NFL
By Billy Lewis:
The New York Yankees are facing their final two teams with a winning record in 2025. The Yankees are ending a home series with the Detroit Tigers before heading to Boston to take on the Red Sox. After that, they’ll end their regular season with a soft schedule.
One of the Yankees’ major knocks all season has been their performance against teams with records over .500. They have been able to put some of those concerns to rest with their past two series against the Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays.
New York Yankees Kept AL East Hopes Alive
The Yankees went down to Houston and took two out of three games against the Astros. Winning that series set up a showdown with the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees entered Friday night sitting three games behind the Blue Jays for the AL East lead.
Toronto took the series opener on Friday. The Yankees were able to recover and win Saturday and Sunday, knocking the Jays’ lead down to two games. While the Bombers take on the Tigers and Red Sox, Toronto will face Houston and the Baltimore Orioles.
The Yankees are welcoming back old friend Gleyber Torres, Tuesday night. They do catch a break as they should not see Tigers’ Ace Tarik Skubal in this three-game set.
A huge late-season showdown in Boston is looming after the Tigers series. It will behoove the Yankees to continue their recent momentum and take care of the series at hand before shipping up to Boston.
While the Yankees have their eyes set on the AL East crown, so do the Red Sox. Boston enters Tuesday sitting just three games behind the Blue Jays. The Red Sox are looking to leapfrog the Yankees as they take on the A’s in Sacramento.
New York Yankees Contender Test
The Yankees have handled the start of the toughest final stretch of their season well with two series wins. Most of the season, the Bronx Bombers have felt like bullies; they’d beat the inferior teams while they struggled against the better teams in baseball.
Finishing strong against the Tigers and Red Sox would help give the Yankees and their fans confidence as the playoffs are on the horizon. Paired with the soft final four series of the regular season, the AL East is still up for grabs.
Winning the AL East would be a giant boost to start the playoffs. The Tigers enter the series a game and a half above the Yankees in the American League standings. The Yankees have a golden opportunity to not only take the AL East crown but also end up with home-field advantage in the American League playoffs.
The Yankees are on a mission to get back-to-back World Series appearances for the first time since 2000 and 2001. Taking care of business and gaining the one seed in the American League would be a great stepping stone for that mission.
