The Bronx Struggles Continue
The situation in the Bronx is heating up, but not in a good way.
The Yankees recently showed their mettle by sweeping the series against teams like St. Louis and Tampa Bay, but it seems that spark has fizzled out against Boston.
After a disheartening 12-1 loss at home on Saturday, the Yankees are now facing the possibility of losing eight straight to their long-standing rivals, with a sweep looming on Sunday night.
This isn’t a new trend for the team.
Since they triumphed over the Mariners earlier this month, they haven’t managed to win any series against teams above .500. Their last series victory against a winning club before that was against the Royals, quite some time ago.
The crowd was vocal, chanting “Let’s Go Red Sox” as the Yankees struggled on the field. It was like watching a train wreck—misplays and missed opportunities piled up over seven long innings, completely erasing any momentum they had gained previously.
The Yankees were particularly outmatched by Garrett Crochet, who dominated them in their last two meetings.
In those encounters, he struck out the Yankees 11 times in one inning during a game earlier this June.
As usual, mistakes plagued the Yankees during this latest game. The first inning was a disaster, highlighted by an error from Austin Wells who couldn’t catch an Alex Bregman foul ball, extending Will Warren’s inning.
Bregman then walked, contributing to a scoring opportunity that led to a two-run double from Trevor Story.
Though the Yankees had a chance to fight back against former player Greg Weissart—Aaron Judge hit a double, and Giancarlo Stanton was at bat—the opportunity slipped away when Stanton struck out.
Warren had a rough start to the game, quickly giving up multiple singles. A slow throw from catcher Carlos Narvers allowed a run to make it to third base, while Stanton misplayed a crucial ball.
Warren almost escaped the third inning unscathed, but he faltered again, with Wells appearing to lose a ball in the sun. Bregman walked on the next pitch, and things only unraveled further from there.
With the bases loaded, Warren hit a batter at the second out, leading to a two-run double from the Red Sox. In the following inning, Anthony and Bregman drove in runs via a sacrifice fly, making it 4-0.
The Yankees managed to get on the board in the fourth after Stanton crossed home plate.
Amed Rosario followed up with a single but was stranded after Anthony Volpe bunted.
After Paul Goldschmidt’s single in the fifth, the Yankees had another chance when Judge slammed a ball to right field, but it was caught, ending the inning.
Warren, struggling, couldn’t get past five innings, marking his second straight underwhelming start.
This comes on the heels of a five-game winning streak that had briefly boosted the Yankees’ position in the AL Wild Card race.
What’s more disheartening is that the Yankees had a chance to create distance between themselves and the Red Sox, who were struggling recently with seven losses out of ten games. Now, they find themselves looking up in the crowded wild card race as Toronto takes control of the division.
