Since the All-Star break, the New York Yankees no longer resemble the powerhouse they used to be. It may be difficult to come to terms with it, but they have now dropped below their longtime rival—the Boston Red Sox. Right before the last game of their three-game series against the Miami Marlins, manager Aaron Boone pointed at himself and took the blame for the Yankees’ ongoing slump.
“The reality is, I think we should be better than what our record is, and that starts with me,” he said. Last week has been the worst for the Bronx Bombers with the errors they’ve made. In the first game against the Marlins, they blew a massive lead and were handed a brutal 13-12 loss. It’s the fielding errors that contributed to the loss. One of the major ones came from the right fielder Jose Caballero, which led to the Yankees losing grip of their early 6-0 lead and 9-4 lead in the seventh inning.
As the Yanks suffered a sweep with another 3-7 loss in the third game, Boone called out the slump, giving the team a much-needed jolt. “You know that’s not a good feeling. You get beat up, and you know you’re coming out to try and salvage, and you’re behind the eightball pretty quick. That’s part of it. You got to dig and pick yourself up. You got to dig out of it and be able to handle it. But soon it’s getting time where we need to start doing it. And doing it in a consistent manner. And hopefully we start that tomorrow,” the skipper said.
Image: MLB.com
The Yankees probably took their toughest hit on Saturday, only to fall again on Sunday to end the series with a sweep. The miscues on Saturday were quite costly. The unforgettable error came in the second inning by Jazz Chisholm Jr. When Paul Goldschmidt hit a pop-up that was caught by the second baseman, Chisholm couldn’t return in time from first base and was tagged out, which ended up in a double play.
In the following game on Sunday, the series of errors continued.
Marlins sweep Yankees in Miami in front of record crowd
In the last game of the series, the Marlins dominated the Bombers by notching a 7-3 win, completing a sweep against the Yanks for the first time in their history. The series was attended by 101,545 people, setting an incredible franchise record.
But the Yanks couldn’t live up to the billing. They had acquired three new pitchers before the trade deadline—Jake Bird, David Bednar, and Camilo Doval. Despite the acquisitions, the bullpen struggled mightily. Bird, in particular, allowed three hits, out of which one was a home run that added to the Marlins’ comeback on Friday.
When the score was 9-8, the Yanks brought in Bednar, who pitched 1.2 innings and allowed four hits, out of which one was a home run. However, he managed to get the Yankees through the eighth inning. In the ninth, though, he was replaced by Doval, who allowed two hits as well as three runs in just 0.1 inning.
Even Michael Kay from YES Network called the loss the “worst loss of the year” for the Yankees. The Bombers are now off to Arlington to play against the Texas Rangers. Will they make a comeback? Share your thoughts.
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