Yankees: Questionable decision-making costs NYY in gutting loss

A game that should’ve been followed by Yankees fans singing the praises of Domingo German and Rougned Odor was quickly thrown into the “worst loss of the year contender” folder, which seems to add a new candidate every week or so.

The Yankees were absolutely cruising on Sunday afternoon , as German took a no-hitter into the eighth before a leadoff double off by Alex Verdugo saw him yanked by Aaron Boone.

It was an understandable decision at the time.

After all, German, though not showing signs of breaking down, hadn’t thrown more than 85 pitches in an outing since June 1.

Entering the game in relief was Jonathan Loaisiga, who was just activated off the COVID-19 list and working his second day in a row. The 26-year-old had nothing going, giving up four straight base knocks and the Yankees’ four-run advantage disappeared within minutes.

Per usual, the finger will be pointed at Boone, who bizarrely chose to keep Loaisiga in after the three-batter minimum … even though Zack Britton was warm in the bullpen.

The Yankees lost another heartbreaker on Sunday and Aaron Boone was unfortunately at the center of it.

Let’s remember that Loaisiga wasn’t sharp on Saturday, either, surrendering two hits in a scoreless inning of relief. We understand Boone wanting to get his star reliever back into the swing of things, but does the manager not realize his club’s season is on the line?

The moment Loaisiga served up an 0-2 fastball to Franchy Cordero, he should’ve been out, but logic and feel for the game clearly aren’t Boone’s calling cards. Again, calling Loaisiga’s number wasn’t the problem. Leaving him out there to get shelled in a must-win game despite the fact that his location was off and he couldn’t put anybody away is the issue.

However, enough about Loaisiga. Let’s discuss Boone’s decision to play the middle infield back with a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, shall we? A weak grounder to shortstop allowed Cordero to score the tying run before a sacrifice fly from Xander Bogaerts put the Red Sox in front for good, as the Yankees went down without a whimper in the top of the ninth.

Don’t worry, though. Boone revealed postgame that he didn’t want a blooper to fall behind shortstop or second base. At least that catastrophe was avoided. Phew!

To be fair, the Yankees had their chances to blow this one open, but a lack of execution — particularly in the seventh inning, when they failed to score after loading the bases — left the door open for the Red Sox and they responded, as most good teams do, accordingly.

There you have it, folks. Another loss for the ages in the books. We’d say the Yankees should be fresh out of them for one season, but we’ll probably be right back here this time next week.

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