So, 4 games to go and 4 games in front. And to be frank things were not going well for the Yankees as the Orioles were two up in the series already.

Now this evening game had a very tough pitching matchup with Gerrit Cole leading off the pitching for the New York team and Orioles’ ace Corbin Burnes the other guy on the mound. This one was wide open and could have gone either way.

Gunnar Henderson hit a fly out to Aaron Judge in centerfield which was followed by two gentle ground outs – Jordan Westburg out 6-3 and then Anthony Santander hitting directly to Antony Rizzo to finish out the Baltimore time at bat.

Burnes suggested he might have the edge tonight. In 9 pitches, he got the first three Yankees’ batters to strike out swinging (Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto and
Aaron Judge).

But if Burnes intended to take the game, he would have to hope that his position players would do better against Cole. In the second, Colton Cowser became the fourth consecutive batter to strike out swinging and then Adley Rutschman became the first Oriole to hit one into the outfield but only to see Soto cleanly handle the line drive. Next man, Ryan O’Hearn grounded out to Torres who tossed the ball to Rizzo to complete the third out.

And then Burnes was the first to wobble. After getting Austin Wells to ground out directly to O’Hearn at first, it was Giancarlo Stanton who found the chink in Burnes’ armour. He hit to left of centerfield and watched with confidence as the ball cleared the wall to give the Yankees the lead. There was more cause for optimism when Jazz Chisholm Jr hit a single to centerfield, leaving the Yankees with a real opportunity with only one out. However, it came to nothing. Jasson Dominguez stuck out swinging and Rizzo was called out on strikes on the third pitch he faced. 1-0.

In the 3rd, Ramon Urias grounded out 6-3. Cedric Mullins swung wildly on the 5th pitch to strikeout. A walk was gifted to James McCann, but back to the top of the lineup and Henderson popped out to Chisholm at 3rd.

The Yankees lead remained slender, and they showed no sign of widening it in the bottom of the inning with Anthony Volpe flying out to Santander in right. Next was Torres out on a foul tip and Soto striking out swinging.

The Orioles were still incapable of creating any chances off Cole who was on formidable form. Westburg grounded out, Santander flied out, and Cowser struck out on 6 pitches.

Burnes gave up a walk to Aaron Judge and was fortunate that the Yankees had the struggling Wells up next. He hit 5-6-3 for a doubleplay. Thinks could get worse for Austin but I’m not sure how. This time Stanton couldn’t bring any relief as he swung wildly to end the inning.

In the 5th, Rutschman and O’Hearn both hit pop ups which were easily dealt with by the Yankees’ infield. Urias picked up a single but was left stranded when Mullins hit directly to Rizzo for a ground out.

Chisholm then grounded out and he returned the favour by hitting directly to O’Hearn at first. 5 pitches into the count, Dominguez came nowhere near the ball and struck out swinging. O’Hearn received another grounder, this time from Rizzo and the 5th came to an end.

McCann hit a single into left which evaded Dominguez. However, the next hit into the outfield was cleanly fielded by Judge, and Henderson was the first out. A grounder from Westburg moved O’Hearn up to second, but he was out on the 4-3 play. Baltimore’s time at bat came to an end with Santander striking out swinging.

The Orioles made a surprising which effectively ended their chance of keeping pace with the Yankees in the division. They decided to make a call to the bullpen and lift the solid Burnes for Yannier Cano. Burnes had kept the Yankees lead to the narrowest and could have gone one and this was to prove a fateful choice. Cano was to begin well causing Volpe to strike out swinging, but that was as far as it went. He gave up a walk to Torres which was followed by a single from Soto and then a further walk was gifted to Judge to load the bases. Cionel Perez was brought in place of Cano to improve the situation, but there was no gain to be made – even though Wells was next up. Wells was walked and everyone moved up a step on the bases. 2-0.

Next was Stanton and he added to his earlier homerun with a sharp double to straight centerfield. This brought Giancarlo’s tally to 4 RBIs on the night as all 3 runners scored. 5-0.

Chisholm nit into a ground out which was enough to advance Stanton to third. Bryan Baker was next to make the journey from the bullpen. He gave a walk to Dominguez to make a faltering start to his time on the mound and then Jasson was given enough space to steal second. A line drive to right from Rizzo caromed around Santander and he reached first safely whilst both Stanton and Dominguez scored. 7-0.

The inning ended with Anthony Volpe striking out swinging.

Alex Verdugo was brought in to left to replace Dominguez and Cole struck out Cowser on three pitches. A line out for Rutschman proved to be Cole’s last contribution with Tommy Kahnle brought in to relieve with the game effectively over.

Kahnle got O’Hearn to hit a grounder in the general direction of Torres for a simple out by Rizzo.

Things though were going to get worse for Baltimore. Despite getting Torres to strike out swinging, nothing else was going to go right for the flailing Baker. First of all, Soto was allowed to reach first due to an error by shortstop Henderson. And then, and crucially for his confidence going into the playoffs, Judge lofted one over the wall in left centerfield to make it 9-0.

The momentum faded as Wells came to his next at bat and he and then Stanton both struck out swinging.

The Orioles replaced shortstop Urias with Emmanuel Rivera who came into pinch hit. Six pitches later, Rivera struck out. A single for Mullins came when Kahnle deflected the hit and caused it to evade Judge. Reliever Clay Holmes came in for Kahnle and he struck out McCann on 5 pitches. A second pinch hitter Jackson Holliday was brought in to replace Henderson who had made a fielding error in the previous inning. Holliday safely hit a single. The third out though came with a 6-3 groundout for Westburg.

Holliday stayed in the game at short, as did Rivera at third. Another switch saw Heston Kjerstad coming in at rightfield to replace Santander. Former Yankee, Matt Bowman entered the game in the next in line of the Orioles’ relievers.

A line out for Chisholm got Bowman off to a good start, but it was rather short lived. Verdugo’s first at bat saw him hit one over the fence in rightfield to give the Yankees an even greater lead. 10-0.

However, a single for Rizzo came to nothing with simple flyouts for Volpe and Torres providing the second and third outs.

And so, we came to the top of the 9th, in a game which emphasised just how much the Yankees are a different team when Gerrit Cole is on the mound and how much they need to strengthen their starting rotation with a view to 2025. How far they can advance in the playoffs will depend on how the other starters have the desire to stand up and be counted in the way that Cole does. Side-armer Tim Hill came in for the 9th and he didn’t manage to make it straightforward…

Kjerstad began by hitting into a 5-3 groundout, but the Orioles were determined not to go quietly no matter how lost the cause. They brought in pinch hitter Austin Slater who hit a single into centerfield and this was followed by a second single on a grounder that was returned up the middle towards Hill by Rutschman. Another pinch hitter was brought in with Ryan Mountcastle leaving his seat on the bench. Mountcastle’s hit to third passed Chisholm and was enough to load the bases.

A deep sacrifice fly to centre meant that Slater came home, but Rivera was the second out and the revival was going to be short-lived. It was all resolved with Mullins hitting a 6-3 groundout. 10-1.

Celebrations erupted all over the field and the terraces as the Yankees had clinched the division at the Stadium. The Orioles had come out of this series well – 2-1 overall and tonight Burnes had done extremely well and showed his potential for the wildcard series.

Not making the post-season in 2024 drew the exaggerated statement from owners that the Yankees’ season had been a disaster. They had passed the first hurdle. Now let’s see how far they can go.