Aaron Boone’s message after brutal Yankees-Blue Jays series

The New York Yankees were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays in a four-game series for the first time in franchise history. That knocked the Bombers out of first place in the AL East for the first time since April 13. As the Subway Series rolls into Queens, things are bleak in The Bronx. Yankees manager Aaron Boone had a message for his team after the fourth game in Toronto.

“I don’t want us to flinch,” Boone said, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “I want us to come here, ready to prepare. Prepare, compete, win. We’re preparing to go out there and compete our [tails] off, and I know that if we do that well enough over time, we’ll win.”

The Yankees manager continued, “So trust me, when you’re living this life – whether it’s [as a] manager, coaches, staff, certainly players – it’s hard. It’s not fun. We work really hard every day and all season long. It’s about shaking hands at the end of the day.”

The Yankees are 6-13 in their last 19 games. As recently as May 27, they were seven games up in the AL East. Now, they are down a game to the Blue Jays and tied for second with the Tampa Bay Rays. Summer swoons have been a mainstay of the Boone era in New York, but this one is a new level of collapse.

The Yankees’ schedule is not easing up, with the Mets, Seattle Mariners, and Chicago Cubs on the schedule before the All-Star Break. They come out of the break with the Braves, Blue Jays, Phillies, and Rays on the schedule. These offensive and defensive struggles must end now for Boone and the Bombers to return to the postseason.

The Yankees open the Subway Series against the Mets, who are undergoing similar struggles, on Friday afternoon in Queens.