Former Pitcher Tried Boosting Yankees Playoff Spot

Once a New York Yankees, always a New York Yankee. Baltimore Orioles right-hander Roansy Contreras made his season debut Wednesday and he did his best to help his former team gain ground on the Boston Red Sox in the American League Wild Card standings.

The Orioles promoted Contreras from Triple-A Norfolk and tapped him to be the first person out of the bullpen against the Red Sox. When he took the mound in the third inning, the game was tied, 1-1.

Contreras kept the Red Sox bats quiet, throwing four and one-third innings of shutout ball, striking out a pair of Boston batters. He threw 71 pitches before making way for Keegan Akin, who took the loss for Baltimore after giving up a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning.

Had Akin been able to close out the Red Sox, the Yankees would have replaced Boston as the wild-card leader, thanks to New York's 11-2 win over the Washington Nationals.

Instead, the Yankees remained a half-game behind Boston, who leapfrogged past New York in the standing after taking three of four games last weekend in the Bronx.