Yankees’ June swoon continues into July
The Yankees are celebrating Groundhog Day later than usual. Instead of the re-living February 2 over and over again, New York is instead going through the same late June to early July slump that they’ve endured for the last few seasons.
With yesterday’s defeat to the Twins, the Yankees have now lost nine of their last 10 games. That includes a seven-game losing streak, which is the franchise’s longest since 2023 when they last missed out on the playoffs. While they obviously won’t miss the postseason this season—especially since the American League is generally weak this year—the frustration that most fans have is that they’re seeing the same old story with the Yankees and will play out with the same old ending: no World Series title.
Just look at the last two seasons and how similar they’ve played around this time. In 2024, the Yankees went 9-19 in the 28 games before the All-Star break, including a 2-7 stretch between June 29 and July 9. The caveat was that they were in a much better position with a 58-40 record at the All-Star break and they ended up going to the World Series, though we know how that all ended.
Last season is where more parallels can be drawn to this current downtick in form. Between June 13 and July 5, the Yankees went 6-15 and saw their lead atop the AL East overtaken by the Blue Jays, who swept the Yankees during that skid. That series in particular ended up mattering pretty significantly as they lost out on the division title—and home-field advantage in their eventual ALDS matchup—on a head-to-head tiebreaker with Toronto.
Throughout the first half of June the Yankees did well to keep pace with the Rays and held a 3.5-game lead over them on June 17. But the second half of the month and into July has been a different story, and now they find themselves behind by four games. New York is lucky it hasn’t been worse. They can the thanks the Astros out of all teams for that after taking two of three from Tampa Bay.
The silver lining? The Yankees can rectify themselves as they fly down to Tropicana Field for for a crucial four-game set, beginning tonight. Given that they have a 1-4 record against the Rays so far this season, it is imperative that they at the very least split the series. But a lot will have to be improved in order to achieve the bare minimum.
One of the biggest bane for the Bronx Bombers has been their defense. They’ve allowed 29 unearned runs in their last 15 games, the most in that long a stretch since 1935. Credit to the stats wizard herself Katie Sharp for that pull. While the pitching hasn’t been spectacular as of late—in particular Ryan Weathers in the starting rotation and Camilo Doval in the bullpen—they haven’t been helped out behind them by any means. Combine those factors with their continual struggles at the plate (scoring a league-low 47 runs since June 15), it’s truly been a recipe for disaster for the last couple of weeks.
Hopefully Aaron Judge calling out his teammates for their “lack of focus” lights a fire under them. Then again, he uttered that rare critique on Wednesday and they haven’t really responded since then. The All-Star break can’t come any sooner. The likes of Judge, Max Fried and Giancarlo Stanton returning from injury can’t come sooner, too.
USMNT vs. Belgium Round of 16 preview
It is not an exaggeration to say that tonight’s FIFA World Cup Round of 16 matchup against Belgium is the biggest game in U.S. men’s national team history.
The U.S. has a chance to make the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. They have a shot at winning two knockout stage games for the first time ever at a World Cup. They have a chance to notch a signature win against a team above them in the world rankings (#9 vs. #16), something they have seldom achieved in their history. All of that can be accomplished on home soil in Seattle.
Despite being underdogs in terms of the world rankings, they’re actually the slight favorites to win this contest according to most sportsbooks. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given the contrast in how both teams have performed so far throughout the tournament. The U.S. has put together an inspired campaign, topping their group and beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in the Round of 32 despite playing down a man for half an hour due to Flo Balogun’s red card (more on that later).
As for Belgium, while they also topped their group, it was far from easy with draws to Egypt and Iran before the floodgates finally opened in a 5-1 win over New Zealand. Their Round of 32 contest against Senegal was much more dramatic. Belgium was close to being eliminated down 2-0 after 85 minutes. But inexplicably, they scored twice in a four-minute span to send the game to extra time. Then in the 125th (!) minute, they converted a penalty kick to rescue themselves at the death.
The U.S. match up much better against Belgium than when they last played them at the World Cup, also in the Round of 16 where they lost 2-1 in extra time in 2014. That was the beginning of Belgium’s “golden generation” with the world-class talents like midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, striker Romelu Lukaku, and goalkeeper Thibault Courtois littered throughout the squad. That generation is on its last legs in this World Cup, and they’ve shown many cracks.
With all of that being said, this will still be the biggest test the U.S. has faced in this tournament. Let’s face it, they’ve had it easy when it comes to opponents, not facing anybody above them in the world rankings. Believe it or not, I’m actually glad they had to face some sort of adversity in that game against Bosnia. Even when they were reduced to 10 men up 1-0, the U.S. did not sit back and hold on for dear life. Instead, they kept their foot on the gas and pushed for a second goal, which they got thanks to a brilliant free kick from Malik Tillman. While Belgium will be much more of a challenge, the U.S. needs to maintain that positive mindset if they want to advance.
Now, about the Balogun red card. In real time, it didn’t look there was much in the incident. However, when the referee was called over by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and viewed the slow-motion replay and the still graphics, he saw Balogun land on his defender’s ankle and decided to send him off. It was pretty clear that this was an accidental act by Balogun and should have been a yellow card at most, but intent did not matter in the referee’s eyes. The U.S. seemingly could do nothing about it as FIFA does not allow teams to appeal red cards, and Balogun was set to miss the Belgium game.
But in a complete shock, it was announced yesterday that Balogun will be allowed to play. That’s because FIFA has the power to suspend a suspension, if that makes sense. According to Article 27 of the FIFA disciplinary code, “the judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.” The suspension is subject to a probation period of one to four years. However, if the player commits a similar offense—i.e. picking up another red card—then the player will have to serve the suspension for both offenses. To put it simply: If Balogun doesn’t get a red card for the next year, he won’t have to serve that original one-match ban. But if he does, he’ll essentially serve a multi-match ban.
That decision has understandably been heavily criticized, especially if you’re Belgium knowing that they were preparing to play a U.S. side without their best attacker. However, there is precedent for this occurring. Portugal’s star man Cristiano Ronaldo was supposed to miss the first two games of the World Cup after being sent off in a November World Cup qualifier game against Ireland for elbowing a defender in the back and faced a three-match ban for violent conduct. But FIFA deferred the final two games of that suspension so that he could only miss a pre-World Cup friendly and not the actual tournament itself.
The debates will rage on about this whole affair. But the big picture for the U.S. is that it has its star striker back in the fold, and they will certainly need him to beat Belgium. No offense to his potential replacements in Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright, but when you have a player in such fine form as Balogun with his three goals at the World Cup, he will be a total gamechanger in what could be a historic night in Seattle.
Knicks bring (almost) everybody back
When Knicks owner stated that he would not go into the second apron in free agency, it was all but a certainty that the Knicks would not completely return everybody for this year’s NBA championship-winning team. Of their four notable free agents, they were able to retain three of them: Mohamed Diawara on a multi-year, $10+ million deal, Jose Alvarado on a one-year, $13 million contract, and Landry Shamet on a four-year, $24 million deal.
The odd man out? Mitchell Robinson.
On Wednesday, Robinson agreed to a three-year, $47.4 million deal with the Celtics. It will undoubtedly sting to see someone who has been with New York since 2018 and was part of some mightily trying times. It will hurt even more knowing that he’s going to a conference rival in Boston.
But that is a lot of money to give to a backup center. I can understand why general manager Leon Rose did not want to pony up that money and go into the second apron for that price tag. You can’t help but give Rose the benefit of the doubt in really any move he makes given what he’s built. While Robinson is a dominant presence on the boards, highlighted by his six offensive rebounds in the Finals clincher, there are quite a few weak points in his game that can be upgraded, in particular his free throw shooting.
So who will be his replacement? Well, it didn’t take too long to answer that question. On Saturday, Shams Charania reported that veteran big Andre Drummond will sign a one-year, $3,9 million deal to join the newly-crowned champions. While Drummond is a few years older than Robinson, they get essentially the same player for a lot cheaper. Drummond is a rebounding machine, leading the league in boards for four seasons as well as a seven-season span in which he topped the charts in offensive rebounds. The 32-year-old fills in the void Robinson left behind in that regard, though is he isn’t as strong of a rim protector as Robinson.
With all but one key piece back for the Knicks next season, they are still the favorites in my eyes to repeat as Eastern Conference champions at the very least. I still maintain even through a wild free agency period where the league has been shaken up. The Celtics got weaker after trading away Jaylen Brown to the 76ers for… Paul George? While Philly is even more of a contender, remember that the Knicks swept them in the second round. Even with the addition of Brown, New York will still be favored to win a potential playoff matchup. Kawhi Leonard returning to the Raptors doesn’t really move the needle for a team that was a first-round exit this year. The Heat getting Giannis Antetekounmpo was the most notable move, but they lack the supporting cast for him and Bam Adebayo. All this to say, the repeat is still well and truly on.
Now for the million-dollar question: LeBron James to the Knicks? Not a chance.
Other things that caught my eye
- The MLB All-Star break is coming up next week, and the All-Star rosters were announced on Saturday. For both the Yankees and Mets, no real shocks or snubs. The Yanks have their expected quartet of Aaron Judge, Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, and Cam Schlittler make the cut. The Mets’ lone representative is of course Juan Soto, who like last year is having another excellent campaign get wasted by an even worse team performance.
- Speaking of those Mets, it was another rough week on the road. They lost two of out three to a struggling Blue Jays team and are currently 1-2 in their four-game set in Atlanta that wraps up tonight. They also had another defensive blunder in the series opener against Toronto where Soto misplayed a fly ball from George Springer, bounced past his glove and to the wall, then kicked by AJ Ewing as he attempted to field it, and Springer wheeled around to record a Little League home run. Another lowlight was the 14-3 blowout loss to the Braves on Saturday as the pitching staff allowed five home runs. The only real thing they have to look forward to is who will get dealt before the trade deadline. Very few had that on their bingo card entering this year.
- In local college news, SUNY Cortland has found their new volleyball head coach. On Tuesday, Kristin Baker was officially hired after spending the past nine seasons at Hamilton College. Baker has strong ties to upstate New York volleyball. She’s actually from Section IV having played at Corning and then proceeded to compete a the Division I level at the UAlbany. Her first coaching gig was as assistant at New Paltz before going out of state to the University of Dayton. She returned to New York to be an assistant coach at Colgate for eight seasons before leading Hamilton’s program. Baker now takes over the Red Dragons from Erin Glickert, who won five straight SUNYAC titles in six seasons. I had a chance to with Baker about her new role at Cortland, which you can listen to on our PodCenter.
