Brett Gardner
(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

The New York Yankees and Mother Nature may have butted heads this week but in the games they did play, all was well in the Bronx.

The Houston Astros and the Baltimore Orioles didn’t know what hit them this week. The tropical storm that is the New York Yankees rolled back into the Bronx to face the defending World Series champs and then traveled to Camden Yards to take on the O’s.

With two games postponed due to severe weather in Baltimore, the Yankees finished the week with a 4-1 record while going 5-2 against the Astros for their season series.

With that, the Yankees end the week with a 37-17 record for the entire season and head out on yet another road trip to face off against the Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets. With the weather already their worst enemy, who knows how many of these games they’ll actually get in.

But weather aside, the Yankees found ways to win the games they did play and they did so in exciting fashion. Now let’s take a look at what plays deserve some recognition this week.

6. The Judge has spoken

Every week, Aaron Judge gets some sort of recognition on this Lit 6. This week, it’s for a monster shot in his favorite ballpark: Camden Yards.

Judge has typically rocked that park and his most recent stint there was no exception. He put on a home run show with his 438-foot shot to left.

You know it’s a legitimate shot when the outfielders don’t even bother to move, which is exactly what happened with his 16th home run of the season. 16 down and plenty more to go, we’re ready to see Aaron Judge tear the cover off the ball again.

5. Pardon me, ladies

Giancarlo Stanton is such a gentleman. He saw that this woman was having her bachelorette party at Camden Yards and he wanted to make sure she left with a souvenir and a memorable time.

Stanton blasted a home run to right at Camden Yards that went right to the group of ladies celebrating, eliciting cheers and celebration from the entire group. His two-run shot was his 12th of the year and his first since May 19.

Stanton is now batting .248 on the season and has yet to fully break out in his MVP way.

4. Everything’s Sonny in Baltimore

Sonny Gray has been looking to attack the zone and he did just that in his most impressive start of the season on June 1. So, maybe June is his month?

Gray gave up one run on four hits in six innings, striking out six in the process. He looked incredibly comfortable on the mound and his location was spot-on for the majority of the game.

Could this be the turnaround the Yankees are looking for? Could this be the point in which Gray swings to a reliable starter instead a cringe-worthy watch? Stay tuned, my friends.

3. Bird Bird Bird

If you counted, that marks three “birds” in the title. Greg Bird has just returned for the Yankees and he has already smacked his first career triple.

While this play was odd, seeing as how Adam Jones is such a dynamic center fielder and should’ve caught that fly ball, he didn’t and Bird ended up on third.

So the slowest guy on the team hits a triple? Come on, boys, you’ve got to catch up to what this kid is doing. Glad to have you back and flying around the bases, Birdy.

2. Wait…what?

There have been plenty of ridiculous baseball plays that have people scratching their heads. However, this play might top them all.

I’ll set the scene for you. Gary Sanchez was behind the plate with Aroldis Chapman on the mound in the top of the 10th inning. With Tony Kemp on second, Chapman unloaded a 100 MPH fastball all the way to the backstop.

This is when the fun started. The ball flew right back to Sanchez, who turned and fired a bullet to Miguel Andujar to snag Kemp from trying to head to third.

I mean, you won’t see a play like this again in a million years. But this would be the Yankees team that would complete a magical play like that. It’s just how they are.

1. Gardy Party x2!

We’ve been waiting for Brett Gardner to come to life and this week, he did so in a huge way. Gardner clubbed a solo home run to lead off Tuesday night’s contest against the Houston Astros and followed that up with his second shot of the game to tie it in the bottom of the ninth.

While the first was a no-doubter, his second just snuck over the right field wall for a two-run home run to tie the game at five runs apiece.

The Yankees had no business being close in that game, as they committed five errors and struck out over a dozen times. However, Gardner wasn’t going to let this game escape his clutches.

That game-tying shot was the first major display of emotion we’ve seen from Gardner this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few more clutch Gardy Parties coming along in the next few months.

So, there you have it! The Yankees have had a pretty exciting week of ball and now they’re taking this show on the road to face some new challengers. Stay tuned to the latest up-to-date news for the New York Yankees right here on Elite Sports NY.


Allison is just a girl with an enormous passion for the game of baseball and the written word. Based in Upstate New York, her life-long relationship with the New York Yankees is something that she developed through close relationships with her mother and grandfather. An aspiring sports writer, she graduated with a journalism degree and is finding places to share her excitement about the sporting world and how it affects us all.