Yankees embarrassed again, this time in five-run loss to Mets
Aaron Judge reacts after striking out to end the seventh inning against the Mets at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees, who may well lead MLB in team meetings if nothing else, are rapidly closing in on becoming a .500 club.
Or worse.
Two days off because of rain after taking one of their worst regular-season losses in years — when Aroldis Chapman failed to hold a four-run lead in the ninth inning Wednesday night against the Angels — provided no respite from the subpar baseball the Yankees have played all season.
And so, even after much breathless reporting on the Aaron Judge-called team meeting before Tuesday night’s game, the Yankees all but napped through an 8-3 loss to the Mets on Saturday in front of 40,047 at the Stadium.
"It's frustrating. We’re [ticked] off about it, obviously," Aaron Boone said when asked if it is "embarrassing" for the team to be one game over .500 at the halfway mark, given its talent and expectations. "We've set a much higher bar in there. And we haven't, to this point, lived up to that . . . I know guys are upset and not OK with it [but] I'll never be embarrassed about what those guys put in and what we try to do on a regular basis. Proud to be associated with them. But we all understand it's got to be better."
Just about nothing fit that description Saturday.
The Yankees were held hitless for the first 5 1/3 innings by Taijuan Walker. By then, the Mets had eight runs and 12 hits.
"We just need to be more consistent with our at-bats. I feel like we’re always behind. We need to come out and score early," Luke Voit said. "This team is really good. Obviously, everyone expected us to win a lot of games this year, and we're not playing up to expectations. But we still have plenty of time to turn it around."
The Yankees (41-40), who have lost six of their last seven games, will play the Mets (42-36) in a split doubleheader on Sunday. Even the fact that ace Gerrit Cole will start one of those games offers no guarantees, given his struggles since MLB's crackdown on foreign substances.
By the end of Saturday’s game, the sizable number of Mets fans in attendance dominated what remained of the crowd. If managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner was watching from his Tampa home, it was a sight and sound he could not have enjoyed.
On Thursday, Steinbrenner strongly endorsed general manager Brian Cashman and Boone, but according to multiple club insiders in Tampa and as reported in Newsday several weeks ago, he has been asking some "pointed" questions about how the organization is operating.
Nothing that has occurred of late suggests those questions will stop anytime soon.
The Mets wound up outhitting the Yankees 14-3. Judge ended Walker's no-hit bid with one out in the sixth, hammering a 2-and-2 fastball to right-center for his team-best 19th homer to make it 8-1. Gio Urshela's two-out, two-run single off Miguel Castro made it 8-3, and that was that, as the Yankees went down in order in the final three innings.
Jordan Montgomery, in and out of trouble during his 4 1/3 innings, was charged with three runs, two of which scored when Lucas Luetge couldn’t limit the damage in the fifth. Montgomery (3-3, 4.17) gave up six hits, walked three and struck out six.
Walker (7-3, 2.44) was charged with two runs in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed two hits, walked two and struck out five.
The Mets stranded five runners through three innings but broke through in the fifth, repeatedly finding holes and driving Montgomery from the game.
With one out in the fifth, Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor and Dom Smith singled to make it 1-0. Pete Alonso walked to load the bases and Boone brought in the lefthanded Luetge to face righthanded-hitting James McCann. He singled to center to make it 2-0 and, with Kevin Pillar at the plate, a wild pitch made it 3-0.
Lefthander Justin Wilson, recently activated from the injured list, began the sixth and didn't offer any help. He pitched to five batters, allowed four hits and a walk and was charged with five runs.
Wilson allowed singles by Jeff McNeil, Jose Peraza and Nimmo to load the bases. Lindor walked to force in a run and Smith doubled to left to drive in two more for a 6-0 lead.
As Boone went to the mound to remove Wilson, he and the rest of the Yankees heard booing on par with the worst David Ortiz got when he suited up in this ballpark with the Red Sox. On came Michael King, who struck out Alonso and McCann but walked Conforto and allowed a two-run single to left by Pillar to make it 8-0.
King was one of the Yankees' very few bright spots, striking out nine in four innings . . . after the game had long since been decided.
"I don't really know what else to do," Montgomery said.
He was speaking of his frustration with the mostly soft contact he gave up Saturday. He easily could have been describing the state of the team he plays for.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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