To start doubleheader, Bombers unravel in brutal fashion

Joe Girardi insisted the wasn’t on the line Saturday. He didn’t manage like it. He used relievers Dellin Betances for four outs and Andrew Miller for two innings in the first game of the doubleheader.

It didn’t work, as Chasen Shreve somehow issued three bases-loaded walks and a run-scoring single in the 11th inning of the Yankees crushing 9-5 loss to Toronto in the first game of a doubleheader in The Bronx.

It was the Yankees’ fourth straight loss, and they fell a season-high 3½ games back of first-place Toronto in a 4:32 marathon at the Stadium.

Bryan Mitchell walked Edwin Encarnacion to lead off the 11th and then hit Cliff Pennington on a 1-2 pitch. He walked Chris Colabello to load the bases.

He recovered to strike out Dioner Navarro and was replaced by Shreve, who has been bad in three outings in a row — than on Saturday.

The Yankees got the first two runners on in the bottom of the 11th, but Didi Gregorius grounded out, Stephen Drew fanned looking and Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out.

The Yankees had rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth, sparked by consecutive walks to Ellsbury and Brett Gardner.

Carlos Beltran then popped to short. Brian McCann singled to center to tie it and Alex Rodriguez walked to load the bases for Chase Headley with a chance to take the lead.

Instead, Headley, who homered earlier in the game, popped to short for the second out.

Greg Bird hit a smash that was snagged by second baseman Cliff Pennington to end the inning.

In the top of the inning, Betances had given up a home run to dead center to Jose Bautista to give the Blue Jays the lead. It was the second homer Betances had given up in three games and third in his last seven.

The Yankees took a 4-1 lead in the fourth, thanks to three early home runs by Gardner, Headley and Rodriguez, but the struggling Michael Pineda couldn’t hold it.

In desperate need of a strong outing, Pineda failed to deliver, giving up four runs in 5 ¹/3 innings. He surrendered three homers of his own.

Justin Wilson finished the sixth and was replaced by Betances with two outs in the seventh. Betances, who hadn’t pitched since Monday, featured nothing but breaking balls and got the likely AL MVP Josh Donaldson on a 3-2 knuckle-curve.

Pineda looked strong for the first three innings, with his temperamental slider keeping Toronto batters off balance for the first three innings. That changed in the fourth. Bautista cut a 2-0 Yankee lead in

half with an oppositefield the first run.

The inning could have been significantly worse for Pineda and the Yankees, as he had to pitch around two singles and a walk before getting Ryan Goins to hit into a basesloaded groundout to end the inning.

The Yankees padded their advantage in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Rodriguez’s tworun homer.

But the 41 lead was shortlived, as Pineda fell apart in the fifth.

A oneout homer by Ben Revere made it 42 and was followed by a walk to Bautista and then a tworun homer by Encarnacion to tie the game at 44.

Earlier, Gardner gave the Yankees a muchneeded jolt in the bottom of the first with his 14th homer of the season. It gave them a 10 lead against righthander Marco Estrada.

They added to the lead in the second when Headley homered to right for a 20 advantage.

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