BALTIMORE — Perhaps it was the 53-degree weather, the lingering effects of a playoff-clinching celebration or having turned their minds toward the wild-card playoff on Tuesday.
Whatever it was, the Yankees gave little indication on Saturday afternoon that they were interested in playing October baseball that carried meaning only in the hypothetical sense, getting thumped by the Baltimore Orioles, 9-2, in the first game of a doubleheader.
The Yankees, who had lost four of their last five games going into the second game, took the field knowing that one more win — or a loss by the Houston Astros — would ensure that the wild-card playoff would be played at Yankee Stadium.