SEATTLE — Through the first four games of this trip, the Yankees had made a habit of bludgeoning opposing pitchers with the depth of their lineup.
Then for eight innings Tuesday night, Bryan Woo and the Mariners bullpen shut them down.
So the Yankees did it the hard way instead, scoring just the second run off Mariners closer Andres Muñoz all season (both unearned) in the top of the ninth to tie the game at one and force extra innings.
That only delayed the pain.
After failing to push across another run in the top of the 10th or 11th innings, the Yankees lost it in the bottom of the 11th when J.P. Crawford hit a walk-off single off Tim Hill to lift the Mariners to a 2-1 win at T-Mobile Park.
“When you don’t score in those extra innings, it puts the home team at a real advantage so we’re kind of up against it there,” said manager Aaron Boone, who was ejected in the top of the ninth while trying to make sure Jasson Domínguez did not get tossed for arguing balls and strikes.
“We threw the ball really well tonight, we just didn’t get the big hit with runners in scoring position. … We just couldn’t cash in on those chances we had.”
Entering the night, the Yankees (24-18) had scored double digits in three of their last four games and 40 runs overall during the trip.
That included five innings in which they scored five runs or more.
But on Tuesday, they could only scratch across one run in 11 innings while going 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position — tying a franchise record for the most hitless at-bats with RISP.
The Yankees wasted a chance to score in the top of the 10th with the top of their order — the Mariners (23-18) intentionally walked Aaron Judge with two outs and got Cody Bellinger out instead — before Devin Williams stranded the automatic runner at third in the bottom of the inning to send the game to the 11th.
But after the Yankees left runners on the corners in the top of the 11th, Hill gave up back-to-back singles in the bottom of the frame — the second by Crawford, slicing one just fair down the left-field line to end it.
After Max Fried nearly matched Woo, allowing just one run across five innings without his best stuff, the Yankees’ bullpen kept them within striking distance with a dominant night.
Fernando Cruz, Mark Leiter Jr. and Luke Weaver combined to strike out eight across four scoreless innings to get the game to extra innings.
Muñoz hit Paul Goldschmidt on the right hand to lead off the ninth — Boone said he was fine — before Goldschmidt stole second on the first pitch to Austin Wells. Pablo Reyes then pinch-ran for him and took third on Wells’ groundout.
With the infield in and Reyes going home on contact, Anthony Volpe got off a check-swing chopper to first base that Dylan Moore handled but then threw wide to home, allowing Reyes to slide in safely to tie the game.
Volpe advanced to second on the play but was stranded there as Muñoz retired the next two batters, including striking out Domínguez looking at a pitch below the zone.
Domínguez threw his hands up and lingered around the plate, which led to Boone getting ejected as he tried to make sure his left fielder did not get tossed, then got his money’s worth arguing vehemently with home plate umpire Mark Wegner.
“I wasn’t even going out to argue,” Boone said. “Obviously it was a bad call, everyone knew it. You don’t see JD react like that, so I was just trying to go out and make sure JD was staying in the game. I was trying to get my player out of there and I thought it was kind of a quick run there. That’s all it was. He clearly missed one in a big spot.”
“I was surprised, because it was low,” Domínguez said. “It is what it is, but I was shocked.”
Beyond the offense getting held in check, the unthinkable also happened in the Yankees losing a game started by Fried for the first time this year after winning his first eight starts.
The lefty was not his sharpest across five innings — his second-shortest start of the season — but still gave his team a chance to win while getting outdueled by Woo, who scattered just four hits and struck out six.
“They put together some really good at-bats and drove my pitch count up, especially after a really quick first,” Fried said. “Definitely had to make pitches and dig deep and got bailed out by some really great defense.”
