The New York Yankees can clinch the American League East with a single win in the last week of the season. The number one seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs now has a magic number of four. The first of these goals can be accomplished tonight with a win over the Baltimore Orioles. The second goal can be achieved over the week, but a few Cleveland Guardians’ losses wouldn’t hurt.
Recapping The Yankees Weekend
The Yankees made their final trip ever to the Oakland Coliseum over the weekend and did not disappoint. Wins of 4-2, 10-0, and 7-4 over the Oakland A’s punctuated a weekend that also saw the Baltimore Orioles drop two out of three to the Detroit Tigers. Yankee dominance in Oakland paired with O’s inability to tame the Tigers, set up tonight’s potential division clincher in the Bronx.
The highlights of the weekend included Starting Pitcher Gerrit Cole hurling nine innings of one-run baseball in the opener that the Yanks would win in the 10th inning and Aaron Judge blasting his 55th home run in the series finale.
Previewing the Yankees Final Week
The Bombers close out the season in the Bronx with a three-game series against the Orioles and conclude the season with a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The odd finale against a National League opponent is a byproduct of the “balanced” schedule that has deemphasized playing divisional opponents in favor of playing every team in baseball.
The Yankees are off on Monday. On Tuesday, they will send Clarke Schmidt to the mound to face Dean Kremer for the Orioles. Schmidt is 5-4 in 14 starts with a 2.37 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 76.0 innings. Wednesday, the Yankees will send Nestor Cortes into battle with Zach Eflin. Cortes is solid and steady with a 9-10 record and a 3.77 ERA. If either Schmidt or Cortes fails to close the deal, then Cole will take the mound on Thursday to duel Corbin Burnes. Cole is 7-5 in his injury-delayed season with a 3.67 ERA. Cole has been effective with 97 K in 88.1 IP and a 1.177 WHIP.
At this time, it is unclear if the Yankees would face Paul Skenes, the Pirates’ mustachioed 6-foot 6-inch flamethrowing rookie phenom in the final series to close the season. The 22-year-old Skenes has had his way with the league all season long. He currently is 10-3 with a 1.99 ERA, 0.962 WHIP, and 167 K in 131 IP. It would be fun to see Judge or Juan Soto face off against Skenes in the stadium.
Peak Ahead To The Playoffs
Yankees fans expect their team to make the postseason. Anything less is considered a failure. So, step one is accomplished, and some icing can be put on the cake this week. But it has been fifteen years since the Yankees won the World Series. That’s the real goal.
Assuming the Yankees do clinch the AL East, and they do clinch the number one seed in the AL, then who would they play first? Right now, the Kansas City Royals would play the Orioles for the right to play the Yankees while the Detroit Tigers would play the Houston Astros for the right to play the Cleveland Guardians. Baltimore is set in stone, but the final wild card spot still has six teams not yet mathematically eliminated. So, Yankees fans keep an eye on the Tigers, Royals, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners, and yes, even the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Rays.
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