NEW YORK — The Yankees’ offense went quiet and Gerrit Cole took his seventh loss in 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros.
The defensive optimism around rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr. produced another damaging sequence late. It was the kind of night that made every mistake feel larger.
Lombard had a slow grounder from Yainer Diaz get away from him in the eighth inning. Third baseman Jose Caballero recovered the ball and threw wildly to first, allowing Christian Walker to score Houston’s fifth run.
The Yankees were already trailing 4-1, so the play did not decide the game, but it again put the 21-year-old prospect’s glove under a spotlight that barely existed two weeks ago. For a team chasing October positioning, routine outs suddenly have become part of the nightly tension.
The Yankees promoted Lombard on Aug. 4 and immediately trusted him at shortstop during a postseason race. He rewarded that confidence early with range, arm strength and calm execution.
In his first 14 major league games, Lombard committed only one error in 64 chances while giving the Yankees more athleticism at a position that had been unsettled. His early defense looked like the safest part of a rookie adjustment expected to center more on his bat.
A century-old Yankees mark returns
Thursday’s miscue gave Lombard an error in six consecutive games, tying a Yankees franchise record last reached by Chick Fewster in 1921. He also became the first Yankees shortstop with an error in six straight games since Roger Peckinpaugh in 1915. No major leaguer had done it since Cleveland’s Mark Lewis in 1992, according to Katie Sharp.
Peckinpaugh later won a World Series with Washington and was named the American League MVP in 1925.
The streak has not come from one repeating flaw. Lombard dropped a foul popup against Toronto, mishandled grounders by Miles Straw and Ernie Clement, and threw away a deflected Jose Altuve grounder. On Wednesday, Christian Walker hit a 105.2 mph ground ball that caught the heel of Lombard’s glove before the Diaz play extended the streak Thursday.
Lombard now has seven errors through 20 MLB games. He did not soften his assessment.
“It’s something we’re trying to figure out,” Lombard said. “It’s not acceptable. It can’t happen at this level. If you make your pitchers have to get extra outs it just makes it way harder on us, and teams are going to capitalize. So it’s something that we’re definitely going to have to clean up and I’ve got to be better tomorrow.”
Lombard’s numbers put error streak in perspective
The raw defensive line explains why the six-game run has drawn so much attention. Lombard has seven errors through his first 20 MLB games, a .925 fielding percentage and 15 double plays. Six of those seven errors, or 85.7%, have come during the current six-game streak after he made only one error in his first 14 games.
Yankees shortstops have combined for 16 errors this season, meaning Lombard accounts for seven of them despite not debuting until Aug. 4.
Baseball-Reference’s 1996 American League fielding data lists Derek Jeter with 22 errors in 157 games during his rookie season, tied for second most among AL shortstops, while posting a .969 fielding percentage.
Jeter still became the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year and helped the Yankees win the World Series. His season is a reminder that early defensive mistakes do not necessarily define a young shortstop’s ceiling.
As a Yankees rookie in 2023, Anthony Volpe made 17 errors in 560 chances and finished with a .970 fielding percentage. He nevertheless became the first Yankees rookie to win a Gold Glove, with MLB crediting him with 15 defensive runs saved.
Two years later, Volpe committed 19 errors in 2025, tied for third most in the majors, while playing the final four months with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Lombard’s six errors in six games are unusually concentrated, and several have forced Yankees pitchers to record extra outs during a tight postseason race. But the Jeter and Volpe examples help explain why Cole and manager Aaron Boone are separating a bad stretch from the organization’s long-term view of Lombard.
Offensively, Lombard entered Thursday batting .265 with two home runs and six RBIs through 19 games, then drove a sixth-inning triple deep into left-center off Steven Okert.
Lombard has said he has experienced defensive stretches like this before. His response now is centered on continued work and conversations with the coaching staff to identify whether there is a correctable pattern behind the mistakes.
“Over time, I think he’s going to be really steady. … I expect this to be a bump or a little blip on the radar. That’s my hope,” Boone said.
Cole sends a clear message
Cole allowed three runs on six hits in six innings. Walker’s two-run homer in the sixth pushed Houston’s lead to 3-0. Cole struck out five and walked one. It was Cole’s first start against his former club since the 2022 AL Championship Series.
Asked about Lombard, the Yankees ace focused on the rookie’s work rather than the error total.
“I think it’s just important to remember, he’s a young player and he’s working his tail off to get better,” Cole said.
That mattered because extra outs directly affect pitchers. Cole’s answer instead matched the support Lombard has received inside the Yankees clubhouse.
Boone has also kept Lombard in the Yankees lineup and defended the foundation of his game.
“The good thing about George is, he’s so skilled and gifted out there. Foundationally, he’s really good, too. He will get through it,” Boone said.
Boone’s concern is as much about mindset as mechanics. He wants Lombard attacking plays naturally rather than becoming tentative because he is trying to avoid the next error.
Cole’s message made the clubhouse position clear: the Yankees are treating Lombard’s six-game defensive skid as a correctable stretch, not a reason to retreat from the rookie. Lombard’s own approach is similar. He is trying to reset after each play and put himself in position to make the next one.
The record-tying streak follows Lombard into his first Yankees-Red Sox series. His next routine ground ball will carry more attention than it did a week ago.
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