Yankees Struggles Continue With 3rd Straight Loss to O's

 ORIOLES 5 - YANKEES 1 

The Yankees are in big time trouble. With three weeks left in the 2020 regular season, the Yankees find themselves hanging on by a string to their playoff lives, two games ahead of the suddenly surging Baltimore Orioles, who took three of four from the Bronx Bombers this weekend. 

 The Orioles capped off their weekend with a 5-1 win over the Yanks after Mashairo Tanaka was yanked in the sixth inning down 2-1, having just allowed two men to reach base before the Yankee pen, once again imploded. 

It just wasn't a good day for New York from the outset. A DJ Stewart two run homer to right got things started for Baltimore, who never looked back. 

Offensively the Yankees had no answer for rookie Dean Kremer, who held the Bombers to just a single run on one hit over six innings, while striking out seven and walking three. The only time the Yankees scored it had to come on a fielder's choice. 

New York's offense has been putrid these last few weeks, especially with the loss of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton from the lineup. The Yankees currently have eight players hitting at .220 or worse, including six guys hitting under .200. That club includes Gary Sanchez, who is hitting only .130 on the year despite hitting seven homers this season. He has been the poster child of all the Yankees ills, even though he didn't play Sunday. 

As for the Orioles, they small balled the Yankees to death on Sunday. A walk Bryan Holaday drove in a run. An infield single by Andrew Velazquez on what should have been an error on second baseman D.J. LeMahieu drove in the O's fourth run of the afternoon. Finally a sac fly RBI by Ryan Mountcastle drove home the final run of the afternoon in the seventh. 

 The O's (19-21) are right on the heels of the Yankees (21-19). Now New York must square off with a Toronto Blue Jays team that has already passed them in the standings. When the two squads meet in Buffalo on Monday night, it will be the first time this year that the Yanks and Jays have squared off. 

 There will be 10 games between the two teams, and the Yankees need every single one, if not, most of them to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

As for the Orioles, they are a real threat. They get the Mets this week, and a successful week for them in Flushing and a bad week up north for the Yankees and the Bronx Bombers could be on the outside looking in.