Four losses in their final five games have sent the Yankees limping into the All-Star break, leaving them one game outside of a wild-card position in the American League standings.
They will reconvene for the first of their final 71 games on Friday in Colorado after getting the next four days off, still in search of some semblance of consistency following a rare bullpen meltdown in Sunday’s 7-4 loss to the Cubs in steam-bath conditions at the Stadium.
Domingo German wasn’t flawless, but Seiya Suzuki’s solo home run in the fifth was the only hit allowed by the perfect game author over six-plus innings.
Anthony Volpe and Kyle Higashioka accounted for a 4-1 cushion with back-to-back homers in the sixth in support of German, but he was removed by Aaron Boone — to a standing ovation — after throwing only 74 pitches following a leadoff walk to Ian Happ in the seventh.
The Yankees’ usually dependable pen — which began the day with a league-leading 3.06 ERA this season — couldn’t close out the three-run advantage.
Four relievers combined to allow six runs to cross the plate over the final three innings, although three were unearned in the seventh following a costly error by second baseman Gleyber Torres.
The Yanks hit the break at 49-42, a game behind the Blue Jays and the Astros for the second and third AL wild-card spots, and with reigning MVP Aaron Judge still on the injured list after missing the past five weeks with a a big-toe injury.
Starting pitchers Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino and lineup regulars Harrison Bader, Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson also were among those to have spent significant time on the shelf, with the latter two mostly struggling since returning.
“It’s been a grind of a first half for us,” Boone said before the game. “I love the grit of this group, though. As tough as it has been, and some of the adversity we’ve faced, the reality is we’re in position to achieve our goals.
“Heading into the second half, it’s all right there for us. It’s on us to get it done. And we’re in position to do that. So it’s I think everyone would say as much of a grind as it’s been, we’re there with an opportunity and we’re looking forward to that.”
The Yanks had opened the scoring in the first against Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks on Anthony Rizzo’s double to right-center.
In his second start since his perfecto in Oakland on June 28, German faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings before Suzuki opened the fifth by driving a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left for a 1-1 game.
Volpe’s 13th homer of his rookie season, a two-run shot to left, and Higashioka’s fifth chased Hendricks with two outs in the sixth.
After Ian Hamilton replaced German in the seventh, Torres booted a potential double-play grounder to open the door for three unearned runs.
Pinch hitter Yan Gomes’ two-run single to center off Tommy Kahnle with two outs made it a 4-4 game.
Ron Marinaccio then loaded the bases with none out in the eighth on a single by ex-Yankee Mike Tauchman and two walks.
Suzuki lifted a sacrifice fly to right against Clay Holmes, whose subsequent wild pitch with Cody Bellinger batting brought home another run for a 6-4 Cubs lead.
A 23-minute rain delay followed to start the bottom of the inning, but there would be no comeback rallies as the Yanks concluded an underwhelming first half.
“Look, you never know what’s gonna happen. But over the next few weeks, we’re gonna get, we feel like, real significant impact people back with our team, and hopefully that serves us well,” Boone said. “But just, we gotta be a little better in every aspect.
“Obviously, these last several weeks, we’ve been a little inconsistent on offense, and we need to get better there and get guys going. I absolutely feel like it’s in there for us, too.”
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