The New York Yankees took the fiield on Thursday tied with the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League Wild Card. By losing a game that seemed on the pocket (they held a 2-0 advantage and ended up dropping it 3-2) against the lowly Baltimore Orioles, they now find themselves half a game behind their rivals.
The 82-65 Yankees will play the Cleveland Indians this weekend, and need to win consistently and relentlessly if they want to make it into October.
It’s baffling that a team like the Yankees couldn’t score more than two runs against the worst team in the league.
“We just weren’t able to add on today,†Boone said to MLB.com. “I thought we actually swung the bats well the first half of the game and didn’t have a lot to show for it — a lot of hard outs. … We’ve got to be able to add on and put teams away, and we weren’t able to do that today. We let them hang around, and they were able to get us.â€
The Yankees’ below-average offense
Before Thursday’s contest, the Yankees were tenth in the American League in runs scored. The circuit has 15 organizations.
Yesterday’s starter Jordan Montgomery has been one of the pitchers who has felt the impact of the mediocre offense. Last night market the 22nd time in 27 starts that his batters fail to give him more than three runs of support.
In the fifth inning, a Joey Gallo fly out at the warning track had the look of a grand slam, but fell into the outfielder’s glove for the third out of the inning.
“We had a lot of good at-bats and didn’t have a lot to show for it,†Boone said. “It was a really good at-bat by Gallo there that was almost a grand slam. … [A] little bit of tough luck there early, but we’ve got to find ways to add on. We’ve got to find a way to put teams away when we have a chance.â€