Daily Report – 8/28/26
Yankees
The very last thing the Yankees needed was to limp into this weekend’s four-game series against Boston. In a 5-1 loss to the Astros last night, the Yankees went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, wasting a valuable opportunity to win a series and widen their distance from the Red Sox in the standings.
The greatest rivalry in sports history has witnessed many chapters over the last two decades. Since 2004, Boston had the Yankees’ number until last postseason, when the Yankees became the first team in MLB history to overcome a deficit in a best-of-three Wild Card series.
This year, after the Yankees swept the Red Sox on the road in April and a three-game Bronx series was cut short, Boston ended June with a four-game sweep of the Yankees, propelling them to a 27-3 stretch, including a 15-game win streak.
Now, as they prepare for another four-game series against their rivals, including a day-night doubleheader tomorrow, the Red Sox sit just two games behind the Yankees for second place in the American League East, and the right to host a rematch of last year’s Wild Card series.
So, if the Red Sox sweep the Yankees again this weekend, or even take three of four games, they will capture hosting rights and every ounce of momentum entering October. That means the Yankees must do everything in their power to play keep-away this weekend.
But here’s the catch: the Yankees, who also sit four games behind Tampa Bay for the division lead, will play the Red Sox and Rays a combined eight times, all at home, before the season ends. That means the Yankees control their own destiny.
“We’ve got to flip the script here, turn the page, and get ready to go [Friday] knowing we’ve got a lot of baseball to play in these next three days with four games,” said manager Aaron Boone. “We’ll be ready to go.”
With the right mentality, the Yankees can dictate the final standings. But first, they must throw away all memories of last night’s disaster, which went a little something like this:
While the offense failed to produce against Hayden Wesneski and Houston’s bullpen, Gerrit Cole got got. He allowed one run in his first five innings when a hit batter came around to score in the third, but in the sixth, with two outs and two strikes, Daulton Varsho walked.
Then, Christian Walker launched a hanging curveball over the right-center field fence for a back-breaking two-run home run.
“You’ve got to try to limit those as a pitcher,” Cole said. “I think in Walker’s case, it was a well-executed and convicted pitch. He squared it up and put a really good swing on it. That’s frustrating, but credit to him on the swing.”
Even in the sixth inning, a 3-0 deficit felt insurmountable for New York. The Yankees only mustered two hits in the first five innings, after all. Their worst moment came in the bottom of the fifth, when Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked and stole second base before any outs were made.
First, Austin Wells struck out swinging on a mile-high fastball. With a runner at second base, a one-run deficit, and nobody out, his one job was to advance the runner, but he couldn’t even put the ball in play. Then, José Caballero flied out to center field, advancing Chisholm on what could have been a sacrifice fly.
With two outs and a full count, Trent Grisham swung at ball four, stranding Chisholm. He was one of two Yankees, including Luis García Jr., to finish 0-for-4 at the plate. García’s rough evening came after going 7-for-10 in the first two games against the Astros.
The Yankees tried to respond in the bottom of the sixth. Ben Rice ended Wesneski’s outing with a leadoff double before advancing on García’s groundout and scoring on Cody Bellinger’s sacrifice fly. Then, George Lombard Jr. smashed his first triple of the season, but Spencer Jones stranded him with a pop-up near Houston’s dugout.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the seventh, Yerry De los Santos couldn’t handle Jeremy Peña, who barreled an inside sinker to left field for a home run, regaining Houston’s three-run lead. Then, in the eighth inning, Boone summoned newly acquired Justin Topa from his bullpen.
Topa secured his first two outs without much trouble, but after Walker laced a two-out double, Lombard’s sixth error in as many games put the Astros ahead 5-1. The 21-year-old was once on track to save nearly 80 defensive runs by his 1,000th inning, but now, he is the first Yankee at any position since 1921 to commit an error in six straight contests.
Lombard’s defensive fall from grace is impossible to explain. Even the shortstop himself was dumbfounded. “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s something I’m trying to figure out. Obviously, it’s not acceptable. Can’t happen at this level. If you make your pitchers have to get extra outs, it just makes it way harder on us. Other teams are going to capitalize.”
No team is going to capitalize more on Yankees errors than the Red Sox, who will, guaranteed, play playoff-caliber baseball in the Bronx this weekend. The Yankees, still scraping for runs while trying to reassemble their bullpen, don’t seem ready for that challenge.
But excuses will be impermissible this weekend. The Yankees must rise to the occasion. At a bare minimum, their entire season depends on splitting this series.
Tonight, at 7:15 PM (6:15 PM CDT), RHP Cam Schlittler (11-6, 2.16 ERA) will start a must-win game for the Yankees against LHP Patrick Sandoval (1-2, 4.54 ERA) (AppleTV+).
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for the New York Yankees:
1B Paul Goldschmidt (R)
DH Ben Rice (L)
LF Cody Bellinger (L)
RF Heliot Ramos (R)
CF Trent Grisham (L)
SS George Lombard Jr. (R)
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L)
3B José Caballero (R)
C Austin Wells (L)
SP: RHP Cam Schlittler (11-6, 2.16 ERA)
For tomorrow’s first game, at 1:05 PM (12:05 PM CDT), the Yankees have yet to announce their starter versus LHP Jake Bennett (8-6, 3.49 ERA) (YES, Gotham Sports).
For tomorrow’s second game, at 7:15 PM (6:15 PM CDT), neither team has announced its starter (FOX, FOX One).
On Sunday, at 1:35 PM (12:35 PM CDT), RHP Will Warren (8-6, 4.39 ERA) will toe the slab for the Yankees while Boston deploys RHP Ranger Suarez (5-3, 3.35 ERA) (YES, Gotham Sports).
Schedule
Tonight 8/28:
7:15 PM (6:15 PM CDT): Friday Night Baseball – NYY vs. BOS; AppleTV+; SP: RHP Cam Schlittler (11-6, 2.16 ERA) vs. LHP Patrick Sandoval (1-2, 4.54 ERA)
7:30 PM (6:30 PM CDT): 2026 NFL Preseason, Game 3 – NYG at NYJ; WNBC (NBC 4), WCBS (CBS 2)
Saturday 8/29:
1:05 PM (12:05 PM CDT): Doubleheader Game 1 – NYY vs. BOS; YES, Gotham Sports; SP: TBA vs. LHP Jake Bennett (8-6, 3.49 ERA)
7:15 PM (6:15 PM CDT): Doubleheader Game 2, Baseball Night in America – NYY vs. BOS; FOX, FOX One; SP: TBA vs. TBA
Sunday 8/30:
1:35 PM (12:35 PM CDT): NYY vs. BOS; YES, Gotham Sports; SP: RHP Will Warren (8-6, 4.39 ERA) vs. RHP Ranger Suarez (5-3, 3.35 ERA)
