Major Yankee woes in minor-league park

BUFFALO — The Yankees tried to say all the right things again Monday night. Adam Ottavino came out in front of the cameras and took the blame. So did Chad Green. Aaron Boone quickly tried to find the positive and talk about turning the page.

But there was not much right to say about the Yankee bullpen’s 10run implosion in their 12-7 loss to the Blue Jays Monday night at Sahlen Field.

Backup catcher Kyle Higashioka, however, summed it up best.

“Not many things suck more than that when it happens,” Higahioka said of blowing a four-run lead and giving up 10 runs in just a third of an inning. “It’s just, you got to try to figure something out to stop the bleeding and unfortunately we didn’t until they cleared the bases.” The Yankees’ (21-20) season is in danger of bleeding out now.

It was their fourth straight loss and their 14 in their last 19 games. The Blue Jays (23-18), who overtook the Yankees for second place in the American League East this weekend, just put another game between them. The Yankees are 6.5 games behind the division-leading Rays and two behind the Blue Jays, who they still have to see nine times in the next 17 days.

It was the seventh time in the Yankees’ last 12 losses that the bullpen blew a lead. The bullpen, however, had not given up 10 runs in an inning since 1932 against the St. Louis Browns, according to StatsPerform.

Green gave up a leadoff walk and a second after a fly out. Luke Voit made a fielding error behind him, which opened the floodgates. Green recorded one out before Aaron Boone had to go to Ottavino, who was done in on three singles, two walks and a first career grand slam by the Blue Jays’ No. 9 hitter Danny

Jansen.

Neither Ottavino nor Green recorded a strikeout.

“It’s just bizarre. I mean, myself and Greenie didn’t get any swing and misses that whole inning that you know, we’re both well above average swing and miss pitchers so we kind of rely a lot on that. I’m not pitching at contact out there,” Ottavino said. “I’m trying to strike guys out. So not getting swinging misses, it’s an indication that either my stuff wasn’t good, my location wasn’t good, or that they had something on me.

“They had a great approach or knew what was coming or any of that, but I don’t have any of those answers right now,” Ottavino said. “All I know is that I didn’t get it done and I got to go back and look and look inside myself, figure out what to do next.”

The Yankees have to figure it out quickly.

Over the weekend, losing three out of four to the Orioles, it was the offense, starting pitching and defense that was suspect. The Yankees committed two errors Monday night, with Voit’s in the sixth inning being very costly.

But the bats seemed to be coming to life in this very hitter-friendly Triple-A park that the Blue Jays are calling their home during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic season. They may have gussied up the home of the Buffalo Bison, but it’s just 371 feet down the left-field power alley and 367 to the right-field fences.

The Yankee hitters did take advantage of it.

Voit drove the first pitch he saw Monday night deep into the screen behind left field to get the Yankees on the board right away. It was his team-leading 14th of the season. Aaron Hicks followed with his fourth of the season, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Miguel Andujar hit his first homer of the season in the fourth, a fly ball also to left field.