The New York media handed the American League East title and the top seed in the AL playoffs to the Yankees way back in early June, but after losing their fifth straight game on Sunday, it might be time to reconsider.
Do we have a race on our hands? Or several races?
“We’re definitely going through it right now and frustrated with how we’ve played,” Yankees infielder D.J. LeMahieu said. “When we get a good pitching game, we don’t hit, and vice versa.”
The Yankees were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, and had lost twice to the Seattle Mariners before that. They were a heavy World Series favorite the first three months of the season, but they've looked very human lately.
On July 8, the Yankees were 61-23 and on a pace to win 118 games, which would break a major-league record. Seattle won 116 games in 2001. But they've struggled since then, going just 9-16.
The Yankees, who are 70-39 now, were the first team in baseball to get to 70 wins, doing that last Monday. They haven't won since. And now it's the Los Angeles Dodgers who are the first to 75 wins after winning eight in a milestone. It's the first milestone the Yankees didn't get to first, and now the Dodgers — and not the Yankees — are World Series.
The Yankees also have given up just about all of their lead for the top spot in the AL race, and the home-field advantage that comes along with it. Houston is 70-40, just a half-game back.
And don't look now, but the Toronto Blue Jays are now just 9.5 games back in the AL East. It's the first time since mid-June that New York hasn't had a double-digit lead in the division.
Are the Yankees just another team right now? The Dodgers are five games up on them now, and Houston and the New York Mets have reached 70 wins now, too. We'll learn more now this week as the Yankees hit the road for three-game series with Seattle and the Boston Red Sox.
Here are Sunday's summaries for teams in the AL playoff picture, along with Monday's schedule and the current playoff pairings if the postseason started today.
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