Yankees lose heartbreaker to Braves in 11 innings | Rapid reaction

A home run just off the tip of Aaron Judge’s glove did in the Yankees as they fell, 5-3, to the Braves at Yankee Stadium on Monday night.

NEW YORK — Seventh heaven will have to wait.

The Yankees hoped to notch their seventh walk-off win of their remarkable season Monday night.

Instead, they watched with heartbreak as a ball hit the tip of Aaron Judge’s glove and fell over the wall in the 11th inning of a 5-3 loss to the Braves.

Ronald Acuna Jr., Atlanta’s star rookie, lifted a high fly ball against David Robertson. Judge made it to the wall, put his back against it and leaped. The 6-foot-8 Judge likely wished for one more inch as Acuna rounded the bases and the Bronx fell silent.

Second baseman Gleyber Torres booted a grounder in shallow right field in the shift against Nick Markakis, allowing Markakis to reach. Then Kurt Suzuki grounded into a force out at second base.

It’s not like the Yankees didn’t have plenty of opportunities.

They went hitless in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base. Didi Gregorius struck out with Aaron Judge on second to finish the game.

What it means

The loss pushed the Yankees to 54-28. The Braves fell to 49-36.

The Yankees started the day tied with the Red Sox atop the American League East after beating them, 2-1, in a home series over the weekend. They have won four of their last seven games. 

Had a chance

The Yankees’ oh-so-close 10th-inning rally nearly won the game — if not for another bad bounce. It started with Didi Gregorius’ single to left-center field. Following a Giancarlo Stanton whiff, Aaron Hicks — who slammed three homers in Sunday’s romp over the Red Sox — nearly played hero again.

Hicks cracked a double to the right-field corner but got an unlucky bounce. It bounced away from Atlanta’s right fielder but continued over the foul wall in the corner. That stopped Didi Gregorius at third base. Gregorius would have undoubtedly scored if the ball stayed in play.

After the Braves walked Miguel Andujar to get to the lefty-lefty matchup of Jesse Biddle vs. Greg Bird, Bird struck out.

Then Romine, who entered late in the game when starter Kyle Higashioka was pulled for a pinch hitter, struck out.

J. Lo

Yankees starting pitcher Joanthan Loaisiga’s rookie roller coaster continued. He went just four innings, giving up three runs, and was saved by the Yankees’ bullpen. Jonathan Holder and Chad Green each threw two scoreless innings to back him. Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in a scoreless ninth. Dellin Betances threw a scoreless 10th despite fireworks going off in behind the left-field portion of the stadium.

Loaisiga, coming off 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Phillies, struck out three and walked none. He needed 92 pitches, one more than his career-high, while serving up lots of hard contact in the strike zone.

In mid-June, the Yankees promoted Loaisiga from Double-A, skipping Triple-A. He could lose his rotation spot when Masahiro Tanaka returns from the disabled list. That’s expected to happen within the week.

How it happened

The Yankees jumped out to an early lead before briefly falling behind and then tying it in the fifth. 

Judge homered — barely — in the first inning, sending a fly ball just over the right-field wall. It was the definition of a Yankee Stadium cheap shot. Judge, maybe the game’s strongest player, doesn’t hit many of those. That put the Yankees up, 1-zip.

The Braves tied the game when Johan Carmago solo homered into the right-field seats off Loaisiga. It was a blast a bit deeper than Judge’s, landing several rows into the stands. It was also the first bomb Loaisiga had given up four starts into his big-league career.

Gleyber Torres’ put the Yankees back ahead for a few minutes in the third. Torres doubled and then moved to third base on an Anibal Sanchez wild pitch. One more wild pitch, which short-hopped the catcher and bounced left, was enough for Torres to sprint home in plenty of time.

That changed in the fourth. Loaisiga allowed three straight doubles — Markakis, Suzuki (RBI) and Acuna (RBI) — and Atlanta went back ahead by a run. It was Loaisgia’s last frame.

NEXT

Tuesday: Yankees righty Domingo German (2-4, 5.32 ERA) vs. Braves lefty Sean Newcomb (8-2, 2.71 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.