NFL
By Billy Lewis:
As the great Yogi Berra once said, “It gets late early out there.” For the New York Yankees, they are seeing their season slip away. The Yankees have been absolutely dreadful since the All-Star break going 11-19, but perhaps luckily they still have about a quarter of the season left to go.
Entering Thursday’s off-day the inept Bronx Bombers sit 6.5 games behind the Blue Jays of the final Wild Card slot. They would also have to jump both the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox just to get to the Jays. Of course, in order to jump those teams the Yankees will need to start winning games.
On Friday, the Yankees will begin a six-game homestand against the Red Sox and Washington Nationals. This is on the heels of a putrid road trip that saw them go 2-7 against the White Sox, Marlins, and Braves. Hopefully, coming back home to the Bronx will be the kickstart the final stretch of the season needs for the Bombers.
The Red Sox lost a matinee to the Nationals Thursday, so they’ll enter the Bronx three games in front of the Yankees. This makes it imperative that the Yankees sweep the Red Sox to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
Boston has had the Yankees number so far this season though. Entering this weekend’s series, the Yankees are 1-5 against the Red Sox this season. If the Yankees can reverse their fortunes and somehow sweep Boston this weekend, it’ll tie them in the Wild Card chase.
Ideally, the Yankees are able to go 6-0 on this upcoming homestand, but at a minimum, they have to look to go 5-1. The key to that would be the loss coming against the Nationals. Sweeping the Sox would be a three-game swing, whereas if they win 2 of 3 it would only be a single game up in the standings.
While many fans and media pundits alike have written off the Yankees’ playoff chances, and it’s tough to blame anybody as Fangraphs has their playoff chances at only 2.2%, they still have a chance to make noise.
However, if they lose their series against Boston, it could act as the final nail in the coffin of this underachieving season. While the past month has been abysmal for the Yankees, if they are able to take care of their business at hand then maybe just maybe they can start their slow march to October.
After all one of the most famous Yogisms is the classic, “It ain’t over til it’s over.”
