As I sit here and right this I am going to start off by saying I am rattled. Absolutely rattled. Not because we just lose a one run game to the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s because of the way we lost. It’s just unacceptable and Aaron Boone needs to put his big boy manager pants on and take charge. Lets paint the picture. Bases loaded. Top of the ninth. Two outs and the score is 7-6 Rays. Gary Sanchez at the plate. His a grounder up the middle. Second baseman Daniel Robertson flips it to shortstop Willy Adames. Problem though, Adames isn’t on second. Hicks is safe and the Yankees just tied the game!!

WRONG! You know why? Apparently in Santo Domingo little league they don’t teach you how to hustle out of the box when the game is on the line. Gary Sanchez literally walked the first 20-30 feet to first before he attempted to jog after he hit the grounder. It’s fundamentals. Run hard when the game is on the line because you never know what’s going to happen. This is one of those cases. It’s absolutely inexcusable and I am beyond livid.

For someone who has defended Gary Sanchez during his hitting slump and his iffy defensive play behind home plate, tonight is just one of those nights where there is no way to defend the way he played. The very first inning of the game Sanchez had a passed ball and took his sweet ass time trying to locate it and get to it. This resulted in a run. So two times tonight he showed zero hustle. You can even make it three times if you want to argue that his only base hit of the night to left field could have been a double. His lack of effort on the passed ball drew some heat from Luis Severino. Cameras caught the two have somewhat of a heated exchange after the inning wass over.

I mean if you’re Gary Sanchez what are you saying to your teammates in the clubhouse? This loss is basically on your shoulders. If you want to say you’re not running hard because of the groin injury you just came back from, then guess what Gary you shouldn’t even be on the field. I’m literally beyond disgusted at how that game ended. The two lackluster plays by Sanchez overshadows the shaky start Severino had. It even takes alittle bit of heat off Boone for basically taking the bat out of the hands of Stanton in the 9th inning. I mean Stanton having 9 hits in his last 9 at bats at Tropicana Field is pretty remarkable. You would think you would want him to face some pitches with the game on the line but what do I know. I don’t manage teams I just sit around on my couch and watch.

It’s a really bad loss no matter how you look at it. The Yankees fall 6 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East now and continue to lose to teams that they should be manhandling. Have to give credit when it’s due. It’s one thing the Red Sox do that we can’t, beat up on the subpar teams when the time comes. Probably why they are up 6 games. All I know is Aaron Boone needs to bench Gary Sanchez tomorrow. He has to do something to let him know he can’t pull this shit anymore. I mean if Girardi was manager still Gary could be on his way to Scranton while I type this. With Tanaka going tomorrow the Yankees need a strong rebound win. We can’t be playing .500 baseball against teams that are mathematically out of the playoffs. It’s unacceptable.