How did we lose last night? Let us count the ways...

With 37 games remaining in this snapshot of a season, the Yankees - still technically in first, and still owning, mathematically, the second best record in baseball - seem to have found their true, psychic level: 

They are the second-best team in the AL East, a solid light year behind Tampa.

Last night, they achieved a perfect choke tri-fecta: They didn't hit the clutch, didn't didn't hustle in the clutch and didn't think in the clutch. They managed to make defeat into an art form. How, you ask? Well... 

Hitting: To illustrate this, we can choose from almost every at-bat with runners on base. But I select Miguel Andujar's ninth inning strikeout - three pitches, so quickly and efficiently performed that it evoked memories of Jose Canseco's appearance in the 2000 World Series. One-two-three, and he was marching to the dugout. 

We all want Miggy to recapture the glory of 2018. And I suspect he will... someday, probably in another uniform. Right now, no Yankee looks more lost, both in the field and at bat. In left field, he's a certifiable Curt Blefary. At the plate, he's over-matched. I wonder, was he crushing balls in those fake games at Scranton? Because right now, he's hopeless.  

We could add to the file Brett Gardner's ninth inning fly to center - on a 2-0 count, from a struggling Chaz Roe - while the defensive alignment openly dared him to bunt. Gardy's supposed to be our best bunter. He didn't try. Gardy turns 37 on Monday. He's hitting .176. Maybe he'll get hot. Or maybe, this isn't a slump. 

Either way, want to unhinge the Yankee bats? It's easy. Just put runners on base.

Hustling: Zack Britton's muff of a soft toss to first base opened the flood gates, and Tampa doesn't forgive other teams' mistakes. But when that ball bounced out of Britton's glove, my immediate reaction was that the catcher would grab it, backing up the play, holding the runner on first.

Today, I wonder: Why would I think such a thing? The replays showed our catcher, the beloved Yankee, Gary Sanchez, standing at home plate, watching the play unfold in his usual, seemingly constipated state. 

Long long ago, in a Yankiverse far far away, I recall catchers running down the baseline, backing up potential errant throws to first. Clearly, that's not the case anymore. Still, on balls hit down the first base line, is it too much to expect your catcher to at least trail the play, in case the throw goes wide? 

Sanchez was nowhere, the Ray took second, and he then took third on one of those wild pitches that seem to happen to Gary five times a night. 

I have a feeling that next year, the Yankees' Gary Sanchez experiment will have ended. And not necessarily on a good note. 

Thinking: Today, we learned that Britton strained a hammy, and he'll be out for several weeks, which means - well - maybe the rest of the season. Typical. Until last night, he was our best hope out of the bullpen.

Let the record show that last night, manager Aaron Boone - for the first time in eons - asked Britton to come in, record an out, go sit on the bench, then return for a second inning. He broke all the routines that Britton - a one-inning workhorse - has developed, asking him to deliver the equivalent of a four-out save. 

In his second inning, Britton looked completely out of sorts. He constantly fell behind the batters. They hit him hard. Nothing seemed right. And now he is gone.

Heck of a job, Boonie.