This one had everything: a double steal, a barrage of solo homers, a blown call that had Camden Yards fuming, and a Yankees bullpen escape act. By the time it ended 5-3, New York had won its third straight and its second in a row over Baltimore, but the story of the night was a fly ball down the left-field line that never counted.
A double steal in the early innings put the Orioles on the board first.
Baltimore struck first on that double steal, but the Yankees answered fast. Ben Rice, who's now up to 34 home runs on the season, launched one an estimated 447 feet into the right-center field seats to flip the lead New York's way.
Ben Rice's third-inning solo shot traveled roughly 447 feet to give the Yankees their first lead.
Dylan Beavers answered for the Orioles in the 6th with an opposite-field solo shot to tie it back up at 3-3, the kind of moment that had the Camden Yards crowd feeling good about their $155 million offseason addition getting a shot to be a hero.
Dylan Beavers' opposite-field solo home run tied the game at 3-3 in the 6th.
That addition is Pete Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155 million deal with Baltimore in free agency and has led the club with 27 homers this year. With the game still tied in the 7th, Alonso ripped a deep drive down the left-field line that looked, for a second, like the go-ahead shot. Umpires initially called it foul, sent it to review, and the call stood — even though at least one replay angle made it look like the ball may have clipped the fair side of the pole. Alonso struck out on the at-bat that followed.
Pete Alonso's deep drive down the left-field line was ruled foul on review in the 7th inning.
Orioles fans and the Barstool Baseball account weren't shy about their feelings on the ruling, with the sarcasm flying before New York even sealed it.
The Yankees made the review call irrelevant an inning later. Baltimore reliever Cam Sanders loaded the bases with walks and hit batters in the 8th, George Lombard Jr. slapped a two-out infield single to break the tie, and a wild pitch pushed the lead to 5-3 — the final score. It's the kind of ending that turns a blown call into a footnote for one side and a talking point for the other, but for an Orioles team still finding its footing after trading away Adley Rutschman at the deadline, another close loss to their AL East rivals stings all the same.