Yankees horror show opening treacherous AL East door

For three weeks, the Yankees have been terrible.Can’t succeed in any phase of the game, kind of terrible.

Worst in the majors, kind of terrible.It began with the Red Sox winning the final two games of three at Fenway Park on June 15-16 — first by tearing into the stronghold that had been excellent Yankee starting pitching and then fully exposing how helpless the Yankees are in shutting down running games.Neither team has been the same since.In the ultimate Yankee nightmare scenario, they have gone an MLB-worst 4-13 coinciding with the three teams they despise the most — the Red Sox, Astros and Mets — basically playing the best to push back into the playoff picture.The door that has opened this weekend in The Bronx is treacherous for the Yankees.

They have spent the better part of this season trying to outdo the Orioles for first in the AL East.Suddenly, with the Red Sox in town, they are feeling the heat from behind.

Boston is just four back in the loss column, and if you think Red Sox manager Alex Cora is going to do anything but keep the accelerator floored against an opponent Boston stole nine bases against the last time they played, then you have not paid attention over the years how much Cora loves to live under the Yankees’ skin.“You have to get beat down to find out what you are made of,” Aaron Judge said Thursday after the Reds completed a three-game sweep with an 8-4 triumph.“We are going to find out real soon.”There have been two seminal moments in this Yankee plummet from what was the majors’ best record of 50-22 after beating the Red Sox 8-1 on June 14.

That stolen-base spree seemed to unsettle the Yankees, as if a glass jaw was revealed and the team just has not restored its group confidence since.Plus, once it was understood when Gerrit Cole was returning, it is as if the Yankee rotation exhaled.As if doing an overwhelming job of compensating for the loss of the AL Cy Young winner had either left the other starters exhausted an...