Steady Surge Has New York Yankees On Verge Of AL East Title Over Baltimore Orioles
The schedule makers anticipated there would be a good chance the penultimate series of the season between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles would hold significant ramifications for a pair of contending teams.
Technically it does but not for the reasons of two teams vying for the AL East title. It seemed headed in that direction as recently as three weeks ago, but the Yankees are displaying a more business like approach to a surge enabling them to open a six-game lead over the Orioles.
For the most part an improved quality of play and some key decisions are helping the Yankees move to the verge of securing the AL East and homefield advantage in the AL along with possibly the best record in baseball. While the Mets are going about with a more fun and quirky kind of vibe that makes their season feel like a long strange trip , the Yankees are in the midst of a business like 12-4 surge, something evidenced in the matter of fact comment by Aaron Boone on Sunday after a 5-1 West Coast trip ended with a 7-4 win in Oakland.
"I think everyone in that room knows what's at stake and what the mission is and where we're at on the calendar and the opportunity in front of us," Boone told reporters after the Yankees played their final game in Oakland. "So I think guys are ready to just do what we've got to do to win ballgames and give ourselves a chance come October.
As for homefield advantage being the holy grail its importance exists but once the division gets clinched there are other matters for the Yankees to attend to.
"We'd love to get it," Boone told reporters. "We're going to be playing these games to win. Again, hopefully we do clinch and hopefully we win this division first and foremost. Certainly we understand it's (best record) there to be had. Would want that, but you're always striking the balance between that and making sure guys are in a good spot."
Whether the Yankees wind up with the best record is another story but in some ways this stretch is better than the 45-19 and 50-22 record the Yankees sprinted out to without Gerrit Cole.
In the past two weeks and beyond, the Yankees have seemingly found their leadoff hitter in Gleyber Torres, seemingly realized Austin Wells can handle every day catching duties and hitting cleanup.
Additionally the Yankees seemingly realized this is a good time for Jasson Dominguez to get regular playing time in left field over Alex Verdugo, who may still be valuable as a bench piece. And perhaps more importantly the Yankees realized deploying a closer with double-digit blown saves is not necessarily the most prudent approach.
Since Clay Holmes allowed the game-ending grand slam to Wyatt Langford on Sept. 3, the Yankees are 9-2 in games decided by three runs or less. Luke Weaver, who was getting late season starts a year ago at this time as the Yankees were eliminated from the postseason , seemingly has seized the closer role with four saves.
As a result of Weaver grabbing the closer role effectively, the Yankee bullpen has improved to the point where its 3.60 ERA is fourth in the majors. The improvement includes a relief corps with a 1.30 ERA in its past 16 games.
At the same time as the Yankees surging towards the division title, the Orioles are stumbling, losing four wins in 10 games and some of the lower quality aspects the Yankees showed are appearing in recent games for the Orioles, whose inability to overcome injuries to pitching are notable as a reason for keeping them from repeating as a division winner.
The Orioles are enduring a 28-32 second half with five straight series losses and other than three days in early September, haven't held the division lead with any kind of regularity since Aug. 20, meaning they are just trying to do enough to clinch the top wild card and figure out who their opponent is in the wild-card round with a potential Division Series against the Yankees looming.
During this month, the Orioles are hitting .226 and .239 since the All-Star break. While Yankee pitching often can compensate for hitting struggles, Baltimore is producing a 4.31 ERA since the break, a number that would be higher if not for the respectable 3.72 ERA this month.
"We just have to focus on what is going on in here, in this clubhouse," third baseman Jordan Westburg told reporters after a one-run loss to the Detroit Tigers. "And nothing about what is going outside, what people are saying. What could or couldn't happen. We just have to stay tight in here. Really focus on the chemistry this last stretch and play good baseball. And we'll see what happens."
What appears to be happening is a division title for the Yankees and a wild-card spot for the Orioles, something that could become official in the upcoming days.
