Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone: ‘Talk is cheap, we’ve got to go out and do it’

New York Yankees, Aaron Boone
USA Today

The New York Yankees fell to 40-38, dangerously close to .500 in a very competitive division, after losing the series opener against the Los Angeles Angels in Yankee Stadium. It’s the fourth consecutive defeat for a team that is quickly losing ground in the AL East.

The Yankees hit two home runs, one each by Giancarlo Stanton and Gio Urshela, and they still couldn’t come away with the win. The Shohei Ohtani-led offense of the Angeles was too much for Mike King and the relievers last night.

“We just haven’t showed up every night,” Stanton told MLB.com. “We’ll have spurts of it. But this game, these seasons, this uniform isn’t about spurts. It’s about showing up every night, so we’ve got to pick it up.”

The Yankees are now in fourth place

The fourth-place Yankees are now 7 1/2 games behind the division-leading Boston Red Sox and fell behind the pesky Toronto Blue Jays. The Tampa Bay Rays are also above them in the East.

“Talk is cheap,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to go and do it. As disappointing and as frustrating as it is to not grab this first one, especially coming off the weekend we had [in Boston], we’ve got to go play and try and dig ourselves out of this.”

The Yankees finished over 100 victories in each of Boone’s first two full seasons at the helm. They are not only dangerously close to fall off that pace entirely, but they could miss the playoffs if there isn’t a reaction soon.

Stanton still believes the Yankees can meet the huge expectations people have in them.

“Absolutely. We have in the past,” he said. “We’ve shown plenty that we’re capable of doing it. It doesn’t really matter, anything that I say right now. We’ve got to go do it. Words aren’t going to do anything.”