One night after being felled in walk-off fashion, the Baltimore Orioles mounted a furious comeback to even their series in the Bronx against the New York Yankees at a game apiece. Going into the seventh inning, the Orioles trailed the Yankees by a score of 5-1, and according to basic win expectancy had just a 5% chance of winning the game.
Yankees starter Nestor Cortes opened the fateful frame by yielding a walk to Anthony Santander and a line-drive single to Austin Hays. That brought to the plate Adam Frazier, who turned out to have an appointment with the right-field foul pole:
That three-run short-porch special made it a one-run game and ended Cortes' night. Unfortunately for the Yankees, relievers Jimmy Cordero and Albert Abreu would fare no better in the seventh. Here's how it would go after the Frazier homer:
SingleSingleDoubleStrikeoutWalkSac flySingleSingleGround outThat double noted above came off the bat of rookie infielder Gunnar Henderson, and it gave the Orioles a lead they would not relinquish:
After the Yankees finally got that third out -- Frazier, coincidentally -- the O's had put eight runs on the board (and sent 12 batters to the plate) in the seventh and seized a 9-5 lead. In all, it was the Orioles' most potent inning at the plate since a nine-run eighth against the Royals in September 2021. The Yankees would push across a run in the home half of the seventh, but they'd get no closer and lose the game by a score of 9-6. The outcome ended the Yankees' five-game win streak and marked the Orioles' 19th comeback win of the 2023 season. On the other side, it was the Yankees' ninth blown lead in an eventual loss this season. It all looked a little something like this:
Going into the Thursday rubber match of the series the Orioles, at 32-17, are back at a season-best 15 games over .500. While they still trail the Rays in the brutal AL East, the O's boast the second-best record in all of baseball and are now three games ahead of the Yankees in the standings.
