It may only last a few days (for now, at least), but life without Juan Soto has been tough for the Yankees.
With their star left-hander missing his second straight game with forearm inflammation, the Yankees had another quiet night offensively and looked flat overall en route to their third loss of the season.
After squandering early chances in a close game, the Yankees collapsed late and suffered an ugly 11-3 loss to the Dodgers in front of a sellout crowd of 48,274 on Saturday.
The Dodgers (41-25) took a 4-2 lead heading into the eighth inning before deciding the game.
Two walks by Tommy Kahnle and another defensive error by Gleyber Torres loaded the bases for Teoscar Hernandez, who hit his second home run of the night to put the Dodgers ahead, 8-2.
By the time the game was over, the Yankees (45-21) needed Oswaldo Cabrera to replace the struggling Dennis Santana and get the final out of the ninth, but the utility man had walked to score a run.
The Yankees were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, leaving 10 runners on base in what was a frustrating night for the offense.
After going 10 scoreless innings Friday night before losing 2-1 in the 11th, the Yankees got two early runs off right-hander Gavin Stone on Saturday but were quiet after that until Aaron Judge hit his second home run of the season in the ninth, his MLB-leading 23rd of the season.
After winning 16 of the first 20 series this season, the Yankees will likely try to avoid their first sweep of the year on Sunday with Soto once again sidelined.
Manager Aaron Boone said before Saturday’s game that the Yankees plan to give Soto “a few more days” of rest until the inflammation subsides.
Soto’s impact on the lineup was evident during the game, as he worked alongside Judge to help the Yankees get off to a strong start.
But his absence has been just as noticeable through the first two games of this series.
In Soto’s absence, Alex Verdugo was promoted to second base.
However, the Yankees’ No. 4 through No. 6 hitters (Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres) have gone 1-for-26 with 1 walk in the first two games of the series, showing the core of their lineup as weak.
Meanwhile, Nestor Cortes hasn’t been as good as he usually is at Yankee Stadium this season, giving up two home runs and four runs (tying his season-high) in 5 1/3 innings.
He avoided any big innings but gave up one run each in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings.
With the Yankees trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, with a runner on first and one out, Cortes looked unhappy when Aaron Boone replaced him with Teoscar Hernandez with the count at 1-0.
The left-hander handed the ball to Boone and hurried off the mound and down the steps to the dugout as Michael Tonkin, who had been rushing to warm up, came in from the bullpen.
Tonkin grounded out to get two outs, but normally reliable left fielder Verdugo picked up the ball and reached base, sending a liner over the head of third baseman Freddie Freeman, who doubled and scored to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2.
The Yankees rallied with two outs in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and giving themselves a golden opportunity to tie the game or take the lead, thanks to singles by DJ LeMahieu and Austin Wells and a walk by Trent Grisham.
Stone was ejected, but left-handed relief pitcher Alex Vesia came to the mound and got Anthony Volpe to fly out, refreshing the atmosphere in the stadium.
