The Yankees were already well on their way to a drubbing in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday when reliever Nick Goody unleashed a pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning that the Baltimore slugger Chris Davis swung at and missed. But in a manner fitting for how the day — and the week — unfolded for the Yankees, the pitch eluded catcher John Ryan Murphy and bounced to the backstop, allowing Nolan Reimold to coast home from third.

That put the Orioles ahead by 10-2.

Or so it seemed. Because a moment later, Yankees Manager Joe Girardi signaled to the umpires that he wanted to challenge the play, believing that Goody’s pitch had nicked Davis in the foot. If it had, the play would be dead, and Reimold would have to return to third.

As it turned out, Girardi was correct.

As it also turned out, it mattered little. The Yankees lost, 9-2.

Girardi led the Yankees this season, which ended quietly with a 3-0 loss to the Houston Astros in the American League wild-card game Tuesday night, in what has become his distinctive manner — chin out, homework finished and fingers itching to push the right buttons.