Max Fried blister fears return as Yankees' defense plummets below rock bottom

UPDATE: An earlier version of this story posited that Max Fried's bloodied finger represented a recurrence of his blister issues. According to Fried, the blood came from a separate cut incurred on his pinky from throwing his curveball.

Ben Rice, Tuesday night's hero, blocked a hotshot ground ball from Will Wagner with two outs in the sixth inning and a runner at third, but couldn't corral it. As it dribbled away, a second run scored in the frame, increasing the Yankees' deficit to two runs - immediately following Aaron Judge's clutch equalizer, of course. It was a horrible play. Compared to what preceded it, it was basically a Brooks Robinson masterpiece.

In all, Wednesday's finale at the Rogers Centre has included Oswald Peraza's brief two-out bobble to load the bases (with a run-scoring single immediately following), Max Fried throwing late to the plate and JC Escarra letting it roll for two more runs, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hucking a dead ball to first base (and allowing the runner to advance on a wild toss), and Cody Bellinger losing a triple in the lights.

The runner from Belli's folly scored one batter later on a Myles Straw double off Fried - who, as if this game wasn't bleak enough, spent time between every single pitch rubbing his fingers vociferously on his sleeve.

Yes, it seemed his blister issue had returned after an entire All-Star break to rest up, and Fried's bloodied pinky served as all the evidence the Yankees should need to shut him down again for the time being (though Fried insists it's a separate issue). With all the errors on the field, turns out an error in judgment off of it while trying to calibrate Fried's readiness might be the biggest nuisance.

Yankees' Max Fried suffers bloody finger, stokes blister fears amid defensive meltdown

The most amazing part isn't that the defense is horrendous. It's how routinely horrendous it truly is. Even a special victory on Tuesday night - which, yes, featured a gate-opening Anthony Volpe error - wasn't enough to more than briefly interrupt the daily reality of this team. If there's a mistake to make, they'll make it. Especially in Toronto.

Between Fried's bloody hand - which almost certainly requires an IL stint now - Carlos Rodón's walk issues, Will Warren's inconsistency (to put it nicely), the empty reality of a forthcoming bullpen game, the completely dead actual bullpen, and five or six F-grade defensive plays per game, victory feels nearly impossible for these Yankees on a nightly basis. A rejuvenating trade deadline would be nice. A trade tomorrow might be a necessity.

Aaron Boone was ejected midway through the seventh frame here. What a lucky guy; he might've missed Jasson Dominguez booting a sure Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single, followed by Chisholm Jr. kicking around the throw to the infield.