The Yankees offense has been killing it lately and has proven just how dominant and scary it can be when firing on all cylinders.
The New York Yankees (49-28) have given themselves a bit of a cushion on their division lead in the AL East following an impressive homestand that saw them dominate two of the best teams in the entire league.
Though the homestand continues with a three-game series hosting the Toronto Blue Jays, we got to see just how dominant the offense can be. Riding a hot streak having won eight of the last 10, the Yankees offense has continued to impress. The unit was the biggest reason for the three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays while also taking three-of-four from the Houston Astros this week.
Sweeping the Rays
The Rays series was the peak of the offense to start the homestand. They dominated a strong starting pitching staff in almost every way.
Though Rays starter Yonny Chirinos gave a quality start in the opener, both infielder D.J. LeMahieu and outfielder Cameron Maybin connected on home runs. That led the way to a 3-0 victory. After beating the Rays again 6-3 in the second game, the most impressive outing for the Bronx Bombers came against the reigning Cy Young award winner.
Facing the tough lefty Blake Snell in the series finale Wednesday, the Yankees’ dominance proved true once again. A Gary Sanchez three-run homer highlighted a sixth-run first inning that knocked Snell from the game after he recorded just one out and throwing 39 pitches to seven batters. Infielder Gleyber Torres added his first career grand slam with a shot to right field in the seventh inning en route to a clean sweep.
Outpacing the ‘Stros
The Yankees continued their dominance in the four-game series against the Astros. They scored 21 runs in the first three games of the series getting contributions from all over the lineup. Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton came through in the clutch during Saturday’s series-clincher—recording four RBIs in the wild 7-5 win. Torres and Sanchez continued their torrid hitting streaks while third baseman Gio Urshela and even catcher Austin Romine hit some big home runs over the weekend.
They struggled against Justin Verlander in the series finale, but LeMahieu took him deep for a three-run homer. Had they gotten a better outing from starter J.A. Happ, it could have been a different story.
Not even close to their ceiling
What makes this so impressive is that the lineup isn’t even clicking on all cylinders. The Yankees just got star right fielder Aaron Judge back from an oblique injury, and he hasn’t even begun to make a difference yet.
Stanton has just begun to show shades of rounding into form. Once they are clicking, opposing pitching staffs will find it even harder to keep the runs off the board.
The Yankees round out their homestand with a three-game stint with the visiting Blue Jays before heading overseas to take on the rival Red Sox in London.
The Yankees offense will continue to lead the charge into the summer with the AL East leaders looking to extend the gap between them and the rest of the division.