The New York Yankees' bumpy summer continued on Sunday with a meltdown loss against the Miami Marlins (box score). The Yankees entered the ninth with a 7-3 lead, yet wound up losing by an 8-7 final. That marks the first time the Yankees have lost a game in which they led by four or more runs in the ninth inning since July 11, 2021, according to James Smyth of YES Network.
It didn't take Yankees reliever Clay Holmes long to find trouble. He surrendered a leadoff double to Yuli Gurriel. After striking out Jon Berti, Holmes then permitted an infield single to Nick Fortes and a walk to Jazz Chisholm to load the bases and bring the potential tying run to the plate.
Josh Bell then hit a ball back up the middle that deflected off Holmes. Holmes recovered to field the ball, but made a throwing error that plated a pair:
Marlins tie it! Clay Holmes and the Yankees have choked away a four-run lead in the ninth pic.twitter.com/6dwj8saM11
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 13, 2023
Luis Arraez then tripled, tying the game and putting the Marlins 90 feet away from victory. Yankees manager Aaron Boone went to the bullpen at that point, summoning Tommy Kahnle. Kahnle walked Bryan De La Cruz then surrendered this comeback-capping walk-off hit to Jake Burger:
YOU GOT TO TRUST US! pic.twitter.com/N0D6zncwrb
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 13, 2023
Just like that, the Yankees wasted a quality start from ace Gerrit Cole. He threw six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks. Cole struck out six batters and threw 99 pitches. Offensively, the Yankees were paced by shortstop Anthony Volpe, who drove in two and collected his 16th home run of the year.
The Yankees are now 60-58 on the season. They went 11-12 in June, 10-15 in July, and are 5-7 to begin August. That puts them at 26-34 over their last 60 games -- or, a 70-win pace over a regulation-length season.
