Yankees lose 7th straight as sickness spreads and vibes reach new low
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees were 90 feet away from snapping their six-game losing streak. A sacrifice bunt from José Caballero in the 10th inning put Spencer Jones, one of the club’s fastest players, on third base with one out. A fly ball to the outfield, or possibly a weakly hit groundball, could have ended the game.
But the Yankees went down in defeat an inning later, extending their losing streak to seven games, their longest since the miserable 2023 season.
After Caballero’s sacrifice, Oswaldo Cabrera struck out; Ben Rice was intentionally walked; and Ali Sánchez struck out, extending Wednesday’s series finale against the Detroit Tigers to the 11th inning. Camilo Doval pitched in relief in the 11th and lost the strike zone, ultimately allowing four runs (two earned). The Yankees eventually lost 6-2 after three lifeless at-bats in the bottom half of the inning.
Food poisoning hit the Yankees’ clubhouse Tuesday night. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said “seven or eight players” experienced overnight and early morning sickness, which limited his options. One of the players who did not start, Paul Goldschmidt, was fine. Max Schuemann, also on the bench, was not OK and therefore unavailable. That’s important context for what would come next.
Cabrera is likely to be optioned before Friday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham are expected to be activated off the injured list. It would have made sense for Boone to pinch hit for Cabrera with Goldschmidt, a potential Hall of Fame player who has been one of the team’s best hitters this season, in the 10th. He did not. Boone said he did not want to play Goldschmidt at second or third base in the 11th inning.
“Because I have confidence that Cabrera can touch the ball, too,” Boone explained.
The Yankees’ front office will show the confidence they have in Cabrera touching the ball when he’s batting leadoff for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the coming days. Not pinch hitting for Cabrera read like a scared managerial move from a team desperately searching for a win.
Aaron Boone, here removing Will Warren in the sixth, declined to pinch hit Paul Goldschmidt for Oswaldo Cabrera in the 10th. (Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
Boone also did not have to use Goldschmidt in the infield. He could have burned the designated hitter by moving Amed Rosario to third base. The Yankees recently did this, removing the DH in extra innings over the weekend at Fenway Park.
Although it’s impossible to know whether Goldschmidt could have ended the game if he pinch hit, it’s a situation where Boone has to trust the better player. Analytically speaking, it’s not a clear-cut decision to take out Cabrera. Goldschmidt has just a 71 wRC+ and an elevated 27.4 percent strikeout rate against right-handed pitching this season; however, Cabrera had only a .637 OPS against righty pitching in Triple A.
But the Yankees had their opportunities to win before the 10th inning. They got the first two runners on base in the eighth and did not score.
The Yankees have just 23 hits over their last six games, the fewest hits in any six-game single-season span in franchise history.
“It’s been a terrible week for us,” Boone said. “There’s no way of sugar-coating it. We’re capable of way more, obviously. You’re gonna have stretches where it’s tough, where you’re missing some guys. This was a really difficult week for us offensively, coupled with not playing clean enough and taking care of the ball well enough. That’s what you get. You get an awful week.”
Anthony Volpe can’t reach an errant throw from catcher Ali Sánchez in the 11th as the Tigers scored four runs to finish off a series sweep. (Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
Yankees captain Aaron Judge, who’s sidelined with a stress fracture in his ribs, called the team out before the game, suggesting the players had displayed a lack of focus. That did not change in Wednesday’s game.
Caballero, playing center field, a position he normally doesn’t play, made a mental error by throwing to the wrong base on a single in the sixth inning. In the 11th, Caballero overthrew Ben Rice, the cutoff man, on a throw home from right field. Ali Sánchez then airmailed the ball into center field, allowing the bases to be cleared on a routine single. It was another display of the poor fundamentals that have plagued the Yankees during their losing streak.
“I feel like we’ve got to lock in, do all the small stuff,” Jazz Chisholm Jr. said. “We make a lot of mistakes, and I feel like we beat ourselves.”
On June 24, the last day they won a game, the Yankees had an 84.1 percent chance of winning the American League East, according to FanGraphs’ projections. It’s down to a 49.8 percent chance after losing seven straight. Looming on Monday is a four-game road series against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays.
The vibes are bleak inside the Yankees’ clubhouse. It needs to change, fast.
“It f—ing sucks,” Cody Bellinger said. “It’s a s—-y feeling.”