N.Y. Yankees: Bombers Stick a Fork in Red Sox Season

From the desk of:  BLAME CARLOS MAY

Yankees lead series; 2-1

I - BOS 6; NYY 1

II - NYY 5; BOS 1

III - NYY 10; BOS 5

IV- MONDAY

New York Yankees

vs.

Boston Red Sox

FROM

FENWAY PARK

If you didn't already stick a fork in the Red Sox then now is the time.  With less than 20 games remaining in the season they're pretty much done.  Boston is by no means a bad team.  They're just not as good as, say, six other American League teams.  No one was waiting on this series against the Yankees at Fenway Park for confirmation.  It is a truth the American League standings have held to be self evident.  And if we're pointing fingers, I'd direct mine at general manager Dave Dombrowski.  The Red Sox all season faced a glaring need for starting pitching.  But he so badly hand-cuffed team finances with large sums of dead money which in turn prohibited Boston from making necessary acquisitions during the trade deadline.

The Minnesota Twins sure do hit a lot of home runs.  They had better begin hitting a lot more now that they've lost starting pitcher Michael Pineda for the remainder of the season/playoffs resulting from a failed PED test.  To have that occur in the opening weeks of September is a devastating blow.  A new park, a resurgent competitive club, a reinvigorated fan base, and now this.  Make no mistake Pineda was not having a Cy Young season, but a respectfully effective one nonetheless.  Up to the moment of his suspension he owned an 11-5 record in 26 starts with a 4.01 ERA and 1.16 WHiP, with 141 hits and 28 walks allowed with 140 strikeouts through 146 innings pitched.  At the very least his suspension leaves a gaping hole in the middle of Minnesota's rotation they'll have no choice but to fill from within.

Otherwise the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians, and Oakland Athletics, are teams I group together as the "Little Rascals" of the American League.  They're all young, competitive, and entertaining.  But we all know the American League this season boils down to the New York Yankees and Houston Astros.  Both are posting dominant regular season records against a rather weak field.  Eight of 15 American League teams are presently below the .500 mark versus six for the National League.  But there's only one N.L. team playing below .400, while the American League features four teams under the .400 mark.  While I'm at it, the Detroit Tigers are the only team playing below .300 baseball.

That being said, although the Yankees boast a 93-50 record, and the Houston Astros sport a league best 94-50 record, there exists a greater underlying disparity between Bronx and Houston that is far wider than their impressive records indicate.  The Yankees are sixth in Team ERA behind all five aforementioned playoff contenders not named the Red Sox.  Only Minnesota's pitching has surrendered more runs.  Otherwise the Yankees are last in batting average against, and in WHiP, among today's viable post-season contenders.  That seems to be the case in several other pitching categories as well.

AMERICAN LEAGUE RANKINGS: HOU vs. NYY

Team ERA

• #2 HOU - 3.71
• #6 NYY - 4.38

Team WHiP

• #2 HOU - 1.14
• #7 NYY - 1.30

Strikeouts

• #1 HOU - 1,451
• #5 NYY - 1,324

BAA

• #1 HOU - .222
• #5 NYY - .247

OPS Against

• #2 HOU - .689
• #6 NYY - .757

The above stats poses a problem for the Yankees if you're of the belief good pitching stops good hitting in a four/seven playoff series.  The Yankees like to think they've addressed the prohibitions of a static offense and too many strikeouts at the plate.  DJ LeMahieu certainly fits that narrative.  But truth be told Houston has struck out an A.L. least 1,033 times, and the Yankees are eighth with 1,248 strikeouts; that's also more than Oakland, Cleveland, and Minnesota.  However the Yankees have hit 26 more home runs than Houston, but are only out-slugging the Astros by a mere .002 margin.  Lastly Houston leads the league with an .836 OPS.  Meanwhile the Yankees are third with a .828 OPS.

Entering Sunday's game against the Red Sox, the Yanks were 10-4 over their last 14 games during which time they out scored their opponents by an average of 3.7 runs per game.  The Yankees wind up defeating Boston by a 10-5 final.  We all know how that can turn on a dime come playoff time.

After Mondays series finale against Boston, the Yankees should benefit from a rather light schedule ahead.  The Tigers, Blue Jays, and Angels are all sub par teams.  After a two game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Bronx closes out the regular season against another team teetering at par, the Texas Rangers.