NEW YORK — The double play ball to Gleyber Torres in the top of the seventh was as routine as it gets. All the Yankees second baseman needed to do was field and flip to start what would’ve been an inning-ending double play, preserving a three-run lead.
Instead, Torres booted the Christopher Morel grounder, extending the inning and allowing the Cubs to mount a three-run rally to tie the game.
Torres’ ugly error was the catalyst for Sunday’s implosion. Two runs charged to reliever Ron Marinaccio — who didn’t record an out in the top of the eighth — were the difference in a 7-4 loss to Chicago.
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It’s only fitting that the Yankees finished the first half with another horrific loss. They’ve racked up quite a few of them this season, sinking to new lows on what feels like a weekly basis.
Routine letdowns are one of the many reasons why the Yankees are entering the All-Star break out of a playoff spot. They’re in fourth place at the break, a sub-.500 team without captain Aaron Judge, who has been on the injured list for over a month and still has no clear timetable.
In Sunday’s case, there was blame to share. It was a microcosm of the season thus far.
The error from Torres is his ninth of the year, more than any other second baseman in baseball. Anecdotally, the majority of those have been costly blunders.
It’s hard to point fingers at the bullpen when they’ve been spectacular all season — the best in baseball for much of the first half — but they’re stumbling into the All-Star break. Yankees relievers have allowed 19 runs in their last five games, including five on Sunday.
And then there’s the offense, the most conspicuous issue for those in pinstripes in 2023. Back-to-back home runs from Anthony Volpe and Kyle Higashioka had the Yankees flying high, ahead 4-1 in the sixth, but they didn’t score when it mattered most.
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