Pride of the Pinstripes Vol. 8: Home Cookin'

Don't look now, but the Yankees are good. Scary good. The AL East-leading Yankees are an impressive and maybe even shocking 37-23 through 60 games. They hold a 3.5 game lead over the second place Red Sox and are 6 games ahead of the 3rd place Rays. Entering play on Tuesday night, the Yankees had only a two-game lead on the Sox and had a six-game home stand coming up against Boston and Baltimore. After the Yankees lost Tuesday night against the Red Sox in a game where it seemed like the Yankees had every chance to win, it looked like the Yankees run as division leaders was coming to a screeching halt. Then Wednesday night came along. Behind a big night from the two CCs, Chris Carter and CC Sabathia, the Yankees powered their way to an 8-0 win. They haven't looked back since. The Yankees won the 3 game set on Thursday with another 8 run win, this time by a score of 9-1 with a strong start from Big Mike Pineda and the hot bats of Brett Gardner and Gary Sanchez, who combined for 3 home runs and 7 RBIs. This series not only gave the Yankees sole possession of the AL East, it also gave them confidence.

The O's came into town on Friday, and little did they know about the tidal wave that was about to hit them. After a quick 2 run home run from Jonathan Schoop in the 2nd, the Yankees quickly found themselves down 2-0. Then came the slaughter fest. The Yankees scored 8 straight runs, including a home run for Starlin Castro and 2 by Aaron Hicks, a huge surprise for the Yankees. Rookie Jordan Montgomery had a strong outing and got the win, improving to 4-4, and the Yankees won 8-2. Saturday and Sunday were where it got ugly. On Saturday, the Yankees won 16-3. Aaron Judge hit a 121 foot missile down the left-field line to open up the scoring with 2 outs in the 1st, and the Yankees

would add 5 more runs with two outs. Didi Gregorius, Starlin Castro, Matt Holliday and Gary Sanchez all added home runs, and Judge even threw in a 2 run double to the mix. Sunday wasn't much better for Baltimore. Led by 2 Aaron Judge home runs, a Gary Sanchez home run and a Starlin Castro home run, the Yankees won 14-3. It's hard to just blow by the 2 Aaron Judge home runs. His first was a 496 foot bomb that left Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay in complete shock. Judge set two 2017 highs with his 121 MPH home run on Saturday and giving a ball 495 to life this afternoon. Oh, and by the way, Sanchez's 450 foot bomb earlier was nothing to scoff at, the longest of his career. It seems like Muderers' Row might be back in the Bronx. During their six-game home stand, the Yankees outscored their opponents 59-13. What's being overshadowed in this equation is the stellar starting pitching the Yankees are getting. During their 5 game winning streak, the Yankees ERA was 1.60 and their only loss came on a night when the struggling Masahiro Tanaka started. The offense hit .377 in that span and added 17 home runs and 30 extra-base hits, outscoring their opponents 55-9 during the win streak.

Up next for the Yankees is a 7 game trip to the West Coast to square off against the struggling Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A's. Traveling out West and staying hot is always a challenge, but Mike Trout not being in the lineup for the Angels will certainly help. The Yankees also already beat the A's at home, 2-1 in the series. The major problem and possibly the only problem for New York lies with their ace, Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka's start Sunday was skipped and pushed to tomorrow night, due to his 6.55 ERA and 17 home runs allowed in 12 starts. If Tanaka can bounce back tomorrow night, that's a huge boost for the Yanks. Gary Sanchez and even Chris Carter have been swinging hot bats of late, to go along with the always hot bats of Holiday, Castro, Gardner, Hicks, Gregorius and of course Judge. The only weak spot in the order seems to be Chase Headley, who is now hitting just .231. A mid-season call up of Gleyber Torres may be inevitable, as Torres is hitting .273 with 2 home runs and 11 RBIs while playing third for the AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. For now, the Yankees are more than satisfied with their offense producing at a dominant pace to go along with unreal pitching. This West Coast swing will be another true measure of the Yankees will and talent. My guess? The Yankees pass this next test with flying colors.