NEW YORK -- Jazz Chisholm Jr. sprinted from third base on a ninth-inning wild pitch, and as the Yankees infielder stamped his left foot across home plate, it felt as though they had finally caught the break they had sorely needed.
This has been a “terrible week” to wear pinstripes, as manager Aaron Boone described it, leaving him struggling to muster glass-half-full talking points as the Yankees tried to stop their longest skid in years.
Yet as Chisholm bounded toward a dugout filled with excited teammates, there was a fleeting feeling that the worst might finally be past them.
“I feel like that was the time,” Chisholm said after the Yankees’ 6-2, 11-inning loss to the Tigers Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. “But at the end of the day, the game’s not over until it’s over. It sucks. Every loss sucks. Ain’t no loss better than the next. Every time we lose, it sucks.”
After eight quiet innings, the Yankees looked like they were primed to steal one. Then they gave it right back, absorbing their seventh consecutive loss.
Camilo Doval issued a bases-loaded full-count walk to Spencer Torkelson in the decisive frame, then saw three more runs score on a Zach McKinstry single as the club’s defensive fundamentals crumbled.
“It’s been pretty bad,” Cody Bellinger said. “I can speak for myself; I haven’t been contributing at all. We fought today. … I look around this locker room, and we’ve still got a lot of really good baseball players in here. Tough stretch, but we’re going to continue to lean on each other and continue working.”
The Yankees have lost seven consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 12-22, 2023, when they endured a nine-game skid. Thursday’s off-day, their first since June 15, couldn’t be coming at a more welcome time.
“There’s no way of sugarcoating it. We’re capable of way more,” Boone said. “Look, you have stretches where it’s tough and you’re missing some guys. But this was a really difficult week for us offensively, coupled with not playing clean enough and taking care of the ball well enough.
“That’s what you get. You get an awful week.”
With captain Aaron Judge saying pregame that he has sensed “a little lack of focus” from his teammates, the Yankees nearly found theirs near the finish.
Drew Anderson coughed up the lead in the ninth. Amed Rosario parked a solo homer into the left-field seats and Chisholm Jr. reached on an infield hit, swiping a pair of bags as Anderson neglected to hold him. He raced home as Anderson tossed an errant changeup to the backstop.
The Yanks had another chance against Keider Montero in the 10th, moving the winning run 90 feet away with one out. Though Boone was navigating a thin bench as several players were dealing with food poisoning (Max Schuemann, for one, wasn’t even at the stadium), Paul Goldschmidt was available.
Instead, Boone stuck with Oswaldo Cabrera, who struck out. After an intentional walk to Ben Rice, Montero struck out Ali Sánchez to send the game to the 11th. Cabrera is hitless in nine big league at-bats this season.
“I have confidence that Cabrera can touch the ball, too,” Boone said, adding, “In extra innings, I [would] have to put Goldy in at third or second base, which I wasn’t going to do.”
Detroit starter Troy Melton held them to two hits over 6 1/3 innings. Rice had a first-inning single and Chisholm stroked a fourth-inning double, marking Chisholm’s return to the lineup after being forced from Monday’s game following a collision with right fielder Jasson Domínguez.
The Yankees have scored four runs or fewer in 12 consecutive games, losing 10. That matches their longest such streak since May-June 2014.
“I feel like we’ve just got to lock in and do all the small stuff,” Chisholm said. “We’ve made a lot of mistakes, and I feel like we’ve beat ourselves.”
Will Warren started for New York and limited Detroit to two runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings, working in his changeup more regularly. Kevin McGonigle hit a third-inning solo homer, and Riley Greene lifted a sixth-inning sacrifice fly off Warren, who walked none and struck out seven.
“We play 162 games and hopefully more. There’s going to be some lulls in the season,” Warren said. “It just sucks that it’s kind of everybody all at once, but we’ve got good personnel in here. We’re going to come back after the off-day and get back after it.”