Twice in the last week, the Yankees have had an alleged "battle of the aces" with the Seattle Mariners, between Gerrit Cole and Luis Castillo. The one in The Bronx was a bust, as Cole had nothing. This one lived up to the billing, but it still didn't work out in the Yankees' favor.
Cole went 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits and no walks, striking out 8. But Castillo went 8 innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. Andrew Benintendi singled in the 1st inning, but was stranded. Aaron Judge singled to lead off the 4th, but was eliminated on a double play. Judge drew a walk to lead off the 7th, but no Cliché Alert here: He was stranded. After a few bad starts in which Cole let the Yankee hitters down, this time, they returned the favor, and let him down.
Matt Carpenter has a broken foot, and might miss the rest of the season. In his place, Miguel Andújar has been called up. With 1 out in the 8th, Andújar singled, and Aaron Hicks drew a walk. But Jose Trevino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out. Aroldis Chapman then pitched a scoreless 8th, to keep the game at 0-0. DJ LeMahieu, Judge and Benintendi all struck out in the 9th, and Clay Holmes hit the leadoff batter, but got a double play and a groundout to send the game to extra innings.
"Ghost runner" time. In the 10th, with Benintendi on 2nd, Josh Donaldson was hit with a pitch. Then Aaron Boone called for a double steal, and it didn't work: Benintendi was out. One of the "unwritten rules of baseball" is, "Never make the 1st or last out at 3rd base." Blame Boone, not Benintendi. The Yankees didn't score in the 10th, but neither did the Mariners, as Scott Effross got them out, 1-2-3.
The 11th is where the Yankees forfeited any pretense to the right to win the game. With Andújar on 2nd as the ghost runner, Hicks lined out to 2nd base, and Andújar was caught off the base for a double play. Trevino then lined out to short right field. Wandy Peralta was shaky in the bottom of the 11th, but got a double play of his own to get out of it.
The Yankees made another baserunning blunder in the top of the 12th. With Trevino as the ghost runner, Kiner-Falefa grounded to 3rd, and Trevino was caught in a rundown. IKF thought he could make 2nd, but he couldn't, and both men were out. Lou Trivino got out of the bottom of the 12th unscathed.
LeMahieu was the ghost runner in the top of the 13th. With 1st base open, Judge was wisely intentionally walked. Benintendi struck out. Marwin González drew a walk. Bases loaded, nobody out. But Gleyber Torres, who had earlier made a fantastic play at 2nd base, struck out, and Andújar grounded out. So that's 3 baserunning blunders and 1 bases-loaded-one-out situation blown in a span of 4 innings. Over 13 innings, the Yankees had just 8 baserunners: 3 singles, 4 walks, and a hit batsman.
Jonathan Loáisiga was sent out for the bottom of the 13th. He allowed single, groundout, intentional walk, game-losing single. Mariners 1, Yankees 0. WP: Matt Brash (3-3). No save. LP: Loáisiga (1-3).
With 51 games left in the regular season, the Yankees remain 10 1/2 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Eastern Division, but are now in a flat-footed tie with the Houston Astros for the best record in the AL. And with the Astros having the better head-to-head record, that means that, if the current standings hold to the end of the regular season, the Astros would have home-field advantage all the way through the AL Playoffs. In other words, unless the Yankees can win at least 1 ALDS or ALCS game in Houston, no Pennant for us.
The series concludes this afternoon. Nestor Cortes starts against Robbie Ray, not to be confused with former Buffalo Sabres thug Rob Ray.