About Yesterday Afternoon: The Yankees Lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 8-7 in 10 Innings

The Yankees were leading yesterday's Game 6-0, headed into the bottom of the fifth inning with their ace on the mound.

Had they won the game, they would have won the series and been eight games behind the Rays. They wound up losing the game 8-7 in 10 innings. They lost the series and now trail the Rays by ten games. They are one game above .500 and look like a team that can't win the big games. They find different ways to lose games, instead of finding different ways to win them.

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Quick Stats -

• The Yankees are 7-1 so far this season in games started by Gerrit Cole. They are 11-16 in games started by anyone else.

• I was thinking about pitching HBO a series based on Aaron Hicks’ offensive production this season: Seven Singles in New York. I think it could have won a spot in their lineup. After all, Hicks himself inexplicably has one in the Yankees’ lineup. He nixed that plan with his fourth inning RBI double.

• Gerrit Cole gave up his first two home runs of the season. He is also 12 strikeouts away from 2,000 in his career.

• Harrison Bader has seven hits in 18 at bats with two home runs and seven RBI since returning from the IL. He seems to be picking up where he left off in the playoffs last year.

• On May 7, 1966, the Yankees fired manager Johnny Keane after 20 games. On May 7, 2000, the Yankees held Bob Sheppard Day. On May 7, 2006, Joe Torre became the 4th Yankees' manager to win one 1000 games.

• Rest in Peace, Vida Blue, the Yankee who never was.

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Big Story -

The Yankees certainly do not look like a championship team at this point. Now, they are missing several key players and could improve drastically once Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Rodon, and Luis Severino, among others, join the squad. However, they are still not an inspiring group and as noted many times before in my articles, the leadership abilities of the manager leave a lot to be desired. Yet here they are after 35 games, treading water with an 18-17 record, 10 games behind the first-place Rays. They are in last place in the American League East and at this rate, would not make the playoffs. The manager can tell us all he wants that the team is competing, but they are not competing very well. This seems to be a common theme under Aaron Boone. The only question is how long the lackluster performance will last and when it will occur during the season.

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Player of the Game -

Harrison Bader hit a two-run home run and had three hits.

Notable Performance -

Oswaldo Cabrera had two hits, a walk, a sacrifice fly, an RBI, and a stolen base. He might be turning things around.

Better to Forget-

Jimmy Cordero pitched a hitless inning of relief. Unfortunately, he did give up a walk, had a wild pitch, and failed to check Jose Siri on second base while fielding a ground ball, allowing Siri to score the go-ahead run.

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My Take -

This is Aaron Boone 's sixth season as the Yankees’ manager. He has won 100 games twice and last year, he won 99 games. On the surface, that looks fantastic. However, the Yankees are expected to win every season. The management of the team and the fans believe the Yankees should be in contention for the World Series’ Championship every year. Whether that is realistic or not, it is the expectation.

The Yankees have not made it to the World Series under Aaron Boone. There is always something that happens, whether it's a slow start, or a prolonged losing streak after a tremendous opening stretch of the season. You never know what it's going to be, but it's going to be something. It's like driving an old car on a cross-country trip. It might be the fan belt, it might be the tires, or it could be the radiator, but something will occur that will derail the trip.

it is the same with Aaron Boone’s tenure as the Yankees manager. Something will always happen to prevent the team from winning the World Series, or even making it there. This season, much as in 2021, the Yankees are off to a slow start and are actually in last place in the American League East. Can they get hot? Of course, they can. Will they? No one knows. Even if they do, there is no guarantee that they can maintain it or that they won't have another losing streak. It's true that the above would apply to anyone who managed the team but, it's almost a foregone conclusion with Boone.

Look at yesterday's game. Gerrit Cole was having a very rare off-day. He made it through the fifth inning with a 6-2 lead But, it was clear that he didn't have his best stuff. Yet, Boone let Cole go out to the mound in the sixth inning and he promptly gave up four runs, letting the Rays tie the score. Any other pitcher on the staff would have been finished after the fifth inning. Later in the game, Boone took Michael King out after pitching one inning and striking out the side. King routinely pitches more than one inning and certainly could have continued. Yet, Boone replaced him with Albert Abreu, who lost the game.

Aaron Boone is like that awkward uncle who always says or does the wrong thing at a family gathering. He doesn't know why he said or did whatever it was. He probably didn't mean to do it. Yet, he did it. You always know that uncle is going to do something at the party; you just don't know what and you just don't know when. Eventually, you stop inviting the uncle. I think the Yankees are at that point with Aaron Boone. They need to disinvite him from being part of the team.

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Next Up -

Tonight, the Yankees open a three-game series against the Oakland A’s at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. Nestor Cortes (3-2, 4.91 ERA) will face Oakland's JP Sears (0-2 5.06 ERA).