About Yesterday Afternoon: Yankees Defeated by Astros 7-1

About Yesterday Afternoon: The Yankees Were Orbited by the Astros 7-1

By Tim Kabel

August 11, 2025

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Made by Copilot

The third-place Yankees had their most recent one-game winning streak snapped yesterday by the Astros. As I stated the other day, when the Yankees win lately, as they did on Saturday, it is just a way of teasing the fans. They quickly reverted to their losing ways yesterday. They lost the series against the Astros. Before that, they lost the series against the Rangers. Before that, they were swept by the Marlins. The Yankees had a losing record in June. They had a losing record in July. They are 2-7 in August. If they lose tomorrow, they won't be playing .500 baseball. They will be playing .200 baseball in the month of August. But as that great sage in the dugout, Aaron Boone, says, “It's right there in front of us.” I'm thinking of getting that tattooed on my chest because it is such a significant and meaningful statement. It could come in handy when I approach the buffet on my cruise next year.

Quick Stats – 

·       Jason Alexander, who was picked up off the scrap heap by Houston, pitched one-hit ball through six innings. I was wondering what he was up to after Seinfeld went off the air.

·       Jose Altuve hit his 250th career home run.

·       Aaron Boone was ejected for the fifth time this season, which leads the Major Leagues. At least he is good at something.  

·       Max Fried allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings and lost for the third time in four starts. 

·       The Yankees lost for the seventh time in nine games and were booed at the conclusion of the game.

·       On August 10^th, 1981, Cal Ripken made his Major League debut. I think he's still playing.

I would like to wish my sister, Penny, a Happy Birthday!!

Big Story – 

I am an optimist. I always have been. Most people who know me describe me as being one of the most positive and optimistic people they know. I always believe that there is a chance in every situation whether it's for myself, my family, my friends, or the sports teams I follow.

However, I am also a pragmatist and a realist. Time is working against the New York Yankees as far as making it into the postseason and advancing this season. After being 35-20 on May 30th, the Yankees are now 62-56. That means since May 30th, they are 27-36. The technical term for that is “lousy” or “terrible”, depending on your mood. The Yankees have 44 games left. Many of us predicted the Yankees would win over 90 games this season. Let's go with the total of 92 wins for the sake of argument. For the Yankees to do that, they would have to go 30-14 the rest of the way. That still might not win the division, but they would most likely make the playoffs. If you truly believe that this team is capable of going 30-14 in their remaining games, raise your hand.

I don't see a lot of hands. 

The dismal play that the Yankees have been exhibiting has gone on so long that it can no longer be described as a losing streak or a rough patch. It is who they are. The Yankees have been a bad team this season longer than they were a good team this season. More importantly, the mediocre play is what they have been doing consistently since the end of May. They went from leading the division by 7 games on May 30th to trailing the first place Blue Jays by 6 games as I write this. Not only that, but the Yankees are also not even in second place anymore. If it wasn't for the existence of the Wild Card, they would have very little chance of making the postseason. As it is, their chances are rather small. They have been playing very poorly since the end of May and they have several tough opponents coming up. In fact, any opponent could be a tough opponent for the Yankees these days. I could very easily say that they could win this next series against the Twins because the Twins are not very good. However, I'm sure there is a version of me in Minnesota writing that the Twins could very easily win the series against the Yankees because the Yankees are not very good.

Player of the Game – 

Brent Headrick pitched two innings of scoreless relief with four strikeouts.

Notable Performance – 

Devin Williams pitched a scoreless sixth inning, striking out the side. I know it's not what was expected of him but it's a baby step.

Better To Forget-

That this game ever happened. 

My Take – 

The Yankees are not a very good baseball team right now. The Yankees have been a losing team since May 30. The Yankees blew a seven-game lead in the American League East and are now comfortably in third place. They are barely clinging to the final Wild Card spot in the American League.

Aaron Judge is the best player on the Yankees and arguably the best player in the American League, and quite possibly in the Major Leagues. Aaron Judge was on the IL for 10 days after hurting his elbow throwing. He is now restricted to being the designated hitter until further notice. He is working on throwing before games to see when and if he can return to the outfield. Yesterday before the game, the YES network played an interview of Aaron Boone by Meredith Marakovits. Aaron Boone was asked about Aaron Judge’s throwing. He stated, “I think he will be throwing today before the game." Let that bounce around your head for a minute. Why wouldn't he know? He is the manager of the New York Yankees. His job is to manage the team and all the players. Aaron Judge is the most important player on the team. His recovery from his injury is an extremely important issue. Why would the manager only have a casual interest in whether or not Judge would be throwing before the game. He should have known every detail about that. He didn't.

Aaron Boone is completely over his head as the manager of the New York Yankees and has been for years. It is worse now because after all that time, he hasn't improved at all. In fact, he might even be worse. If the manager of the New York Yankees was Dr. Semendinger, or me, or any of the readers, I guarantee you that whichever one of us it was would know exactly when Aaron Judge was going to be throwing and all the details surrounding it. In fact, we would be there to observe and to speak to him. We wouldn't just say in an interview, “I think he's going to do it today”.

Aaron Boone has lost the locker room. He has no ability to lead this group of players and it seems that he has no interest in doing so either. He is out of touch, self-absorbed, and a terrible field manager. He was completely clueless on Tuesday night while Devin Williams was imploding on the mound. Aaron Boone had no answers. He was looking around for help as if he were adrift in the ocean without a flotation device. Keeping him as manager for the rest of the season is entirely counterproductive. It is time to say, “Boone Voyage”.

Next Up-

The Yankees will open a three-game series against the Twins tonight at 7:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. The Twins will use Zebby Matthews, (3-3, 5.17 ERA). The Yankees will send Will Warren, (6-5, 4.44 ERA) to the mound. I wonder if Aaron Boone thinks that a win against the Twins counts twice.