YANKEES CHASE AL EAST CHAMPIONSHIP, GET RED SOX INSTEAD

Last week the Yankees made a push to claim the AL East Championship with a series against the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles. But as they won games closing the gap between them and the Toronto Blue Jays, the Blue Jays also were winning. The Yankees finished the season with a record of 94-68 and tied with the Blue Jays. Unfortunately the Blue Jays get the championship title.

Here’s a recap of last week’s games:

The Yankees swept the Chicago White Sox in 3 games. In game 1 Luis Gil pitched six innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits. Shane Smith pitched five innings, allowed 1 run and struck out 8. The Yankees were losing 2-1 until the ninth inning. Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe hit singles and Aaron Judge was intentionally walked. With two outs Cody Bellinger walked and Volpe scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Next at bat was Jose Caballero who hit a walk off RBI single to win the game.

In game 2, Max Fried earned his 19th win, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 7 strikeouts in seven innings. Fraser Ellard walked the first 3 batters before getting the next two out. He was replaced by Jonathan Cannon who allowed 5 runs in 4 1/3 innings with 6 strikeouts. Aaron Judge hit a 3 run home run in the second inning. Paul Goldschmidt hit a RBI single and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a RBI double in the third inning. Trent Grisham Jr. hit a 2 run home run and Judge hit a solo home run in the eighth inning and the Yankees won 8-1. Judge has now hit 50 home runs in a regular season for the fourth time in his career. This was also the first game that Ben Rice caught for Fried. Everyone’s calling it Fried-Rice .

In game 3, Carlos Rodón earned his 18th win, pitching six innings and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits with 5 strikeouts. Davis Martin pitched 4 1/3 innings and also allowed 3 runs with 5 strikeouts. The Yankees scored first with a RBI groundout by Ben Rice in the first inning. The White Sox tied it that inning. Michael Taylor hit a 2 run home run in the fourth inning to give the White Sox the lead. But the Yankees took the lead back in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, Giancarlo Stanton hit a double and 2 runs scored. Austin Wells also hit a RBI double in the seventh inning and the Yankees won 5-3. David Bednar earned his 26th save of the season and the Yankees tied the Blue Jays for the AL East leader.

Now the Yankees went into a 3 game series against the Baltimore Orioles with the Blue Jays facing off against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees swept the Orioles but unfortunately the Blue Jays also swept the Rays.

In game 1, Will Warren allowed 4 runs with 7 strikeouts in five innings. The Yankees used 5 relief pitchers to finish out the game and combined only allowed 1 hit and struck out 6. Trevor Rogers struggled on the mound, allowing 6 runs in three innings. Giancarlo Stanton hit a 2 run home run in the first inning giving the Yankees an early lead. Jordan Westburg hit a 3 run home run in the third inning giving the Orioles the lead but Aaron Judge and Stanton both hit 2 run home runs to give the Yankees a 3 run lead. Austin Wells hit a RBI single in the sixth inning and Stanton hit a RBI ground out in the eighth inning. The Yankees won 8-4.

In game 2, Cam Schlittler had a stellar outing, allowing 2 hits in seven innings with 9 strikeouts. Tomoyuki Sugano, on the other hand, allowed 4 runs in 4 1/3 innings. The Yankees scored first again as Aaron Judge stayed hot, hitting his 53rd home run in the first inning. Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan McMahon also hit solo home runs in the second inning. Three more runs scored in the fifth inning off a single by Judge and a sacrifice fly by Cody Bellinger. The Yankees won 6-1. The Orioles only run came in the eighth inning, a home run by Coby Mayo off Paul Blackburn. Also in this game, Aaron Boone was ejected for arguing and Jazz Chisholm Jr. left the game after being hit by a pitch on his arm.

In game 3, Luis Gil allowed 2 runs off 3 hits in five innings. Kyle Bradish allowed 2 runs also but in four innings and struck out 8. The Yankees scored first again but this time it was Ben Rice hitting the solo home run in the first inning. Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson hit back to back home runs in the fourth inning to give the Orioles the lead. But it was a short lead as Giancarlo Stanton’s RBI single later that inning, tied the game. Rice hit his second home run of the game in the eighth inning and the Yankees won 3-2.

The Yankees will see the Boston Red Sox in a best of 3 Wild Card series beginning September 30th. The winner advances to the Division Series next week against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Let’s go Yankees!!