SMELLY FISH
Lynn, Yanks fall apart in 5-run sixth in loss to Marlins
MIAMI — Had Lance Lynn not flushed a two-run lead in the middle innings and Chance Adams kept the score close in the late frames, perhaps the spotlight wouldn’t have found Greg Bird.
Yet, Lynn gave up five runs in the sixth inning and Adams surrendered four in less than two, and the Yankees dropped a hard-to-look-at 9-3 decision to the lowly Mariners on Wednesday night in front of 25,547 at Marlins Park.
Poised to leave South Florida’s heat and humidity behind and haul a five-game winning streak into Baltimore, where they start a four-game series in three days against the worst team in baseball on Friday, the Yankees delivered a stinker. Coupled with the Red Sox halting a three-game losing streak by beating the Indians, the Yankees fell nine lengths back of the AL East leader.
Lynn didn’t get out of the sixth and was stung by Miguel Rojas’ three-run homer. Austin Romine and Gleyber Torres committed errors in the seventh, when the Marlins stretched the lead to 6-3. Promoted in the afternoon to take Aroldis Chapman’s roster spot, Adams gave up four runs (three earned) and four hits in 1 2/3 innings.
And Bird was among the chief culprits in a lineup that provided three runs after scoring two Tuesday evening.
“It is what it is. Show up Friday,’’ Bird said of a slump that grew to 0-for-13 with a 0-for-4 night that included a strikeout and not getting the ball out of the infield in three other at-bats. Since hitting a grand slam in his first at-bat on Sunday, Bird is hitless and his average is down to .202. “Just not consistent. I know that is vague but just keep working at it. Work in the cage with the guys and keep going. It’s frustrating but keep going, keep playing. Keep trying to figure it out, have fun and play the game.’’
Until the home sixth, the game was shaping up as a fun night. Lynn ended the fifth by feeding J.T. Realmuto an inning-ending double play ball and the Yankees entered the sixth with a 2-0 lead.
“I made one bad pitch and it cost us three runs and I wasn’t able to get out of it,’’ Lynn said of the 1-2 fastball clocked at 95 mph to Rojas. “You get a two-run lead going to the sixth and you want a quick [inning].’’
A Yankees run in the seventh cut the deficit to 5-3, but the Marlins answered with a run in the seventh for a three-run bulge and three in the eighth made it 9-3.
“We didn’t do a lot great down here,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We had some big performances [Tuesday night] that bailed us out and pick up a big win, but overall I didn’t think we played very good [Wednesday]. We have to get after it starting Friday, these [games] are important and we have to play better than we did [Wednesday night].’’
Having used Zach Britton, Dellin Betances, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder in Tuesday night’s 12-inning victory and wanting to give David Robertson’s right shoulder one more day off, Boone turned to Adams when the Yankees trailed, 5-3.
“We would have gone to Greenie if it was one [run] or better,’’ Boone said. “But what we are ready to come up against [four games in three days in Baltimore] and not wanting to go too much to our high-leverage guys, we tried to squeeze a couple of innings out of Chance.’’
Like a lot of things Wednesday night, that didn’t happen for the Yankees.