NEW YORK — The New York Yankees may have sprayed champagne on one another for the second time in per week; as a substitute, it was the Baltimore Orioles who sprayed champagne of their clubhouse Tuesday evening.
With a chance to clinch the American League East title, the Yankees misplaced, 5-3, to the Orioles. With the win, Baltimore secured considered one of three Wild Card spots. The Yankees’ magic quantity to win the division stays at one, that means they’d have to complete the season 0-5 and the Orioles 5-0 to not win the AL East.
However the Yankees had an opportunity on Tuesday to render the remaining 5 video games meaningless. They entered the seventh inning down 4-1, however Gleyber Torres hit an RBI ground-rule double, slicing the Orioles’ result in 4-2.
Juan Soto then rocketed an RBI single to proper area, and Orioles proper fielder Anthony Santander fired the ball house, lacking the cutoff man. Soto took off for second base, prompting Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman to throw to second. This pushed Torres to sprint for house. Baltimore shortstop Gunnar Henderson stepped in entrance of second base, threw house, and caught Torres in a rundown between third and residential plate. Torres was tagged out on a 9-2-6-2-5-2-6 putout.
“I feel he thought Soto was going to be out, however you bought to decide to both — you’re going to promote out as soon as Rutschman squares,” supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned. “He obtained caught in between.”
Juan Soto comes via to make it a 1-run sport. pic.twitter.com/ZuWRqSd4WN
— YES Community (@YESNetwork) September 25, 2024
Video replay confirmed Torres heading again to 3rd base with Rutschman in his windup. It wasn’t till the catcher launched the ball that Torres took off to attempt to rating the game-tying run. Torres, who entered Tuesday evening’s sport ranked within the thirty first percentile in dash velocity, didn’t have a lot of an opportunity to attain due to the mixture of his hesitancy and velocity.
The out additionally meant Aaron Choose was left within the on-deck circle with runners on second and third. The Orioles would seemingly have deliberately walked Choose to load the bases for Austin Wells, who’s mired in an 8-for-61 hunch, but it surely was a missed likelihood for the Yankees to increase their rally.
“It might need been just a bit miscommunication, however he was hustling the entire means,” Choose mentioned. “I feel he needed to attain and obtained the cease signal and was simply sort of in no man’s land proper there. When it comes right down to it, stuff like that may’t occur. We are able to’t hold taking pictures ourselves within the foot with errors like that on the basepaths. However it occurred and we’ve obtained to maneuver on.”
“I really feel like I’ve to be slightly bit extra aggressive if I’m going to make that call to (steal) that run,” Torres mentioned.
Torres’ baserunning blunder marked six outs at house plate for the Yankees’ second baseman this season, tying him with Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Díaz for probably the most in MLB.
“A handful of these are two outs on bang-bang performs on an aggressive ship,” Boone mentioned whereas defending Torres’ errors. “It’s vital to have context with that. He does make some errors on the bases. He’s cleaned it up loads from final yr and the yr earlier than the place he’s getting himself in hassle loads. I feel, in his case, he’s toned down among the aggressiveness. (This) is a case of defending a runner, too. Once more, it’s obtained to be bluff or promote out and go.”
“I simply tried to guard Soto. In that state of affairs, simply defend him. I used to be slightly in between to go to house plate, I really feel like I went slightly late, and after that they made me out.”
– Gleyber Torres on his baserunning error within the seventh inning pic.twitter.com/bCxhte6y2V
— YES Community (@YESNetwork) September 25, 2024
Torres was benched earlier within the season after he was thrown out at house plate after failing to hustle out a possible double on a ball he hit to the left-field wall. He has graded out as a unfavorable baserunner in FanGraphs’ baserunning runs above common in each season apart from 2021 since changing into a giant leaguer. Final season, Torres completed tied for fifth in most outs on the bases. This yr, he’s tied for 18th.
Torres’ baserunning mistake overshadowed his 3-for-4 evening on the plate and his continued excellence because the group’s leadoff hitter. His .388 batting common as the primary batter of the sport this season is the very best amongst all gamers with at the very least 50 plate appearances, as Baseball Reference’s Katie Sharp first famous.
Within the postseason, baserunning errors may impression video games on a micro stage. The Yankees are by far the worst baserunning group this yr, in keeping with FanGraphs, however they’re additionally fourth in slugging and second in on-base share, two way more significant stats that impression wins in October on a macro stage. There’s little doubt, although, that the Yankees are sloppy on the basepaths, even with including Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the commerce deadline, calling up Jasson Domínguez and having Jon Berti wholesome. They’re additionally tied for final in group dash velocity.
“It was one thing that was definitely a problem for us final yr,” Boone mentioned. “We’ve cleaned up loads of these issues. I feel within the second half of the season, we’ve been capable of create some runs with steals, double steals and a few of our athleticism has improved over the second half. There’s been instances this yr the place we’ve had loads of guys who’ve been station-to-station and we haven’t been as aggressive. We’ve lower down on a few of these outs.”
Torres’ blunder wasn’t the one contributing issue for why the Yankees didn’t clinch the AL East Tuesday. Alex Verdugo, who began in left area over Domínguez, hit right into a crucial double play with no outs and runners on first and second within the fifth inning. Boone left aid pitcher Tim Mayza within the sport too lengthy, and he then proceeded to surrender a solo house run to Ramón Urías.
Now, the Yankees will attempt as soon as once more to wrap up the division title on Wednesday evening towards the Orioles.
“We needed to come back and get it finished tonight,” Boone mentioned. “They held us down and we simply couldn’t play catch up fairly sufficient.”
(Picture of Torres getting tagged out: Jim McIsaac / Getty Photographs)
