New York Yankees 4-8 Cincinnati Reds
On Thursday at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees put on an Independence Day fireworks display, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win and avoid a sweep. Despite their efforts, the Bronx Bombers lost at home with a final score of 4-8.
Juan Soto launched his 21st home run of the season, a powerful two-run shot to center field. Rookies Austin Wells and Ben Rice also contributed with home runs, marking Rice’s first career MLB homer. Despite these efforts, the Yankees’ offense stalled, resulting in an 8-4 defeat.
Marcus Stroman, the Yankees‘ starter, was hit hard, giving up three home runs and taking the loss. Ex-Yankee Frankie Montas pitched effectively over five innings, earning the win for the Reds. The Yankees’ bullpen struggled to keep the game within reach as the offense floundered in the later innings.
This loss marked the first time the Yankees were swept in a three-game series this season. Dropping three consecutive games to the sub-.500 Reds, the Yankees fell to 4-13 in their last 17 games, hitting a new low for a team that had been dominant against weaker opponents earlier in the season.
How it happened
The Yankees’ struggles with runners in scoring position continued, going 1-for-5 and leaving six runners stranded. Despite losing the first two games of the series by just one run each, the team failed to deliver a crucial big hit.
Frankie Montas, who had a brief and unimpressive stint with the Yankees, outperformed his previous efforts in this game. Montas, with a middling 4.23 ERA and 4.44 FIP for the Reds, showed improvement against his former team. The Yankees hoped for a turnaround with Marcus Stroman on the mound, despite his recent struggles, including a 5.13 ERA across five June starts.
In a lineup change, Ben Rice led off ahead of All-Stars Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. This shift came as Anthony Volpe, previously struggling with a .239 OBP, was moved down the order. Despite these adjustments, the Yankees continued to face difficulties.
In the sixth inning, after homers from Rice and Wells cut the deficit to two runs, Alex Verdugo doubled and advanced to third on Gleyber Torres’ fly out. However, Anthony Volpe grounded out weakly to shortstop, and Reds star Elly De La Cruz threw out Verdugo at home.
Jake Fraley’s bases-clearing triple off Yankees reliever Jake Cousins extended the Reds’ lead in the seventh, making Soto’s two-run homer a minor consolation.
Roster
Up next
Looking ahead, the Yankees face the Red Sox on Friday at 7:05 p.m., broadcast on YES and MLB Network. LHP Nestor Cortes (4-7, 3.51 ERA) will start for the Yankees against RHP Tanner Houck (7-6, 2.67 ERA).
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
fire boone. he has lost the team, they are just going through the motions.
You’re 50% correct, Joe Grasser. Yes, fire Boone, but fire Brainless Brian Cashman first.
The Greatest Danger to the Yankees future is allowing Cashman to, once again, make some Dumb*** Panic Moves in which he trades away valuable prospects for someone else’s Injured or Declining veterans.
After losing 3 straight to a sub-500 team, the likelihood of Brainless Brian making more Stupid Trades for the 2024 version of Donaldson, Gallo, and Montas is HUGE.
The only time the Yankees have won during Cashman’s tenure was when he was handed 5 Hall-of-Fame Quality Players by former GMs Gene Michaels & Bob Watson in Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, Mo, and Williams.
And the only thing Cashman has done right during his career has been spending Steinbrenner’s money on free agents like CC Sabathia, Gerrit Cole, Mark Teixeira, Hideki Matsui, and Tino Martinez. And all of those signings were basically No Brainers that coincided nicely with Cashman’s Baseball IQ.
Cashman has NEVER assembled a championship team on his own. NEVER!
But he’s Excelled — more than any GM in baseball — in trading for injured-prone players & crap players with bloated contracts, like Effross, Montas, Bader, Donaldson, and Gallo.
And while I admire Giancarlo Stanton as a man & power hitter, Cashman had a lot of baseBALLS to complain about him being injury prone as a Yankee, since that was his Track Record with the Marlins. Before Dumb*** Cashman traded for Stanton & assumed most of his massive contract, Stanton played in 74 to 123 games in FIVE of his EIGHT Seasons with the Marlins. So, for Cashman to expect him to stay healthy AS HE GOT OLDER was the Height of Stupidity on Cashman’s part!
If Hal allows Cashman to, yet again, mishandle trades at this year’s trade deadline, then Hal is a Bigger Fool than Cashman.