Overmatched Yankees see their long shot October hopes fade in Atlanta

ATLANTA – As the relentless Atlanta Braves lineup collected base hit after base hit during Monday night’s third inning, the Yankees had the look of a team utterly helpless to stop it.

And that’s not a good look for this $290 million team, its manager, or its GM.

On the heels of one of their most devastating losses of the year, the last place Yankees were no match for the NL’s best, suffering an 11-3 drubbing at Truist Park.

At this rate, the Yanks (60-59) have a good chance of boarding a midnight plane from Georgia on Thursday morning with a sub-.500 record, six or seven games out of a wild card spot.

A win by the NL East-leading Braves (76-42) Tuesday or Wednesday would make the Yankees a hard-to-digest 1-9-3 in their last 13 series, not the look of a contender by any stretch.

Overall Monday, "I think we matched the energy. I just don't think we matched the score,'' said Harrison Bader, offering that the Yanks' desire and preparation aren't in question.

Manager Aaron Boone presented a similar opinion before Monday's game, adding that his team was determined to keep battling, with the hopes of catching fire and making it interesting down the stretch.

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And that is undeniably the Yanks’ reality, but a tough mid-August take in context with the pennant-contending promise of spring.

On Monday night, the Yankees couldn’t keep it interesting for three innings.

"The care factor in that room is where it needs to be,'' Boone said, despite these tough times. "I know we're ready to compete every day and that's the only thing you can control.''

'Impressive' Braves lineup sinks Yankees

After Clarke Schmidt could only get seven outs Monday, he mentioned the "impressive at-bats put together'' by the game's best offense.

With the struggling Luis Severino scheduled to start Tuesday and the likelihood of using an opener – probably Michael King – on Wednesday ahead of rookie Randy Vasquez, it was important to get the now-usual five solid innings from Schmidt.

Instead, he was charged with eight runs on nine hits and two walks, not the homecoming Schmidt – from nearby Acworth, Georgia – envisioned on a sweltering hot night.

That meant going to Ian Hamilton early (2.2 scoreless innings) before summoning Albert Abreu, essentially hoping to fight another day despite the dwindling number of games (43) remaining.

If there was any kind of Yankee victory Monday, it was not having to summon third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa for another save-the-bullpen inning.

There would be no comeback against lefty Max Fried (6 IP, 2 ER) and a Braves squad that arrived home in the wee small hours of the morning, following a Sunday night loss to the Mets at Citi Field.

The Yankees?

They were coming off a Sunday afternoon debacle at Miami, where the Marlins scored five times in the ninth and danced off with an 8-7 victory.

Fleeting optimism and more poor baserunning

By late Monday afternoon, some scant optimism had returned.

DJ LeMahieu (1-for-3) was back in the lineup, having missed the last four games due to a tight right calf, and there was hope surrounding Schmidt – author of a 3.12 ERA since May 19, seventh among AL starters in that span.

Yet, by the third inning, the Yanks trailed 8-2, with some more odd baserunning sprinkled in.

IKF over-slid second base on an RBI hit to end the second inning, on what should have been a double. Worse, Bader was picked off first base in the sixth inning, with the Yanks down by six runs.

"You just can't get picked off there,'' said Bader of "being a little too aggressive out there'' at an inopportune time, especially against Fried's "balk move.''

Yes, balk.

"Yeah, he's got a really good balk move,'' said Bader, owing to the baseball saying that the best pickoff moves are close to a balk.

"That can't happen,'' said Boone, before praising Bader's work ethic. "But you can't get caught in that situation, obviously.''

Yankees 'hope to catch fire' in a fading season

"Show up every day,'' IKF said of the club's forward-looking mentality, during a stretch where they've lost nine of 14 games since a quiet trade deadline period in the Bronx. "It's been a tough year, so hopefully we can turn things around.''

Boone had earlier described his clubhouse as professional and prepared, and he empathized with players having “a hard time answering’’ Sunday’s postgame queries about how to process another devastating loss.

Yes, Boone watched the YES Network postgame feed.

“Obviously, it’s not gone the way we’ve wanted it to, and it’s hard when it’s not going great,’’ Boone said. “But you keep going and you keep working…and hope we can catch fire at some point to make it interesting.’’

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Overmatched Yankees see long shot October hopes fade in Atlanta