Yankees Torched for Victim Mentality After Astros Collapse Ignites Umpire Blame Game

Entering the final stretch, the New York Yankees and Houston Astros began a series that could easily resurface as a first-round playoff battle. After a commanding 7-1 win in the opener, the Yankees were handed an 8-7 defeat in game two. Even though the Yankees bounced back with an 8-4 win in the third game, this series was marred by disputed calls. Brian Walsh—the umpire behind the plate was drawn under scrutiny for significantly favoring the Astros in the second game. The Yankees had every reason to be upset. Yet, to some, their postgame response came off as leaning too heavily into a victim narrative.

Both Devin Williams and Aaron Boone were ejected on Wednesday after the most impactful call. It was Williams’ 2-0 pitch to Trammell that Walsh incorrectly called a ball.

“When you’re making good pitches, which I was, not getting those calls really changes the course of the at-bat,” Williams said after the game. Backing him up, Austin Wells told the Athletic that Williams had a “right to be frustrated.”

However, according to Joe Randazzo from SI, it’s the Yankees, who have had many opportunities before to lock it up. He believes the Yankees have no grounds to play the victim.

“The Yankees blew so many games this summer. It’s hard for me to take them feeling victimized by an umpire seriously. Their inability to take care of business and collapse the way they did has them at the mercy of good and bad luck, and being in that position is their own fault.” Clearly, this loss looked less like a case for fairness and more like another excuse from the team that has let too many winnable games slip away in the recent stretch. Starter Will Warren, who allowed two runs in five innings, said the umpires “gifted” the game to the Astros.

For the record, Wash called only 90% of balls and strikes accurately. It happens to be 0.5% below the average rate for MLB umpires this season. Similarly, Walsh’s called strike accuracy was just 85%, with 8 of 52 strikes being incorrect. On the other hand, his called ball accuracy was 93% precisely, with 8 of 115 balls being inaccurate.

Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone slams MLB over travel grind

After wrapping up their series finale against the Astros, the Yankees have no time for a breather. They have to jump right away into another tough series with the Blue Jays. But right now, Aaron Boone is not happy about how the schedule has played out.

While speaking with media about the MLB travel schedule, he described the setup as “insane” and “absurd.” The Blue Jays were given a rest day ahead of the series, while New York has to play and travel.

In an article by The New York Daily News, Gary Phillips captured Boone’s take on the situation. Phillips noted how the manager framed the moment with both honesty and urgency. “It’s the grind of the season, baby. We’ll make the best of it. I have some conversations sometimes [with MLB], but you also understand it’s the nature of the beast and 162 games in 180 days, you’re going to have some tough schedules. But it doesn’t really matter; nobody cares. We’re at that point in the season; we’re in the stretch drive; we need to keep winning games.”

His frustration isn’t surprising. The Yankees entered Thursday’s series finale with the Astros with a 77-62 record, 3.5 games behind Toronto in the AL East, while holding the top AL Wild Card spot. With that, Boone believes fatigue from the travel grind could easily show up at the worst possible time. Apart from battling the blue jays, the Yankees are also fighting the tough MLB schedule.