ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As if the Yankees didn’t have enough problems already, they can add this to the list: They are one of the worst teams in the AL on the road as they began a 10-game road trip Friday night against the Rays.
They Yankees — who are 26-33 away from Yankee Stadium after their 6-2 win over the Rays — they will spend the majority of the rest of the season on the road.
Only the White Sox, Royals and Athletics have been worse on the road in the AL this season.
Asked for a reason why the Yankees have played so poorly on the road, DJ LeMahieu, who hit two homers in the win, put it bluntly before the game: “I don’t think there’s anything you can attribute it to. We haven’t been very good at home, either.”
Manager Aaron Boone had a similar analysis.
“I feel like we’re struggling a lot everywhere,” he said.
That’s true, but they are at least over .500 in The Bronx (36-33).
They face two more games against the second-place Rays before a four-game series in Detroit, where the Tigers have been terrible.
The trip will end with three-game set at the Yankees’ House of Horrors, Minute Maid Park in Houston, where the Astros have only been average this season.
Boone pointed to some of the issues that have plagued his team overall and may be amplified on the road.
“A lot of it has to do with key injuries we’ve had that affect our stability, especially in the rotation,” Boone said. “[Injuries] have affected our offense, too, and we haven’t performed as well as we know we need to.”
Their spiral down the standings picked up steam earlier this month with road series losses against the White Sox and Marlins. The crisis mounted with a sweep in Atlanta to close out a miserable road trip.
Still, Boone said the Yankees’ hardships have been fairly spread out, regardless of where they’ve played.
“I put it more on a whole than just the road,” Boone said of his team, which also did not excel on the road even last season, going just 42-39 away from the Stadium in a 99-win season.
Back in 2021, though, the Yankees went 46-35 on the road.
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said he still considered the Yankees a dangerous opponent, despite their record.
“I know they’ve got one of the best players in the league sitting in their lineup in Aaron Judge,” Cash said before the game. “I’m not overly concerned about what their record is this year.”
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