Yankees' Aaron Judge drops ‘can't panic' advice after disaster vs. Blue Jays
The New York Yankees' odds of getting back to the postseason took a hit Thursday evening. The team's 8-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays sealed a series sweep at the hands of their division rivals. The defeat also led to the Yankees falling out of first place in the AL East, as the Blue Jays overtook them at the top. After the game, New York captain Aaron Judge spoke to the press, including MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. The message: remain calm.
Advertisement
'You can't panic. It's not going to help the situation,' Judge said to Hoch early Friday morning. 'We've got work to do. … We came up here [to Toronto], things didn't go our way. We've got to focus on a big series coming up with the Mets. All we can do is just keep focusing on the present and the game that we've got in front of us.'
As the Yankees begin a series against their crosstown rivals, the New York Mets, the focus is clear: getting back on track. A win on Friday afternoon would at least keep them at one game behind Toronto, depending on how the Blue Jays perform. The Tampa Bay Rays are also at 48-39 alongside the Bronx Bombers. The Boston Red Sox are also six and a half games back. As the All-Star break approaches, can manager Aaron Boone and his team right the ship?
Can Yankees right ship before All-Star Break?
Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Everyone knows that the Yankees' ultimate goal is to capture World Series title number 28. They came close last year yet fell short, losing the World Series in five games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Once again, it is clear that this team has flaws that could result in that very same outcome. Boone could use another starter at second or third base. Definitely another starting pitcher or two. Some bullpen arms as well. Will Boone, Judge and the rest of the squad get those reinforcements?
Advertisement
It would behoove general manager Brian Cashman to once again invest in his roster. Starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt left Thursday's loss to Toronto due to right forearm tightness. It's just the latest blow to a rotation that has been ravaged by injuries. This year's trade market is looking even more volatile than usual. Will Judge's message to stay calm resonate with his teammates? If so, then New York should right the ship.
Related: Toronto analyst roasts Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay after sweep
Related: Aaron Boone's message after brutal Yankees-Blue Jays series
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
27 minutes ago
- New York Post
Devin Williams, Jake Bird implode for gut-punch Yankees' loss in extras
Access the Yankees beat like never before Don't miss Greg Joyce's text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he's giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees. Sign Up Now ARLINGTON, Texas — The first three relievers out of the Yankees bullpen on Monday night followed the blueprint perfectly. Then Devin Williams chewed it up and spit it out. After Luke Weaver, Camilo Doval and David Bednar each tossed a perfect inning to protect a one-run lead, Williams gave up a game-tying blast to Joc Pederson in the bottom of the ninth. Jake Bird then served up a walk-off home run off the bat of Josh Jung in the bottom of the 10th to hand the Yankees their fourth straight loss, this one a gut punch 8-5 defeat to the Rangers at Globe Life Field. Bird had retired the first two batters in order in the bottom of the 10th before the Yankees intentionally walked Wyatt Langford to bring up Jung, who crushed a three-run shot to end it. 6 Texas Rangers' Josh Jung, right, celebrates after his home run as New York Yankees pitcher Jake Bird (59) walks to the dugout during the 10th inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 4, 2025. AP 6 Texas Rangers' Joc Pederson reacts to hitting a home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. AP The Yankees had runners on the corners with one out in the top of the 10th but came up empty when Austin Wells grounded into a double play. After the new-look bullpen had faltered in brutal fashion on Friday night in Miami, giving way to a sweep by the Marlins, the Yankees looked to be on their way to a better ending in their second chance Monday. Instead, the end result was all too familiar. CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS Williams has given up at least one earned run in five of his past seven appearances since the All-Star break. He had pitched well for a 25-game stretch before that, but his early season struggles have resurfaced. 6 New York Yankees relief pitcher Jake Bird (59) walks off the field after he gives up the game-winning home run to Texas Rangers designated hitter Josh Jung (not pictured) during the tenth inning at Globe Life Field. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect With the Yankees now having two former closers in their bullpen in Bednar and Doval, it remains to be seen whether manager Aaron Boone will make a change with how he handles the ninth inning. Coming off a miserable weekend in Miami with their playoff spot suddenly looking tenuous — the Rangers (59-55) entered the night as the last team out in the AL wild-card race but now only trail the Yankees (60-53) by 1 ¹/₂ games — Aaron Boone's club fell further into third place in the AL East. The bullpen had to get to work early on a night when Max Fried labored just to get through five innings. It was a grind for the left-hander, who gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks across 105 pitches and now owns a 5.81 ERA across his last six starts. 6 Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton, right, hits a home run that also scored teammate Paul Goldschmidt in front of Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim, left, during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Monday, Aug. 4, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. AP Giancarlo Stanton's home run in the fourth inning, which flew off the bat at 115 mph, had put the Yankees up 5-4. It was his 10th of the season, all of them coming in his last 24 games. The timing of it presented another reminder of the dilemma that is facing the Yankees. Aaron Judge is expected to return from the injured list on Tuesday, but he will be limited to DH, at least initially, as he begins his throwing program in the coming days. That will almost certainly force Stanton into a bench role, unless the Yankees actually take the risk of using him in the outfield. Boone said Monday afternoon that was at least a possibility once the Yankees return home on Friday, but it is hard to imagine it happening given Stanton's injury history. Paul Goldschmidt, who was on the field five hours before first pitch Monday taking early batting practice (as he will do on occasion), crushed the third pitch of the game for a leadoff home run against left-hander Patrick Corbin. It marked the veteran first baseman's first home run since June 19, going 31 games without one, a stretch in which he hit just .212 with a .566 OPS. 6 Yankees right fielder Amed Rosario (14) celebrates after he hits a double against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect 6 New York Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (48) points to the dugout after he hits a double against the Texas Rangers during the second inning at Globe Life Field. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images The Yankees went on to load the bases with two outs, but failed to push across another run. In the second inning, Amed Rosario — who doubled for his 1,000th career hit in the first inning — and Cody Bellinger roped back-to-back RBI singles to make it a 3-0 game. But again, the Yankees loaded the bases, this time with one out, and stranded them all as they wasted another opportunity to break the game open. Go beyond the box score with the Bombers Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Check out more newsletters It did not take long for that to come back to haunt the Yankees, as the Rangers rallied for four runs to take the lead in the bottom of the second. Fried gave up a one-out double and walk before the Rangers strung together four straight singles — the first three hard-hit ground balls — to tie the game 3-3. Then with the bases loaded, the Yankees ran a pickoff play at second base, but Fried's throw went into center field, allowing the go-ahead run to score from third to make it 4-3 Rangers. Fried led off the bottom of the fourth inning by issuing a four-pitch walk to No. 8 hitter Jonah Heim before Ezequiel Duran followed with a single. Those runners were on second and third with two outs when Fried got bailed out by Anthony Volpe, who made a strong sliding stab on a smoked one-hopper by Marcus Semien and bounced a throw to first that got picked by Goldschmidt to escape the jam.
Newsweek
28 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Aaron Boone's 'Laissez-Faire Attitude' Ripped After Yankees' Humiliating Sweep
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Miami Marlins began life as an MLB franchise in 1993 in the fourth round (of five) of major league expansion. Regular season interleague play began in 1997, and since then, the Marlins — who were called the Florida Marlins until 2012 — had faced MLB's most iconic and winningest team, the New York Yankees, 46 times. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Marlins had a losing record going into the weekend's matchup of the two teams, dropping 24 and winning 22 against the Bronx Bombers. But at no time in the history of the two teams had the Florida/Miami franchise swept a three game series from the 27-time World Series champions. Until now. TORONTO, ON - JULY 21: Manager Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees looks on during batting practice before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on July 21, 2025 in... TORONTO, ON - JULY 21: Manager Aaron Boone #17 of the New York Yankees looks on during batting practice before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on July 21, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. MoreThe Yankees, who dropped from a seven-game American League East lead on May 28 to 3 1/2 game deficit heading into Friday, looked like they were righting the ship, taking the final three games of a four-game series against their divisional rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays, before arriving in Miami. But their momentum went straight out the window as the Marlins captured all three contests for the first sweep of the Yankees in the history of the two teams. More MLB: Yankees Manager Called 'Brainwashed' Over Anthony Volpe, 'Weird' Relationship As if the unprecedented sweep was not humiliation enough for the defending AL champions, the three victories raised the Marlins' head-to-head record against New York to 25-24 — making them, unbelievably, the only team in baseball with an all-time winning record against the Yankees. The Marlins' most famous victory over the Yankees came in the 2003 World Series, when the underdog Florida squad, led by righty ace Josh Beckett, beat New York 4-2 to take the second championship in seven years for the franchise — which has not won one since, and has appeared in the postseason only twice in the last 21 years. START SPREADING THE NEWS WE'RE BRINGING THE BROOMS 🎶 — Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 3, 2025 As the Marlins celebrated, the Yankees tried to make sense of their downward spiral. The three-game series was highlighted, or low-lighted, by a Friday night 13-12 loss which marked the first game since Aug. 12, 1973 — almost exactly 52 years earlier — in which the Yankees scored 12 runs and lost anyway. After the sweep, Yankees catcher and designated hitter Ben Rice told reporters, "I wouldn't say there's concern, but I would say I think a little sense of urgency would be good for us," as quoted by The Athletic beat writer Chris Kirschner. But Kirschner went on to note that a "sense of urgency" is exactly what the Yankees have not been displaying during their two months of mediocrity, in which they have compiled a sorry 25-32 record since leading their division by seven games. More MLB: Yankees Accused of Less-Than-Full Honesty in Aaron Judge Injury Reports "They tend to operate with a laissez-faire attitude that starts with manager Aaron Boone," Kirschner wrote. "Since team captain Aaron Judge said they would hit a hot streak, they're 4-6. Since the Yankees lost two of three to the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 1, they are 24-30, a worse record than the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Athletics during this span." Boone, in his statements after Sunday's game, expressed confidence that the Yankees would pull themselves out of the prolonged doldrums. "It's certainly not too late for us," Boone said, quoted by ESPN. "I am confident that we're going to get it together. But that's all it is right now is, you know, it's empty until we start doing it." With such Yankees greats from earlier eras as Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez criticizing the team on national television, Boone may wonder if his job is safe. There has certainly been no shortage of calls for the eighth-year manager to be replaced, or at least to take greater "accountability" for the team's lengthy and embarrassing skid. More MLB: Is Jazz Chisholm Jr. Fiasco Proof Aaron Boone Losing It With Yankees?
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Yankees continue recent slide, get walked off by Rangers in extra innings
ARLINGTON, Texas — The New York Yankees landed in Texas, fired up the grill and started BBQ-ing their own playoff hopes. After closer Devin Williams blew the save in the ninth inning, the Rangers walked the Yankees off in the 10th inning on Josh Jung's three-run, two-out blast to left-center field for a 8-5 defeat. Advertisement It happened right after pitching coach Matt Blake visited the mound and reliever Jake Bird intentionally walked Wyatt Langford. Jung blasted a 1-1 sinker from Bird that was middle-in. The homer was a no-doubter. It also came after an embarrassing weekend in which the Miami Marlins swept the Yankees as New York made awful mistakes in each loss. The Yankees are 0-4 since Thursday's trade deadline, when they were just about universally praised for the flurry of deals they made. WALK-OFF BOMB FROM THE JUNGSTER! #AllForTX — Texas Rangers (@Rangers) August 5, 2025 On Monday, the drama for the Yankees started when pinch hitter Joc Pederson crushed a solo homer off Williams to tie it 5-5 with two outs in the ninth. Pederson hammered a hanging changeup well into the seats in right field, sending the crowd at Globe Life Field into a frenzy. It was Williams' second blown save in as many chances. He hadn't pitched since Wednesday. In the top of the 10th, the Yankees squandered a chance to bring home the extra-innings runner when Austin Wells hit into an inning-ending double play. They started the day in third place in the American League East and 4 1/2 games back of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays. They had been holding on to the second wild-card position by just a half-game.
