"We're hanging our head a little" - Aaron Judge speaks out on Yankees' recent struggles, points out different things affecting Bombers' locker roomÂ
Aaron Judge seems to be leading a New York Yankees side that is devoid of any confidence at the moment. They suffered another humiliating 12-3 loss at the hands of their crosstown rivals New York Mets, who pulled off their second-ever Subway Series sweep and the first since 2013.
The Yankees have seemed like a two-man offensive team for more than a month. With injuries to Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Dominguez, the onus has lied on Juan Soto and Aaron Judge to pull the weight. However, it has seemingly been Aaron Boone's inability to find a third potent at-bat that has resulted in a string of losses.
Furthermore, even the Bronx Bombers' pitching has faltered over the last month. That was signified through Gerrit Cole's outing against the Mets on Wednesday. In 5.2 innings pitched, the 2023 AL Cy Young winner earned six runs on three hits with Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Tyrone Taylor all going yard against him.
And this has left the fanbase unhappy with growing concern about their playoff chances. The Yankees sit first in the AL Wild Card place but are just 3.5 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals in third. Captain Aaron Judge, who went 0-for-3 on the night, spoke about the team's morale and the need to find a solution soon:
"It's tough to say. You can read body language sometimes and there's some certain times where we're hanging our head a little bit and you just need a little kick in the butt to get it going again," Judge said.
Yankees cling on to playoff chances
With less than 60 games to be played in the season, the Yankees find themselves slipping in the AL East race. Thanks to the Baltimore Orioles dropping a few games of their own, they are now just 1.5 games behind in the AL East standings, but they haven't had the lead of the division since July 9.
This has been due to a horrible run in the past 30 games, having won only 10 of them. Notably, this has been the second-worst record in the league during the spell barring the Chicago White Sox. As per Baseball Reference, New York has dropped two percentage points in their playoff chances in the last month.
The Bronx Bombers will look to bounce back in their upcoming three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park beginning on Friday.