The New York Yankees got punched in the mouth by their biggest rival, and now it's time to see how they respond.
Walking into Fenway Park this weekend for the first series against the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees held the best record in baseball feeling pretty good about themselves.
That remained true with a dominant 8-1 win Friday night. The rest of the series, however, should serve as a wake-up call for the Yankees.
After dropping an 8-4 game on Saturday night, the Yankees came out flat in the rubber game on Sunday. The Red Sox ran all over them—literally—setting a single-game franchise record for stolen bases en route to a 9-3 win and a series victory.
MORE: Yankees on wrong side of history as Red Sox break stolen base record
With a day off coming Monday, here's a look at five takeaways from the brutal series loss:
Yankees vs. Red Sox: 5 takeaways from New York's dismal series loss
A much-needed wake-up call
It's never a good thing when teams lose to their rivals on the road, but sometimes it is necessary. The Yankees have been riding a high for the majority of the season as arguably the best team in MLB. Getting punched in the mouth like this against a clearly inferior team can help in the long run.
Of course, it's all about how the team responds. This seems to be the lowest point of the season since they dropped three-of-four against the Baltimore Orioles at the end of April. The Red Sox came out ready to play, and the Yankees had their chances to turn the tide. Maybe this will serve as a necessary about-face to keep the pressure on.
Anthony Rizzo's injury
The Yankees may have another injury to deal with as Rizzo exited Sunday night's game with a lower right arm injury following a collision with Red Sox pitcher Brennan Bernadino at first base during the top of the seventh inning.
MORE: Yankees' Anthony Rizzo exits game with injury after collision
Rizzo was replaced by Oswaldo Cabrera in the lineup with DJ LeMahieu shifting over to first base from third for the remainder of the game. The Yankees said Rizzo will see team physicians and will have imaging done during Monday's day off.
In-division struggles continue
While the Yankees have been the dominant team in MLB for the majority of the season, they've had their share of struggles against teams in the AL East. Following the series loss this weekend, the Yankees have a 9-10 record against AL East opponents thus far.
The Yankees have lost only four series this season. Three of those four came against their division mates. They will enter this home series against the Orioles with a 1.5-game lead for the division, making a bounce-back even more necessary.
Failure to come through with key hits
The losses on Saturday and Sunday night came with one key factor that likely made the difference in the games. The Yankees were a combined 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position during those two losses. It's a similar theme that has cropped up in defeats for the Yankees this season.
The same thing happened when the Yankees dropped the first two games of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They certainly had their chances, especially Sunday night when they found themselves in a situation with the bases loaded and no outs. Yet, they still failed to get the big hit. It's not reasonable to expect them to always come through in those situations, but it's definitely a major reason they couldn't mount any significant comebacks.
Bullpen had its struggles
For the majority of the season, the Yankees have had one of the best bullpens in MLB. Eventually, they are going to have some struggles as a unit. It's baseball. But their lack of swing-and-miss stuff was emphasized a great deal in the final two games of this series.
In the two losses, the Yankees bullpen combined for 6.0 innings pitched allowing 12 hits, seven runs (six earned) and four walks. They managed six strikeouts and just 16 swings and misses across seven different arms. The lack of swing-and-miss stuff has been an issue for the bullpen this season, and it contributed to the two losses this weekend.
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