As we enter the 4th of July weekend, the Yankees are blowing up. And not in a good way. More like a planned fireworks display gone wrong.
After getting swept in 4 straight by The Scum in Boston, they came home to face the Detroit Tigers. No problem, right? They handled the Tigers, including their young ace Tarik Skubal, in Detroit last week, right?
Well, it was a problem. On Monday night, Ryan Weathers had nothing. He didn't get out of the 2nd inning, putting the Yankees in a 5-0 hole that proved impossible for a team without Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton injured to come out of.
Spencer Jones led off the 3rd inning with a double. Jasson Domínguez led off the 8th with a walk, Jones hit another double, and Amed Rosario hit a home run, to at least make the final score look slightly respectable. But those were all the baserunners the Yankees got: Casey Mize pitched 7 innings for the Tigers, allowing 1 hit, no walks, striking out 10. Overall, Tiger pitchers struck out 13 and walked none. Tigers 7, Yankees 3.
With Gerrit Cole still feeling his way back, and Max Fried and Clarke Schmidt injured, it was time for Cam Schlittler to pitch like an ace. He didn't, allowing 6 runs in 4 innings. Control wasn't the issue: He walked only 1, and struck out 5, but allowed 7 hits, including 3 home runs in the 1st. Ben Rice hit a home run, but the Yankees only got 4 hits and a walk, as Skubal got revenge. Tigers 6, Yankees 1.
On Wednesday night, the Yankees got a decent start from Will Warren, 2 runs in 5 1/3rd. From the 6th inning to the 10th, the bullpen allowed no runs, no hits, and 1 walk.
But the Tigers got another great start, from Troy Melton. Rice led off the 1st with a single, and drew a walk in the 3rd. Jazz Chisholm doubled with 2 outs in the 4th. Those were the only 3 baserunners the Yankees got off Melton. Jones and José Caballero led off the 8th with singles, and Oswaldo Cabrera bunted them over. But Rice struck out and Domínguez flew out, and it was still 2-0 Detroit.
With 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, Rosario homered again. 2-1. It's been a while since the Yanks had a good comeback win. Chisholm singled. He stole 2nd. He stole 3rd. Tiger reliever Drew Anderson was rattled, and threw a wild pitch. Tie ballgame. Anthony Volpe was at bat, and he didn't have to do anything: Like Jackie Robinson used to do in the late 1940s and early '50s, Chisolm created a run all by himself.
Then, Volpe did do something: He hit a grounder back to Anderson, who couldn't handle it, and got to 1st base. Winning run on 1st, only 1 out. But then he tried to steal 2nd, and was caught, and Jones popped up. Extra innings. Ghost runners.
Fernando Cruz got through the 10th without allowing a run. But the Yankees couldn't push a run across, either. Cruz had already thrown 17 pitches, so Boone brought Camilo Doval out to pitch the top of the 11th. At first it seemed to work: He got the 1st 2 outs.
But Boone ordered an intentional walk to Riley Greene, to set up the inning-ending force play. This pushed his luck too far: Greene, as anybody in the stadium but Boone (and, maybe, Brian Cashman) could have guessed he would try, stole 2nd, to eliminate the force play. Then Doval walked Hao-Yu Lee, to re-setup the force play, but also to load the bases.
Then he walked Spencer Torkelson, to force home the go-ahead run. Then he gave up a single to Zach McKinstry. On the throw home, Ali Sánchez, who's been a decent backup catcher so far, made an error, and 3 runs ended up scoring. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th, and the Tigers had won, 6-2.
Few losses are as deflating as those where you come from behind to tie or take the lead, and then blow it afterward, anyway. This was one of those.
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The Yankees have now lost 7 in a row. And the Tampa Bay Rays keep on winning: The Yankees are now 4 games behind them, 5 in the loss column.
Cliché Alert: In the days of single-division leagues, it was an old baseball adage that the team in 1st place on July 4 usually went on to win the Pennant. In fact, it only happened about 65 percent of the time. And, with the start of Divisional Play in 1969, Major League Baseball went from 2, to 4, to 6 teams in 1st place. Still, being in 1st on July 4 usually gives a team a 65 or so percent chance of winning their Division.
The Yankees will not be in 1st place on the 4th of July. Certainly, injuries are a reason why. But Brian Cashman should have built a team capable of substituting good players for injured ones. He hasn't.
Tomorrow is a night for literal fireworks. How soon before metaphorical fireworks take place in Yankeedom?
Tonight, the Yankees begain a home series against the Minnesota Twins, who are also struggling. We'll see.
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