NEW YORK — The lions aren’t escaping the Bronx Zoo.The Macombs Dam Bridge isn’t crumbling.The sky isn’t falling.And the New York Yankees aren’t panicking.Not even after losing their season-worst sixth in a row, the latest setback a 9-3 smackdown at the hands of the Detroit Tigers and their ace, Tarik Skubal, on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.“We’re not exactly doing our best right now,” first baseman Ben Rice said. “Hopefully we can come out of it soon.”Nobody was freaking out in the first-base dugout nor in the home clubhouse. There was no apparent concern that the Yankees had lost 10 of their last 13 games, dating back to June 18. There were no white knuckles or clenched jaws over losing an American League East lead that was 3 1/2 games on June 17, but has devolved into a 2 1/2-game deficit behind the Tampa Bay Rays.“Everyone’s pissed,” shortstop Anthony Volpe said coolly. “So, just do what we’ve got to do. Do our jobs and get a win and start from there.”Maybe the lack of worry was because the Yankees ran into a buzzsaw in Skubal, who won the past two AL Cy Young awards. He struck out nine, walked none and after giving up a first-inning solo shot to Rice, retired the next 13 hitters he faced. Skubal also avenged the loss the Yankees hung on him last week in Detroit.Or maybe it was because starting pitcher Cam Schlittler had his first real stinker of the season, giving up six earned runs, including four in the first inning on three home runs. He blamed his pitch execution, particularly with two strikes. Schlittler’s ERA ballooned from 1.62 to 2.08 with the loss, but he still is positioned to potentially start the All-Star Game for the American League in Philadelphia on July 14.Schlitter lasted just four-plus innings, his shortest start of the year, and allowed four homers. He had never given up more than two in a game before.“It’s frustrating,” Schlittler said. “(We’re) not playing good ball right now.”Cam Schlittler allowed six earned runs and four home runs over four-plus innings, his shortest start of the season. (Brad Penner / Imagn Images)That’s especially true of the Yankees’ offense, which has reached new depths of failure. The Yankees became the first team in AL history to have four hits or fewer and three walks or fewer in five straight games, according to Baseball Reference researcher Katie Sharp. They also are the only team since 1898 to lose five straight games while striking out more than 45 times and getting 16 or fewer hits, per Sharp.The Yankees had just three at-bats with runners in scoring position Tuesday compared to the Tigers’ six. They recorded four total hits and didn’t have Cody Bellinger (rest) or Jazz Chisholm Jr. (concussion protocol) in the starting lineup.
Why the Yankees aren’t panicking despite season-worst 6-game losing streak
Their offense has been anemic, their ace got rocked and their AL East lead is gone, but the Yankees maintain they aren't worried.













