Manny Machado puts on show for Yankees in Orioles’ walk-off win | Rapid reaction

Yankees fall 6-5 to Orioles on a ninth-inning walk-off hit by Jonathan School in a game Manny Machado homered twice.

BALTIMORE— Baltimore Orioles on-the-block superstar Manny Machado again showed the Yankees what he can do with a bat in his hands Tuesday night at Oriole Park, not that that’s anything new.

This time, the five-time All-Star did it in the midst of fresh rumors that the Yankees are among the many clubs interested in acquiring his talents before the July 31 trade deadline.

This two-homer night sure did look like an audition, and it came in a winning effort as the Orioles pulled out a 6-5 walk-off win on a ninth-inning walk-off single by Jonathan Schoop off first baseman Greg Bird’s glove.

“Obviously, (Machado) hurt us tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

This loss, the Yankees’ fifth in nine games this season to the 40-under-.500 Orioles, was costly, as it sunk them 3 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox, who beat the Texas Rangers 8-4 at Fenway Park.

“It’s tough to lose,” first baseman Greg Bird said. “We need every game still. But here we are. Tomorrow, new day.”

The Orioles winning rally began with Yankees reliever Dellin Betances hitting leadoff hitter Caleb Joseph and Adam Jones dropping a one-out double into the right-field corner.

After Machado was walked intentionally to load the bases, Betances struck out Mark Trumbo for the second out before Schoop won the game with his groundball that Bird couldn’t come up with.

“I was in perfect position, it just kind of hopped up and I didn’t get my glove up in time,” Bird said. “I was in the right position. Really, that was it. It’s a play I want to make. I just came up short. It’s just a play that I want to make. That’s how I would classify it.”

Machado had a great night at the plate going 3-for-4 with two homers, the last one a game-tying blast in the seventh off Yankees reliever Chad Green.

“With a hitter like that, you can’t miss in the zone,” Green said. “That’s why he’s one of the best hitters in the league.”

In nine games against the Yankees the season, Machado is hitting .378 with six homers and 10 RBIs. For his career, he’s a .274 hitter with 22 homers in 95 games against the Yanks.

Earlier, Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka was nothing special in his return from a month on the disabled list.

Back from strains to his right and left hamstrings, Tanaka allowed three runs over 4 1/3 innings in an 80-pitch start.

“I thought was coming out all right for the most part,” Tanaka said. “Some of the off-speed (pitches) I wasn’t able to locate well.”

Only three Orioles reached base in the first three innings, but Tanaka struggled with his command in a 30-pitch fourth in which he allowed two runs before getting out of the inning by striking out Jones with the bases loaded.

The Yankees fell behind 2-0 when Joey Rickard hit a two-run, two-out double inside third base off Tanaka.

The Yankees stormed back in the fifth to pull ahead 3-2 when Bird homered with two on off Orioles starter Andrew Cashner, but Machado hit Tanaka’s first pitch in the bottom of the inning deep into the left-field seats to tie the game 3-3.

“We saw enough good things out of (Tanaka),” Boone said. “Pitch count got a little up there and then obviously a mistake to start out the fifth to Machado.”

Add Tanaka, “What I’m most disappointed in is that first pitch to Machado. “You can’t do that. It was huge for them.”

The Yankees went ahead again in the seventh when they scored twice to build a 5-3 lead – Bird brought in the first with a sacrifice fly and another scored on a two-out single by Neil Walker – but Machado’s second homer of the night in the last of the seventh evened things up again.

Adam Jones singled with one out, then Machado skied a ball to deep right that was just missed by Aaron Judge, who jumped high and reached over the wall.

Initially, the umps ruled Machado’s blast in play and he was on first with a single until a replay review confirmed the ball hit a bar above the top of the wall that holds by fans, and by ballpark rule, it was a changed to a game-tying, two-run homer.

“I was close (to catching it),” Judge said. “I jumped up a little early and wasn’t able to make the play. It was just over the fence and I wasn’t able to pull it back.”

Added Green, “If Judge can’t catch that ball, I don’t think anybody can.”

NOTABLE

— Bird matched his career-high with his third four-RBI game.

— Cashner began his start by retiring 13 in a row before Didi Gregorius became the first Yankee to reach base with a fifth-inning, one-out ground single to left.

LOOKING AHEAD

Wednesday, Yankees at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m., YES. RHP Sonny Gray (5-7, 5.85) vs. RHP Dylan Bundy (6-8, 4.08).

Thursday: Yankees at Cleveland Indians, 7:10 p.m., YES. RHP Luis Severino (14-2, 2.12) vs.  RHP Corey Kluber (12-4, 2.49).

Friday: Yankees at Cleveland Indians, 7:10 p.m., YES. RHP Domingo German (2-4, 5.06) vs.  RHP Shane Bieber (4-1, 3.47).

Saturday: Yankees at Cleveland Indians, 7:15 p.m., YES. LHP CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.34) vs. Mike Clevinger (7-4, 3.34).

Sunday: Yankees at Cleveland Indians, 1:10 p.m., YES. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (7-2, 4.58) vs. RHP Trevor Bauer (8-6, 2.45).

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.