Yankees Slide In Latest Power Rankings With AL Rival Rising

Heavy is the head that wears the American League East crown.

The New York Yankees return to the Bronx on Friday following a three-game series in Cincinnati. The defending AL East champions dropped two of their three games against the Reds. As a result, New York's division lead is down to just one game over the second-place Tampa Bay Rays.

That caught the attention of ESPN, which dropped the Yankees from No. 5 to No. 6 in its latest MLB Power Rankings.

"Aaron Judge has been the center around which the Yankees — and baseball, really — have orbited," ESPN posted Thursday. "He finished the month of May in a legitimate chase for .400, all while amassing 21 home runs and putting up an absurd OPS of 1.268."

"June has seen Judge go from godlike to merely great in slashing .265/.382/.566," ESPN continued. "Behind that, the Yankees have gone just 11-12 and seen a once-massive lead in the AL East shrink to almost nothing. In their past 14 games, they have accumulated three runs or fewer on nine occasions."

The Yankees aren't the only AL club sliding. The Detroit Tigers fell out of the top spot in the ranking, getting leapfrogged by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Philadelphia Phillies, now sitting in first place in the National League East, moved from No. 6 to No. 3 this week. Then came the Cubs, who lead the NL Central, remaining steady at No. 4.

The big riser in the rankings is Houston, who moved from No. 8 to No. 5 overall. The Astros are riding a three-game winning streak and has won 11 of 14 overall to open up a 5 1/2 game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

Like the Yankees, the crosstown New York Mets felt the pain this week, falling from No. 3 to No. 7 after losing 10 of their last 12 games.

Despite this week's stumble, the Yankees remain a near-lock for the postseason. FanGraphs gives the Yankees a 70.2% chance of winning the division and 95.5% chance of making the playoffs.

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