Bronx, NY- Watch out because the Yankees are making a run for the postseason and for the second consecutive evening they scored 10 or more runs in a win over the Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx.
Consecutive games of 10 or more runs for the first time this season will send a message that these are the Bronx Bombers that were expected to be a favorite to win and play deep baseball into October.
With 55 games remaining there is a good feel about the Yankees after their 10-3 win Wednesday night. They are closing in on one or two AL wild card spots and the Yankees should feel good after taking their seventh of their last eight series and winning 12 of their last 17 games.
Though the schedule is in their favor, and as the wild card hopeful Mariners come to the Bronx, with the start of four games beginning Thursday evening, there is a distinct difference about the Yankees during this streak.
They are hitting the baseball and that was missing from their arsenal during a majority of their first half which put them out of reach from the Red Sox and pesty Tampa Bay Rays. After Wednesday, though, the lead is six games from the division leading Rays and five from the second place Red Sox.
The wildcard has the Yankees three games from the Red Sox and two off the pace from the second spot held by the Oakland A’s.
The dividend was acquiring Anthony Rizzo at the trade deadline from the Chicago Cubs. Rizzo homered again in the fourth inning and that made him the first Yankee player to get an RBI in their first six games with the team.
“We are fortunate enough but I think if you look at our lineup there is balance,” said manager Aaaron Boone. “I think it’s the weight of our lineup. It’s starting to pay some dividends”
A player or two added to the Yankees lineup has helped. Rizzo is doing his job from the left side of the plate but the other acquisition, Joey Gallo knocked in two runs and also hits from the left side.
“It’s definitely special. It’s something that you put on a Yankee uniform, a lot of kids out there dream of playing for the New York Yankees growing up and there’s a lot of kids out there right now that are dreaming,” Rizzo said.
And this resurgence of the Yankees is also attributed to their pitching and doing it without three starters in their rotation that include Domingo German, Jordan Montgomery, and their ace Gerrit Cole. German is on the 10-day injured list with shoulder inflammation. Cole and Montgomery are on the COVID-19 injured list.
Starter Jameson Taillon struck out 10 in 6-⅓ innings and was sharp after giving up three runs and four hits after giving up the 19th home run to Ryan Mountcastle in the fourth inning. Jonathan Loaisiga got his 8th win coming out of the pen and recording two outs.
Yankees starters have posted a 2.56 ERA in their last 25 starts since July 4th.
So it is all coming together for the Yankees now and realize it is consistency that wins games especially down the stretch. Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres also continued their resurgence at the plate. Stanton, 2-for-3, hit a bases clearing double in the eighth inning and Torres is hitting .429 in the last four games and added an RBI in the fourth.
“We’ve had a lot of people really contributing,” Boone said. “Whether it;s the starting pitching, the bullpen, guys up and down the lineup, the guys obviously we brought in at the deadline.”
The Yankees are 5-1 since they acquired Rizzo and Gallo.
Not so for the Orioles in a rebuilding process and headed for another last place finish in the division. Though Matt Harvey, the former New York Mets ace, held the Yankees hitless during the first three innings and left the game after throwing a career best 21 ⅔ scoreless innings and sustaining a right knee injury that could put his resurgence on the sideline.
But for the Yankees, it’s game-by-game and making a push in their run for the postseason. At this rate playing baseball in October is not out of the question.
Rich Mancuso: Twitter@Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso
