About Yesterday: The Yankees Were Swallowed by the Marlins 7-3

About Yesterday: The Yankees Were Swallowed by the Marlins 7-3

By Tim Kabel

August 4, 2025

***

The third-place Yankees were soundly defeated by the Marlins yesterday and were swept in the weekend series. The Marlins reached the .500 mark for the first time since April 15. This was the first time in franchise history that the Marlins swept the Yankees in a series. After winning three of four games from the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees negated that with their play in Miami. It was truly a lost weekend.

Quick Stats – 

·       The Marlins became the first Major League team to go from 16 or more games under .500 to a .500 record since the Rays in 2014.

·       Before the game, the Marlins honored former manager Jack McKeon who threw out the first pitch. McKeon is 94 years old and guided the Marlins to their 2003 World Series win over the Yankees. I wonder if he's available.

·       The Marlins are 24-24 against the Yankees, including the postseason. They are the only franchise against which the Yankees do not have a winning record.

·       The Yankees now trail the first place Blue Jays by 4.5 games and the second place Red Sox by 1.5 games. In the Wild Card race, they are one game ahead of Seattle for the final Wild Card spot and two games ahead of the Rangers. It is conceivable that by the end of the week, the Yankees could be out of the playoffs. Do you remember when they led the American League by 7 games? 

·       After blowing multiple leads on Friday night before ultimately losing 13-12, the Yankees managed to score only three runs in the next two games. Watching this series showed us that the Yankees and the Marlins are teams headed in opposite directions.

·       On August 3rd, 1979, over 50,000 fans gathered in Yankee Stadium not to watch a game, but to pay tribute to Thurman Munson, who died the day before in a plane crash. There was a seemingly endless standing ovation for him, and I can vividly recall seeing Luis Tiant, Reggie Jackson, and others with tears streaming down their faces.

      I would like to take a moment to wish my son, Oliver, a happy 20th birthday.  Ever since the day the nurse handed you to me, you have brought joy into my life.  You make me proud every day.

The Big Story – 

When I was a kid, I distinctly remember watching Tarzan movies. In many of them, Tarzan, Jane, or someone else would become trapped in quicksand. If it was Tarzan, he would call for Cheetah or an elephant and they would bring him a vine, which he would use to extract himself, usually just before his head was about to go beneath the surface.

The 2025 New York Yankees are stuck in quicksand. They have been since May 30th. At that point, they were 35-20 and in first place in the American League East. They are now 60-52. That means since May 30th, they are 25-32. That is 7 games below .500. In technical terms, the Yankees are awful.

Some people believed that the Boone-Swoon this year didn't exist. Other people believed that it was only temporary. The Yankees have now been a losing team this season longer than they were a winning team. The worst part is that losing is what they have been doing consistently since May 30th. It is hard to make a case that they will suddenly revert to their winning ways. They have gone from first place with a comfortable seven-game lead to third place in the American League East. They are clinging to a Wild Card spot. They were just manhandled by the Miami Marlins, a team that just reached .500 for the first time since Income Tax Day. Aaron Boone can call for Cheetah all day long; he's not coming. There is no vine.

Player of the Game – 

Jazz Chisholm, Jr. had two hits, including a two-run home run.

Notable Performances – 

Trent Grisham hit a home run, increasing his career high to 20.

Better To Forget-

Just about everything else. The person who sang “God Bless America” did a good job. 

My Take – 

The Yankees have been a losing team for over two months. Not only are they a losing team, but they are also hard to watch. They are inconsistent, streaky, sloppy, and prone to blunders, mental errors, and poor play.

I certainly am not the only person who believes this. This weekend, Alex Rodriguez, and Derek Jeter both criticized the Yankees for the way they play. Derek Jeter stated, “They make way too many mistakes. You can't get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams. It just doesn't happen. You can't continue to do it. You have to clean it up.”

Alex Rodriguez stated, “If any one of us made a mistake, we would be sitting our butt right on the bench. I see mistake after mistake, and there's no consequences.”

That is harsh and damning criticism. However, more importantly, it is accurate criticism. These aren't two vagabonds wandering aimlessly through the countryside. They are former Major League Baseball players. Derek Jeter was the captain of the New York Yankees and a Hall of Famer. He has five World Series rings. His words carry a lot of weight. To a lesser degree, for a variety of reasons, so do Alex Rodríguez’s.

Aaron Boone’s response was to say that criticism like that from Jeter and Rodriguez “comes with the territory.” It's as if he is somehow trying to rise above the situation. He also claimed that players are being held accountable.

I don't know if the players are being held accountable or not but, Aaron Boone needs to be held accountable. He is the manager of this team. The Yankees were criticized harshly after the World Series last year for their lack of fundamentals. The Dodgers and the others openly mocked the Yankees. One would think that would have inspired Boone to buckle down on clean, crisp play and fundamentals. If anything, the Yankees are actually worse this season than they were last year in that area. Whatever Boone is doing to hold players accountable and improve things is not working.

The Yankees have 50 games left this season. There is time to turn things around. However, if the person leading the expedition is lost, inept, and has no idea of what to do, but is convinced that he is headed in the right direction, turning things around is not going to happen. If the Yankees want to make it to the postseason and advance, they need to make a change in the manager right now. Whatever Aaron Boone is doing is not working. One could argue that it hasn't worked for eight years but Boone is even more ineffective and inept now than he has been at any point previously. Before the Yankees take the field in Texas tonight, they need a new manager.

Next Up-

The Yankees will open a three-game series against the Rangers today at 8:05 PM at Globe Life Field. The Rangers will use Patrick Corbin, (6-7, 3.78 ERA). The Yankees will send Max Fried, (12-4, 2.62 ERA) to the mound.

***

Image from Google Gemini