Brian Cashman: Yankees 'as Rough as They Come' amid Recent Struggles, AL East Slide

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said his team has struggled with "rough spots" while winning only five of its last 20 games.

"We've obviously struggled with a lot of different areas on the team and it's added up to a (lot) of losses," Cashman said (h/t The Athletic's Brendan Kuty.) "I can't explain it any easier than that. You can hit some rough spots.

"We're certainly as rough as they come right now. It's like a light switch went one way to the other. But it can go the other way too quickly."

The Yankees entered Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays with a 6-16 record since June 13.

Over that stretch, the Yankees' rotation has recorded a MLB-worst 6.44 ERA (h/t YES Network.)

Cashman described the club's pitching struggles as an "avalanche of negative stuff."

"You can have that avalanche of positive stuff happen... but then one little thing can add up to a whole bunch of stuff, and next thing you know you're on the other side of it, where an avalanche of negative stuff starts to happen, and you've just got to fight through it," Cashman said (h/t YES Network).

"I think our guys are up to that task, and looking forward to us getting through it sooner than later, but it's gone on certainly long enough."

The Yankees' struggles aren't limited to their bullpen. Heading into Tuesday, the offense had been held to four or fewer runs scored in each of their last eight losses.

The Yankees entered Tuesday three games back of the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead and first in the AL wild-card race. But the Yankees also sat 4.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox for second in the AL East, and 2.5 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins for first in the AL wild-card standings.

The Yankees may need bounce-back performances from both their batting order and rotation to hold onto their postseason spot heading into the July 30 trade deadline.