Orioles fumble three-run lead and lose to Yankees

NEW YORK - The Orioles couldn't hold a three-run lead today and may no longer hold the top wild card.

More to come later. There's so much to sort through from this game, so much to wrap your head around - or at least try.

Austin Romine's two-run single off Brad Brach in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a tie and the Yankees pulled away for a 7-3 win over the Orioles in the Bronx.

A Blue Jays win tonight would create another tie for the top wild card. The Tigers also are playing tonight and they're one game behind the Orioles.

The Orioles (88-73) could have clinched with a win today and a loss by either the Jays or Tigers. There's no champagne to spray and a celebration is on ice.

The Yankees were down 3-0 before scoring single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and getting four in the eighth to complete a stunning reversal. All of the runs in the eighth were charged to Brach, the last two scoring after Oliver Drake replaced him and surrendered a two-run double to Brett Gardner.

Wade Miley had a long leash today and got tangled in it.

Miley allowed a run in the sixth on Chase Headley's two-out RBI double before striking out Romine on his 99th pitch to end the inning. The Yankees strung together three straight hits after Miley retired the first two batters.

Manager Buck Showalter let Miley start the seventh after he had Mychal Givens warming, and Tyler Austin led off the inning with a game-tying home run to center field. No. 9 hitter Ronald Torreyes followed with a single before Showalter brought in Givens.

A one-out walk complicated matters for the Orioles, but Starlin Castro hit into a double play to keep the score knotted.

Brach entered the game after Donnie Hart retired Brian McCann leading off the eighth. Brach walked Jacoby Ellsbury, Headley followed with a double and both runners scored on Romine's single.

Brach was gone with two outs after walking Torreyes, and Drake let two inherited runners score.

Miley was charged with three runs and nine hits in six-plus innings, with one walk, nine strikeouts, a home run and a wild pitch. He lasted through 110 pitches.

The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Michael Bourn's two-out, two-run single. Manny Machado homered to right field with two outs in the third and the Orioles appeared to be in control, but Austin had an RBI single in the fifth and the Yankees kept pecking away.

Miley turned in the shortest start of his career on Sept. 12 in Boston, allowing six runs and eight hits in 1 1/3 innings. In the three starts that followed, he's permitted four runs, walked two and struck out 23 in 18 2/3 innings.

Aaron Hicks doubled with one out in the first inning and was doubled off second base on Castro's liner to Jonathan Schoop. Torreyes singled with two outs in the third inning, moved up on a wild pitch and was stranded on Gardner's ground ball to Chris Davis.

Miley had six strikeouts through four innings. He had trouble in the fifth after Mark Teixeira's leadoff single and Headley's walk. Austin produced an RBI single with one out, but Torreyes struck out and Gardner grounded into a force on Miley's 80th pitch.

The Orioles still had the lead. They still were in control. And then it all unraveled for them.

At least we know that Kevin Gausman is starting on Sunday.