NEW YORK – Here was a side of Aaron Boone normally reserved for home plate umpires who call one too many below-the-knees strikes on Aaron Judge.
“We got to play better. Period. And the great thing is, it’s (BANG) right in front of us.”
Emphasizing his point, Boone slammed an open right hand against a podium following the Yankees’ latest subpar effort.
“We can run away with this thing. And we’ve got the dudes in there to do it,” said Boone, biting off those words after Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the second-place Toronto Blue Jays.
On Sunday, the day Paul O’Neill’s No. 21 is retired, the Yankees (73-48) will arrive at work with a seven-game AL East lead with 41 games to play but having lost 14 of their last 17 games.
Riled by questions about his team’s offensive slump and frustrated by their extended slide, Boone slammed a table.
And depending on your view, it might have seemed performative or genuine or a little of both.
Judge hadn’t heard about his manager’s moment of fury just after the game, but the Yankees’ nominal captain pointed to a problem that has become systemic.
“(We) have to have a little better energy in the dugout, kind of push each other a little bit,” Judge said. “We’re missing a little bit of that right now.”
Aaron Judge: ‘We’re not happy about it’
Judge further identified what’s been missing.
“Picking each other up, being in every single at-bat with each other. That’s what makes this team dangerous.
“When we’re rolling, everybody’s in on every single at-bat, everybody’s pushing each other. We’re missing a little of that right now.”
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You bet, “We’re not happy about it right now,” said Judge, on a day that starter Mitch White – making his first appearance at Yankee Stadium – and five Toronto relievers held the Yanks at bay.
And the Yanks had their chances.
They out-hit the Jays 9-7 but went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position while Toronto went 4-for-6.
This was a day that screamed for a shut-down effort by Gerrit Cole.
Instead, the Yankees’ ace was bitten by a four-run fifth, the damage coming via two-run doubles by Jackie Bradley Jr. and Alejandro Kirk. Cole was left to lament a walk to No. 8 hitter Danny Jansen and a Vlad Guerrero Jr. comebacker that went as a gift infield hit when Cole – hoping to start a double play – failed to make any play.
Aaron Boone’s Wrath
At a loss to grasp the Yankees’ out-of-sync offense before the game, Boone admitted to a passing, dramatic idea to fix a broken lineup.
“I jokingly said, ‘Let’s pick it out of a hat,'” Boone said.
Billy Martin used that ploy 50 years ago this month, managing the 1972 Detroit Tigers, and again with the eventual world champion 1977 Yankees.
Getting wins with odd-looking lineups on both occasions, Martin had Reggie Jackson pull the names out of a Yankees cap before the ’77 game.
“I did it to relax the guys,” Martin told reporters afterwards. “Besides, when you don’t have any hot bats, it doesn’t matter where they hit.”
But any of that type of levity did not seem to be a solution following Saturday’s game, with Boone admittedly “ticked off and frustrated” by the slump, but still trusting in his players’ track records.
“We’ve done it for four months, OK? The offense has been struggling for 12 days.
“We have great players in there. They know it. They know what they’re capable of. It’s a tough time, it’s gut check time and it’s hard right now.
“Everyone’s yelling and screaming at them, and that’s part of it. That’s what gives me confidence. I know we’re a great team when we’re right and we get it going. And that’s still right in front of us.
“Let’s go grab it.”
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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Aaron Boone vents frustrations after Yankees lose to Blue Jays