The Yankees wobble into the All-Star break, leaving Aaron Boone irritated.
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone had some direct words after the Bombers’ defensive blunders cost them a loss against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, adding to their recent losing skid.
“It’s a killer, right? “Let’s acknowledge that,” Boone told the media, according to ESPN. “It’s been a rough several weeks here for us.”
Boone is referring to the 8-18 skid that his team took into the All-Star break. The final loss placed Baltimore back into first position by just one game going into the Mid-Summer Classic. Closer Clay Holmes also blew his sixth save of the season, which led the American League.
The Yankees were trailing 3-2 in the ninth inning on Sunday, but rookie first baseman Ben Rice smashed his sixth home run of the season, giving the Yankees a 5-3 lead. Holmes struck out Baltimore shortstop Gunnar Henderson with runners on first and second for the inning’s second out.
After Adley Rustchman was walked, Ryan Mountcastle hit a ground ball to shortstop that should have finished the game. Anthony Volpe bobbled the grounder, bringing Cedric Mullins to the plate with the score 5-4. Mullins hit a nice fly ball over Alex Verdugo’s head, securing the win for the Orioles.
The Yankees’ troubles began with their June 14-16 series against the Boston Red Sox. When the Yankees won the first game of the series, they became the first team in Major League Baseball to achieve 50 victories for the season. Since then, they have won only eight games, the fewest in MLB. The series at Fenway was the first of eight consecutive losses for the Yankees, who went 0-7-1 in the series and 7-17 overall between June 14 and July 11.
Yankees in Position for Second-Half Resurgence
While the ending left a foul taste in Boone’s mouth, the overall performance throughout the series is an improvement over past performances. Gerrit Cole, the defending Cy Young winner, had his longest effort of the season on Friday, going six innings and surrendering only one run. On Saturday, rookie prodigy Luis Gil got back on track with a six-inning performance of his own.
While Sunday was another entry in the “worst loss of the year” column, the weekend should leave fans with generally good thoughts about the Yankees going forward. Over the last month, New York has struggled greatly with its starting pitching. Cole, Gil, and Carlos Rodon all gave up two or fewer earned runs in their outings against the Orioles.
Behind the starters, the bullpen has began to come into shape. Before Holmes began his outing on Sunday afternoon, relief pitchers had combined to pitch 10 innings and allow only one run. That follows a series in Tampa in which New York’s bullpen threw 12.1 innings while allowing only one run in three games. What was once a weakness for the Yankees appears to be developing into a strength.
The trading deadline is less than three weeks away. This recent performance in Baltimore should provide the Yankees’ front office with ample evidence that this team have World Series potential. The closer and defense let them down late, but New York should come out of the break victorious, as they did before this slide.
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