ANAHEIM, Calif. — At 7:01 p.m., Wednesday West Coast time, Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton chopped a two-hopper right at the Angels shortstop, who threw to first to end a game that everyone knew was over by the early innings.
The Yankees trailed 6-0 after three innings and lost 7-3 to the Angels, who swept the three-game series. This made it five losses in six games since the All-Star break, nine in their last 11 and left them a season-worst 3 ½ games out of a wild-card position. They’re still last in the AL East, too.
The break is when the Yankees changed hitting coaches. Sean Casey’s impact in SoCal was dubious. His hitters struck out 16 times on Wednesday to make it 42 for the series. That’s a franchise record for a regular three-game series, but technically one short of the mark because the Yanks count their 2021 Field of Dreams game in Iowa and two games in Chicago following an off day as a series.
Whatever, 42 strikeouts in three games is a ridiculously high number. When NJ Advance Media reminded the manager of that during his post-game presser, Aaron Boone blurted out, “We stink right now!”
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He’s right, and that’s what he told his players in a clubhouse meeting that lasted just a few minutes.
Boone didn’t yell, but he was stern and to the point.
“He said some things that we needed to hear,” pitcher Carlos Rodon said after his awful 4 1/3-inning, 6-run start that included blowing a kiss to a heckling Yankees fan.
Boone’s message?
“There definitely has to be a sense of urgency because we’re playing the worst we have all year,” catcher Kyle Higashioka said. “This is probably the lowest point, so we really have to kick it into gear. We all know that, but it’s good for a manager to reinforce that.”
Later, Boone was emotional in his post-game interview. Seated behind a desk in the manager’s office, he showed that the Yankees’ tailspin is getting to him with his words and tone. He didn’t lose his cool like he did last season when he pounded a table during a post-game presser while his team was in a crisis, but he wasn’t calm rattling off what’s wrong and what needs to change right away.
‘We acknowledge where we are, which is we’re not very good right now,” Boone said passionately. “We understand that. Certainly, this is a low point for us. The silver lining is that it’s all in front of us and we control that.
“We understand that, but we’re acknowledging that we’re not in a good place as a team right now. We’re not playing anywhere near the ball we need to be able to play to put ourselves in a good position at the end of the season.
“It doesn’t feel good when you’re getting your teeth kicked in and you have a bad road trip or you’re going through a tough stretch, but we’ve got to deal with it. We’ve got to acknowledge where we’re at and come ready to compete our ass off on Friday and I believe that that’s the day we turn around. And if it’s not, we keep going.”
Next up for the Yankees is an off day that starts with a flight from Orange County to Westchester, then a weekend series at Yankee Stadium against the 28-69 Royals. It’s all on a tee for the Yankees to start playing better this weekend, but they’ve already lost series this month to three teams with losing records — the Cardinals, Cubs and Rockies — and they were just swept by the 49-48 Angels, who were under .500 and losers of 11 of 13 before this week.
Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
