Yankees' extra-innings loss to Dodgers brings out the worst New York fans possible

Was the New York Yankees' 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in extra innings on Friday night incredibly frustrating? Absolutely. Whenever Cody Poteet goes inning-for-inning with Yoshinobu Yamamoto for more than half the game, you probably should win at home.

But the Yankees' offense without Juan Soto couldn't produce. They put just eight runners on base and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. They couldn't end the game in the bottom of the 10th after the Dodgers failed to score in the top half.

Oh yeah, and they burned the bullpen, which sets them up terribly for the rest of the weekend. Victor Gonzalez, Caleb Ferguson, Michael Tonkin, Clay Holmes, Ian Hamilton and Dennis Santana were used, and at least three of them will probably be unavailable for Saturday.

Unfortunately, sometimes this happens. The eight-game winning streak had to come to an end. You just knew they weren't going to hit when it was revealed Juan Soto wouldn't be in the lineup — the Yankee Way over the last four years is completely falling apart when one piece of the roster puzzle is removed.

Nonetheless, this year still remains different. The Yankees are the best team in baseball even with their glaring roster issues, which fans decided to lament about all over social media when they didn't get their way. Some of these lunatics really are expecting a 162-0 season, and cannot handle a single difficult loss even if it's a blip on the radar in the midst of a current 12-3 run.

Gleyber Torres' lackadaisical error on the third inning didn't help matters. Even manager Aaron Boone had a little something to say about it in the postgame. That didn't stop fans from talking about how he's untrustworthy and not a championship-caliber player.

Would we disagree with that? Not necessarily. But it's June. It was the team's first loss in over a week against their NL counterpart. Why are we magnifying irrelvant issues at this point in time?

Same goes for Anthony Rizzo. He has not been good. In fact, he might just not be good anymore. But why is this particular 0-for-5 night the one that's going to put you over the edge? Rizzo has been unplayable for a year now, but there's no getting rid of him. This is life. The roster is imperfect and it's probably not going to change a whole lot between now and the playoffs.

Giancarlo Stanton's been on fire lately. But of course, an 0-for-5 night with three strikeouts will have everybody up in arms about how this is a "classic" performance from the slugger. And again, you'd be right! But why the outrage? This one game in June that knocked the Yankees down to 45-20 is nothing we'll even be thinking about in a week. Why tear down all the good he's done recently?

And the panic? The panic about wanting to pinch hit an injured Soto to claim an early June victory? Hours before that moment, you were all freaking out about how the Yankees are "cursed" and that we can't have nice things because Soto is injured. Then the MRI comes back clean but the team is playing it safe, and you want to push him after nearly losing your marbles over a potential extended absence?

It's time to get a grip, folks. It's time to remove yourself from the grind of the viewership of the 162-game season and realize losses will happen — bad ones, too! It's time to realize that consistency of such losses feels far gone compared to what we experienced from 2020-2023.

If the Yankees lose a heartbreaker after how flawlessly they've been playing, go enjoy a cocktail. Write a journal entry. Call a friend. Go to town on a heavy bag. Save the whining for when it actually matters, like when these losses become a trend or when the vibes inexplicably die. You're actually killing the vibe, and it will prove to be a total waste when they win on Saturday.