The AL East continues to slip away as the Yankee offense has fallen deeper into its brutal funk that it has endured over the past month.
The Rays' lead is up to seven in the loss column, while taking control of the tiebreaker, after shutting out the Yanks on Wednesday night, meaning the best New York can do in this critical four-game series is secure a split with a bullpen game on tap for Thursday's series finale.
The at-bats continued to look feeble on Wednesday, this time against Shane McClanahan. Paul Goldschmidt, hitless in his last 34 at-bats, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, many of those empty at-bats coming against lefties, who the former MVP typically eats for lunch. Cody Bellinger, mired in one of the worst slumps of his career since Aaron Judge went on the IL, did not look any better, going hitless in four at-bats with a pair of strikeouts.
Add it all up, and you have a team that is dead last in baseball in runs scored over the last 20 games, failing to score more than five runs in a game in that span. Still, Aaron Boone told reporters after Wednesday's loss that he believes the bats are eventually going to break out.
"Obviously, offensively right now, it's a real struggle for us," Boone said. "I really feel like the preparation is good and the conversations in the hitting room are the right ones. they're on point, they're with the right energy and focus, they're communicating well. But obviously, I jeep saying we have to get guys going, and that's reality. Ultimately, we have to get it going."
The results certainly aren't there, and while some of it can be pointed to the absence of Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, that still doesn't account for the horrific slumps of Goldschmidt and Bellinger, along with the overall rough season for Jazz Chisholm. This Yankee team was one that many believed was not like the 2023 team, where a long-term injury to Judge could be absorbed thanks to their depth. But the supporting cast has looked putrid at the plate, and the losses are piling up. Still, Boone is not going to try anything drastic to shake things up. He believes the results will return if the team stays the course, though he admitted it needs to happen sooner than later.
"Continue to try and get guys unlocked, and ultimately, trying to get guys in positions to be successful," Boone said. "I'm not gonna do any extreme, weird things. These guys are real players who have real strengths, and we gotta get them in those situations as much as we possibly can, and entrust that they'll get going when they get into some good matchups and start winning some at-bats.
"I do believe we'll get through this, but there's not much more to talk about. We gotta go make things happen."
The Bombers look lifeless at the plate, but Boone is keeping the faith that the bats will wake up.
The Bombers look lifeless at the plate, but Boone is keeping the faith that the bats will wake up.
