Aaron Judge hit another home run in his MVP season, but missed a deciding chance due to a baserunning error by Gleyber Torres.
Judge hit a full-count split by Dean Kremer over the left-field fence for a home run in a 5-3 loss to the Orioles on Tuesday night, his 56th career home run with five games remaining.
The Yankees' offense was largely silenced by the Baltimore lineup, which cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth inning with a solo home run.
The Yankees' best chance came in the seventh inning when Juan Soto hit a one-run single with runners on second and third.
Torres, who had a potential tying hit from second base, hesitated at third base and reached home plate too late when the Baltimore catcher threw to second, so he was tagged out for a rundown, ending the inning.
The judge was on deck.
The opportunity was missed and, ultimately, the match was over.
The Yankees' magic number for winning the American League East remains one.
“Our initial thought was we were trying to protect Juan because he might get out at second base,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “but it must have been a bluff or he was going to throw it out. That's the tying hit.”
Torres is currently tied for the most outs at home plate in MLB, a record that put Boone on the defensive end.
“Do you know what the situations are when you get out at home plate? Some of them are two-out, bang-bang plays,” Boone said. “One of them is aggressive throws. So it's important to know those situations. He makes mistakes on base. He's improved on that from last year and the year before when he was in a tight spot. He's held back a little bit. And it's important to protect the runner tonight. But again, it's either a bluff or you go for it.”
Judge, meanwhile, is three shy of the 59 home runs set by Babe Ruth in 1921, the fourth-most in franchise history, and was 1-for-3 on Tuesday with one walk and one fly ball to the warning track.
“There are some guys out there having incredible seasons, and compared to those guys, his numbers are way above them,” Boone said. “He's on a different level than the guys who are having incredible seasons. His ability to control the strike zone has gotten better every year. And he has power that nobody else has. It's just incredible.”
Judge faces pressure to perform well in the upcoming playoffs despite a subpar regular season in which he set a franchise record with 62 home runs and was booed by his hometown fans after a spectacular flop in the AL Championship Series against the Astros two years ago.
