The Yankees’ losing streak extended to seven games on Saturday after a disappointing defeat at the hands of the rival Red Sox.
With New York having lost 10 of its last 12 games, the team is now three games below .500, in last place in the American League East, and has fallen on equal footing with the Angels in the AL Wild Card race, sitting 7 1/2 games out of a playoff spot.
After Saturday’s loss, Boone spoke to reporters and attempted to offer a positive outlook on the team’s current situation, describing the Yankees’ roster as being “sick animals.”
“We’re sick animals, in a lot of ways,” said Boone, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “It’s the grind of the sport. We’ve got to come ready to go tomorrow and fight our way through this. Through this, you find out about people. You get your character revealed. You’ve got to keep showing up.”
Since the All-Star break, the Yankees are 11–21. During that span, the offense has posted a .681 OPS, which ranks as the third-worst mark in MLB. The pitching staff hasn’t been much better, recording a 4.97 ERA in that same timeframe, sixth-worst in the majors.
The team held a meeting on Friday night in order to try and turn things around, but they came out flat yet again during the matinee against the Red Sox.
In recent press conferences, Boone has been trying to speak a potential late season run into existence, similar to the one the 1995 Yankees experienced. That team, who was also 60–61 late into the season, won 19 of its final 23 games in order to reach the playoffs.
A miracle run such as the one in ‘95 doesn’t seem likely for this year’s Yankees team, though Boone doesn’t appear ready to wave the white towel just yet.
