out a career-high 12 batters. That also gives him a career-high 149 strikeouts on the season.

He allowed a lead-off homer to Ryan Mountcastle in the bottom of the sixth. It was the 16th home run Montgomery has allowed this season.

As has been the case all year, the Yankees failed to support Montgomery with any runs. The lefty came into Thursday’s game with 3.64 runs per start, which is the fourth-worst run support for a starter in AL and the sixth-worst in the majors.

Joey Gallo hit his 10th home run with the Yankees and his 35th of the season in the third and Gio Urshela doubled in another run that inning.

But the Yankees were unable to score again. The Bombers went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.

In the top of the 10th, ghost-runner Brett Gardner was stranded at second when Aaron Judge grounded out, Anthony Rizzo flew out and Gleyber Torres lined out to shortstop.

“It’s been like a roller coaster a little bit and obviously, we were one strike away, so there’s excitement you’re ready to kind of win that game and get into the clubhouse, get on a flight and be happy about a sweep.” Gallo said. “But it’s baseball and it reminds you you got to finish the game….and that’s just how it goes.”