Aroldis Chapman's bases-loaded walk in 11th lifts Orioles over Yankees
Yankees relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman reacts as he is unable to listen to a messaging device with signs from catcher Jose Trevino during the 11th inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Friday, April 15, 2022, in Baltimore. The Orioles won 2-1 in 11 innings. Credit: AP/Julio Cortez
BALTIMORE — It was, to channel a well-worn phrase of Aaron Boone’s from 2021, the first “gut punch” loss of 2022.
With their offense looking every bit as inept with runners in scoring position as it did a season ago, the Yankees lost to the Orioles, 2-1, in 11 innings on Friday night in front of 32,197 at Camden Yards.
Ramon Urias worked a bases-loaded walk on a 3-and-2 pitch from Aroldis Chapman to win it for an Orioles team not expected to be all that much better than the 2021 edition that went 52-110, yet managed to go 8-11 against the Yankees.
The Yankees (4-4), 9-for-50 with runners in scoring position entering the night, went 2-for-11 and stranded eight runners Friday. The Orioles (2-5) hardly distinguished themselves in that category either, going 1-for-15 and stranding 15 (including the three runners on base who watched the winning run trot home).
“This is 2022,” Anthony Rizzo said. “I know the last-year stuff [with RISP], but this is eight games into a whole new journey. We’re going to have ups and downs during the year. It’s just the ebbs and flows of the season.”
Austin Hays started the 11th on second and Anthony Bemboom drew a one-out walk on a 3-and-2 pitch from Clarke Schmidt. After getting the benefit of a borderline 1-and-2 call, Kelvin Gutierrez worked a walk to load the bases.
Chapman — who allowed three walks, fired a wild pitch and threw only four strikes in 16 pitches in the ninth inning on Thursday night before Michael King bailed him out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam — came in to face the lefthanded-hitting Cedric Mullins. He struck out Mullins on a slider and got ahead of Urias 0-and-2 — giving him six straight strikes after Thursday’s lackluster showing — but wound up walking Urias on a full-count slider to force home the winning run.
Catcher Jose Trevino thought the slider caught the top of the strike zone. Aaron Boone came out to separate him from plate umpire Tom Hallion and was ejected, then followed the veteran umpire nearly into the tunnel yelling at him.
“I thought it was a little high,” Chapman said through his interpreter.
Said Trevino: “I did go back and watch it. It was a little up.”
Boone said his goal was to protect Trevino and acknowledged that the ejection ultimately was out of “a lot of frustration.”
Rizzo started the top of the 11th on second against Joey Krehbiel and was put out when Giancarlo Stanton’s grounder clipped him in the leg for the first out (Stanton, who had an RBI single in the third, was credited with his third hit of the night).
“I thought I had a good jump. The ball just hopped up and hit me,” Rizzo said. “Trying to get to third there and the ball can’t hit me there. It’s a bad baserunning play on my end. It cost us.”
Josh Donaldson then struck out and Joey Gallo topped one in front of the plate and was tagged out by catcher Bemboom.
Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery was mostly terrific, allowing three hits in five scoreless innings. Just like 2021, he was victimized by poor run support.
The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but Aaron Hicks hit into a double play, and the Orioles tied it in the seventh against Wandy Peralta.
Hays doubled, went to third on Higashioka’s second passed ball of the night and scored on Jorge Mateo’s single to left, although Gallo threw him out at second when Mateo tried to stretch it into a double.
“I just think we’re better,” Boone said of the Yankees’ approach with runners in scoring position this year compared to last year, even though the numbers haven’t shown it. “I think we’re better overall and I think that’s going to manifest itself. Obviously, we want to be better than 2-for-11, but that wasn’t the problem tonight. We didn’t get enough anything tonight. Eleven innings, seven hits . . . We didn’t have a very good offensive night, and that’s what we have to turn the page from. I’m confident in our guys we will get it rolling. Hopefully that starts tomorrow.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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