About Last Night: The Yankees Lost to the Rangers 4-2 in Ten Innings
By Tim Kabel
June 24, 2023
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The Yankees opened a three-game series against the first-place Texas Rangers last night.
The Rangers look like a first-place team. The Yankees do not.
The Yankees have lost ten of their last fifteen games and are just six games over .500 for the season. Their offense is anemic. They appear to be lackadaisical and uninspired. They are playing sloppy, non-competitive baseball. They are falling out of the playoff race, and they do not look as if it will be a temporary situation. They repeatedly find a way to lose almost every game. They are not a good team right now, and it is not just because Aaron Judge is on the IL.
Quick Stats -
Clarke Schmidt pitched another strong game, giving up no earned runs over 5.1 innings.
The Yankees are 5-10 in their last 15 games, with a .199 batting average.
In the top of the fourth inning, Isiah Kiner-Falefa misjudged a pop fly that he should have caught, which allowed Texas to score a run. In the bottom of the fifth inning, he stole second but did not realize he had been called safe. He jogged back toward the Yankees' dugout and was immediately tagged out, much to his great chagrin. Perhaps he thought he still plays for the Rangers. The big question is, why wasn't he pulled out of the game after such a boneheaded play?
In the bottom of the eighth inning, I heard the most frightening words that a Yankees' fan can ever hear: “Aaron Boone has some decisions to make.”
Giancarlo Stanton is 4-49 since he returned from the IL.
Gleyber Torres has 5 hits in his last 56 at bats.
One of the aforementioned Boone decisions was to use Josh Donaldson as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the tenth inning. Don't you have to be able to hit to be a pinch hitter? As Yul Brynner said in The King and I, “is a puzzlement.”
On June 23rd, 1988, George Steinbrenner fired Billy Martin for the fifth time. Couldn't his son fire Aaron Boone for the first time 35 years later?
The Big Story -
The Yankees have more holes than a wheel of Swiss cheese these days. This team has more issues than National Geographic. They have multiple players who fail on a consistent basis. When Josh Donaldson, DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, and Anthony Volpe come through, it is the exception rather than the rule. It is almost a cause for a major celebration. Unless things change dramatically, that would be the only way the Yankees would celebrate this season.
Players of the Day -
Clarke Schmidt is turning his season around and has become a very effective pitcher lately.
Notable Performances -
Anthony Rizzo was 2-3 and had two of the Yankees' six hits.
Better to Forget-
IKF's defensive and base running blunders and Josh Donaldson being used as a pinch hitter for anyone.
My Take -
Aaron Boone has milked more out of that home run he hit in game seven of the ALCS in 2003 than anyone could have ever imagined. He has squeezed the last drop out of it. It is like watching Jerry Mathers still dressed up as Beaver Cleaver, clinging to his long-gone fame. Boone has now managed the Yankees for 5 1/2 seasons. Unlike the old TV show, eight is too much; 5 1/2 is enough.
Since Boone has been the manager, every season has started out with great optimism and excitement. The Yankees always have a great deal of talent. They have tremendous players. They sign big free agents. They make splashy trades. However, if you hand the keys of a Mercedes-Benz to someone who is not a good driver, it will get smashed just as easily as a Hyundai.
I feel as if I am beating the proverbial dead horse here. Boone consistently makes the wrong decision. No matter which choice is the worst one, that's the one he makes. If Boone wanted to own a deep-sea fishing charter company, he would move to North Dakota. He would pick a plow horse to beat Secretariat in a match race.
Every year, it is the same story. The excitement and promise that was there at the beginning of the season fades into the mist by the end of the year. The only guarantee is that the team will never play in the World Series with Boone as the manager. It just won't happen. Why on earth would Boone use Josh Donaldson as a pinch hitter? Why would he make excuses for IKF not catching the ball last night and jogging off the field because he incorrectly thought he was called out.
It has become glaringly obvious that Boone has no answers. He cannot effectively manage this team, or probably any other. What is the point of continuing to move forward with him at the helm? There is no point. The Yankees cannot afford to give away games. They cannot afford to give away runs. They cannot afford to give away at bats. With Boone as the manager, every game is a give-away day. And I'm not talking about bobblehead dolls. The only thing that needs to be given away now is the manager. It is time for someone else to take a shot at this.
Next Up -
This afternoon, the Yankees will play the second game of a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at 4:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. Luis Severino (0-2 6,30 ERA) will face Texas' John Gray (6-2 2.96 ERA).
