NEW YORK – By now, Yankees Universe should be conditioned to the inconsistent, disappointing nature of this Judge-free lineup. After scoring 10 runs in Wednesday night’s win, the Yankees were blanked on Thursday afternoon. In wasting another superb, collective pitching effort in Seattle’s 1-0 win at the Stadium, the Yankees reinforced what has been a two-month reality. Across 62 games without Aaron Judge, the Yankees are about a .500 club (32-30), and yet their pitching staff – which has also seen its share of injury – has ranked wit the game’s best. “We’re just kind of grinding through it right now,’’ said Yanks manager Aaron Boone, after Logan Gilbert and three Mariners relievers held the Yanks to four hits. One step forward... On an afternoon where Max Fried felt it was “definitely a grind’’ and not in as good of “a rhythm as I wanted to be,’’ he still lowered his post-injury list ERA to 1.82 in five starts. He’d like to have that 2-2 cutter back, the one Weston Wilson drove out of the park for the game’s only run. “Hopefully, that’s a good thing for us,’’ Boone repeated, talking about the Yanks’ penchant for playing tight games during this eight-week, Epic Battle for Runs. “But we’ve got to continue to move the needled offensively’’ if the Yanks are going to get where they want to be, during this strange American League season. Even the last-place Blue Jays are within shouting distance of the last AL wild card, and the Yanks – off this 5-4 homestand – moved onto Toronto for a weekend series. It’s been a brutal season for the defending AL champs, but they just took three of four games from the revived Red Sox, three games back of the wild-card leading Yanks. And you’ll recall that Boston’s transformation from also-ran to contender began with a late June, four-game sweep of the Yanks. With some whimsy, Boone mentioned the Yanks’ 18-10 record since July 9, entering Thursday’s game, though “it’s been playoffs every day, it feels like. “I’ve got people on the street saying, ‘Hey, it’ll turn around,’ ’’ Boone said. “And I’m like, ‘We’re doing all right.’ ’’ Boone’s club still owns the AL’s second-best record. But the AL East-leading Rays have won nine straight and 18 of their last 22, opening a 6.5-game lead on the Yanks. Drought conditions persist
After showing some recent positive signs, Jazz Chisholm Jr. looked lost again Thursday, with an empty 0-for-4 and three strikeouts. “He’s missing his pitch a fair amount,’’ said Boone, though the manager feels he’s “making fairly good swing decisions’’ overall. It shouldn’t matter whether Chisholm’s slow start, or 50-50 goals, or loss of starts against lefty pitching has weighed on him. There’s a pennant race going on, and the Yanks need a more locked-in version of Chisholm, and Trent Grisham – who followed Wednesday’s three-hit, two-homer night by popping off the bag on a sure double and being called out, impeding a third-inning rally. They need a more consistent Ben Rice – a .135 hitter in his last 74 at-bats – and they need to return Heliot Ramos (2-for-25 as a Yankee) into a starter vs. lefties only. Maybe Boone should've ridden the hotter hand by pinch-hitting Austin Wells (a .360 hitter since July 30) against Eduard Bazardo, a righty with slight reverse splits, than Amed Rosario in the seventh. With runners at the corners, Rosario struck out on Seattle's ABS challenge, and the Yanks' last, best hope of the day vanished. Now, maybe Cody Bellinger (hamstring) begins a rehab assignment as early as early next week (there's no update). Nor is there any update on Giancarlo Stanton's ETA to the lineup (calf), though he's running now and closer to a return than Judge (rib), who is yet to resume baseball activity. With that, the bus to the airport was idling nearby. "On to the road,'' Boone said. This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees pitchers under more pressure now as playoff race tightens