Free-falling Yankees look sloppy, maintain cool: ‘Just got to play better'

New York Times

13 hours ago

NEW YORK — The high-pitched squeal turned everyone's heads. Someone had accidentally triggered the emergency services feature on an iPhone, and an alarm sound sliced through the quiet of the New York Yankees' clubhouse.
'Cops are on the way,' catcher Austin Wells said.
It was the only alarm around the free-falling Yankees, who said they weren't alarmed after looking terrible in their sixth straight loss, a 12-6 beating by the New York Mets at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon.
Advertisement
The Yankees, who have lost 18 of their last 27 games, remained in second place in the American League East because the Tampa Bay Rays lost their second straight game. The Yankees trail the surging Toronto Blue Jays by three games, watching the seven-game advantage they held on May 28 collapse amid struggles on both sides of the ball.
It was the Yankees' second six-game losing streak within the last 22 days.
'It sucks,' manager Aaron Boone said. 'It hurts. But you've got to be able to handle it.'
Was the losing taking a toll on the Yankees?
'No,' right fielder Aaron Judge said.
How could they stop it?
'Just got to play better,' Judge said. 'That's what it comes down to. Fundamentals. Making the routine plays routine. It's just the little things. … Every good team goes through a couple bumps in the road. But we can't let it alter what our ultimate goal is. We've got to keep pushing forward. We'll clean some things up. We know what we need to do. We'll take care of business.'
'It's been a terrible week,' Boone said. 'You're striking the balance between trying to find the good things that are happening.'
'It's never fun when you (lose six straight),' starting pitcher Carlos Rodón said. 'This is why we play 162 games.'
On Sunday, they'll get a chance to not suffer further embarrassment via sweep by their crosstown rivals when their ace, Max Fried, takes the mound with what should be a rested back-end of the Yankees' bullpen to support him.
Before Fried throws his first pitch, he will hope that the Yankees got their poor play out of their system.
Because how much worse could it get after Saturday, anyway?
The lowest point came when struggling shortstop Anthony Volpe hit star right fielder Aaron Judge — perhaps the best player in baseball — in the face with the baseball while running off the field after the fifth inning.
Another angle of Judge being hit by Anthony Volpe's throw pic.twitter.com/fxAAZ1zEyT
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 5, 2025
After second baseman Oswald Peraza caught a liner for the third out, he tossed the ball to Volpe, who then turned and fired the ball from past third base near the Yankees' dugout all the way into shallow right field as Judge was jogging.
The ball struck Judge, who was either blinded by the sun or wasn't looking, near his right eye, knocking his sunglasses off his face. The 6-foot-7 slugger stood stunned for a moment. When he emerged from the dugout for his at-bat in the next inning, he was a bandage near his eye. After the game, there seemed to be bruising and swelling around it.
Advertisement
If Volpe's throw had hit Judge a little more to the left, it could have damaged his eye or the bones around it. A little lower, it might have taken out teeth.
Judge said he was 'fine' afterward, and Boone said it was normal for players to throw around the baseball after an inning.
Another lowlight featured Rodón, who gave up six earned runs in five innings, showing confusion by opening both his palms to the sky after leadoff hitter Sterling Marte's liner fell to the left of left fielder Jasson Domínguez. Not long after, Rodón gave up a grand slam on a hanging slider to Brandon Nimmo.
Rodón and Boone later defended Domínguez, saying that he was unlikely to ever catch the ball because he had been positioned too near the foul line.
'As a pitcher, I'm biased. I want every ball caught … it was one of those in-between balls,' Rodón said.
Sloppiness was everywhere for the Yankees. Third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. threw away a ball to first for an error. Center fielder Trent Grisham let a bouncer kick off his glove in the seventh inning, letting a run score from second to increase the Mets' lead to 8-5.
There were close calls, too. With one out in the first inning, Wells threw down to third in an attempt to catch Marte too far off the base. But Chisholm wasn't at the bag, instead catching the ball several feet behind it. After the throw, Wells stared at third base. Boone said it was 'kind of really good communication' because the throw made it to Chisholm.
Volpe, who also homered, nearly threw away a grounder in the first inning, forcing Cody Bellinger, starting at first base for the first time all year, to catch it and tag Mark Vientos.
And righty reliever Javien Sandridge melted down, giving up a three-run home run to Pete Alonso, hitting Jeff McNeil in the upper shoulder and giving up two walks in his first MLB appearance in the seventh inning.
Advertisement
Boone said there could be a positive to the Yankees' long-running struggles.
'You've got to be able to weather it and come out of this and grow and hopefully as trite as it sounds or as corny as it sounds, these are the moments that build character within a team,' he said, 'and also help you find out and define what the heck you need moving forward and where you need to change or where you need to go out and explore for things. That's the challenge at this time right now.'
The other challenge?
'First,' Rodón said, 'we've got to win a game.'