NEW YORK — After Rafael Devers put the Red Sox ahead in the top of the seventh with his first of two late-inning home runs on Sunday night, Juan Soto made sure the Yankees still had life.
Leading off the bottom of that inning, Soto pounced on a 3-0 pitch from Boston starter Kutter Crawford, who was spinning a gem up to that point.
When he slid in safely at second with a leadoff double, the Yankees were in business.
Aaron Judge, Alex Verdugo and Anthony Volpe were due up with the tying run on second base and nobody out.
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Soto made it up to third, but he was stranded in scoring position.
He watched as Judge — who is now 2-for-20 in his last five games — chased a pitch in the dirt for a strikeout. Verdugo grounded out to the right side. Volpe made solid contact, but his line drive to left field hung up enough for Tyler O’Neill to make the routine grab.
“You feel good about that, anytime that part of the order is coming up when Juan gets on,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “but didn’t get it to happen tonight.”
Sound familiar?
On Friday night, after closer Clay Holmes blew a lead by serving up a two-out, two-strike homer and Tommy Kahnle gave up a go-ahead blast of his own in the top of the 10th, the Yankees had a chance to bail out their bullpen.
Soto started the bottom of the 10th with a single, moving the automatic runner for the extra frame up to third.
The Yankees’ three-through-five hitters didn’t get the job done there either.
Judge popped out on the first pitch he saw. So did Verdugo. Oswaldo Cabrera, who had entered the game earlier for injured second baseman Gleyber Torres, rolled over to first for a game-ending groundout.
While the Yankees have statistically been one of the best teams in baseball when they have runners in scoring position this season, one of the catalysts for their putrid performance over these last several weeks is their inability to come up with the big hit that they need most.
The depth to this lineup that was present earlier in the season is no longer there.
“Right now, we just gotta get that knock when we need it,” Soto said after Sunday’s 3-0 loss. “That’s all. We’ve just gotta capitalize.”
That was in response to a question about what the Yankees’ offense is missing right now. Soto could’ve easily deflected. He could’ve credited the loss to Crawford and Boston’s bullpen. Instead, he was candid and spot on with his assessment.
It wasn’t the only telling comment from Soto either.
When Crawford was mentioned, rather than commending the right-hander, Soto said that the starter made mistakes and that the Yankees’ lineup didn’t take advantage.
Soto was probably still kicking himself over his first at-bat of the night. He popped out in foul territory on a 1-0 pitch that split the middle of the plate. But he was referring to his team as a unit.
His prescription to turning this stretch around?
“I think we just gotta keep playing good baseball, man,” Soto said. “Our starter [Luis Gil] threw the ball great today. We just gotta score a couple runs for him. I think we have everything that we need, we just gotta keep our chin up and come everyday to grind.”
Again, a nod to the offense needing to step up.
Since the beginning of this skid where the Yankees have now lost 16 of 22 games — beginning on June 13 when Holmes blew another save in Kansas City — this team is hitting .223 with a .700 OPS (below the league average of .707 this season) and a 102 wRC+. Those numbers and how top heavy the Yankees lineup has been point the focus to those in the bottom half of the order that aren’t producing and the organization’s front office.
The Yankees need the likes of Torres, Verdugo, Anthony Volpe, DJ LeMahieu and more to start meeting expectations offensively. Everyone that played Sunday other than Judge and Soto (and Ben Rice, who has only played in 18 games thus far) has an OPS below .700 this season.
They miss Giancarlo Stanton’s presence in the heart of the order. Losing Jon Berti to the injured list in May was a significant blow as well.
Adding at least one impactful bat before the trade deadline this month needs to be considered too. There are too many holes on offense right now for this team to be a true championship contender. Even the greatness from Judge and Soto isn’t enough to carry the Yankees down the stretch.
Max Goodman may be reached at mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com.