Yankees blow leads twice in gut-punch loss to Rockies in wild extra-inning affair

DENVER — As can often happen in the high altitude, Sunday’s game between the Yankees and Rockies got inebriated in a hurry during the late innings.

By the end of the chaos, the Yankees had submitted another candidate for their worst loss of the season.

After blowing a two-run lead in the eighth inning, scoring a pair in the top of the ninth to force extra innings, then pushing across two more runs to regain the lead in the top of the 11th, the Yankees still lost in gut-punch fashion.

Alan Trejo hit a walk-off home run against Ron Marinaccio with two outs in the 11th inning to give the Rockies an 8-7 win on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field.

Marinaccio was fresh into the game after lefty Nick Ramirez had given up a game-tying, two-run homer to the left-handed hitting Nolan Jones two pitches into the inning.

The Rockies’ final comeback happened after Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza had recorded RBI singles in the top of the 11th to put the Yankees ahead 7-5.

Trying to protect a two-run lead after Gerrit Cole’s 11-strikeout gem, Tommy Kahnle loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning before Clay Holmes entered and gave up his first home run of the season, a grand slam by C.J. Cron that put the Rockies ahead 5-3.

The Rockies’ shoddy defense, which opened the door for the Yankees to take a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, was back on display in the top of the ninth.

After Daniel Bard hit pinch-hitter Billy McKinney to begin the inning, Gleyber Torres hit a dribbler to third base for an infield single.

But third baseman Ryan McMahon’s ill-advised throw to first was wild, allowing McKinney to come all the way around to score and Torres to take second.

Torres then tagged to third base on Giancarlo Stanton’s fly out before Anthony Rizzo drew a five-pitch walk.

The freshly recalled Peraza pinch ran for Rizzo and immediately stole second base to take away the threat of a double play, but the Rockies responded by intentionally walking DJ LeMahieu after Bard threw two balls to him.

Harrison Bader came up next and delivered a sacrifice fly to left field that tied the game at five. But the Yankees missed out on a chance to take the lead because Peraza tried to tag up to third on the play and was thrown out by catcher Elias Diaz.

After the Yankees went down quietly in the top of the 10th, Ian Hamilton kept the Rockies at bay in the bottom of the inning to send it to the 11th.

The late drama overshadowed a stellar start for Cole. On a day in which at one point he struck out six straight batters, Cole recorded his 24th double-digit strikeout game as a Yankee, passing Ron Guidry for the most in franchise history.

He also lowered his ERA to 2.78 in his 20th start of the season.