NEW YORK – By Monday night’s fourth inning, the Yankees were already deep into their same recurring nightmare – with an uglier twist.
In pursuit of a shallow fly ball, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. collided with right fielder Jasson Dominguez, forcing Chisholm from the game and into concussion protocol.
There was no further update on Chisholm’s condition, but the Yankees’ lineup remains frigid, and their end-of-June swoon continued with a 7-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Yankees under .500 in June
Yanks starter Ryan Weathers faulted his two-strike execution as he failed to make it through the second inning, and an agitated Yankee Stadium crowd of 40,506 didn’t mask its feelings as five of Detroit’s runs were unearned.
That’s eight losses in the Yanks’ last 10 games, plunging their June record to 12-13, all of it happening once Aaron Judge (rib fracture) landed on the injured list.
Whatever adrenaline the Yanks might have initially had without Judge (winning 9 of 12) has recently faded – with a stunning string of offensive duds.
Starting with Friday’s loss at Boston – during a four-game sweep by the Red Sox – the Yanks have collected exactly three hits in each of their last four games.
And on Tuesday night, the Yanks draw Tarik Skubal (defeated by the Yanks last week, with three home runs) as Yankees Universe casts its lonely eyes to you, Cam Schlittler.
“Got to come out and perform,’’ Cody Bellinger said of Tuesday’s challenge, because there was “no sugarcoating it’’ on Monday night.
“Just kind of a bad one. Don’t have many other words to say,’’ said Bellinger, whose rare error – a missed catch at the left field wall – led to two unearned runs in a rough fourth inning.
Missing the mark
Chisholm’s inning to forget included a banged up left knee during a play on the bases, followed by his collision with Dominguez, who caught the ball.
Dominguez’s elbow also caught Chisholm in the side of his head, which kept him on the ground for an uncomfortable few minutes before he was helped up and walked off the field.
“I didn’t call it loud enough,’’ said a remorseful Dominguez, still learning the nuances of right field.
Earlier, Jose Caballero’s throwing error, on a charging play at third base, contributed to a four-run second inning.
“Obviously, we’ve got some guys down and a little out of position maybe, so that factors in,” said manager Aaron Boone.
“But especially when we’re not swinging it like were going to typically, you’ve got to take care of the ball, and we haven’t done a good enough job of that.’’
More than just a slump?
When you looked up after seven innings, the Yanks had just one lousy hit against Detroit starter Casey Mize, who walked none and registered 10 strikeouts.
“We’ve run up against tough pitching for sure over these last several days,’’ said Boone. “But we’ve got to get some guys putting on a little more pressure and doing our thing offensively.’’
The top three in the Yanks’ order, Ben Rice, Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, were a combined 0-for-12 with six Ks.
Rice (0-for-4, 3 Ks) is 0-for-18, in his roughest stretch of the year, and he’s been the team MVP. Bellinger is in a 3-for-28 slide.
Is this team-wide slump, and some of the shaky infield defense, a crack in the foundation that could haunt the Yanks in October?
Or is this a bad week in a very mediocre American League. And did you hear Boone say that Giancarlo Stanton will resume live BP against Max Fried on Tuesday?
“Every team goes through a rough patch,’’ said Weathers. “It feels never-ending, but when you sit back and look at it, it’s five games’’ out of 162.
Skubal, who may or may not be dealt by the Aug. 3 trade deadline, vs. Schlittler on Tuesday suddenly has a lot more to it.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Beyond a punchless Aaron Judge-less lineup as Yankees’ slide hits five
