About Last Night: The Yankees Were Speared by the Marlins 13-12

About Last Night: The Yankees Were Speared by the Marlins 13-12

By Tim Kabel

August 2, 2025

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The Yankees lost a game they absolutely should have won. The only person to have a worse time with a marlin than the Yankees did last night was Santiago in “The Old mMan and the Sea”. The Yankees blew three separate leads before being walked off in the ninth inning by the Marlins.  Not only did the Yankees lose a chance to gain a game on the first-place Blue Jays, but they also lost a game to the third-place Red Sox. New Players, same Boone-Swoon.

Quick Stats – 

·       Giancarlo Stanton tied Andre Dawson for 46^th place on the career home run list with 438.

·       Carlos Rodon retired the first eight batters but gave up 4 runs in 4.2 innings.

·       The Yankees had not scored twelve runs and lost on the road since July 24, 1940, against the St. Louis Browns.

·       Last night was the first time the Yankees scored 12 or more runs in a nine-inning game and lost since August 12, 1973, against the A’s. 

·       Prior to the game, the Yankees released Marcus Stroman. This was something of a surprise, as it demonstrated that the Yankees are more committed to Cam Schlittler than they are to Marcus Stroman, which is a good thing!

·       Today is the 46th anniversary of one of the most tragic days in New York Yankees’ history. It was the day Thurman Munson died in a plane crash. For those of us old enough to remember, it still stings.

The Big Story – 

The Yankees made multiple moves before the trade deadline to improve the team. They essentially revamped the bullpen. They brought in Jose Caballero to provide a spark. Last night, was an unmitigated disaster for most of the new acquisitions.

Caballero used his speed to steal a base and score a run in the top of the ninth inning, but in the bottom of the ninth, he made a huge error that contributed greatly to the loss.

All three of the new relief pitchers, Jake Bird, David Bednar, and Camilo Doval struggled mightily. Let's just say they didn't make a good first impression. The most effective pitcher for the Yankees last night was Brent Headrick, of all people.

As bad as last night's game was, and it was very bad, I would not second guess the acquisitions that Brian Cashman made. Over the long haul, these players will probably contribute a lot more positives than negatives. It was just unfortunate that they all had bad games on the same night in their debuts as Yankees. 

This was a terrible loss; probably one of the worst losses of the season for the Yankees. All they can do at this point is shake it off and move forward. They have over fifty games left in the season.  However, they can't afford to lose too many more games that they should win. The starting pitcher for the Marlins last night might have been named Junk but for the Yankees, this game belongs on the junk heap.

Player of the Game – 

Anthony Volpe had four hits, including a home run and a double, and stole two bases.

Notable Performances – 

Trent Grisham and Giancarlo Stanton each hit a three-run home run.

Jasson Dominguez had three hits and a walk and stole two bases.

Better To Forget-

Everyone who pitched other than Brent Headrick. 

My Take – 

The Yankees basically turned over their roster in the last week or so. They brought in seven new players. They acquired three new top-notch relief pitchers, a starting third baseman, a backup outfielder, a backup infielder, and a jack of all trades who is tied for the Major League lead in stolen bases. That is a major transformation. Marcus Stroman is gone. Oswald Peraza is gone. The Yankees obtained several new players. No one could dispute that they upgraded the bullpen. No one could dispute that they improved the team. 

For at least one night, all the new players didn't make a difference. The Yankees, who had just beaten the Rays in three of four games, lost to the Marlins. They lost in a humiliating fashion. They blew leads of 6-0, 9-4, and 12-10 to ultimately lose 13-12. The Yankees actually held a giveaway day in a stadium other than their own.

For the last two months, the Yankees have been a mediocre team.  They started the season 35-20. They are now 60-50. That means in their second 55-game stretch, they went 25-30. They were 15 games over .500 in the first 55 games and five games under .500 in the second 55 games. They have 52 games left.

I think the acquisitions the Yankees made were very solid. I was impressed by the moves. They did not give up any of their best prospects. They kept Spencer Jones, Cam Schlittler, George Lombard, Jr., and Jasson Dominguez. All three of the pitchers they acquired have team control for at least one more year. It's hard to argue with any of the moves.

As I have written many times, if you own a restaurant, you can change the menu and you can get better ingredients, but if the chef doesn't know how to cook, the meals won't be any good. Aaron Boone has the reverse Midas touch. Everything he touches turns to something less than gold. I'm not going to say that he was the cause of last night's loss. However, I think there are things he could have done differently. For example, when the Yankees were winning 9-4 in the 7th inning and Jasson Dominguez was on first base, he could have stolen second base to get in scoring position. He never did score that inning. With his speed and the inability of Augustin Ramirez to throw out runners, Dominguez could have easily stolen second and possibly third. It was a lost opportunity. Yes, the Yankees were leading by five runs but as we saw, that was not enough.

This game fits right into the pattern of the Boone-Swoon. No matter which players the Yankees acquire, no matter what they do, I am firmly convinced they will never win with Aaron Boone as the manager. Will they make the playoffs this season? Probably, but something awful will happen. It always does. Look at last night. The last time they lost on the road like this was in 1940. That's 85 years ago. They do a lot of terrible things under Aaron Boone that they haven't done in decades. Since 2018, the common denominator in the Yankees’ failure to win the World Series is Aaron Boone. Again, they changed the menu. They changed the ingredients, but the chef still doesn't know how to boil an egg. All he can do is lay an egg.

Next Up-

The Yankees will continue the three-game series against the Marlins today at 4:10 PM at loanDepot Park. The Marlins will use Eury Perez, (3-3, 3.07 ERA). The Yankees will send Cam Schlittler, (1-1, 4.91 ERA) to the mound.