About Last Night: The Yankees Were Eclipsed by the Astros 5-3

About Last Night: The Yankees Were Eclipsed by the Astros 5-3

By Tim Kabel

August 9, 2025

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Microsoft Copilot

The third-place Yankees had their one-game winning streak snapped last night by the Astros. These days when the Yankees win a game, it's just a way of teasing us between losing streaks. It is like a dolphin coming to the surface to gulp a breath of air through its blowhole before returning under the sea. The Yankees are 1-6 in August. They would have to go on a 5-game winning streak just to be mediocre. Of all the Boone-Swoons that we have endured, this is the worst one. The theme song for this Yankees’ team should be “Bad to the Boone”.

Quick Stats – 

·       The Yankees are 3-8 in extra innings this year.

·       Devin Williams has allowed four home runs in his last eight appearances.

·       Apparently, Giancarlo Stanton will be playing in the outfield tomorrow. Well, that makes sense. After all, it is Old Timers’ Day. I guarantee that Mickey Rivers will move better in the outfield than Stanton will.

·       After the game, Aaron Boone stated that he was trying to find “softer landing spots” for Devin Williams. I am not a Major League manager, but it would seem to me that the 10th inning in a tie game is not exactly a soft landing spot, especially with a ghost runner on second base. When Williams first pitch hit the backstop, I think that could be called a sign that things were not going to go well. 

·       Devin Williams has allowed nine runs in his past five appearances. He's given up 28 earned runs this year, which is 2 more than he did from 2022-2024 combined.

·       On August 8^th, 1959, the Yankees held Old Timers’ Day and former president, Herbert Hoover, threw out the first pitch. I wonder if it caused a feeling of great depression throughout the stadium.

·       On August 8th, 1969, Thurman Munson made his Major League debut against the Oakland A's. He went 2-3 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored.

The Big Story – 

I want to clarify something that I wrote in yesterday's column. I do believe that it is possible for the Yankees to turn things around. They certainly could make the playoffs. Even winning the division is not out of the realm of possibility. It certainly could happen. However, a lot of things could happen. That doesn't mean they will happen. There are several factors working against the Yankees. 

First, they only have 45 games left. A lot of those games are against the Astros, the Red Sox, the Blue Jays, and the Tigers. Heck, even the Orioles and the Rays have played the Yankees tough this season and in the recent past. It's hard to call any team, even the White Sox, a pushover for this Yankees’ team. The reality is that the Yankees could be the pushover.

Second, the Yankees are in third place. At this writing, they trail the Red Sox by three games and the Blue Jays by seven. In the Wild Card race, the Yankees are clinging to the last spot by just a half a game over the Cleveland Guardians and one game over the Texas Rangers. The Yankees don't have that many games left and fairly soon, there could be a lot of teams in front of them.

Third, and most importantly, the Yankees have been playing very poorly for quite some time now. They had a winning record in both April and May. Since then, they had losing records in June and July and as noted above, they are 1-6 in August. If you go by the theory of “what have you done lately?”, the answer from the Yankees is, lose. The Yankees are now just six games over .500. 

It's hard to believe that with all those factors working against them, the Yankees will suddenly turn things around and go off on a long winning streak. It is possible and I hope it happens, but I don't believe it will. Again, when the manager is lost, it is unlikely for the team to find its way.

Player of the Game – 

Ben Rice had two hits and drove in a run.

Notable Performances – 

Yerry de Los Santos, Camilo Doval, and Luke Weaver all pitched scoreless relief.

Better To Forget-

That Devin Williams is still on the roster and that Aaron Boone is still the manager.

My Take – 

The Yankees have endured Boone-Swoons for years. In fact, basically every season that Aaron Boone has been the manager, the Yankees have gone through this. However, this Boone-Swoon is different. It has lasted longer, and the losing has seemed worse. It is like living through hurricane season every year and then one year, a really bad storm comes along and takes away everything. That is what this year's Boone-Swoon feels like.

The fact Aaron Boone has been the manager of the New York Yankees for eight seasons makes this situation even worse. If it was his first season, you could understand him being bewildered, befuddled, and baffled. But it's not his first year, it's his eighth year. If someone has been doing a job for eight years and hasn't figured it out, they are in the wrong job. He continually trots out the same tired, nonsensical statements that lose any significance the moment they leave his lips. His statements are about as deep as the fortunes in a cookie. I honestly believe that if I hear, “It's right there in front of us”, one more time, I will simply explode.

As I noted yesterday, on Tuesday, when Aaron Boone looked around the dugout and was clearly lost for all the world to see, that should have been the sign that Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner needed to make a change. If the announcers are saying that Aaron Boone doesn't know what to do and the fans see it, that's not a good thing. The players must know that the manager is incapable of well, managing.

As noted above, there are 45 games left in this season. If Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner fail to make a change in manager now, they are being neglectful and will be throwing away another year. They are denying Aaron Judge another opportunity to win a World Series. I can't guarantee that a new manager would get the Yankees deep into the playoffs but, I honestly believe that whoever it would be would have a better chance than Aaron Boone. At this point, relieving him of his job might be a relief for him. I know he thinks he is a great manager but deep down, even he has to know that he has no idea what to do.

I know there are people who believe that the Yankees can still turn things around. However, they are running out of time. The deeper they fall in the standings, especially with fewer and fewer games left, the harder it will be to bounce back. If they wanted to turn things around, they should have started after the All-Star break. They didn't. They definitely should have started at the beginning of August. They didn't. The Yankees might not make the postseason and advance deep into it with a new manager. But they definitely won't do it with Aaron Boone. They have nothing to lose by making a change. By keeping Aaron Boone, they will lose a lot more games. It is time to say “Boone Voyage”.

Next Up-

The Yankees will play the second game of the three-game series against the Astros today at 2:05 PM at Yankee Stadium after the Old Timers’ Day festivities. The Astros will use Framber Valdez, (11-5, 2.83 ERA). The Yankees will send Luis Gil, (0-1, 13.50 ERA) to the mound.