The lead story: The Yankees are swooning again. Aaron Judge blasted his 50th home run of the season on Monday night in Anaheim, but it still wasn’t enough. Shohei Ohtani’s two-run shot was the difference in a 4-3 Angels win. The Yankees have now lost three straight and have failed to score more than three runs in each defeat.
The sidebars: The Mets will open a critical three-game series against the NL-leading Dodgers on Tuesday night. And the Knicks signed RJ Barrett to an extension late Monday night, complicating their Donovan Mitchell trade talks with the Jazz.
The standings: The Yankees (78-51) have a seven-game lead on the Rays for first place in the AL East. The loss column edge is six games. They also have a 8.5-game lead on the Guardians for the No. 2 seed in the AL (eight in the loss column). They are four games back of the Astros for home field advantage in the AL (four in the loss column).
The Mets (82-47) have a three-game lead on the Braves atop the NL East (standings and loss column). Their lead on the Cardinals for the No. 2 seed in the NL is seven games (standings and loss column). And they trail the Dodgers for the NL’s top seed by eight games (seven in the loss column).
The schedule: The Mets host the Dodgers at 7:10 p.m. on SNY. And the Yankees are in Anaheim against the Angels (9:38 p.m., YES).
More on ESNY:
• Mike Francesa has well-timed thoughts on ‘guy talk’ vs. ‘sports talk’
• Alex Rodriguez’s NBA ownership journey may have hit choppy waters
• MLB analyst says Yankees must change top prospect’s position ASAP
• Giants won’t cut Kenny Golladay. But they probably want to
• Here’s a wild New York sports talk radio what-if to consider
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
