How New York Yankees' Historic Loss Affects Tight AL East Race

The New York Yankees played one of their worst games of the season against the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

Aug 12, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge reacts after striking out. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees were supposed to crush the Chicago White Sox on Monday. Instead, they were the ones who got embarrassed.

The Yankees played one of their worst games of the season at Guaranteed Rate Field on Monday night, resulting in a 12-2 massacre by the worst team in baseball. Luis Gil didn't have it, and New York's offense let him down, going 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranding a whopping 16 men on base.

The Yankees had White Sox starter Ky Bush on the ropes from the beginning, but couldn't finish him off. They left the bases loaded in the second and fourth innings, repeatedly letting him off the hook.

Not surprisingly, those missed opportunities came back to haunt New York as Chicago built its biggest lead of the season.

THE WHITE SOX WIN BIG OVER THE YANKEES 😳

This is the third time this season the Yankees have lost by 10 or more runs 👀 pic.twitter.com/ltUF7NS9vb

— ESPN (@espn) August 13, 2024

The rout dropped the Yankees to 70-50, half a game behind the Baltimore Orioles (70-49), who were off on Monday. The Orioles enter Tuesday in sole possession of first place in the AL East and tied with the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in baseball.

Both teams have been locked in a tight divisional race all summer. New York lost control of first place after its June swoon but regained a share of first place in early August.

Baltimore kicks off a six-game homestand on Tuesday. starting with two games against the 54-65 Washington Nationals. That's followed by four games against the reeling Boston Red Sox, who are just 9-13 since the All-Star Break.

Meanwhile, the Yankees' six-game road trip is already off to a horrendous start. They'll try to rebound in their next two games against Chicago before playing three games against the sub-.500 Detroit Tigers.

If New York wants to keep pace with the Orioles, it can't afford a rough road trip this week against two teams with nothing to play for.