This weekend was the coup de grace for the division. Let's face it. Think of this thing realistically. Even if the Yankees go 15-5 the rest of the way that means the Blue Jays have to go 11-8 just for them to tie. They have to lose eight times in 19 games. They've been winning at a .744 clip since the trade deadline. They just waltzed into Yankee Stadium and hit fifty home runs in four games. The odds of a collapse taking place that immense are astronomical. The only reason there's chance, the only reason there's an extrasolar possibility that a division title is still even tangible is because Toronto and the Yanks play three games against each other next week at Rogers Center. That's an opportunity to make up three games in three days. To do it we'll probably need Tanaka to pull a Dice-K and pitch like two no-hitters in a row and then come in out of the bullpen for the third game, but the door hasn't officially closed on the AL East.
The Yanks left the Bronx last night for a nine game road trip and the upcoming schedule isn't very kind. Three at the Trop, three with the surging Mets at Citi Field and then on to Toronto. Under regular circumstances I'd take walking away from this trip 6-4 but these aren't regular circumstances. These are essentially playoff games from here on out.
CC is on the mound tonight against Erasmo Ramirez (10-5, 3.96) who's just about as mediocre as it gets. Sabathia's last start was plagued by an awful defensive effort by Stephen Drew. He only allowed one earned run but couldn't make it out of the fifth and Baltimore eventually won the game. Tampa has a bunch of guys who've seen CC a million times. Logan Forsythe, Asdrubal Cabrera and Evan Longoria have a combined .416 lifetime average. James Loney is having a bad year but is always a pain in the ass.
I'm not sure what kind of fire the Rays are going to be playing with this weekend. They just lost a 13-inning game at Fenway where they amassed just three hits. They're right at that point where they're not quite definitely out of it but actually definitely out of it. Either way you know they're going to be tough even though the Yankees have handled their business at the Trop this year. There's a premium on winning tonight's game because Odorizzi and Archer are going the next two. It looks like it's going to be Adam Warren and Severino on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Division Watch
The Blue Jays are off and that's a good thing because that means they're not allowed to win tonight.
Wild Card Watch
Astros @ Texas. Scott Kazmir vs. Cole Hamels.
Yankee's Postseason Magic Number
No comments:
Post a Comment