BALTIMORE — Blame Adam Warren for the latest Yankees loss if you must. He was the losing pitcher, so have at him for leaving a slider up so Nick Hundley could deliver a game-winning hit for the Orioles.
Yet, if you are playing the blame game, there are other precincts to visit to make sure the load doesn’t fall solely on Warren’s thick shoulders.
That’s because by the time Hundley’s single to center scored Manny Machado from second to lift the Orioles to a 3-2, 10-inning win over the Yankees on Friday night, the visitors had already lowered themselves into a shallow grave by not hitting.
Yes, Brian Roberts, in his first game at Camden Yards without a Bird on his uniform, homered on the first pitch he saw as a visitor in the second. No. 9 hitter Kelly Johnson also left the yard against right-hander Miguel Gonzalez.
Nevertheless, after Johnson’s solo homer in the third the Yankees, didn’t dent the plate, missing a strong scoring chance in the fourth and sending four batters to the plate with runners in scoring position.
“We would have liked to score more runs for sure,’’ said Brian McCann, who opened the fourth with a single and advanced to third on Ichiro Suzuki’s double, but was stranded when Gonzalez retired Yangervis Solarte and Johnson on fly balls. “Gonzalez settled down after the second, but we had a chance to get to him early.’’
The dead bats voided a solid outing from Hiroki Kuroda, the staff ace due to attrition. In seven innings, he allowed two runs and three hits. He was hurt by hitting two batters and throwing three wild pitches — two of which contributed to two Orioles runs in the fourth, when they tied the score, 2-2, and pleased the crowd of 45,389.
“I have to block those balls,’’ McCann said of two wild pitches in the dirt. The third one, in the sixth, sailed over his head due a crossed wire between Kuroda and the catcher. “He controlled the game and did exactly what he wanted to do.’’
It was the Yankees’ third extra-inning loss in seven days and dropped them five games back of the AL East-leading Orioles.
Warren (1-5) replaced Dellin Betances, who provided two scoreless innings, to start the 10th.
“I was trying to get back in the count, it was 1-0, and I wanted a fastball away,’’ Warren said of his plan against the right-handed hitting Machado. “I got it up.’’
Machado rifled the ball to right for a leadoff double. With one out, Warren was satisfied with the first two sliders he threw to Hundley, the No. 9 hitter.
“I threw two good sliders and got swings and misses on them,’’ Warren explained. “The last one I overthrew it and left it up in the zone.’’
With 80 percent of the Opening Day rotation on the disabled list with serious injuries and designated hitter Carlos Beltran on the seven-day concussion DL the Yankees are in tatters.
“You don’t want to lose a game like that,’’ manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s a tough loss, but you have to bounce back. It’s part of the game.’’
So, too, is scoring enough runs so that when a devastated rotation delivers a solid outing it doesn’t go to waste.
“We need to play well in these last two games. … When you play good teams like this, you have to play your best. said Derek Jeter, who failed to grab Adam Jones’ chop single near second base in the fourth, which cost the Yankees a run they couldn’t afford to give up. “Hopefully we can play a lot better the next two days. We started the road trip well.”
Hopefully we can finish strong,’’