What a difference one at-bat makes. With Archer on the mound facing a 3-0 deficit in the 6th the Yanks were on the verge of finishing the weekend 2.5 games out of first place after having lost a home series to the sub-500 Rays. But with two on and two out Brian McCann got a 3-1 fastball up in the zone and bashed it out to tie the game at three. One of the biggest hits of the year from a guy who's gotten almost no reverence for how good he's been this season. A career high in home runs (25), sitting among the American League leaders in RBIs (87) all while guiding this young pitching staff and throwing out runners at a 40% clip. He's been so far and away better than he was last year it's insane.
While the three-run shot was the biggest blow, A-Rod going back-to-back before the crowd could even get back in their seats iced the game. You knew it was over at that point. This team simply does not blow leads late in games. Betances did falter a bit, serving up a solo shot to Cabrera in the 8th but thankfully they had a couple runs of cushion to work with. Miller put a couple guys on with a 6-4 lead in the ninth but he never makes you sweat. All he does is get the job done game in and game out.
Nova had a very Novalike start this afternoon. Six innings, three runs, battling all day but gave them a chance to win. He made a mistake to Kiermaier and he hit it out for a two-run homer. Other than that he was pretty solid. And Didi just does not stop hitting. 2-4 with an RBI today. This is no longer a hot streak. He's hitting .347 in his last 42 games. He's gone from a hole in the order to a luxury to have hitting towards the bottom of the lineup.
It feels like beating a dead horse but it's really incredible what's going on in Toronto. They put up a 10-spot today against Baltimore. Before you could even blink they're up 3-0 in the first. A-Rod said they don't even scoreboard watch anymore because they know what's going to happen. You keep waiting and waiting for those guys to cool off but they have absolutely no chill. I don't get it. Isn't hitting supposed to fluctuate? Aren't guys supposed to go through ups and downs? I don't know what's going to happen for the rest of the regular season. I thought they were going to cool off weeks ago and it hasn't stopped. All I know is I've seen plenty of offensive juggernauts plunder their way through the year (see 04'-07' Yankees) just to embarrass themselves in the playoffs. Not saying that's what's going to happen here but I'm not not saying it.
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