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The Yankees lost a 7-3 contest to the Marlins on Sunday (box score), completing Miami’s first ever sweep over New York. The game was significant in other ways for both squads. To wit, the win allowed the Marlins to return to the .500 mark on the season for the first time since April 15, and gave Miami the distinction of being the only Major League Baseball franchise with an all-time winning record against the Yankees. (That includes postseason play, for those wondering.)
The Marlins are just the fifth team in the wild card era to reach .500 in a season after being 16 or games underneath at some point prior in the year, according to Elias Sports. Oddly, it’s the second time in Marlins franchise history they’ve accomplished that feat, joining the 2006 squad.
Here are the three others:
On the Yankees’ side of the ledger, Sunday served as Luis Gil’s season debut (he surrendered five runs on five hits and four walks over 3 ⅓ innings pitched). It also continued a recent downturn that has loosened the Yankees’ grasp on a playoff spot — just days after a busy trade deadline season that saw New York add third baseman Ryan McMahon, utility players Amed Rosario and José Caballero, and relievers Camilo Doval, David Bednar, and Jake Bird.
Indeed, the Yankees as of this writing are now 4 ½ games back of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, sitting in third place behind the Boston Red Sox. They’re still in possession of the second wild card spot, with a game advantage over the Seattle Mariners. Nonetheless, the Yankees are 0-3 to begin August and are 25-30 dating back to the start of June.
What makes the Yankees’ recent downturn particularly frustrating is the fact they continue to possess the best run differential in the AL. Generally speaking, run differential is a better indicator of team quality than a club’s won-lost record. The Yankees, though, have been done in partially by one of the 10 worst winning percentages in one-run games.