Hard to have confidence in Yankees turning it around
Boston Red Sox's Enrique Hernandez, right, watches his sacrifice fly in front of Yankees' Gary Sanchez that scored Xander Bogaerts during the second inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 26, 2021, in Boston. Credit: AP/Michael Dwyer
The Yankees dropped to 0-5 against the Red Sox this season with Saturday night’s 4-2 loss in Boston, which amounted to a series of paper cuts and getting pantsed by the former sidearming specialist they dumped, Adam Ottavino.
This was only the fourth time since baseball was invented that the Yankees lost the first five games to their ancient rivals, according to Twitter stat guru Katie Sharp. These are the others, followed by that year’s World Series champion.
2009: Yankees.
1985: Royals.
1912: Red Sox.
We’re starting to feel fairly confident about drawing a line through two of those teams when it comes to repeating under this very specific set of circumstances. You probably can guess which two. And A-Rod might have a better chance of batting cleanup again this October than the Yankees do of ending their 11-year World Series drought.
Because after the Yankees dropped the first two at Fenway Park following Boston’s sweep in the Bronx earlier this month, we’re back to saying the same thing about Aaron Boone & Co.: They just don’t seem to have it.
"It" could mean any number of things: situational hitting, situational coaching, situational defense. There’s just an overall going-through-the-motions feel, and that’s not going to beat the 2021 Red Sox under the back-from-exile Alex Cora, who’s revived the ’18 championship mojo with this club.
Even Gerrit Cole, the now goo-free ace who will attempt to salvage some of the Yankees’ dignity on Sunday before they return to the Bronx, gave it up to Cora in talking about Boston’s turnaround after finishing last a year ago. Cole said Cora is "demonstrating why he’s one of the premier managers in the major leagues," never mind the naughty behavior that got him banned last season.
But what’s a little trash-can banging between former Astros? Anyway, Cora is the Yankees’ problem now, and his Red Sox have run circles around them for the first two victories at Fenway.
On Saturday, the tenacious Sox took a 3-0 lead against Jordan Montgomery despite barely poking the ball past the pitcher’s mound — four of their first six hits were of the infield variety — and even scored on a sacrifice fly caught by first baseman Luke Voit in foul territory. Yes, it was as bad as it sounds.
"Very difficult" is how Boone described the back-to-back losses. "These games are big. We’re fighting our butts off right now. Some things didn’t go our way tonight, but we’ve got to continue to fight to make things happen. We’ve got to find a way to push through against these clubs, especially these clubs in our division."
That’s not going so hot, either. Saturday’s loss dropped the Yankees to 17-23 against AL East teams, pretty much by sticking to the same listless formula. They did virtually zero against Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched into the eighth inning for the first time this season, struck out six and ultimately was chased by DJ LeMahieu’s home run.
Beyond LeMahieu’s four-hit night, the Yankees’ offense was composed of some hard-hit outs and a flurry of late-inning walks they failed to capitalize on. Sox reliever Hirokazu Sawamura walked the bases loaded in the eighth before Ottavino got Voit to bounce into an inning-ending 6-3 groundout. In the ninth, Ottavino was on fumes when Aaron Judge came to the plate as the go-ahead run, but he still whiffed him on a 96.1-mph sinker to seal the win. Another case of the Yankees doing just enough to lose.
"This game’s hard," Judge said. "You got guys in this clubhouse that are fighting every day, trying to do a job, and sometimes you come up short. It’s part of the game. We still have a long season left."
Why should we believe that what lies ahead will be any different? The patterns of the first three months have been impossible to break. The Yankees hit into two more double plays Saturday night, giving them 74 on the season and a share of the MLB lead with the Astros. Other than the resurgent Gary Sanchez and LeMahieu’s recent bump, the Yankees’ lineup has been painfully inconsistent, squeezing the margin for error in these tight games against quality teams.
Still, Boone and general manager Brian Cashman have remained in stay-the-course mode, with the latter saying before Saturday’s game that trade conversations haven’t really heated up yet with the deadline still a month away.
"Clearly, with areas we want to try and improve upon, we’re open to a lot of ideas,’’ Cashman said. "We’re ready whenever. It doesn’t mean that the markets are ready to move yet.’’
At this time of year, Cashman likes to talk about a team "deserving" a deadline deal or some new infusion of cash that a high-priced import brings. But do these Yankees qualify yet?
They’ll try again with Cole in Sunday’s face-saving matinee at Fenway. The series is lost. The only goal left is to leave with some dignity intact.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
