Frustration Reaches Tipping Point as Yankees Continue to Struggle
In this story:
NEW YORK — The Yankees sunk to a new low on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, continuing to spiral in the second half.
New York fell 5-2 to the Blue Jays, losing their sixth series in a row.
For a team that was on a historic pace throughout the first three-plus months of the season, an extended stretch of uninspiring performances has started take a toll, with heightened frustration reaching a tipping point.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who was fed up with the same questions about his team's underperforming offense, got heated after New York's latest loss. The skipper slammed a table in the middle of an answer during his postgame presser, making his microphone shake and a water bottle jump before finishing an emotional statement.
"We've got to play better. Period," Boone said, raising his voice. "And the great thing is, it's right in front of us. It's right here. And we can fix it. It's right here. It's there and we can run away with this thing. And we got the dudes in there to do it."
Boone has showed more fire in his pressers of late, addressing this lengthy stretch where the Yankees have seen their lead in the American League East dwindle down to just seven games.
On Friday, after their fifth shutout loss this month, Boone said New York "should be ticked off right now," adding that he doesn't care about the lead in the division. He wants his team to play better.
As much as New York showed more signs of breaking through on Saturday, stacking opportunities to score runs, they ended up with similar results. Other than an Estevan Florial RBI single and a Gleyber Torres solo home run in garbage time, the Yankees' offense was completely lifeless, earning boos from a fed up crowd in the Bronx.
New York left nine runners on base, going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. What was once a high-octane lineup, routinely blowing opponents out in the first half, is in the midst of a brutal, team-wide slump.
"We're all pissed off and frustrated about it," Boone said. "It's a tough time and it's gut-check time and it's hard right now. Everyone's yelling and screaming at them and that's part of it, but that's what gives me confidence. I know we're a great team when we're right and we get it rolling. And that still right in front of us. Let's go grab it."
Boone said New York's offense has been struggling particularly over their last 12 games. Cut that down to 11 and the Yankees are averaging 1.9 runs per contest (21 runs total), going 2-9 in that span.
In reality, however, this team hasn't been the same for two months.
On June 18, the Yankees won their ninth game in a row, jumping out to a 49-16 record (.754 win percentage) on the season. Since then, this team is 24-32 (.429). Since the All-Star break last month, the Yankees are 9-20.
"We're not happy about it," Aaron Judge said after the game. "I don't think anytime if you lose one game or if you lose 10 games, you're not happy at all. But if we sit here and stay frustrated about one game it's gonna lead into the next game, lead into the next game, lead into the next game. So it's about us picking ourselves up and not forgetting we're the New York Yankees. We've got to show people that."
New York has another new opportunity on Sunday, in their series finale against Toronto, to right the ship. One win won't necessarily turn this stretch around—as the Yankees learned after their revitalizing walk-off win on Thursday—but it's certainly a start.
"The good thing is we are in first place. And we've got the pen," Boone said, calming in his tone. "We get to write the script the rest of the way. No one else can get in our way if we go play our game, and that's what we got to do. But we got to stop talking about it. We got to go do it."
MORE:
- Doomed By Crooked Number, Gerrit Cole Can't Halt Yankees Skid
- When Giancarlo Stanton Is Expected to Return From Injured List
- Ex-Yankees Starter Jordan Montgomery Continues to Dominate With Cardinals
Follow Max Goodman on Twitter (@MaxTGoodman), be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.
