When the Yankees dropped a crushing series-opener here Friday night, manager Aaron Boone called it “gut-check time” in their season.
It will take more than just two games to get a definitive answer on how the Yankees respond to it. But the early returns have been encouraging.
In the place where their free fall began six weeks ago, the Yankees spent much of the weekend looking more like the team they were through the first 2 ¹/₂ months of the season.
Aaron Judge reacts after hitting a home run during the Yankees’ win over the Red Sox on July 28, 2024.
On Sunday, that resulted in an 8-2 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park that secured the Yankees just their second series victory in their last 11 series.
“It’s huge,” said Alex Verdugo, who had multiple hits in each game of the series. “We know where we’ve been at the last month and a half. It starts like this. You just keep on trusting each other, keep on going and get a couple guys at the trade deadline, a couple acquisitions that are going to freshen it up in here. We’re excited. We’re happy with the team we got and we know we can do some special things.”
Suddenly, the vibes might be starting to shift around the team that has had a dark cloud over it since the last time they were here.
Carlos Rodon pitches during the Yankees’ win over the Red Sox on July 28, 2024.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. made his debut for the Yankees (62-45) after Saturday’s trade from the Marlins, and though he only went 1-for-5 with a steal, his arrival just in time for the game seemed to provide a jolt.
Giancarlo Stanton is also due back on Monday in Philadelphia, potentially solidifying the middle of the Yankees’ order, while more reinforcements could be on the way before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
And yet, the most important development of the weekend may have been the Yankees’ struggling bats coming alive against the Red Sox (55-49), most notably Verdugo.
The former Red Sox outfielder lost his mojo here last month after a standout first game back at Fenway and entered Friday batting just .149 with a .429 OPS in 31 games since then.
But in three games this weekend, Verdugo went 7-for-15 with three doubles, two of them coming Sunday night and leading to runs.
“Just feel like we’re seeing him get rolling and be the hitter that he is,” Boone said.
Gleyber Torres, whose playing time could have been threatened by Chisholm’s arrival, also continued to come out of his brutal start to the season.
That included a two-run single in the first inning Sunday after a two-run double in the 10th inning of Saturday’s 11-8 win.
And on the mound, Carlos Rodon delivered a second straight strong start, tossing 6 ¹/₃ innings of two-run ball while striking out seven.
Jazz Chisholm makes a catch during the Yankees’ win over the Red Sox on July 28, 2024.
He generated a season-high 25 whiffs and picked up the bullpen on a night when it was short.
The immediate road ahead will not get any easier, as the Yankees open a series on Monday against the Phillies, owners of MLB’s best record.
But they had to start their turnaround somewhere after their skid reached 10-23 on Friday night, and perhaps this was a beginning as they remained just one game back of the Orioles for first place in the AL East.
Gleyber Torres hits a two-run single during the Yankees’ win over the Red Sox on July 28, 2024.
“It’s a gritty series win,” Boone said. “We’re not all the way where we want to be right now, of course, but there’s a lot of fight in there. It’s been really good to see the offense string together a bunch of games where they’re making it real heavy on the opposition.”
The Yankees scored 26 runs in the three-game set and on Sunday, got the pitching they needed from Rodon, Jake Cousins and Caleb Ferguson to avoid the late nail-biter they had in each of the first two games.
And after dropping five straight rubber games, the Yankees finally won one to take the series and gather some much-needed momentum.
“We need to get on a roll here,” Rodon said. “And this was a big series win against the Red Sox.”
