Yankees' Offense Hits New Low, Losing Series to Tigers

The New York Yankees have lost the first two games of their series against the Detroit Tigers thanks to poor performances from the offense and starting lineup

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Entering this weekend's series with the last-place Tigers, the Yankees had won 18 of their previous 25 games.

With a slow start to the season seeming like a distant memory, all signs pointed to New York taking care of business in Detroit, tuning up for a challenging homestand ahead. 

Instead, the Yankees have looked lifeless, dropping the first two games of the series.

On Friday night, another gem from ace Gerrit Cole was spoiled by a walk-off home run in extra innings. New York scattered 11 hits in the game, but only managed two runs. 

The following afternoon, it was more of the same. The Yankees' offense was anemic, mustering just three hits in a 6-1 loss.

This club's offense wasn't firing on all cylinders even before this series in Detroit. Historic performances by the pitching rotation had taken the focus away from an overall lack of production over the last few weeks. These last two days, however, the offense has been nothing short of an embarrassment. 

"Bottom line is we got to be better," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Saturday's loss. "If we're going to be the team we expect to be, a lot of that is built around what we expect to be offensively. And there's no question that that has to improve."

Sure, production is down across Major League Baseball this season and the Yankees have lost multiple key contributors to injury in the last few weeks. But the deficiencies in New York's starting lineup are even more evident when the Yankees go 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of a series.

"This year, it's been hard to string a lot of hits together. It's been hard to string a big inning together, kind of across the league," second baseman DJ LeMahieu explained Saturday. "The runners in scoring position, it's more glaring in nights like last night. But I feel like we're competitive. I feel like we have the right mindset."

Aaron Boone on the #Yankees offense:

"Bottom line is we've got to be better ... There's no question that that has to improve. I believe it will improve, but we've got to continue to work."

— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) May 29, 2021

While it could certainly be worse for a club that's six games over .500 heading into June, it isn't hard to diagnose New York's biggest issue.

The loss on Saturday was the seventh time in the last 10 games where the Yankees have scored two runs or fewer. New York is now 6-13 on the season in games where they've ended up with two runs or less on offense. They've lost all 13 games this season when an opponent has scored more than five runs.

Meanwhile, when the Yankees score five-plus runs, they're virtually unbeatable, posting an 18-2 record. 

Like LeMahieu, Boone shared the same unwavering optimism. The offense has been a weakness of late, but the track record up and down this roster lends the skipper to believe that this group has what it takes to swing through this slump.

"You'd hope and trust and believe that the integrity of the 162 will work itself out," Boone explained. "But that said, we got to have that urgency of making sure we're buttoned up, prepared, making the necessary adjustments to kind of dig ourselves out of that and start to turn this around offensively like we like we're capable of."

New York will send right-hander Michael King to the mound on Sunday afternoon, looking to stop the bleeding. After closing out their series against the Tigers, the Yankees return home for four games against the Rays and three against the Red Sox, their first series with Boston in 2021.

As much as it's been a struggle in Motown this weekend, New York isn't panicking by any means. All it takes is one big day on offense, and the Bombers can flip the narrative heading back to the Bronx. 

"It's just two games," shortstop Gleyber Torres said. "Tomorrow is another day. We'll try to win."

MORE:

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• Aaron Boone Still Has Confidence in Justin Wilson Despite Rough Start to Season

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