The New York Yankees manager, Aaron Boone, had a chance to build on the team’s four-game winning streak in the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Had he gone through with the pitching change, the Yankees might have secured their first win of the second half. Instead, one hit by the Dodgers was all it took to hand the Yankees a 2-1 defeat in the Bronx. And for Boone? Well, nothing but regret remained.

“I felt like he was competitive back in the Mookie bat. I felt like he had enough to go get Max and jump out in front of him, but then he got a mistake, you know. So, I got Headrick teed up there; that’s on me,” Boone said on YES Network. “I should have probably got him from there, even though he is in a good place.”

On Friday, the Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole took the ball and delivered an impressive six innings from the mound. Throwing 90 pitches, the right-hander kept the Dodgers scoreless until the end of the sixth. But he allowed a leadoff walk to Mookie Betts in six pitches to begin the seventh.

With Betts at first and a fully rested bullpen behind, Boone went to speak with Cole. While Boone was undecided on whether to bring Brent Headrick, the Yankees’ best reliever, to pitch, Cole convinced the skipper that he could get one batter out. By that point, Cole had already struck out eight hitters. Hence, Boone agreed, and that turned out to be a mistake on his part.

Friday marked Cole’s tenth start of the season after he returned from Tommy John surgery. He threw 103 pitches, the highest for him so far.

After walking Betts, Cole got ahead in the count (0-2) with Max Muncy at the plate. However, Muncy quickly leveled it. On a 91-mph slider that the Yankees’ ace hung over the middle of the plate, Muncy launched the go-ahead home run. His two-run homer put the Dodgers firmly in the lead, which eventually helped them win the game.

“Sometimes you’ve got to take it out of their hands,” Boone reflected after the game, per ESPN. “It’s tough, especially when Gerrit’s throwing the ball as well as he did tonight.”

Before going into the All-Star break, the Yankees were in trouble after the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers swept them in back-to-back series. Even their next series against the Minnesota Twins resulted in a loss. But they recovered just before the break to sweep the Washington Nationals in a three-game set.

However, losing the first game of the second half in such a way is concerning as the Yankees aim for a deep postseason, especially with their lack of offense. Despite getting 6 hits, the Yankees scored only one run in the fourth inning, that too on an error. The lineup remained ineffective for the rest of the game.

With Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton out due to their respective injuries, the lineup went cold, even missing their chance to rally. In the eighth inning, Alex Vesia walked Trent Grisham. Ben Rice followed it up with a double as Grisham tried to score from base. But their attempt failed as a relay play from Betts, Andy Pages, and Dalton Rushing threw out Grisham. After intentionally walking Goldschmidt, Vesia then retired Cody Bellinger to record the final out of the inning.

However, the Yankees have 65 games ahead of them to turn the tables in their favor and hold on to their AL Wild Card spot.