The Yankees suffered a 7-3 defeat to the Marlins on Sunday, marking the first time in history that the Marlins completed a sweep over New York. This match held importance for both teams, as the win allowed the Marlins to level their record at .500 for the first time since April 15, making them the sole MLB franchise with an all-time winning record against the Yankees, including postseason matches.
Remarkably, the Marlins are only the fifth team in the wild card era to recover to .500 after being 16 or more games below at any point in the season. This joines the 2006 team as the only two occurrences in their franchise history.
Here are the others:
- 2014 Tampa Bay Rays
- 2008 Cleveland
- 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays
For the Yankees, this Sunday marked Luis Gil’s debut of the season where he allowed five runs across five hits and four walks in 3 ⅓ innings. This match contributes to the Yankees’ current slippage, positioning them 4 ½ games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, sitting third behind the Boston Red Sox. Despite being in possession of the second wild card position, they’ve faltered to a 0-3 start in August and are 25-30 since June began.
Interestingly, their struggles surface despite having the best run differential in the AL, suggesting that run differential is often a more reliable quality indicator than a team’s win-loss record. Nonetheless, the Yankees have been hindered by one of the worst winning percentages in one-run games.
