We're coming up on the fourth year of Defector dot com, and we here on staff wanted to thank all you subscribers for making this possible. To show our appreciation, we'd like to share with you some uplifting content to get your day and week started off right: The New York Yankees losing in impossibly painful fashion. Don't say we never did anything for you.
It's been a rough few weeks for the Yankees, who have won just one series since July 1 and have sunk further into last in the AL East, and entered Sunday's game against the Marlins four out of the third wild card spot. But things were looking up: New York had its ace Gerrit Cole on the mound, and staked him to a 7-1 lead in the sixth. It was a rare and pleasant spot to be in for a team that has basically no starting pitching and can't hit for crap. It was merely prelude to a collapse.
Miami got one back in the sixth and another in the eighth, but a 7-3 lead still felt overwhelming, especially with the Yankees bringing on closer Clay Holmes, who's been lights-out, in a non-save situation to secure a desperately needed win. Yuli Gurriel doubled, Nick Fortes singled, and Jazz Chisholm walked to load the bases with one out. Holmes got Josh Bell to hit the comebacker he needed, but couldn't take advantage of it via things like "fielding the ball cleanly" or "throwing it to first." Holmes was then left in to face Luis Arraez with the tying runs on, and Arraez dove down and in for a sinker to triple down the line.
After Tommy Kahnle replaced Holmes and issued a walk, the Yankees positioned five infielders to try to cling to the tie with Jake Burger at the dish. For this one, you're definitely going to want to hear the New York broadcast.
How're you feeling after watching that? Feeling good? What if I threw in some dejected quotes from the Yankees?
"This one sucks right here," said Aaron Judge.
"As tough as this one is to swallow, you have to move on from it," said Aaron Boone.
“Every loss at this point, it’s not fun,” said Holmes. "Losses like these, they hurt.”
"The mountain gets bigger with every loss," Holmes added.
The tectonic forces do not figure to be in the Yankees' immediate favor: five games out of the playoff picture, they now head to Atlanta for three against the MLB-best Braves.
Now that your day has been brightened with some Yankees misery, get ready for a real treat. For our pal-and-up subscribers, you have the opportunity to rub it in to the face of a real Yankees fan: me! That's right, use the comment section below to tell me how my team is a loser, how I deserve nothing but unhappiness in this world, how Gary Sanchez and Joey Gallo and Aaron Hicks are thriving, how I will have nothing to do on October evenings this year and perhaps for years to come, how 2009 might as well be a billion years ago. Think of it as a dunk tank, and I am prepared to be all wet.
