Woah!
The Yankees have done it again. A team that continues to define and re-define the term "never-say-die," the Yankees stormed back to beat the Red Sox 9-6 at the Stadium to capture their second straight win in the series, and 17th victory in its last 18 games. The Yankees, who now boast a MLB best 26-10 record have leapfrogged the Red Sox for first place the AL East.
There is something special about this club. Not only do the Yankees have a bunch of great, young players, they a team that fights tooth and nail every single night. There is winning, and then there is hating to lose. This team hates losing. The detest it so much that they find and invent news ways to win ballgames on a regular basis. And every night a new hero rises to the occasion.On Wednesday it was two of the elder statesmen of this ball club: Neil Walker and Brett Gardner who led the way for the Bronx Bombers.
There the Red Sox were leading 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning, and you could feel the game was lost for Boston as soon as Walker doubled to lead off the inning. After Matt Barnes walked Gleyber Torres on five pitches, Boston manager Alex Cora went to his closer Craig Kimbrel to try to get five outs. Those five outs would never come for Boston.
As he has throughout his career, Brett Gardner worked an epic at bat, jumping ahead 3-0, before fouling a couple of pitches before driving the ball to the center field wall for a two-run triple to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead. So much for that low batting average. Gardner was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI on Wednesday. It was a pleasure to see the veteran deliver again.
Finally, it was time to rise as Aaron Judge put the exclamation point on the evening when he launched a Kimbrel fastball over the center field wall for a two-run blast to push the Yankees lead to 9-6. Game over. Good night Boston, drive home safe.
The resiliency of this Yankee team is tremendous. Every time Boston scored, the Yankees found a way to comeback. Mitch Moreland's two-run homer in the second gave Boston a 2-1 lead. That was quickly erased when Giancarlo Stanton, who has had a brilliant series, drove in both Gardner and Judge on a double to right to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
When Andrew Benintendi homered for Boston to cut the Yankee lead to 4-3, the Bombers answered with a sac fly RBI by Gary Sanchez. And of course after Hanley Ramirez's homer gave Boston the lead back at 6-5, the Yankees staged that late inning rally.
You don't need to be a fan of the Yankees to not be at awe at what they are doing. The Yankees are winning games at a historic pace. They have won 11 straight home games, something that hasn't been done by a Yankee team since the legendary 1998 ball club. The comparisons to the '98 Yankees won't stop. That Yankee team was 27-9 at this point in the year. This year's club is just one game off that pace.
While the '98 team was clearly better, this team has an opportunity to chase history. They have the ability to do it, now they have to sustain it and remain consistent.
Don't look now, but this is turning into a very, very special season for Yankees baseball.
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