Recounting the weirdest Yankees’ moments from August

In a lot of ways, August was the nadir month for the Yankees this season. It was the worst in terms of winning percentage. There were several dumb losses, and a variety of players had some frustrating slumps.

Even so, they still went 16-13. That winning percentage over the course of the season would be 89 wins. If an 89-win pace is the worst this team has done this season, we should be pretty pleased on the whole.

That being said, this post is not about the good or bad of the team. This is about the weirdest games and moments from August of the 2018 Yankees’ season.

August 1st

Just all of this happening against the Orioles.

August 2nd-5th

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August 7th

Going into the sixth inning, the Yankees were getting no-hit by Reynaldo Lopez, who has not exactly had a great season. After the Bombers took their first lead of the game in the 10th inning, Zach Britton allowed the White Sox to match the two runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game again. It took a further three innings to take the lead, thanks in part to a Luke Voit single, who was someone who hadn’t showed any positive signs in his time with the Yankees up to that point. Sonny Gray also threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

August 15th

Mallex Smith has been a good player and a good hitter this season. He also only has seven career home runs in over 800 at bats. One of them came in this game.

August 17th

Computer...enhance.

Robertson got the save, but he received some help from rarely used Yankee reliever, the rain.

August 21st

As far as pure dumbness goes, the second game of this series was worse, as the Yankees somehow lost 9-3 to the Marlins. This one, however, was more ridiculous. Beyond the fact that the Yankees scored one run in seven innings against Pablo Lopez, the Bombers were down to 7% win expectancy twice in the late innings of this game. Chad Green and A.J. Cole each managed to escape bases-loaded jams, and kept the Yankees around long enough to eventually win in extra innings.

August 24th

Wait a week or so later, and his presence starts to make sense, but prior to this entry, most Yankee fans were still befuddled and annoyed by Luke Voit. Two home runs in this game, and another couple good games later, and most are happy he’s around.

August 26th

This shouldn’t have to be a notable occurrence, but it is. This win clinched the Yankees their first sweep over the Orioles this season. It took until August to not lose at least one game to the worst team in baseball, and possibly one of the worst ever. After all that, it also meant that the Yankees will win the season series over the Orioles. Hooray?

August 30th

Going into this game, Dellin Betances had allowed just five home runs all season. One of them came back on August 14th, but before that, the last one he gave up was in May. Not even near the end of May either, it was May 10th. That’s one home run in over three months. Out of absolutely nowhere, the Tigers, who remain the worst home run-hitting team in the league, hit two off him to turn the game into a Yankees’ loss.