Yankees absorb another critical hit with a brutal, late loss at Miami

MIAMI — Gerrit Cole stared ahead with a blank expression, as if reading off a distant teleprompter in the Yankees’ otherwise silent clubhouse.

“Just have to flush it, get back on the process,’’ Cole said after the Yanks’ latest, most brutal loss of the year. “As a player, you’ve just got to have a short memory in this situation.’’

Versions of that same take were uttered softly after the Miami Marlins’ five-run ninth inning sank the Yankees, 8-7, at Loan Depot Park, where you could hear socks being folded in the visiting locker room.

“The mountain gets bigger with every loss,’’ Clay Holmes said, after failing to protect a four-run lead.

“At the same time, maybe there’s some sense of urgency that we know we need to put together some good baseball and start stringing together some wins.’’

The odds are all against the Yankees

Just how big is that mountain now?

Still clinging to the hope of winning a wild card bid and getting on an October run, the Yankees (60-58) are an awful 1-8-3 in their last 12 series.

That one series win came against the 38-81 Kansas City Royals.

This is now a 44-game season, and the Yankees would have to post a 28-16 record to get to 88 wins, which might or might not be enough to punch a playoff ticket.

Starting with Monday’s series at Atlanta — against the Braves, the NL’s best team — the Yankees have 14 series remaining, nine of them against teams playing above .500.

Cole is on track for eight more starts, and it feels like the Yankees need to win every one of them to have a shot.

But the Yanks have lost seven of his last 12 starts, during a period when Cole has pitched to a 2.70 ERA.

"Anytime you lose, it’s tough, especially in the situation we’re in,'' captain Aaron Judge said flatly. "Every game matters. Every game’s so important, especially going down the stretch.''

Yankees' ninth-inning meltdown

Miami made Cole work over his six innings, tossing 99 pitches and yielding two runs.

Yet the Yanks were up 7-1 after 5½ innings, with RBI hits by Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Giancarlo Stanton and a two-run homer by Anthony Volpe chasing starter Eury Perez after four innings.

Entering the ninth with a 7-3 lead, Holmes loaded the bases with one out when a critical play occurred.

Josh Bell’s hard comebacker had a chance to become a game ender, had Holmes fielded it cleanly and thrown home to start a 1-2-3 double play.

Instead, the ball kicked off the heel of his glove. And when Holmes recovered the ball, he threw wildly to first base, allowing two runs to score.

“It was hit hard enough where I probably could have let it go,’’ Holmes said, allowing his infield to turn a DP.

But in the moment, “I tried to make a play,’’ he said. “Definitely a big momentum change. [By any measure] I need to get an out there.’’

The .367-hitting Luis Arraez followed with a game-tying, two-run triple, and Tommy Kahnle eventually yielded Jake Burger’s game-winning single to left.

Shocking but familiar finish for Yankees

In the end, it felt similar to the shocking ending July 16 at Colorado, where the Yanks scored twice in the ninth inning and twice in the 11th, only to lose 8-7, wasting another solid Cole start.

And now, it's on to play the mighty Braves in a three-game set to conclude this already forgettable three-city road trip.

"You've got to move forward,'' Judge said. "We’re facing a great team tomorrow. We’ve got to show up.''

"Whether it’s harder or easier, I’m not sure,'' Cole said of absorbing another crushing late loss. "It's just kind of what you have to do. You have to kind of find a way to get your mind to Atlanta.''

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees absorb another critical hit with a brutal, late loss at Miami