The New York Yankees took three of four games from the Boston Red Sox over the weekend and extended their lead in the American League East to three games over the Baltimore Orioles. Yankee bats were moderately productive, scoring 18 runs in the four-game series. Ironically, the one bad pitching performance came from the $324M Cy Young pitcher, Gerrit Cole. Cole gave up 7 earned runs in 4.1 innings in the only loss to the Red Sox on Saturday. That game lit up social media with the controversial intentional walk to Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers that sparked a productive inning. Cole was also uncharacteristically wild, hitting three batters.
Aaron Judge Comes Out of Slump
Yankees star centerfielder, Aaron Judge, hit two home runs during the series. The homer on Friday the 13th marked the first time Judge had gone yard in 18 games. To keep warming up the bat, Judge also homered Sunday in the third inning for number 53 on the season. The shot traveled 445 feet to center and adjusted Judge’s HR pace for the season to 57.42. Barring a super-hot streak, Judge won’t get near his own AL HR record, but a productive bat going into October could accomplish a lot more for the team. After all, it’s been 15 years since the last World Series banner for the Yankees.
New York Yankees’ Lead Seems Comfortable
With 12 games left in the season, the Yankees now lead the Orioles by three games in the AL East. The Yankees play their next six games on the West Coast against the slumping Seattle Mariners and the sub-.500 Oakland A’s. Anything less than a 4-2 final road trip would be disappointing. A six-game sweep should be within the realm of possibility. The Mariners have had the second-worst record in baseball since late June, ahead of only the historically terrible Chicago White Sox. And the A’s are, well, the A’s.
What’s On Tap for the Baltimore Orioles?
The Orioles have been 31-34 since June. They are also 3-7 over their last 10 games. While the Yankees are playing the Mariners and A’s next week, the O’s play the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers at home in Camden Yards. It’s reasonable to assume that the Orioles could win both series also and go into the three-game series in the Bronx from September 24-26 needing a sweep to have any chance at winning the division. Next week should be interesting as always in the marathon that is a major league baseball season. Beat the Mariners. Beat the A’s. The O’s series could be moot if the Yankees take care of business.
