The Yankees started Saturday by celebrating one of the highest points in franchise history.

Then they took another step toward the organization’s lowest point in recent memory. 

With members of the 1998 Yankees on hand to be honored for the 25th anniversary of their 114-win championship season on Old-Timers’ Day, the 2023 club got one game closer to becoming the franchise’s first in more than three decades to finish below .500.

The Yankees lost 9-2 to the Brewers in a game that featured a 2 ½-hour rain delay, a Little League home run by Milwaukee’s Willy Adames and a complete implosion late. 

The home run that ultimately did them in, however, at least cleared the fence. 

Tyrone Taylor ripped a 1-0 fastball from Jonathan Loaisiga into the left field seats to lead off the eighth inning, barely clearing the wall and putting the Brewers ahead 3-2. 

From there, Loaisiga and the Yankees quickly came apart. Sal Frelick and William Contreras both singled, then a pair of bloops from Carlos Santana and Mark Canha both fell into shallow center field, allowing another run to score.

Victor Caratini’s sacrifice fly — on another ball that nearly dropped due to an outfield miscommunication — brought home the inning’s third run. 

The ninth inning, somehow, was even worse.

The Yankees gave up four runs, Matt Krook faced five batters without getting an out, Ron Marinaccio walked two batters with the bases loaded and an air of complete resignation enveloped the Stadium. 

The Brewers opened a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.

After a Canha single, Adames lifted a ball over the head of Giancarlo Stanton in right field.

Stanton’s throw was cut off by DJ LeMahieu, but the first baseman’s relay to third went into the camera well, allowing Adames to score. 

Some timely hitting from Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza allowed the Yankees to tie the score in the bottom half of the fourth, as both came up with RBI singles.

That, along with a brief period of sunshine, helped out the vibe at Yankee Stadium. 

But those two hits ended up being the only ones for the Yankees until Aaron Judge hit a single in the seventh.

Rookie Jasson Dominguez, the closest thing to a positive the Yankees have going right now, even struck out looking three times. 

Michael King’s performance on the mound was a bright spot for the Yankees.

Making his fifth start of the season on the same day Luis Severino was put on the injured list, King bolstered his case to stay in the rotation in 2024 by giving up one earned run over five innings and striking out nine. 

That was the closest thing to a silver lining for the Yankees, though the portion of 44,068 paying fans who sat through a long delay to watch the home team fall to 70-72 probably would not see it that way.