1. Remember when the Yankees won back-to-back series against the Astros and Blue Jays and had everyone thinking they were finally capable of beating good teams and no longer reliant on beating the crap out of bad teams? That was fun for the day it lasted.
The good mood the Yankees had all fans in on Monday’s day off has been erased. The Tigers showed up in the Bronx, overcame a two-run deficit on Tuesday en route to a 12-2 win and then humiliated the Yankees for a second straight night on Wednesday with an 11-1 win. The Yankees are 1-4 against the Tigers this season, having been outscored 37-9, and Tarik Skubal only started one of those five games. They are 11-23 against the Tigers, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Astros.
2. Three solo home runs in 18 innings. That’s what the Yankees offense has provided against the Tigers this week. But as Buck Martinez said when he shit on the Yankees during the Blue Jays’ game on Tuesday, the only way the Yankees win is if they hit home runs. It’s hard to win when you rely solely on home runs and solo home runs aren’t going to cut it on their own, certainly not just three of them over two full games.
It’s also hard to win when your bullpen is a complete joke. The Yankees have one trustworthy reliever in David Bednar, and that’s it. Luke Weaver has turned back into pre-2024 Luke Weaver and Fernando Cruz is either lights out or a mess with no middle ground. Bednar stands alone and he only pitches in save situations.
Cruz and Mark Leiter Jr. combined to allow nine earned runs without recording an out in the seventh inning on Tuesday after Will Warren blew a 2-0 lead by allowing a game-tying two-run home run to Parker Meadows and his .568 OPS.
When asked about the seventh-inning bullpen implosion, Aaron Boone answered, “It happens.” No, Boone, it doesn’t. In fact, it was the first time in franchise history two relievers allowed four-plus earned runs without recording an out in the game.
To make matters worse, the Blue Jays came back to walk off the Astros and drop the Yankees to three games back in the loss column and four games overall again.
3. Tuesday’s loss was depressing. Wednesday’s loss was demoralizing. The offense took the night off against Jack Flaherty and his 4.85 ERA, gave lazy and effortless at-bat after at-bat and struck out 13 times in the game with the one run coming on an eighth-inning solo home run from Austin Wells.
4. Carlos Rodon couldn’t get through the bottom of the order in the fifth, loaded the bases for Gleyber Torres and had to throw Torres a strike when the count ran full and Torres lined a two-run single to center. Of course it was going to be Torres at some point during this series since that’s the way the Law of Ex-Yankees works. 2024 Yankee Jahmai Jones had a hit in the game as well and I’m expecting Tommy Kahnle to close out a win for the Tigers on Thursday to complete the trifecta.
5. The Yankees were still in the game down 2-0 in the fifth and sixth and down 3-0 in the seventh. Well, they were “still in the game” but every Yankees fan who watches this team every day knows they weren’t really in the game and weren’t going to come back and win. That’s not who they are. The Yankees’ only path to winning is to jump out to an early lead and then spend the rest of the game hanging on for dear life to that lead. They did it on Sunday and Saturday and Thursday and Wednesday.
6. The Tigers blew the doors off the bullpen with nine runs in the final three innings, including five in the eighth. They scored a run off Leiter Jr., three off Camilo Doval, two off Tim Hill and three off Weaver. The only Yankees reliever to not allow a run was outfielder Austin Slater who got two outs without allowing a run in the ninth. I don’t know if it’s worse that Slater was the Yankees’ best reliever or that Slater was used to pitch in Game 145 of the season with a playoff berth on the line because the Yankees were getting blown out so badly.
7. After going 3-for-the Astros series and 2-for-the Blue Jays series, Aaron Judge is 1-for-the Tigers series. Judge is 6-for-26 in September against the three teams with five singles and a solo home run. When Tuesday’s game was tied at 2 in the sixth, Judge struck out. After Trent Grisham led off Wednesday’s game with a single, Judge struck out. With the game tied at 0 in the third inning on Wednesday and runners on first and second with one out, Judge hit into a double play. With the Yankees trailing by two in the sixth on Wednesday and the tying run on base, Judge hit into another double play. Every game is a big game for the Yankees and Judge has a .740 OPS in September. I wish I were surprised, but I’m used to this level of performance from Judge in big games.
8. Someone else is going to have to step up and carry the offense, whether that’s Giancarlo Stanton getting hot again or Cody Bellinger. It would be nice if the offense as a whole could collectively produce, but we all know that’s only going to happen against last-place teams. So for now I will just hope the Yankees can keep games close enough for Grisham to hit a game-tying, go-ahead or walk-off home run since that seems to be the offensive strategy.
9. The Blue Jays and Red Sox both lost on Wednesday, so the Yankees missed a huge opportunity to make up ground on the Blue Jays and create more separation from the Red Sox. Lance Berkman used to go to the plate with the mindset he was going to make an out, so that when he didn’t he was pleasantly surprised, and that’s how I’m treating the playoff standings. I’m mentally preparing for the Yankees finishing as the second wild card and going on the road to Fenway Park for a best-of-3 in what will end with a humiliating series loss to Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello. That way if the Yankees somehow win the division despite being four back with 19 games to play or finish with the top wild-card spot or don’t play Boston in a best-of-3 I’m pleasantly surprised.
10. I think we all know how this season is going to end. I have desperately tried to talk myself into it not ending in a similar fashion to the last 15 seasons, but the last two nights were the latest reminder of who these Yankees are in the biggest of games against the best of opponents and how their big-name and highest-paid players perform in the biggest of games against the best of opponents. I would like to think they still have an opportunity to change my mind over the next two-and-a-half weeks, but they have been showing us and telling us who they are for 143 games and 88 percent of the season. Thinking or believing they are going to completely change their identity from here on out beginning on Thursday night is the kind of delusional, fairytale mindset Boone lives by. I wish for once Boone would be right and everything would be right in front of them, but nearly every day and every game the Yankees remind you why it’s not.
Last modified: Sep 12, 2025
