Yankees have rough sixth inning, lose to Padres

SAN DIEGO — Gleyber Torres' error opened the door, and the Padres proceeded to small-ball the Yankees into submission.

It was death-by-a-thousand-cuts in Sunday afternoon’s sixth inning as a one-run Yankees lead vanished during a four-run frame for the Padres, who avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-2 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 45,731 at Petco Park.

The Yankees, still an American League-best 37-18, are off Monday before this three-city, nine-game trip continues Tuesday night in Anaheim.

Anthony Volpe extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a one-out single in the top of the sixth — the longest hitting streak by a Yankee since Derek Jeter hit in 19 straight in 2012 — stole second and scored on Juan Soto’s double to snap a scoreless tie, but things unraveled for the Yankees in the bottom half.

Clarke Schmidt, though not as sharp or pitch-efficient as in some of his other outings, got Jake Cronenworth to hit a ground smash to second to open the inning. Torres, however, failed to handle it, with the ball skipping under his glove for his team-high seventh error.

“I’m still mad because that play is 100% catchable,'' said Torres, who called it a ''stupid'' error. "I feel so bad after that error. Everything happened from [there].”

 “That’s a play, obviously, he should have made today,'' Aaron Boone said. "It’s not from a lack of work and focus. He’s been through a nice, consistent stretch here for the last few weeks and today just didn’t make a play.”

Schmidt walked Manny Machado and Boone signaled for lefthander Victor Gonzalez, who walked pinch hitter Donovan Solano to load the bases. Jackson Merrill hit into a 3-4 forceout, with Cronenworth scoring to tie it.

Ha-Seong Kim followed by pushing a bunt down the first-base line. Anthony Rizzo charged in and tried to barehand the ball in the hopes of getting Machado at home, but he dropped it (even if he had fielded it cleanly, getting the out at home was unlikely). RBI singles later in the inning by Luis Arraez and Fernando Tatis Jr. — the latter came off Dennis Santana — made it 4-1.

“[It] was kind of a do-or-die play and I just didn’t make a play, which is frustrating,'' Rizzo said. "I have to make a good throw, which I’m confident I would have, and then it depends on the slide and the tag. It definitely would have been a bang-bang play.”

Schmidt, who entered the game 5-2 with a 2.59 ERA, allowed two runs (one earned), three hits and three walks in five innings in which he struck out five. “I just felt physically like it was one of those outings where you don’t feel like your best, so very happy with being able to put up a lot of zeros with the way I felt today,'' he said. "Just one of those outings where you don’t feel 100%, but definitely happy with being able to put up some zeros.”

Lefty Caleb Ferguson allowed back-to-back doubles by Cronenworth and Machado in the seventh to make it 5-1.

The Yankees, their bats quiet most of the afternoon, put two on in the eighth with two outs, but the red-hot Aaron Judge struck out looking on a 99-mph fastball by Robert Suarez.

Alex Verdugo led off the ninth with a homer, his seventh, off Suarez  to make it 5-2.

Schmidt dealt with traffic throughout his outing, allowing a baserunner in each of the first four innings but no damage as he stranded a combined six batters in that stretch. Schmidt, who got out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the second by getting Kim to fly to short right and striking out former Yankee Kyle Higashioka swinging at a slider, was at 61 pitches through three and 81 pitches through four.

Padres righty Joe Musgrove allowed one run and six hits in 5 1/3 innings in improving to 4-4 with a 5.66 ERA.  “I thought he mixed everything,'' Boone said. "Thought he was really unpredictable. Used his fastball a little bit, but the secondary stuff was good. I thought both his breaking balls were sharp, he was mixing in the cutter, so it was hard to really get a bead on him.”

In the first, Musgrove retired Volpe and Soto before Judge nearly impaled the baseball in the base of the wall in left, lining a 2-and-0, 93-mph sinker at 115.8 mph for a long single. That made Judge 37-for-93 (.398) in his last 28 games. Verdugo followed with a bullet down the first-base line that appeared headed for extra bases, but Arraez made a diving stop on the grounder for the inning’s final out.

Notes & quotes: Before the game, Boone said testing done on infielder Jon Berti showed a “high-grade” left calf strain. There is no timetable for his return, but “it’s going to be a while,” Boone said . . . Ian Hamilton was eligible to come off the seven-day COVID IL on Sunday, but Boone said the club decided to give the righthander another couple of days to recover. The plan is to activate him Tuesday . . . DJ LeMahieu (non-displaced fracture in his right foot) still is slated to join the club for the Angels series. The Yankees entered  spring training intending to have LeMahieu serve as their leadoff hitter, but Boone said Sunday that Volpe will continue to hit leadoff when LeMahieu comes back.