TAMPA — The Yankees are not in an enviable position, sitting on the outskirts of the postseason race.
But Friday night, they’ll begin a three-game series against a Rays team
that would love to trade places with the Yankees, no matter how
difficult the Bombers’ season has been.
“You want to be playing meaningful games this time of year,” Mark
Teixeira said. “There’s nothing worse than coming out of the All-Star
break and being out of the race. That’s just no fun at all. We accept
the challenge. It makes the game more fun.”
The Yankees have certainly had more fun since the All-Star break than
they did for most of the first half. After dropping the first two games
at home against the Red Sox, Joe Girardi saw his team go on an 8-2 tear,
thrusting themselves back into the Wild Card race and leaving them
within striking distance in the American League East.
The offense, a problem for most of the season, wasn’t much better
during the 13-game stretch since the break. The Yankees have scored 3.2
runs per game, posting an uninspiring .228/.288/.350 slash line.
By comparison, they scored 4.2 runs per game and had a .252/.313/.398
slash line during the first half of the season when they went 44-44.
The entire pitching staff has done the job, in fact. The Yankees have a
2.27 ERA over the 13 games, carrying the club as it tries to scratch
and claw its way back into the race — and convince Brian Cashman and Hal
Steinbrenner that they shouldn’t blow up the roster with trades of
Carlos Beltran, Andrew Miller and others.
“We put ourselves in this hole,” Brian McCann said, referring to the
putrid 9-17 start. “Early in the year, we didn’t get off to a good start
in April and we’ve been climbing back. It comes down to winning
ballgames.”
With Monday’s trade deadline rapidly approaching, the front office will
be paying close attention to this weekend’s series against the 39-61
Rays. Another series win — the Yankees have won four of their past five,
all against winning teams — would likely keep the core of the team
together, though it’s entirely possible more trades — Ivan Nova, for
example — are made regardless.
A series loss might change things a little, especially given the level
of competition. Teixeira called this weekend a trap series, but given
the Yankees’ struggles for most of the year, they know they’re in no
position to fall into such a trap.
“We know what we have to do,” Teixeira said. “There’s no time for us to
let our guard down. We’re going to go out there and take this series as
we’ve taken every one since the break. We have to win it if we want to
stay in this.”
Following Wednesday’s loss in Houston, Girardi and his players spoke of
the importance of this weekend’s games at the Trop. But we’ve heard the
same words used to describe every series the Yankees have played for
the past month; at some point, could the intensity of every single game
wear the Yankees down?
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