Yankees in Big Trouble After Sweep by Red Sox

 RED SOX 6 - YANKEE 5 - 10 Innings 

 For Yankees fans, Sunday's 6-5 loss, and eventual sweep at the hands of the hated Boston Red Sox will always be remembered as the Gabe Morales game. 

With the game tied at four in the bottom of the ninth, and two men on the corners for the Yankees, Morales was the home plate umpire when Boston closer Matt Barnes, supposedly struck out Rougned Odor looking on a 3-2 pitch that was clearly outside. The ball never crossed the plate, and should have been ball four.  The bases would have been loaded for Clint Fraizer. 

 

Was the call awful yes. Did it cost the Yankees the game, ultimately no, but it did play a major role in the final decision. 

Boston scored two runs in the 10th inning on Xander Bogaerts two run single to make it a 6-4 game. The Yankees would cut the deficit to 6-5 on a RBI ground out by Tyler Wade before slumping D.J. LeMahieu grounded out to end it. 

It was a disheartening loss for the Yankees. They led this game 3-1, and let it slip through their fingers. Marwin Gonzalez's two-run blast in the seventh tied the game. Bogearts put Boston in front 4-3 on a sac fly in the eighth. That was all preamble to the events in the ninth where the Yankees would tie the game on a Gleyber Torres double. 

But at the end of the day, and as much as Yankees fans want to pin blame on the Morales the home plate umpire, the Yankees are a bad team right now. They are two games over .500, 6.5 games out of first place, and in fourth in the AL East. They have lost eight of their last ten games, and are seven games under .500 in the AL East (14-21). 

There is a lot of blame to go around. Manager Aaron Boone is once again hearing the catcalls for his job from fans and media alike -- much the way he did earlier in the year when the Yankees opened the season at 5-10. He won''t be fired. Neither will Brian Cashman. They view this, and the Yankees view this as a process. 

But the facts are this is a Yankees team that is flawed. They don't have enough pitching, especially in the rotation, and outside of Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres nobody is hitting. 

Yes, the Yankees pounded out 11 hits on Sunday, but they are still 26th in the league in runs scored (218) and 27th in batting average at .227 as a team. They are in big trouble. 

If things do not change, and they remain on this roller coaster of a ride this season of incredible highs and lows, they will be on the outside looking in come October. As it stands right now, they are making it very tough on themselves in the long run.  

Buckle up folks it's going to be a bumpy ride in The Bronx.