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So far, September just isn’t the Yankees’ month. Last night’s dud dropped them to 2-8 in their last 10 games, lining up perfectly with the end of their 13-game winning streak. It’s like they won all those games in a row and called it a season. Unfortunately, that was precisely when the Toronto Blue Jays caught fire:
At the end of the Yankees' 13-game winning streak, the Blue Jays were just 5 games over .500 and 6.5 games out of a playoff spot. They were closer to Cleveland than Oakland, let alone Boston or New York.
— Pinstripe Alley (@pinstripealley) September 8, 2021
They're not slowing down. pic.twitter.com/1RKqxYT67Y
Remarkably, Toronto has made up 7.5 games on the Yankees in under two weeks. As the tweet notes, the Yankees are frankly just lucky that no one else in the AL Wild Card race is playing all that well, either. That’s allowed them to cling on to their half-game lead over Boston for three days now, but the Blue Jays have stormed back into the heart of the hunt.
Now, it’s up to rookie Luis Gil to return from Triple-A Scranton today and right the ship, with his team on a four-game skid and having just been punched in the jaw last night with Gerrit Cole’s injury. Of course, pitching wasn’t entirely the problem. The offense has scored 3.3 runs per game over the last 10, and they’ve looked absolutely lifeless against not-exactly-Roy-Halladay on the Blue Jays staff with a single run in 18 innings. Outside of Gary Sánchez’s Sunday outburst, they weren’t doing much with a worse Orioles staff, either. Gil could continue his 15.2-inning scoreless streak, but the team has to score some damn runs.
Today on the site, John will honor Derek Jeter’s Hall of Fame induction (airing today at 1:30pm on MLB Network), Esteban will make the case for Clarke Schmidt to chip in on the big league pitching staff, and Jesse will look at how the Yankees have responded to Aaron Boone’s ejections over the past few years. Later on, Emma will continue her ongoing series by discussing the Yankees Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and John will return to compare the numbers behind the Yankees’ 13-game winning streak and their current losing stretch to see what they’re doing differently.
Today’s Matchup
New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Time: 7:05 p.m. EST
TV: YES Network, SNET, SNET-1, MLB Network (out-of-market only)
Radio: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280
Venue: Yankee Stadium
Fun Questions:
1. Will Luis Gil continue his perfect start, or is today the day he finally allows a run?
2. Do you think the Blue Jays end up snaring one of the two AL Wild Card spots?