New York Yankees' manager Aaron Boone had some direct words after defensive blunders lost the Bombers' Sunday matchup against the Baltimore Orioles, continuing their recent losing streak.
“That's a killer, right? Let's acknowledge that,” Boone said to the media, per ESPN. “It's been a rough several weeks here for us.”
Boone refers to the 8-18 slide his club rode into the All-Star Break. The final loss pushed Baltimore back into first place by just 1 game headed into the Mid-Summer Classic. It also saw closer Clay Holmes blow his American League-leading sixth save of the season.
The Yankees were down 3-2 when the ninth inning began on Sunday, but rookie First Baseman Ben Rice hit his sixth home run of the season to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead. Holmes struck out Baltimore's shortstop Gunnar Henderson with runners on first and second for the second out of the inning.
After Adley Rustchman was walked, Ryan Mountcastle hit a ground ball right at shortstop that, by all accounts, should have ended the game. Anthony Volpe bobbled the grounder and brought Cedric Mullins to the plate, now up just 5-4. Mullins hit a soft fly ball over the head of Alex Verdugo, clinching the game for the Orioles.
The Yankees' struggles began with their June 14-16 series against the Boston Red Sox. When the Yankees won the first game of that set, they became the first team in Major League Baseball to reach 50 wins on the season. Their eight wins since are the fewest in all of baseball. The series at Fenway was the first of 8 in a row that the Yankees did not win, going 0-7-1 in the series and 7-17 overall from June 14 to July 11.
Yankees in Position for Second-Half Resurgence
While the ending certainly left a sour taste in Boone's mouth, the overall performance during the series is a step up from previous outings. On Friday, defending Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole hurled his longest outing of the season, finishing 6 innings while allowing only 1 run. Saturday saw young phenom Luis Gil get back on track with a six-inning performance of his own.
While Sunday logged another entry in the “worst loss of the year” column, the weekend should elicit mostly positive feelings about the Yankees moving forward. The starting pitching has been a massive problem for New York over the past month. Cole, Gil, and Carlos Rodon all allowed 2 or fewer earned runs in their starts against the Orioles.
Behind the starters, the bullpen has begun rounding into form. Relief pitchers totaled 10 innings pitched and allowed just 1 run in the series before Holmes began his outing on Sunday afternoon. That comes off a series in Tampa where New York's bullpen arms threw 12.1 innings and allowed only one run in three games. What once was a weakness for the Yankees looks to be turning into a strength.
The trade deadline is less than three weeks away. This recent performance in Baltimore should give the Yankees' front office all the evidence they need that this team has World Series potential. The closer and defense let them down late, but New York should come out of the break winning like they were before this slide.
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