CNN
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The New York Yankees failed to capture the American League (AL) East title for the second straight night on Wednesday despite a historic 142nd RBI for Aaron Judge in a 9-7 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Trailing 3-0 after the first inning, the Orioles never seemed to be in trouble until the bottom of the ninth, when the Yankees started to fight back. Juan Soto singled to bring home Anthony Rizzo and make it 9-4 for Baltimore before Judge hit a three-run homer – his MLB-leading 57th of the season – to cut Baltimore’s lead to two.

The Orioles then made a pitching change, bringing in Keegan Akin in place of Matt Bowman and closing the game to seal the victory over their division rivals.

Despite the loss, Judge has now homered in four consecutive games, moving him to 142 RBIs this season and becoming the first player to drive in more than 140 runs in a campaign since 2009, when both Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard recorded 141. According to MLB statistics, the previous longest span between 140-plus RBI seasons was five years, since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920.

Coming close to making up a large deficit, Judge decided to focus on the team’s efforts in a post-match interview. “There is no quitting on the team until the end,” the 2022 AL MVP said, according to AP. “I never feel like we’re ever out of a game, no matter the score.”

In a disastrous first inning for the Yanks, fill-in starter Marcus Stroman gave up six consecutive singles to open the ballgame, the first time since at least 1969 that Baltimore has accomplished that feat.

After the Orioles scored three in the top of the first inning, Anthony Volpe’s RBI single in the second cut the lead to 3-1.

But a tough fourth inning for New York allowed Baltimore to open the lead again, as Gunnar Henderson’s two-RBI single drew more cheers from the Yankee Stadium crowd and marked the end of Stroman’s night on the mound.

Clayton Beeter fared no better, allowing RBI doubles to Anthony Santander and Colton Cowser in the fourth, and an RBI single to James McCann in the fifth, making it 8-1.

Juan Soto struck back with a two-run shot – his 41st home run of the year – to make it 8-3 in the fifth, before Jordan Westburg’s RBI single in the top of the eighth gave Baltimore enough cushion to tie the game can see. out.

After clinching their seventh playoff berth in eight seasons last week, the Yankees now need to win at least one of their four remaining games to clinch the division title.

“Nothing has been easy for us this year. You wouldn’t expect it to be like this now. But we persevered and fought through it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told AP. “We’re ready to leave tomorrow.”