The Yankees have been inching closer in the AL wildcard race, they are now 3.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. By significantly closing the gap on teams ahead of them the Yankees have given themselves a great chance to be in the wildcard playoff game.
They have the Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals in front of them in the win column and these teams can be problematic to the Yankees success. The Yankees need to win this series against the Royals to gain a game, and some momentum in the last 31 games of the regular season. This series is currently tied 1-1.
In their past 3 series against the Angels, Orioles and Mariners the Yankees have been able to win each one of them. Taking 2 games out of each series is a great way to battle back in the standings. By doing this the Yankees moved past the Mariners in the wildcard standings.
The Yankees have to keep the pressure on these teams and they are doing that by winning multiple series. In these series wins the games they have won were by a large margin. Hitting in situations with runners in scoring position has helped the Yankees in a big way.
In the series they played against the Angels in the two games they won in that series the combined run total was 12 while the Angels scored only 1 run. In the series against the Mariners in two games the Yankees scored 10 runs while the Mariners scored 1 run.
Again in their most recent series win the Yankees against the Orioles in the two games they won they had a combined 27 runs. The Orioles would score 9 runs in those two games. The Yankees have the ability to be explosive especially now with their young players starting to flourish in their lineup.
The greatness that has been displayed by Gary Sanchez is really what the Yankees needed during the rest of this season. The Yankees really made the best move by giving him the green light on August 3rd and it has been paying off for the team.
Right now he has a batting average of .383 while hitting 11 home runs and 21 RBI’s. Sanchez is an incredible player and his talent has contributed to his meteoric rise to one of the best rookies and players in baseball. He is just one piece of a great team that is being formed in the Bronx.
After this series against Kansas City the Yankees will have one more series out of their division in mid September against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 27 of their last 30 games will be against teams in the AL East. They will need to keep the pressure on their division because every team is dangerous.
The Red Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays are ahead of the Yankees in the standings and that already a disadvantage for the team. The most dangerous team to the Yankees wildcard chase is Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay is close to being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention because they are one of the worst teams in the league.
They could play spoiler to the Yankees if they win most of the games they have left against each other. The Yankees should be able to take advantage of those 3 and 4 game series against Tampa Bay by playing well, and winning those games.