Through five innings, tonight’s game appeared to be a rather predictable letdown. Coming off an impressive series win at home to seize first place from the Rays, the Yankees hit the road — literally — as a mechanical problem with their chartered flight forced them to take a late bus to Baltimore. It seemed the team was still fast asleep until midway through the contest, when they awoke to find themselves trailing the last place Orioles 6-1. FanGraphs gave New York just a 2.6% chance of victory.
But run by run, the Yankees slowly clawed their way back, until — down one heading into the ninth — their inexplicable magic was on full display again.