Triwer – The New York Yankees' manager, Aaron Boone, criticized his club after the team put on yet another subpar effort in Friday night's 4-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
"We need to start playing better straight away and we should be furious right now. To put it simply, "After the Yankees' fifth shutout defeat in August—the most in the majors—Boone made the statement. Only six times in the previous month had New York been shut out.
"At the end of the day, shaking hands takes a lot of effort, but this year we've been able to accomplish it on average at a very high rate. We've encountered a difficult situation and must work to overcome it "stated Boone. "We can talk about it and answer questions while sitting here, but we need to get moving. The good news is that we already have everything we need in that room. I anticipate that. Even though I know it will happen, going through it is awful."
The Yankees have a 5-12 record in August after losing to Toronto in the second game of a four-game series. Eight of those games saw the Yankees score two runs or fewer. Only two other clubs have performed as poorly this month: the Nationals (5-12) and Tigers (4-13).
The Yankees had an absurd 44-16 (.733) record through their first 60 games of the season, which led many to believe they were baseball's finest club. According to ESPN Stats & Information analysis, they have gone 29-31 over their last 60 games, making them the first MLB team with a.700 win % through its first 60 decisions to later slip under.500 in its next 60 decisions.
And Boone specifically referred to that track record when he spoke of his faith in his team.
"Most of the year has been spent doing that. I have complete faith in those players and that room "stated Boone. "Right now, we're struggling more than we should. But we must find a solution. The number of games in the divisional lead doesn't really concern me. It won't matter if we continue acting in this manner and leave after the party is over. We'll flee if we can put our differences aside and play our game. We need to play better, so eight, nine, ten, seven, and five. We must begin accumulating victories. Hopefully, it will begin tomorrow afternoon."
Boone made a specific mention of the Yankees' shrinking divisional lead. The Yankees' lead over the AL East at that point was at 15.5 games as of July 8. That divisional lead was reduced to eight following Friday's defeat by Toronto. The Yankees' divisional lead was last that small following the conclusion of play on June 10, when they had a lead of 7.5 games.
Infielder DJ LeMahieu, who started both games against the Jays after missing four due to soreness in his right toe, acknowledged that the team has been pushing lately, which has contributed to their current losing streak.
The last thing we should do, according to LeMahieu, is strive to do more than we are capable of. "We will gain a lot if everyone works together to do their tasks to the best of their abilities. But carrying it out is challenging. Each person aspires to be the guy. However, as everyone has been emphasizing, both collectively and individually, just remaining within ourselves and having nice at-bats."
After going 1-2 against Boston and Tampa Bay, the Yankees will strive to have much stronger at-bats to avoid losing their third straight series at home and third straight series versus an AL East foe.
This season, the Yankees have a stellar record against the AL East. Their 12-series winning streak was broken by their series loss in Boston on Sunday, which was their first against an AL East team since April 15–17 against Baltimore. The Yankees went 1-2 against the Rays after losing that series to the Sox before playing the Jays.
The Yankees' first three home games of 2019 were their first three consecutive home series losses.
Boone declared, "I don't give a crap about the [divisional] lead. "Perform better. We'll deal with it. You can discuss how we need to play better. Our current stats are: 8, 9, 7, and 10. It won't matter if we continue to play this way. We take care of business, and things are going well. We are aware of that. But first, we must take care of business."
