BALTIMORE -- What was supposed to be easy is getting increasingly difficult for the New York Yankees: namely nailing down home-field advantage for Tuesday's wild-card playoff game. In the first game of a day-night doubleheader necessitated by Friday night's rainout, the Yankees were bombed 9-2 by a Baltimore Orioles team that has nothing to play for but the remote possibility of finishing with a .500 record. That, and manager Buck Showalter's satisfaction at beating his former employers.
In any event, the Yankees need to win the nightcap -- or hope that the Houston Astros lose to the Arizona Diamondbacks later Saturday -- in order to ensure themselves at least one more game at home this year. And the pressure's on.
Thumbs up: The only real positive is that there's a second game Saturday night and Luis Severino is starting it. That and Rico Noel, brought up solely to pinch run, got an at-bat in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter and beat out an infield hit.
Thumbs down: Ivan Nova, who needed a big performance but came up small, allowing five runs in 5â…” innings and probably pitched his way off the postseason roster. Chasen Shreve faced five batters and allowed three hits, walked one, wild-pitched a run home and looked nothing like the pitcher who went the entire month of June without allowing a run. Chase Headley, John Ryan Murphy and Jose Pirela, none of whom could get the ball out of the infield in the second inning after Chris Young led off with a triple. Brendan Ryan, who foolishly tried to go from first to third on a single to left and was easily thrown out by Steve Pearce. Alex Rodriguez, who went 0-for-4 and struck out with two on in the seventh and the Yankees having just cut the lead to 7-2. And, of course, manager Joe Girardi, who decided to treat this doubleheader as a pair of split-squad games, essentially conceding Game 1 and putting more pressure on his team to win Game 2 in their bid to host that wild-card game on Tuesday.
Next: Game 2 at 7:05 p.m.
