Tied 7-7 at the bottom of the 11th on Sunday, Yankees pitcher Ron Marinaccio wound up to throw a 2-0 pitch to Rockies infielder Alan Trejo.
“Trejo, 120 at-bats, does not have a home run this year,” Yankees announcer John Flaherty — pinch-hitting as the play-by-play man — said on the broadcast.
Blasted to left-center field, Trejo proceeded to hit only his sixth homer in three seasons to seal a 8-7 victory, and a crushing defeat for the Yankees.
“Until now,” Flaherty added as Trejo ran his victory lap around the bases.
The game-winning shot was Trejo’s first home run since Sept. 28, 2022, against the Giants.
The Yankees could not put the Rockies away on Sunday, despite leading multiple times late in the game at Coors Field.
Rockies first baseman C.J. Cron’s grand slam in the bottom of the eighth did away with a 3-1 Yankee advantage before Nolan Jones’ two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th knotted things up 7-7.
The jinx wasn’t the only unfortunate call from Flaherty.
The former Yankees catcher also initially said Jones’ opposite-field blast was “popped up.”
“Popped up… more than popped up as that ball is driven the other way for a two-run shot,” said Flaherty, who is usually an analyst but stepped in with both Michael Kay and Ryan Ruocco unavailable for the Denver trip.
Colorado claimed the series, winning two of three, and pushed the Yankees to the depths of the AL East standings, currently tied for last with the Red Sox.
“It’s one of those games where you feel like everybody comes in here and asks themselves, ‘What could I have done better just to push it an extra inch over the line?’” said Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, who posted an 11-strikeout performance.
The Yankees dropped to a 50-44 record on the season and have lost six of their last eight games in a less-than-mediocre month of July.
The series loss comes against a rebuilding Rockies team that is 36-58 and the worst team in the National League.
The Yankees will look to get back in the win column –– and avoid any jinxes –– on Monday as their three-game series against the Angels and Shohei Ohtani kicks off.