It can always get worse.
One strike away from securing a much-needed win, the Yankees instead sank further into a losing streak in crushing fashion.
After Clay Holmes blew a two-run lead with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Tommy Kahnle gave up a two-run homer in the top of the 10th that dealt the Yankees their fourth straight loss, 5-3 against the Red Sox on Friday night in The Bronx.
On a muggy night at the Stadium that was interrupted by rain, the Yankees were on the verge of winning ugly.
They had committed two errors in the field, one costly blunder on the base paths, and only had five hits, all of them singles, entering the ninth inning.
Holmes got two outs before ex-Met Dominic Smith prolonged the game with a pinch-hit single.
That brought up Masataka Yoshida, who battled for an eight-pitch at-bat that ended in a game-tying, two-run homer to right that silenced the sellout crowd of 47,158.
Ceddanne Rafaela then crushed a two-run homer off Kahnle to lead off the top of the 10th inning.
The Yankees (54-36) had the heart of their order come up in the bottom of the 10th against Kenley Jansen.
Juan Soto led off with a single to put runners on the corners before Jansen got Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo to pop out on two pitches.
Oswaldo Cabrera, who was in the game as an injury replacement for Gleyber Torres (right groin tightness), then grounded out to end it.
Nestor Cortes was sharp across six innings of one-run ball while his counterpart, Tanner Houck, lost his command coming out of a 38-minute rain delay.
The Yankees took advantage, pushing across three runs with the bases loaded on an error, walk and groundout in the fourth inning, which looked like it was going to be just enough offense.
Luke Weaver then tossed two scoreless frames, including escaping damage in an eighth inning that included a pair of errors (one of his own), to protect the 3-1 lead.
And yet, the night still ended in misery for the Yankees.
It was only three weeks ago that the Yankees played the Red Sox (48-39) in Boston, won the series opener on a Friday night and then fell into a 4-13 skid that they carried into this Friday night.
The latest edition of the rivalry offered the Yankees a chance to snap out of their funk, but they got off to a brutal start.
After Cortes cruised through the third inning, the skies opened up.
By the time he took the mound in the top of the fourth, it had been nearly 45 minutes since he last threw a pitch.
Coming out of the rain delay in the bottom of the third inning, the Yankees cost themselves a run.
They had runners on the corners with one out when Ben Rice hit a sharp ground ball to first base, with Romy Gonzalez fielding it and throwing to second for the double play.
But DJ LeMahieu did not get into a rundown between first and second, and Anthony Volpe was not running home with much urgency, allowing Rafaela to tag LeMahieu just before Volpe touched home, ending the inning in brutal fashion.
Houck’s command went missing after the delay, which the Yankees were able to capitalize on in the fourth inning.
Houck started the frame by walking Soto and Judge before getting the first out.
Torres then legged out an infield single to load the bases — which came at a cost as he exited the game with right groin tightness.
Austin Wells, who had two of the Yankees’ five hits, came up next and generated some groans when he roped a ground ball to second base that looked like a tailor-made double play.
But Enmanuel Valdez’s throw to second base was off target, allowing all runners to be safe and the Yankees to take a 1-0 lead.
Volpe then walked to force in another run before Trent Grisham was robbed of a single by Valdez on a groundout that made it 3-0.
Gonzalez tagged Cortes for a solo home run in the fifth inning, but that was the only damage he allowed on a night when he struck out eight and walked just one.
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