Orioles 4

Yankees 3

As Mike Bordick’s ninth-inning drive hooked away from sprinting Rondell White and landed right on the left-field line for a game-winning RBI double, closer Mariano Rivera could only stand on the mound and wave foul. The word could be used to describe the Bombers’ performance for much of the night, a 4-3 loss to Baltimore.

Perhaps the Yankees were still hung over from their emotional series with Boston. Whatever the case, they looked sloppy and sluggish for seven innings last night, handing the Orioles a 3-1 lead before scoring two in the eighth, only to give up the winning run in the ninth. In the end, a night full of little mistakes added up to a huge loss.

There was Roger Clemens striking out 13 with his best stuff of the year, only to plate a second-inning run with a wild pitch on an intentional walk. There was Alfonso Soriano getting a late break on Jay Gibbons’ infield hit to let a run score in the sixth. And there was John Vander Wal popping up a sacrifice bunt in the ninth with the tying run on.

“We gave up too much,” Joe Torre said. “It’s a game we felt we had a good chance to win; but they executed better than we did. That’s something you have to live with. We had opportunities, but they did the little things.”

Combined with Detroit’s 7-6 win over the Red Sox, the Yanks blew a golden opportunity to cut into their four-game deficit in the AL East loss column. Rivera (1-2) came on to pitch the ninth inning of a 3-all tie and proceeded to unravel against the one team that has his number.

Gary Matthews Jr. singled with one out. He stole second with two outs, and Bordick stroked Rivera’s next pitch – a fastball – for a double. Baseball’s best closer, who’s never lost to any other team more than twice, dropped to 1-7 with a 4.47 ERA against the Orioles.

“I thought it was foul. It looked like it from where I was,” Rivera said. “I was disappointed we didn’t win.”

Clemens had been dominant for seven innings, allowing two runs and striking out 13, but Sidney Ponson held them at bay most of the night. In the second, Clemens walked designated hitter Jay Gibbons and surrendered a double to third baseman Tony Batista. Clemens fell behind Matthews Jr. 3-0 and tried to intentionally walk him, but uncorked a wild pitch to plate Gibbons.

The Yanks knotted it on Nick Johnson’s upper-deck solo shot on the fifth, but Baltimore reclaimed the lead in the sixth on Gibbons’ infield hit. Singleton added an RBI single in the eighth off Yank reliever Steve Karsay for a 3-1 lead.

The Yankees knotted it when Johnson led off with a single to left and Soriano followed with a double that Melvin Mora misplayed to allow Johnson to score. The Bombers loaded the bases with nobody out for Jason Giambi, but reliever B.J. Ryan came on for a key strikeout. Jorge Julio relieved Ryan and surrenderd a sac fly to Jorge Posada before getting Enrique Wilson to fly out.

After Bordick’s RBI double, the Yanks had one last chance when White lead off the ninth with a single, but Vander Wal popped up trying to bunt against Julio. Johnson struck out, and after pinch-runner Gerald Williams stole, Soriano flied out to Singleton, who jumped for joy as he caught the ball.

It was stark contrast to Vander Wal, sitting sullen in the clubhouse, staring blankly into space more than a half-hour after the game ended.

“He abused me. Everything he threw up there, I had a tough time period. He shut us down,” Vander Wal said of Ponson. And of his bunt, he said “I just didn’t do the job. Get the bunt down: I didn’t do it. It’s horse[bleep]. I had a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^job and didn’t do it.”