Yankees lose to Orioles despite Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s 30th homer

BALTIMORE — An opportunity stared at the Yankees from the rightfield scoreboard at Camden Yards.

It showed the Blue Jays, whom the Yankees are trying to chase down for the AL East title, getting blown out in Kansas City.

With a victory, the Yankees could have climbed within two games of Toronto — which eventually was hammered, 20-1 — with eight games to go.

They did not seize the opportunity.

Instead, they were handcuffed for six innings by star lefthander Trevor Rogers, committed two key errors that led to two unearned runs in the sixth inning and were unable to come up with enough big hits against a shaky bullpen in a 4-2 loss.

“Every time you lose, it sucks. Every time you win, it feels good,” Aaron Boone said. “We’re working to shake hands and put ourselves in the best possible position heading down the stretch here. It’s a tough one tonight, obviously. We got a good outing from Rogers against us to hold us down, weren’t able to mount enough. But it’s on to the next one.”

The Yankees (86-68), who hold the first wild card, are two games ahead of the Red Sox and Astros.

With the Yankees down 3-0 in the top of the seventh, Austin Slater singled with two outs and Jazz Chisholm Jr. electrified his teammates with a two-run homer off lefthander Dietrich Enns, a former Yankees farmhand, to make it 3-2.

It was the 30th homer of the season for Chisholm, who has stolen 30 bases in 37 attempts. He is the third Yankee to hit at least 30 homers and steal at least 30 bases in a season (Bobby Bonds did it in 1975 and Alfonso Soriano did it in 2002 and ’03).

“It’s great. I wish it would have come in a win today, but it’s great,” he said. “It’s kind of upsetting not to get the ‘W’ tonight to come closer to the Blue Jays to win the pennant. That’s all we’re thinking about right now, winning the division, and this is a tough loss today.”

After replacing Fernando Cruz with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Tim Hill allowed a two-out infield single by Jordan Westburg and an RBI double down the leftfield line by Gunnar Henderson to make it 4-2.

The Yankees, who totaled four hits, threatened in the eighth. Pinch hitter Ben Rice walked with one out against Rico Garcia and Aaron Judge lashed a single to left, but Cody Bellinger tapped one in front of the plate and Giancarlo Stanton grounded to third. Keegan Akin struck out two in a perfect ninth for the save.

Rogers (9-2, 1.35 ERA) was brilliant throughout, allowing one hit and two walks in six innings in which he struck out seven.

Rogers, who was 15-34 entering this season, has allowed more than two runs only once in 16 starts. He has given up as many as two runs only once in his last 10 starts and has allowed only 67 hits in 106 2⁄3 innings.

“We didn’t pressure him a lot,” Boone said. “We ran his count up [a season-high 106 pitches], we made him work. I thought he was getting some pitches there [from the plate umpire], but obviously had a hard time mounting much against him.”

Yankees rookie righthander Will Warren was good overall but committed a critical error in the sixth that led to two unearned runs. Warren allowed three runs (one earned), four hits and two walks in 5 1⁄3 innings in which he struck out four.

Until the bottom of the sixth, Ryan Mountcastle’s 422-foot homer to left-center in the second was the game’s only run.

After 6-5 Baltimore leftfielder Dylan Beavers robbed Paul Goldschmidt of at least a double (and maybe a two-run homer) with a leaping catch at the wall for the first out in the sixth and then robbed Judge with a diving catch, snowconing a sinking liner for the second out, the Yankees gifted the Orioles two runs.

Westburg led off with a slow roller back to the mound that Warren booted. Henderson chopped one to second and Chisholm tried to flip the ball with his glove to Goldschmidt, but his errant attempt put runners at second and third.

“Would have been better just to eat it,” Boone said. “But I think his only play was to do it the way he did it.”

Mountcastle’s lineout to right made it 2-0 and, after Warren walked Beavers, Cruz walked Jeremiah Jackson. Samuel Basallo’s 4-6 forceout made it 3-0.

“Probably the worst play I’ve ever made in my life,” Warren said. “A bit embarrassing . . . basically gifted them a run. Jazz gets the two-run bomb, and it would have been a tie game if I make that play. It’s never good when we lose, especially at the point of the season we’re at now.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.