Hours after their general manager said they “suck right now,” the Yankees stopped stinking, at least for a night.
Instead they offered the latest tease of their offensive potential and a glimpse of the inconsistency that has made them so “frustrating,” in the words of Brian Cashman, through 79 games this season.
Snapping a four-game losing streak, the Yankees started their next trip up the roller coaster by scoring a season high in runs in an 11-5 win over the Angels on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.
“We’ve had different runs, different sparks, different good things happen where we’ve built some momentum. We just gotta keep doing it,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Everyone knows what they’re capable of and we gotta keep digging and keep fighting. This feels good to have a night like this where a lot of guys contribute.
“But we know we gotta keep our head down and keep chugging.”
It remains to be seen how long the Yankees (41-38) can ride out this climb before another drop. Most recently they had won seven of nine to help close the gap in the AL East, only to lose four straight heading into Tuesday, which had Cashman speaking in blunt terms before the blowout win.
“I know they urgently want to get on track, but I also know that we suck right now, as bad as you can be,” Cashman said. “Trying to knock ourselves out of that is the effort, but until we get online and start playing high again, it’s gonna look bad. It plays bad and it stinks to high heavens. Right now, we gotta own that.
“I gotta call it like I see it: It’s pretty bad right now.”
The Yankees changed that for a night by beating up on Angels starter Andrew Heaney, going off for a four-run second inning and a five-run fourth. Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar both homered and doubled, Aaron Judge added a two-run home run and the Yankees drew nine walks. Every starter scored at least once and seven had at least one RBI, playing more like the offense expected coming into the season.
“That’s those guys right there,” Boone said. “That’s the heaviness I’m talking about, making it real difficult on the opposing pitcher up and down the lineup. Good to see them come out and really break out like that.”
Jameson Taillon gave up three home runs of his own — including two to Wednesday’s starting pitcher, Shohei Ohtani, who now leads the majors with 28 homers — but he worked into the sixth inning for his third win of the season.
The breakout came after Cashman had offered Boone and his coaching staff a vote of confidence.
“This is not an Aaron Boone problem and this is not a coaching staff problem,” Cashman said. “They’re doing what they need to do but we’re not getting the results we need. They’ve got my support. We’re in this together.”
While Cashman said he continued to look for outside help on the slow-developing trade market, he emphasized that “most of the heavy lifting has to come from within.”
“We’re not giving up on our season,” Cashman said. “There’s enough time left, but there’s massive frustration by how it’s played out right now because we’ve pissed too many games away. We haven’t played to our expectations. It makes it, at times, unwatchable. That’s frustrating to be a part of because we’re used to so much different than that.”
For at least one night, the Yankees answered the bell. Another challenge awaits Wednesday with Ohtani on the mound.
“This team doesn’t lose confidence,” Judge said. “No matter the record, no matter the situation … we got some mentally tough guys in this room. That’s what it’s going to take for us to rebound and get back to where we want to be.”