1. If you thought a four-run inning on Tuesday and a 10-run outburst on Wednesday was the Yankees’ offense finally getting going after 121 games, you must be new around here. The Yankees followed up back-to-back wins against the Mariners by getting shut out in a 1-0 loss in the series finale. As Katie Sharp pointed out, it was the Yankees’ fourth 1-0 loss at Yankee Stadium since 2025 after having zero 1-0 losses at Yankee Stadium in the previous 10 seasons.
2. Max Fried was good (5 IP, 5, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR) and allowed just a solo home run over five innings, but that solo home run was too much for the Yankees to overcome. The Yankees went 4-for-30 with three walks and 10 strikeouts on Thursday.
3. Trent Grisham was back in the leadoff spot on Thursday after his big game on Wednesday, but even without a big game on Wednesday, he still would have been in the leadoff spot on Thursday. None of his production on Wednesday came leading off an inning, and on Thursday, he led off a game with an out for the 53rd time in 68 games. Since July 3, Grisham hasn’t led off a game with a hit and has led off one game with a walk (July 22). None of his production has come from leading off other innings either. Stop giving him the most possible plate appearances on the team. (Grisham was also called out on Thursday following what should have been a double when he came off the base after his slide.)
4. Ben Rice went 0-for-3 with a walk and another strikeout as his OPS plummets from his mission to swing at every pitch ever thrown to him. Spencer Jones went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts before eventually being removed for pinch-hitter Heliot Ramos, who is making 2010 deadline acquisition Austin Kearns’ post-deadline Yankees tenure (80 OPS+) look like David Justice. Ramos is 2-for-25 with 10 strikeouts as a Yankee. He’s hitless against left-handed pitching, which is a little bit of an issue since he was acquired specifically to hit left-handed pitching.
5. Luis Garcia had half of the Yankees’ hits, and even led off the second inning with a double, but was of course left stranded. George Lombard Jr. had just his second 0-for as a major leaguer and gets a pass with 32 career plate appearances. (I love how Lombard Jr. is already up to batting fifth in the lineup and can’t be eased into his career at the bottom of the order because the roster construction is so poor.)
6. Jazz Chisholm went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. It was Chisholm’s third strikeout hat trick in the last 15 games, which also includes one Golden Sombrero. He has struck out in every game but one since July 25, and in the one game he didn’t strike out in, he went 0-for-4. He has struck out in every game but one in August. Chisholm is 9-for-60 with 27 strikeouts since saying “basically everybody” on the Yankees has told him he’s “the best in the world.”
7. Jose Caballero got his first start in five days and his second start in 10 days and went 0-for-2 with a walk, and Ryan McMahon also went 0-for-2 with a walk. Ali Sanchez, starting for the first time since August 1 went 1-for-2 before being removed for pinch-hitter Amed Rosario, who struck out.
8. With the loss, the Yankees failed to pull off their first series sweep since the last series before the All-Star break (July 10-12). They have swept two series since the start of June.
The Rays had the day off, so the loss dropped the Yankees to seven games back in the loss column in the AL East, further cementing my recent points and math about the division race being over. The Red Sox ended their five-game losing streak, so the Yankees’ lead over the Red Sox is back down to three games.
9. Up next is a trip to Toronto. The Yankees will play the Blue Jays six times in the next 10 days. Despite being five games under .500, the Blue Jays are only two games out of the third wild-card spot in the putrid AL. The Blue Jays traded away Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho and Jeff Hoffman at the deadline, but have managed to go 7-4 since to stay alive in the postseason picture. The Yankees have the opportunity to not only help their own bid for the first wild card during these six games with the Blue Jays, but they can also end the Blue Jays’ season. Burying the Blue Jays and keeping them out of October would be a nice way to avenge the Blue Jays ending the Yankees’ season last October in the ALDS.
10. Gerrit Cole gets the ball to set the tone in the series opener, while the offense will try to get to Shane Bieber, who seemingly everyone has gotten to. Bieber has allowed 71 baserunners and nine home runs in 42 2/3 innings. I won’t be surprised if the offense is unable to hit Bieber since there should be no expectation for this offense to hit anyone, but at the same time, if they can’t be relied on to hit this version of Bieber, who can they be relied on to hit?
Last modified: Aug 14, 2026
