PHILADELPHIA — On most nights lately, pitching has kept the Yankees in the game long enough for a struggling lineup to muster a run or two.
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So of course, on a night when a lineup that looked like it came out of the Grapefruit League actually scratched across three runs against one of the toughest pitchers in the game, it was pitching that let the Yankees down.
Will Warren turned in a clunker, putting the Yankees in a big hole early that they began to climb out of before Ryan Yarbrough buried them again on the way to an 11-4 loss to the Phillies on Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park.
“It was pretty s–tty overall,” Warren said after giving up six runs in three-plus innings.
Unable to complete the sweep, the Yankees (59-46) flew to Chicago for a week in the Windy City against the White Sox and Cubs that leads into the trade deadline, which they hope to use to help bolster a hurting roster that is now three games back of the Rays for first place in the AL East.
Will Warren reacts after allowing a home run during the Yankees’ July 26 loss. AP Photo
The Yankees began life without Cody Bellinger on Sunday, after he joined Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list with a left hamstring strain.
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But the lineup — which scored three runs in six innings against Phillies ace lefty Cristopher Sánchez — was not as big of an issue as Warren, who continued a rough stretch.
Warren had pitched to a 3.22 ERA across his first 12 starts through the end of May.
But his eight starts since then have been much rockier, pitching to a 6.57 ERA — 27 earned runs in 37 innings with 50 hits against him.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Warren said when asked about his recent slide. “I’m going to figure that out. Going out there and doing exactly what happened tonight, it’s pretty frustrating. … I’m confident when I take the mound that I can get it done. It’s a matter of executing. I have the stuff. It’s really just finding the groove. We’re going to get back to work and find it sooner than later.”
After the Yankees turned the early 6-0 deficit into a 6-3 game by the fifth inning — a rally capped off by Anthony Volpe’s second double of the night — Yarbrough erased any chance of them finishing off the comeback by the sixth. A rally that started with Volpe throwing a ball away on what was ruled a single with an error turned into the Phillies (57-49) scoring five runs against Yarbrough to blow things open.
Anthony Volpe reacts after striking out during the Yankees’ July 26 game. AP Photo
“Ultimately we didn’t play well enough tonight to hold them down enough, obviously,” manager Aaron Boone said.
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The Yankees did not play their crispest defense behind Warren, which did not help his cause. That started from the very first batter in the bottom of the first, when Trea Turner roped a ball to the gap in right-center field that Trent Grisham could not cut off before it bounced all the way to the wall, resulting in a triple.
Kyle Schwarber came up next and hit a sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead.
In the second inning, Warren left a 94 mph fastball over the heart of the plate and Bryson Stott crushed it for a home run to put the Phillies ahead 2-0.
Things then went off the rails in the third inning, which Warren started by quickly retiring the first two batters. But he followed by walking Schwarber, giving up a double to Bryce Harper and then intentionally walking Brandon Marsh (after falling behind 2-0) to load the bases.
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That brought up Alec Bohm, who engaged in a nine-pitch battle that ended with a sinking liner to left field that a diving Max Schuemann (starting for Bellinger) had no chance on, resulting in a bases-clearing double for the 5-0 lead.
Stott capped off the rally with a single that made it 6-0, as Warren threw first-pitch strikes to just seven of the 17 batters he faced, which usually left him pitching from behind.
“Struggling controlling the zone and getting ahead,” Boone said. “It seemed like he was 1-0 to most guys. They got in some leverage counts and made him pay a little bit. Stuff was OK, but they were on the offensive, I think, because he was behind in counts a lot.”
