New York Yankees
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Sick of the New York Yankees just yet? We sure aren’t! Let’s take a look at the plays that carried them through this week.

The start of the season made it seem as though there was a new team taking over New York City. Well, that was a short-lived fantasy as the New York Yankees jumped back up to greatness while the New York Mets started their fade into oblivion.

This week featured a whole lot of traveling for the Yankees and with their travel luck, things could have ended rather poorly. Instead, they swept the Blue Jays in a mini-series, split a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers and manhandled the Mets.

Now, they get to head back home with a brilliant road trip under their belts and bragging rights in both the American League East and against the Mets.

Like we say every week, let’s see how it all went down. Here are the top six plays from this week in Yankees baseball.

6. The Bird stops here

Greg Bird hasn’t been on our list for some time. So let’s change that with a nice defensive play from the Yankees starting first baseman.

Kendrys Morales thought he had a hit when he smashed it to the right side but, alas, Greg Bird was there to make the diving snag. And no, he didn’t hurt himself in the process.

Bird isn’t known as the greatest fielding third baseman but seeing some plays like this gives us hope for the future. Plus, like I said before, he didn’t get hurt and that is a win within itself.

5. The undisputed ace

Luis Severino is the ace of the Yankees pitching staff. There is no doubt about it. He proved that even more with his stellar outing in Detroit for Game 1 of their doubleheader on Monday afternoon.

Sevy allowed one earned run while striking out 10 Tigers in eight innings of impressive work.

Severino tamed the Tigers with one of his most dominant performances of the season as the Yankees escaped with a 7-4 victory in a makeup game.

Entering Sunday’s game, Sevy is 9-1 with a 2.12 ERA with 106 strikeouts. That is dominant. That is the type of starting pitching the Yankees have been looking for the past few seasons.

4. Sonny days are here again!

Sonny Gray is not normally an animated guy. However, when he put together his most dominant start of the season, he showed just a little bit of emotion.

The highlight of his eight-inning performance against the Blue Jays came in the bottom of the fifth inning. With the bases loaded and one out, fans were ready for another classic Sonny meltdown.

Instead, Gray forced Devon Travis to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play and boy was he pumped. He was able to make the right pitch and it paid off for the Yankees, as they maintained the 0-0 tie until they broke through in the 13th inning to steal the game.

3. Andujar’s stellar stop

Miguel Andujar can hit home runs and extra-base hits. However, he can also play a pretty solid third base. He proved that on Friday night when he potentially saved a run from crossing the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With Aroldis Chapman on the mound and runners on first and second, the tying run took the plate in the guise of former Yankee teammate Todd Frazier. Andujar smothered the ground ball to third and made an off-balance yet accurate throw to get the second out of the inning.

Like I said, Andujar is not known for his defense. In fact, that is something he definitely will need to improve on moving forward. However, he did a pretty stellar job on this play to help out the Bombers.

2. How grand it is!

Another Miguel Andujar highlight for the list? Say it ain’t so! This one is worthy of some incredible recognition for the rookie.

In Toronto, the game remained low-scoring with the Blue Jays clinging to a one-run lead. Andujar had other ideas, however, as he launched his first career grand slam to put the Yankees on top by a score of 4-1. And this ball wasn’t just hit … it was absolutely smoked.

That marked Andujar’s seventh home run this season, just another extra-base hit to add to the list for the rookie. He’s impressing in every facet of the game and if he keeps hitting like this all season long, the Rookie of the Year award could very well be in his hands.

1. deGrom? deGone!

For the second straight week, Brett Gardner is making moves on our Lit 6 list. Last week he had a clutch game-tying home run and this week, he did even better. Except this time it came off of Jacob deGrom.

deGrom was pitching an absolute gem, allowing only one run to a high-powered Yankee offense. In the top of the eighth with two outs in the inning, Gardner snuck one over the wall in right field. The ball bounced off the top of the wall to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead against the ace deGrom.

Gardner has been heating up and proving once again that he’s the pulse of this team. He isn’t a Baby Bomber and he’s playing like he’s got nothing left to lose.

Another week, another Gardy Party! The Yankees have had yet another outstanding week, headlined by a Gardy shot to right. What will next week bring?

The Washington Nationals are in town for a two-game set and the Tampa Bay Rays will follow up with four games in the Bronx as well. Will this week go as well or even better than the last? Stay tuned.


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.