This week presented a chance for the New York Yankees to pull considerable lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. Rather, they dropped two of their last three games and almost lost the division lead, but they don’t seem to be that concerned about it.
“They’ve had their way with us the first couple series,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said to Greg Joyce of the New York Post. “They’ve been in control. However, there’s still a long way to go in this. You never enjoy losing, particularly when it’s against a team that’s right on your heels in your division. It’s also a chance for us, hopefully, to develop.
Although there is still plenty of the season left, the Bombers have already participated in almost half of their scheduled games against Baltimore. There are just six more games between the two clubs until the postseason begins, with the Orioles leading the season series 5-2 at this point.
The fact the Orioles highlighted their most recent series victory with a 17-5 thumping that prompted New York to start catcher Jose Trevino on the mound is even more concerning for Yankees supporters.
Oh, and don’t forget how Baltimore’s pitching almost put Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge on the disabled list in the series’ first game.
Judge and his manager both downplayed the Orioles’ dominance against the Yankees.
“There will undoubtedly be back-and-forth until September,” the Yankees captain informed Joyce. We seem excited to be having those back-and-forth fights. In the end, though, it really just comes down to us looking after ourselves. We play baseball the way it should be played, tighten up the defense a little, take care of business, and end up where we want to be.
Those are contests that players who can perform well under duress may be looking forward to. The media, which depends on late-season drama to generate clicks, may be looking forward to these skirmishes.
However, it would probably have pleased Yankees supporters, who have been yearning for another championship since 2009, if their club had taken a commanding lead in the division going into the second half of the season.
