Anthony Volpe’s Saturday blunder may have served as the perfect representation of the New York Yankees’ current state.

After recording the last out of the fourth inning of a 12-6 loss to the New York Mets, the shortstop threw the ball to right fielder Aaron Judge as he crossed into the infield. Judge was not looking, and the ball hit him in the face, leaving a small cut near his right eye.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was somewhat taken back by the incident, via ESPN.

“Confusion,” Boone said. “I didn't know what happened initially. [It just] felt like something happened. Of course I was a little concerned.”

New York has now lost six straight games. The Yankees own the worst team ERA since June 28, and they have struggled to complete basic plays that can make the difference between winning and losing.

“Just got to play better,” Judge said. “That's what it comes down to. It's fundamentals. Making a routine play, routine. It's just the little things. That's what it kind of comes down to. But every good team goes through a couple bumps in the road.”

Prior to Saturday’s game, New York announced that Clarke Schmidt would undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. The news came while the team was already dealing with an injury to starter Luis Gil, and accepting the reality of a season without ace Gerrit Cole.

The Yankees will need to find answers quickly. Once they finish the Queens portion of the Subway Series with the Mets on Sunday, the Pinstripes will play sets against the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs before the All-Star break.

“The offense is starting to swing the bat, put some runs on the board,” Boone said. “The pitching, which has kind of carried us a lot this season, has really, really struggled this week. We haven't caught the ball as well as I think we should.

“So, look, when you live it and you're going through it, it sucks, it hurts. But you got to be able to handle it. You got to be able to deal with it. You got to be able to weather it and come out of this and grow.”

The season is far from over, but the Bronx Bombers will have to recover quickly if they have designs on defending their American League East title.

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