Yankees Starting to Spiral

The New York Yankees have lost their first game against the Tampa Bay Rays, and the despair in New York is mounting.

The Yankees are five and a half games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the division lead, and are now 11-19 against AL East teams. The Boston Red Sox are closing in on the Yankees' second-place spot in the AL East, but bought the Yankees some time with their shocking walk-off loss to the Minnesota Twins last night.

Yankees starter Cam Schlittler, in his third major league outing since being called up to replace Clarke Schmidt, allowed 7 hits and 3 runs in 4.1 innings pitched, contributing to the 4-2 loss. Lefty Max Fried, who will pitch against the Rays tonight, has an 11-4 record this season and a 2.62 ERA.

The bats clearly didn't show up either, with the two Yankees runs coming in the bottom of the first on walks from Jazz Chisholm and new infielder Ryan McMahon. McMahon has already begun to pull his weight since being picked up from the Colorado Rockies, helping the Yankees avoid a sweep to the Phillies with a run, a hit-by-pitch and two RBIs in the series' third game.

During last night's loss to the Rays, Fireside Yankees contributor Ryan Garcia described the Yankees as being in a "free fall" during the game, piling on with another fan who felt that these last two months constitute more than a "slump." The defense is sloppy, the list of quality pitchers is dwindling and their main event, Aaron Judge, isn't around to save them from themselves.

The instinct to blame management for the losses is common, and some fans even went after Yankees general manager Brian Cashman by hanging a "Fire Cashman" banner at the Rays game. It was soon taken down by security.

The Yankees are rapidly approaching the trade deadline with Judge on the injured list and no clear strategy to fix the mess they find themselves in. The front office is rumored to be considering batting power in addition to pitchers, and the deadline is set for July 31 at 6 p.m. EST.

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