Oswaldo Cabrera’s second pitch-clock violation of the season came at the worst time for the Yankees. 

Leading off the ninth, with the Yankees down a run to the Cardinals, Cabrera took a ball and forced a 3-2 count.

He stepped out of the batter’s box.

He fiddled with his gloves.

He took half of a swing.

But home plate umpire Ben May ruled that Cabrera wasn’t engaged by the eight-second mark, so Cabrera — one ball away from potentially drawing a walk with the top of the order waiting — was ruled out, something he called “completely my fault,” and the Yankees failed to generate a run the rest of the inning during their 6-5 loss Saturday. 

“I thought that I was in time,” Cabrera said, “and I don’t know if I was or not, but at the same time, it’s my fault. So I have to get better in that situation because [those are] the rules.” 

While manager Aaron Boone hadn’t watched a replay with the clock synced to the plate camera, he acknowledged that there wasn’t much of a case to make with May.

Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley had stepped off the mound after his slider crossed low for ball three. Boone noticed Cabrera — who said he glanced up with 10 seconds remaining — “hurrying to get in.” 

“So I guess he wasn’t engaged by eight seconds,” Boone said. 

When MLB introduced the pitch clock last year, most of the buzz revolved around the pitching adjustments.

The rules required them to speed up — 15 seconds in between pitches with the bases empty, 18 seconds in between with someone on.

The clock was even floated as a reason behind a surge in arm injuries earlier this season, leading to public jabs between MLB and the players’ union. 

Yankees hitters have committed 13 violations — four in 2023, nine now in 2024 — involving the timer, but Cabrera’s occurred at a critical juncture of the game, with Giancarlo Stanton blasting a bases-clearing double with two outs the previous frame to pull them within a run.

Juan Soto then doubled with two outs in the ninth, too. 

“We know the rules,” Boone said. “We’ve all played with them now for a couple years, so it’s on all of us.” 

Cabrera, who finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, received just the second start of his career at first base Saturday.

Boone said pregame that Cabrera — the 25-year-old who has done a little bit of everything for the Yankees, logging time at every position besides center field and catcher this year — deserved additional opportunities with his production the last month.

Anthony Rizzo “likely” returning from his rehab assignment Sunday will limit the amount of opportunities at first the rest of the season, too. 

One violation, though, added a sour ending to all of that.