BALTIMORE — As days tick off the calendar and the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline draws near, each day seems to deliver a new urgency for Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman.
The idea of hunting for reinforcements might seem like an extravagance for a team that is on pace to win 107 games, except for the fact that all the Yankees’ success would earn them at the moment is a one-game playoff to keep their World Series pursuit alive.
As formidable as the Yankees have looked, the Boston Red Sox have been better. And so, if the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night did little to diminish their need for starting pitcher — or their interest in Manny Machado, who slugged two home runs — the need to improve was underscored by the Red Sox rolling to their eighth win in a row.