Yankees lose to maybe the worst team ever

This weekend represents a lose-lose situation for the Yankees at Coors Field. 

If they win, they are supposed to.

If they lose, it will be treated by some as a catastrophic event against the historically awful Rockies. 

Friday represented the latter, and while the sky did not immediately fall on the Yankees, perhaps that is just because it was reserved for the Knicks back in New York. 

Facing the team that was off to the worst 50-game start to a season in the modern era at 8-42, the Yankees fell flat in a 3-2 loss to the Rockies in front of a jubilant sellout crowd of 47,211 that certainly seemed to savor the final out. 

The Yankees (30-20) came into the night on a four-game winning streak, having won 11 of their last 14, while the Rockies (9-42) were on a five-game losing streak, having lost 17 of their last 19 games. 

Paul Goldschmidt (left) and Aaron Judge during the Yankees’ loss to the Rockies on May 23, 2025.

And, well, that’s baseball, Suzyn? 

“We’re all competitors in here. Anytime you lose, we’re p–d off,” said Clarke Schmidt, who grinded through 4 2/3 innings and was charged with all three runs. “We’re not trying to go out there and lose ballgames. It shows in here in the energy in here — obviously everybody’s p–d off. But you play 162 games. You’re going to have games like this, nights like this where you don’t perform and you don’t get the job done. 

“Obviously it p–ses you off. I’m p–d off right now. So yeah, it definitely p–ses you off.” 

The result marked the second-largest winning percentage disparity (-.452) for a team at least 50 games into the season in the expansion era, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. 

Aaron Judge, playing his first career game at Coors Field, had put the Yankees ahead 2-1 in the top of the fifth with his 17th home run of the season in a 2-for-4 effort. 

Tim Hill gave up a crucial hit for the Yankees.

But the Rockies came back to take the lead in the bottom of the inning after Schmidt recorded two quick outs. Ezequiel Tovar and Hunter Goodman extended the frame with back-to-back singles, knocking Schmidt out of the game at 97 pitches, with Boone calling on lefty Tim Hill to face the left-handed hitting Ryan McMahon with runners on the corners. 

McMahon delivered a two-run double that hit off the top of the center-field wall, putting the Rockies ahead 3-2 and doing what no other lefty hitter had done against Hill this season: record an extra-base hit. 

Entering the night, lefties were 3-for-35 against Hill with three singles, but McMahon pounced on a sinker that was near the low-and-inside corner to do damage. 

Ezequiel Tovar (left) celebrates with Hunter Goodman for the Rockies.

“To elevate the ball, you just don’t see lefties do that much against [Hill],” manager Aaron Boone said. “Put a great swing on it and it was the difference today.” 

The Yankees could not scratch across any offense the rest of the way as Tanner Gordon tossed six innings of two-run ball before handing it off to the Rockies bullpen, with Jake Bird, Seth Halvorsen and Zach Agnos each tossing a scoreless frame to pull off the upset. 

“Those guys are professionals, just the same,” said Hill, who has been frustrated with his command of late. “Just losing a game in general is never good, especially when you have such a big part in it.” 

Schmidt, who had tossed six innings in each of his last three starts coming into the night, was not as sharp on Friday, which he attributed in part to pitching in the high altitude.

Paul Goldschmidt (48) during the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

He said it was difficult to throw sinkers here, which forced him to adjust on the fly and rely more on his cutter and sweeper.

The Rockies also fouled off 18 pitches and got into deep counts to drive up Schmidt’s pitch count. 

“You have to be a little bit more fine and more exaggerated with your areas and where you’re trying to throw the ball,” said Schmidt, who struck out eight and walked two. “I felt like the stuff overall was [good] and I was getting to good areas, but not being able to use the sinker was crippling a little bit at times. I just didn’t do my job tonight.” 

The Yankees had jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first, when Judge ripped a single up the middle and then scored from first on Paul Goldschmidt’s triple off the right-center field wall. 

Colorado Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia (4) and third baseman Ryan McMahon (24) celebrate defeating the New York Yankees at Coors Field.

But after Judge’s homer off Gordon in the fifth, the Yankees had just two baserunners the rest of the night – both walks that proved harmless.

Boone also lamented a hard-hit grounder by Austin Wells that turned into a slick double play by second baseman Adael Amador as the Rockies seemed to save their best baseball of the season for Friday night. 

“They beat us tonight,” Boone said. “I thought our focus was good, our conversations were right. We didn’t get a big hit to break open an inning. It’s going to happen.”