O’s playoff hopes take beating in New York
Wild-card hopes dim; Yankees pour on runs as bats remain quiet
NEWYORK – By the end of their four-game series at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles’ playoff hopes could all but mathematically be over.
The Orioles absorbed another lopsided loss in the Bronx, losing Thursday’s series opener against the New York Yankees, 13-5, for their seventh loss in eight games.
It was, however, the Orioles’ most runs in their past eight games. They had been held to three runs or fewer in each of the seven games before coming to New York, averaging 1.7 runs during that stretch.
The offense couldn’t be pinned for this one, handed an early-six run deficit after left-hander Wade Mi- ley (8-13) retired just one of seven batters he faced in the shortest outing of his major league career.
The Yankees hit four homers off the Orioles (72-75), including two by rookie slugger Aaron Judge, whose 11 homers against the Orioles are his most against any club. Extra special first hits for Sisco: Orioles catching prospect Chance Sisco, pinch hitting for Manny Machado in the seventh, came up with the first two hits of his career in the loss to the Yankees (80-66).
He laced a double down the right-field line for his first major league hit in the seventh. To lead off the ninth, he homered to right field off reliever Giovanny Gallegos.
Sisco had just one previous at-bat since his contract was selected on Sept. 1 when rosters expanded. The one-sided game allowed several call-ups to play, including Sisco, outfielder Austin Hays and outfielder Anthony Santander. Mancini homers: As the Orioles bats have struggled through September, left fielder Trey Mancini is one of the few hitters who has been steady this month.
Mancini hit a solo homer off Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka, an opposite-field blast in the sixth inning that landed in the second deck in right field. It was his 24th of the season.
Though it was his first home run since Aug. 30, it was Mancini’s fourth extra-base hit in his past three games. He had a double and triple in Wednesday’s win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Jonathan Schoop hit his 32nd homer of the season, a towering solo shot off Tanaka in the fourth. The Orioles added two runs in the eighth on an back-to-back RBI doubles by Joey Rickard and Caleb Joseph in the eighth.