Around the Empire: Yankees news - 8/28/21

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees won again, this time taking a relatively relaxing 8-2 victory against the A’s as opposed to all of the nail biters that they’ve been involved in recently. This pushes their win streak to 13 games, something that no Yankees team has done since 1961 — an incredible 60-year gap. Another anecdote on the team’s blazing hot play, this one from Michael Kay on the broadcast: the team has now won 35 of their last 46 games. The last five times that has happened — ‘61, ‘77, ‘78, ‘98, and 2009 — the team has gone on to win it all. Your move, 2021.

North Jersey | Pete Caldera: Giancarlo Stanton’s bat has been ignited alongside this win streak, and it also coincides with his return to the outfield. The slugger has been taking regular reps in right field, while still seeing some time at DH, and has been in a groove since taking the field again. Stanton credits playing the outfield with helping his mindset in-game, instead of just having four at-bats to hyper-fixate on all night. It’s also allowed the Yankees to fully utilize their beefy outfield lineup with Joey Gallo in left and Aaron Judge in center, while also getting Luke Voit into the mix more at DH. The results have spoken for themselves for this arrangement.

NY Post | Dan Martin: Part of the weird feeling that the early-season Yankees had hanging over them was a lack of energy, of fire and excitement. The players exuded this, but the manager’s position was also strangely quiet as well — Aaron Boone was not looking like the guy who boldly proclaimed his guys “savages in the box.” Well, that passion is back, and it’s helping to sustain this run of dominance. Boone’s ejection in Thursday’s game against Oakland gave cover for the complaints that Judge and Gallo had after being questionably rung up on pitches outside of the zone — and the players appreciate that their manager had their back. This is the comfort zone for a player manager like Boone, and he’s shined over this stretch for keeping the fire ignited.

MLB.com | Matt Monagan: You’ve likely heard the story by now — Stephen Ridings has been elevated from a substitute teacher to a guy hurling 100 mph out of the Yankees’ bullpen. There’s plenty of perspectives to get from his journey — from Ridings himself, to the staff at the Palm Beach school he worked in, to his teammates — and you can read about all of them here. Should Ridings get another shot this year, he’ll have a wide range of fans rooting him on.