The Yankees' unthinkable 9th-inning collapse against the Orioles had MLB fans in disbelief

The past four weeks have been unbelievably rough for the Yankees. They’ve seen their AL East lead disappear and had among the worst stretches in the entire league. But this weekend’s series against the Orioles looked to be an opportunity to take some momentum and a division lead into the All-Star break.

Then, the unthinkable happened.

With the Yankees up two runs and closer Clay Holmes in to pitch the ninth, Holmes found himself in a bases-loaded jam with two outs. But he should have done enough to pitch out of the trouble and win the game. Holmes drew a routine grounder off from Ryan Mountcastle, but Anthony Volpe couldn’t corral it. A run scored, and everyone was safe.

That brought up pinch hitter Cedric Mullins, and once again, the defense let Holmes down. Back-to-back plays don’t get much more brutal than this:

Mullins hit a fly ball to left field, but Alex Verdugo got a poor read on the ball and stumbled as he tried to recover. He lost his balance a second time and could only watch from the ground as the Orioles walked off with the unreal win.

Instead of the Yankees going into the All-Star break atop the AL East standings, that collapse gave Baltimore a one-game lead. What a way to head into the break. MLB fans also couldn’t believe the collapse.

This was how Twitter/X reacted