With the win over the Red Sox, Friday night, and the loss by the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees had a bit of breathing room in holding on to the number two wild-card berth. But, make no mistake about it, the urgency to win last night was still there big time. The Yankees would have loved to obtain a home-field advantage in the wild-card race. Yankee fans were not disappointed, Nestor Cortes Jr. kept them in the game, and Giancarlo Stanton’s Grand Slam powered the Yankees to the 5-3 win at Fenway Park.
Nasty Nestor keeps em’ in the game
Nestor Cortes Jr. may not have been dominant last night, but he pitched well enough to keep the Yankees in the game. In his short history as a starter for the Yankees, his hallmark is not letting the game get out of control. He does it with a multitude of arm angles and mixing hit pitches.
Last night he pitched into the fifth inning, giving up two earned runs while striking out four Red Sox. Then, after a Schwarber and Plawecki single and Dalbec home run scare that Judge knabbed, Boone, lifted Cortes for Michael King. King and Luetge pitched two scoreless innings. Then in his second outing since returning off the IL, Luis Severino pitched the seventh and eighth, allowing no hits and striking out four. Aroldis Chapman closed it out for his 29th save of the season.
Giancarlo Stanton flaming hot
No New York Yankee is as hot as Giancarlo Stanton. So last night, with the Yankees only scoring one run through the seventh inning, they needed some heat. That heat came from Stanton, who, with the bases loaded with Yankees, hit a Grand Slam over the green monster at Fenway, which gave the Yankees a two-run lead over the Red Sox.
Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have combined to carry the Yankees on their backs and are most responsible for the Yankees’ ability to get to a wild-card berth. No one has been hotter than Stanton; in the past 21 games, he has a .289 batting average with eight home runs and 20 RBIs. During the period, Stanton has had more hits than strikeouts. He alone is responsible for 8 of the Yankees’ 13 runs in the Boston series. After last night’s game Stanton had this to say:
“Great feeling. A lot of emotions going on. Just glad I was able to do it,†Stanton said. “Compress everything and be on time for the fastball. Something good happened.â€
The win propels Yankees to a tie in the wild-card race
The New York Yankees inched closer to home-field advantage with the win over the Red Sox last night. After the win, the Yankees are even with the Sox for that number one wild card slot. A win tonight will put the Yankee right where they want to be. However, if the Yankees stay even in that effort, the Red Sox will have a home-field advantage as they have won more games in the season matchup.
The Yankees can’t get too comfortable as the Toronto Blue Jays were just two games behind them with their win yesterday. Likewise, the Seattle Mariners are just one game behind them. What makes this whole race to nail-biting is that the Yankees face the Toronto team this week before ending the season back at Yankee Stadium against the Tampa Bay Rays.
With just seven games left in the regular season, scoreboard watching is as popular as watching a Yankee game because only the division has been decided; the wild-card race is far from over because of wins and losses.
The Tampa Bay Rays have clinched in the AL East, and the Chicago White Sox have clinched in the Central. No one has clinched a division on the NL front, but the Giants, Brewers, and Dodgers have clinched a wild card berth.