Not even two straight losses should get this red-hot New York Yankees team down right now, especially with a soft week ahead.
On Sunday night, the New York Yankees lost a tough one thanks to a late-game bullpen collapse. Chad Green gave up a two-out double to Mark Canha, and that was followed by Tony Kemp once again playing the role of Yankee kryptonite.
To add insult to injury, the Bronx Bombers’ bats went cold on Saturday when Frankie Montas’ hot streak continued. Save for Aaron Judge’s two-run blast in the ninth, the lineup was silenced.
But I’m not mad. Nope, not one bit, and neither should the New York Yankees be. These two losses came at the Oakland Coliseum, where the team hasn’t won a series since 2016. Not only that, even the slumping Oakland Athletics were in a space the Yankees know all too well: a good team on a cold streak that seems to have no end in sight. They were bound to snap out of it eventually.
And of course, the Yankees aren’t focused on the losses. Just ask Judge:
Aaron Judge: "A loss is a loss. It's time to start another streak." #Yankees
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) August 28, 2021
That starts this week. The New York Yankees found their confidence and have a new attitude. Now, they just need to keep rolling and make it last for the rest of the season.
A different tack
Normally, we use State of the New York Yankees to recap the previous week’s action and just what the team did right or wrong. This week, we’re going to change things up a bit.
We’re doing this for a couple of reasons. First, as much as we all loved the 13-game winning streak, there are only so many ways to say, “YAYYYYYYYYYYY THE YANKEES ARE WINNING NONSTOP!! YAAAAAAYYYYYY!”
Alright, now that my inner child isn’t at the keyboard anymore (not at full capacity, anyway), back to business. This week, let’s instead do what we usually do at the end: look forward to the coming week and give the upcoming games some more attention.
We’re goin’ to Disneyland!
We start tonight, Monday, with three games in Anaheim with the Angels. This should prove an exciting game because Corey Kluber returns. He threw a no-hitter before hurting his shoulder in his following start, so he could be a valuable asset with his best stuff. Andrew Heaney’s red-hot left arm could piggyback off of him, which also helps in terms of resting the bullpen.
And aside from having to face the unfairly talented Shohei Ohtani both at the plate and on the mound, the New York Yankees should easily win this series. The Angels’ two biggest bats in Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon are both on the injured list. Save for Ohtani, their pitching staff is so injured that they might as well sign endorsement deals with Northwell Health.
There’s no doubt the Yankees are tired, especially with a west coast road trip this late in the season. But the Angels are almost uniquely bad at this point, so New York can and should dominate the next three games.
Going home to comfort
It also helps that the New York Yankees have Thursday off, ideal for coming home from a road trip out west.
It’s even better that on Friday, the Yankees have three games with the lowly Baltimore Orioles.
In all seriousness, there’s no excuse for anything but a sweep this weekend. Remember, Baltimore recently lost 19 games in a row. More recently, they were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Oh, and let’s not forget famed Orioles killer Gleyber Torres should return from a thumb injury on Friday. The only thing better than that is if the cat comes back like he did the last time the Orioles visited.
Final Thoughts
The New York Yankees know what has to be done this week. Let’s see how they do it.
