And they were tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 8th, and got a run home. It should have been more, but, in the absolute strictest sense, they did what they had to do: They took a 1-run lead (in this case, 2-1), and handed it to their closer, Aroldis Chapman.
All Chapman had to do was get 3 outs, any way he could. He got 1. Then he allowed a game-tying home run to a 20-year-old kid.
Then the Yankees failed to get another run in the bottom of the 9th. Then Joe Girardi messed up the bullpen again in the top of the 10th. Then the Yankees failed to get another run in the bottom of the 10th.
Red Sox 3, Yankees 2. It doesn't matter who the pitchers of record were.
The Yankees are now 5 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division, 5 in the loss column, with only 46 games to play. They currently stand to host the American League Wild Card Game, but, as we saw in 2015, trusting Joe Girardi to manage and win a win-or-go-home game, even at home, is like trusting Donald Trump to denounce far-right hate groups without suggesting that black civil rights groups are also to blame for violence.
So the season is over. The Yankees are doomed to failure again, for the 8th season in a row.
But they are not doomed because of what happened last night, or what happened the day before.
No, the day the 2017 Yankees became doomed was the day that Hal Steinbrenner decided that Joe Girardi should be the Yankee manager for the 2017 season. Once that decision was made, the Yankees had no chance to win the AL East, and thus no chance to win the Pennant, and thus no chance to do what the Yankees are supposed to do: Win the World Series.
You see, Joe Girardi is an idiot who does not know how to handle a pitching staff. Observe:
* April 7: The Yankees lead the Baltimore Oriole 5-4 after 5 innings. Then Girardi uses 2 pitches to get through the 6th, then brought Tyler Clippard in to pitch the 7th. The Orioles win 6-5.
* April 8: The Yankees lead the Orioles 4-3 in the 7th. But Girardi does the lefty-on-lefty thing. The Orioles win 5-4.
* April 30: The Yankees lead the Orioles 2-1 in the 6th. But Jordan Montgomery walked 2 batters in the 6th, Girardi panicked, and brought in Jonathan Holder. Later, he makes a double switch, forgetting that he's in the American League, and costs the Yankees the DH. The Orioles win 7-4.
* May 23: A 20-5 run by the Yankees, so hard to imagine on April 8, is already a distant memory. The Yankees lead the Kansas City Royals 2-0 in the 7th inning, as Jordan Montgomery is pitching very well. For once, Girardi makes the opposite of his usual mistake: He leaves his starter in too long, and it becomes 2-2. And then he pulls the guy, for Adam Warren. The Royals win 6-2.
* May 26: The Yankees and the Oakland Athletics are tied 0-0 in the 8th. Masahiro Tanaka gets into a little bit of trouble. Again, Girardi makes both the opposite of his usual mistake (leaving his starter in too long) and then his usual mistake, changing pitchers too soon. And then he makes the mistake no Yankee manager should ever make: He brings in Tyler Clippard. The A's win 4-1.
* June 4: The Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays are tied 2-2 in the 7th. Girardi sees that Luis Severino has thrown 98 pitches, and brings in Clippard. Clippard gives up a home run to Josh Donaldson. The Jays win 3-2.
* June 13: The Yankees lead the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2-1 in the 8th, despite CC Sabathia getting hurt. Yeovany Gallegos and Adam Warren both pitch well in relief. Then Girardi brings Clippard in. He gives up a game-tying home run. The Angels win it in the 11th, 3-2.
* June 14: The Yankees and the Angels are tied 5-5 in the 7th. Girardi takes Michael Pineda out too soon, and brings in Ronald Herrera. You've forgotten about him already? That's because he's useless. The Angels win 7-5.
* June 15: The Yankees led the A's 7-6 going to the bottom of the 11th inning. Girardi brings Gallegos in to close it out. The A's win 8-7.
* June 16: Four games in a row. Girardi couldn't help but mess up the bullpen on this night, because of how he'd messed it up the night before, rendering Dellin Betances, his only pitcher both uninjured and a viable closer (Chapman then injured), unavailable. The Yankees led the A's 6-5 in the 8th, and Girardi brought in Jonathan Holder. The A's win 7-6.
That's 10 games. Ten. By August 14? By August 1? By the All-Star Break? By the 4th of July? No, we're not even out of mid-June yet.
* June 20: The Yankees and Angels are tied 3-3 in the 7th. Girardi brings in Clippard. The Angels win 8-3.
* June 22: The Yankees lead the Angels 5-4 in the 7th. But Girardi goes lefty-on-lefty again, and brought in Chasen Shreve. The Angels win 10-5.
* June 27: The Yankees lead the Chicago White Sox 3-1 going into the 8th. But Girardi adheres to his pitch count, takes out Severino, and puts in Domingo German. That doesn't work. So he brings in Clippard. That doesn't work, either. The White Sox win 4-3.
That's 13 games. Thirteen. And we still haven't gotten out of June!
* July 1: The Yankees lead the Houston Astros 6-3 in the 8th. But Montgomery allowed a couple of key hits in the 6th, and Girardi panicked. He pulled him, and brought in Chad Green, who settled things down. But Girardi pulls Green too soon, and Dellin Betances melts down. The Astros win 7-6.
* July 5: The Yankees lead the Blue Jays 6-5 in the 7th. But Chad Green allows a game-tying homer. Girardi panics, takes him out, and brings in Betances. The Jays win 7-6.
* July 7: The Yankees lead the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 in the 5th. Montgomery shows the slightest loss of command, and Girardi panics, and takes him out after just 74 pitches. The Yankees lead 4-2 going into the 6th. And then Girardi brings in Clippard. The Brewers win 9-4.
That's 16 games. Sixteen. Before the All-Star Break.
* July 14: The Yankees lead the Red Sox 4-3 going to the bottom of the 9th, despite Girardi having taken Montgomery out after only 4 innings -- in the 1st game back after the All-Star Break, so he was plenty rested. He brought in Chapman to close. The Red Sox win 5-4. This one is on Chapman more than Girardi, but it's still some on Girardi.
* July 17: The Yankees lead the Minnesota Twins 2-1 in the 6th inning. Girardi pulls Bryan Mitchell, and brings in a rookie, Caleb Smith, 1 of Cashman's beloved "prospects." The Twins win 4-2.
That's 18 games. Eighteen. And we're not even out of mid-July.
* August 13: The Yankees had gone nearly a month without Girardi blowing it, but he did, again, as you read above.
That's 19 games Girardi screwed up because he is an idiot who does not know how to handle a pitching staff. And 7 of them due to bringing in the now-gone Clippard. Remember: Girardi didn't ask for Clippard. Brian Cashman brought him back. He needs to be fired, too.
Giardi screwed up 19 games. Now, it is a bit unfair to expect the Yankees to have won all of those games. Some of them would have been lost anyway.
But let us suppose that Girardi had gotten even half of them right. Even 1 less than half. That would be 9 games.
Instead of 5 1/2 games behind the Red Sox -- considering that 2 of them were against the Red Sox, they have to be counted twice in this equation -- the Yankees would be 5 1/2 games ahead of them.
Too much to ask? Okay, let's say the Yankees won only 1/3rd of those games, neither of them being the 2 that Girardi blew against the Red Sox. That's 6. The Yankees would be half a game ahead.
In other words, had Girardi only been just smart enough to blow only 2/3rds as many games as he has actually blown, the Yankees would be in 1st place right now.
Instead, we're 5 1/2 games back. And missing starting pitchers Michael Pineda (out for the year), CC Sabathia (out for another few days) and Masahiro Tanaka (ditto), and 2nd baseman Starlin Castro (who is now playing rehab games). And something is wrong with Aroldis Chapman, we don't know what. And we don't have starter Ivan Nova or reliever Andrew Miller (who, to be fair, is injured right now, but he might not be if he'd stayed with the Yankees), because Cashman traded them away.
Therefore, I am saying that the season is over. Therefore, this will be the last game recap I do for the regular season.
If the Yankees somehow make the Playoffs, I will start up again. But who's kidding who? Joe Girardi is still the manager.
The George Steinbrenner I knew would have fired him for incompetence after the 2011 season. 2013 at the absolute latest.
Right now, there is every reason to believe that Joe Girardi will still be managing the Yankees on Opening Day 2018. Indeed there is every reason to believe that Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman will keep Girardi as manager for the rest of his life. Girardi is about to turn 53, and he appears to be in good health. From the neck down, anyway.
The Yankees may not win another Pennant for a long, long time.
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