There have been plenty of teases this season, but things have been going really well this month:
KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 24 — The Yankees are doing precisely what they are supposed to do. They are steamrolling mediocre pitchers, taking advantage of a soft patch in their schedule and roaring toward playoff contention.
The Yankees buried the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, 9-4, for their 11th victory in 14 games since the All-Star Game break. They are just four and a half games behind the Cleveland Indians for the lead in the wild-card race.
Chien-Ming Wang was the beneficiary of the Yankees’ latest offensive eruption. They have scored 56 runs in their last four games and, until the eighth inning on Tuesday, had put at least one runner on base for 24 consecutive innings.
Before the game, Royals Manager Buddy Bell sounded as if he could sense the ugly night ahead. His starter, Scott Elarton, had a 9.17 earned run average, more walks than strikeouts and had missed a month with a foot injury.
While the Yankees play the Royals, the Red Sox and Indians are playing each other. Which means that a New York win results in a move up, either in th AL East or the Wild Card ranking.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:35 am
They still trail Seattle in the Wild Card as well, though, so it isn’t as if only Cleveland stands between them and it.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
True, but Seattle’s been in a deep slide and in danger of falling into 3rd place in the Wild Card race