Five runs in their first three games against the Boston Red Sox. That’s where the Yankees found themselves before they were eventually swept by their archrivals. While Sunday’s finale saw them put up a stronger fight, it still wasn’t enough, and one costly blunder by Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t go unnoticed by a Cubs World Series champion.

“You just have to be smarter there,” Anthony Rizzo said, as posted by Foul Territory on X. “Jazz is such a big part of this offense, and they need to get him going. To get ejected there … it just shows a little bit of immaturity there. The team’s scuffling, they need him in the lineup, and now he puts Volpe in a tough position coming in completely cold.”

As we all know, the Yankees eventually fell 5-4 to the Red Sox in 10 innings at Fenway Park, making for a disappointing end to June. So, what led to the series sweep? Several factors played a role, to say the least. For one, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was ejected in his first career start as the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, ending his day well before the game ended.

First-base umpire Todd Tichenor ejected him after he argued a called third strike that ended the top of the sixth inning. The strikeout also preserved Sonny Gray’s no-hit bid at the time. The second baseman was upset that home-plate umpire Adam Hamari did not ask for help in ruling on a checked swing; instead, he determined that Chisholm had offered at Gray’s inning-ending curveball.

Soon enough, Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke to Hamari, but Chisholm had already removed his batting helmet by then. As a result, Tichenor ejected Chisholm Jr., and the manager shared his thoughts on the same in the postgame media interaction.

“They gave him a little bit of rope out there arguing his case,” Boone said. “The helmet going a certain direction probably cost him… Certainly don’t want him out of the game, obviously. Once the helmet bounces a certain way and they’ve given you a little bit of leeway, you gotta try and reign it in there.”

Long before he was ejected, Chisholm was already struggling, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. That performance only added to what has been a difficult month for the two-time All-Star. During the Yankees’ June swoon, he has slashed .187/.295/.453 with six home runs and 13 RBIs. Overall, this season, he is batting .225 with 12 home runs and 33 RBIs.

To top it all off, he was nowhere to be found after the game, leaving before reporters even entered the clubhouse.

Meanwhile, from their archrivals’ side, Sonny Gray threw seven hitless innings before finally giving up his first of the day in the eighth. He also had nine strikeouts and recorded his 2,000th career strikeout in the last game of the series.

Then came Anthony Volpe at shortstop to replace Jr., as José Caballero moved to second base. As it turns out, Volpe ended up playing an important part in New York’s late comeback effort. The rally began when Caballero opened the ninth inning with a single off Aroldis Chapman before swiping second base. Volpe then worked a walk.

Ben Rice followed with a fly ball to right that Wilyer Abreu caught, but his errant throw allowed Caballero to cross the plate while Volpe advanced to third. Moments later, Volpe, who underwent left shoulder surgery in October to repair a partially torn labrum, scored the tying run on Paul Goldschmidt’s pinch-hit fielder’s choice, capping a dramatic ninth-inning sequence. However, the final result was still a loss.

June has been quite a month for the Yankees

As evidenced by the past few seasons, the Yankees seem to have a pattern where they deliver a firepower start in April and carry it into late May or early June. What follows then is a sharp brake on the team’s momentum, something fans have already seen unfold over the past couple of days.

Take Thursday’s series opener against the Red Sox, for example. The Yankees jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but failed to hold on. The reason, you may ask? Their shaky defense behind Cam Schlittler. As a result, it wasn’t surprising to see the Red Sox take the lead in the fifth inning before eventually securing a 6-3 victory.

Then came the Friday game where lefty Payton Tolle completely shut them down. They were able to put their only run in the RBI groundout in the eighth as the Sox won 6-1. The Saturday game carried pretty much the same storyline.

Soon enough, the criticism surrounding the Yankees’ offense grew even louder. The team has been missing contributions from role players like Ryan McMahon, while even Austin Wells’ return has failed to provide the expected spark after he recorded just two hits in his last 26 at-bats.

Even in their first series of the month against the Cleveland Guardians, the Yankees dropped two of three games, ultimately losing the series. Then, in the middle of the month, they lost a series to the Cincinnati Reds, scoring just eight runs over three games compared to the Reds’ 14.

Next up, they will face the Detroit Tigers, and with the new month approaching in just a day, the Yankees faithful would be hoping for nothing but better results.