By just about any measure the Yankees' 2021 season to date has been a massive disappointment. Among the World Series favorites to start the year, New York returns home from Boston nine games behind the division-leading Red Sox, and 3.5 games out of the second wild-card spot. While 3.5 games is hardly insurmountable, there have been a (quickly increasing) number of moments this year in which the Yankees have turned a likely win into a devastating loss.
How bad has it been? If even two or three of the following gut-wrenching losses turned into the wins they could have been, the story of the season is likely a very different narrative.
June 10 (Twins 7, Yankees 5): New York took a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning when Aroldis Chapman came on. To this point in the season the All-Star closer was near-unhittable, allowing a single run in 23 innings of work overall. That all changed in Minnesota, as he opened by walking the leadoff hitter, then Josh Donaldson tied the game with a two-run homer. Another walk, and Nelson Cruz walked it off with a homer of his own. The final line? Two hits, two walks, four runs, zero outs recorded, and a loss.
June 30 (Angels 11, Yankees 8): The Bombers made Shohei Ohtani look human, chasing the Angels' superstar after just 2/3 of an inning and leading 7-2 after an inning. It remained a 7-4 New York lead when the game went into a second rain delay in the sixth inning. Though technically an official game and it being late into the night with an early afternoon start set for the next day, the two resumed play. The Yanks led 8-4 in the ninth when they brought on Chapman after 1 a.m., and another implosion occurred. Three walks loaded the bases before Jared Walsh tied it with a grand slam.
That ended Chapman's night, but Lucas Luetge didn't fare much better, allowing a two-run single and a double later in the inning. A seven-run ninth gave the Angels the 11-8 victory.
July 4 (Mets 10, Yankees 5): This loss wasn't so much the fact that they lost, it's the how. New York took a 5-4 lead into the seventh in game one of a doubleheader against its cross-town rivals. Again Chapman came in to close things out, and it took one batter for it to unravel. Pete Alonso tied it on a leadoff homer, followed by Chapman allowing a hit batsman and a walk before exiting without recording an out. Luetge came in, had the bases loaded and allowed three straight hits that plated five runs. A 5-4 lead turned into a 10-5 loss.
July 11 (Astros 8, Yankees 7): After shutting out the Astros in Houston for the first two games, New York was going to take all sorts of momentum into the All-Star break. Leading 7-2 heading to the ninth, Domingo German opened the inning on the mound but let the first two hitters reach. No big deal, in came Chad Green to clean up the mess. He allowed back-to-back doubles to make it 7-5. A single after that put runners on the corner before finally an out was recorded, but it didn't matter. Jose Altuve (who else?) walked it off with a three-run homer for the stunning 8-7 victory.
July 22 (Red Sox 5, Yankees 4): New York entered Fenway riding a four-game win streak (which included two wins over the Sox in the Bronx) needing to do some damage to stay alive in the AL East. After taking a 3-1 lead in the eighth, Chad Green came on to close things out in the ninth. With two on and two outs, Kiké Hernandez ripped a game-tying double to left to tie the game and force extras. But that's not where the real disappointment lies.
Taking a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees managed to lose the game with the Red Sox putting exactly one ball in play. Poor Brooks Kriske, with six appearances all year, lost it entirely. Two wild pitches plated the tying run in the opening at-bat. Xander Bogaerts wound up walking, and advanced to second and third via two more wild pitches. Hunter Renfroe walked it off with a sac fly to right two batters later.
July 25 (Red Sox 5, Yankees 4): A day after pulling a win from out of nowhere with a big eighth inning, the Yankees' division hopes suddenly looked alive. Not only were they up 4-0 heading into the eighth on Sunday, but Domingo German took a no-hitter into the inning. Then the wheels fell off.
Alex Verdugo led off with a double, ending German's brilliant day. In came Jonathan Loaisiga, pitching for the second straight day after coming off the COVID-19 list despite other rested relievers being available. A Renfroe double and Christian Vazquez single made it 4-2. Two more hits made it 4-3 and put runners on second and third with nobody out. More small ball from the Sox - a RBI groundout and a sac fly - gave Boston the 5-4 edge, a lead they'd hold onto. Instead of salvaging a split, New York lost three of four in a must-win series.