If you were looking for the Yankee bats to wake up this weekend then you got your wish. 38 runs in three games. No A-Rod, no Tex, no problem. The Braves pitching is morbid, but anytime you can hang a 15 and a 20 spot in the same series you have to feel somewhat comfortable in the way your team is swinging the bats. The problem is we've seen more than one mini-resurgence like this during an offensively desolate month of August. Granted they haven't had an outburst quite like this in some time, but it's naive to think this lineup is back and ready to fire on all cylinders. Every time you think they're ready to wake up they go back to sleep.
The Yanks head into Fenway tonight with their DH back after what was essentially four days off (one pinch-hit appearance). That's about as long of a rest as you can possibly ask for and now with 33 games to go in the regular season it's time to see if A-Rod has his body back. Looking at his swings tonight should be a good indicator of how he's feeling with the lefty Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound for Boston. I don't care how many runs the Yankees scored this weekend, if they want a chance at the division they need A-Rod back. Toronto simply will not let up. They rocked the Tigers this weekend, Edwin Encarnacion hit about 10 home runs and between him and Donaldson they probably have the two best hitters in baseball right now. The Yankees cannot win at the same clip as the Blue Jays if A-Rod isn't getting it done, especially if the news keep getting worse with Tex. Girardi talked about toying with the idea of starting A-Rod at first for a game or two in Fenway. Not crazy about that idea. I get you want to stack the deck with righties in a couple of these games but not only did he look super uncomfortable there last time he played, any kind of extra wear on his legs isn't good for business. I don't care if it sounds like coddling, he's that important.
I'd like to see Nova bounce back from an awful start against Houston last week. I don't think he's going to factor much into the postseason should the Yankees make it so far but he's been pretty enigmatic and could potentially lose the game in first inning tonight if he isn't on. The Yanks have already seen Eduardo Rodriguez and Henry Owens this year. Both are left-handed, both have ERA's north of four. Rick Porcello will pitch the middle game and he's one of the worst pitchers in baseball. These are three games and three opportunities to score plenty of runs and keep thing going well offensively.
This is obviously a lousy team in Boston but they aren't to be taken lightly. They've actually played better lately and just took two of three from the first place Mets (that really sounds gross to say). I'm not sure if guys like Mookie Betts and Blake Swihart buy into the whole rivalry thing yet but I'm sure there's guys on this team that want to spoil the Yankees' divisional chances. Two of three here is the minimum. The Blue Jays are not going to let the Yankees back in the division so they're going to have to take it. That means maintaining pace until Sept. 10th when they get a four game head-to-head and kicking the shit out of them in the Bronx. Until then every game against a cellar-dweller like Boston is a must win.
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