The New York Yankees endured a complete and utter meltdown in Sunday's 6-5 loss against the Baltimore Orioles.
After rookie Ben Rice came through in the clutch with a three-run homer off Craig Kimbrel, the Yankees did everything in their power to give the game away.
Manager Aaron Boone tried to offer some encouraging words, but it's likely going to fall on deaf ears given how poorly the team finished this game.
"That's a killer. Let's acknowledge that. It's been a rough several weeks here for us. The reality is the last couple of games in Tampa and here, feel like we're competing our a--- off and starting to turn the corner and see the signs we want to see," said Boone after the game.
All-Star closer Clay Holmes blew his MLB-high sixth save of the season. He allowed a leadoff single and walked two other batters to load the bases with two outs.
Then, the typically smooth Anthony Volpe booted a routine ground ball up the middle in what should have been the final out of the game.
Volpe couldn't handle it and it's 5-4 Yanks pic.twitter.com/dnIz2SIRrr
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 14, 2024
Left fielder Alex Verdugo then put the icing on the cake by completely misreading a fly ball from Cedric Mullins that had a 99% catch probability.
Alex Verdugo miss plays it and the Orioles walk it off. Unreal pic.twitter.com/2iD2UyCcP8
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 14, 2024
Instead of the Yankees going into the All-Star Break with a one-game lead in the division, they now trail by one game and will need to sweep the Orioles later in the season in order to hold the tiebreaker over them at the end of the season.
What could have been a season-changing sweep quickly turned into a dreadful loss that could hang over the Yankees' head coming out the break.
