It’s time to start taking the Yankees seriously
The New York Yankees keep telling us there’s a long season ahead, caution against hyperventilating and to otherwise remember the lineup is heavily sprinkled with kids on a learning curve.
But then the Bombers go out and play their most dramatic game of the year, taking down the world champion Cubs in the ninth inning – and expect us to believe something special isn’t being hatched?
The Bombers have dropped all kinds of hints so far, but none as in-yourface as the 3-2 win over Chicago on Friday followed by Saturday’s 11-6 victory to stretch their winning streak to four games.
Down by two runs on Friday, down to the last strike, Brett Gardner bashed a three-run HR off Hector Rondon that turned the Yankees’ dugout into a closed-in riot and left the fans at Wrigley speechless.
On Saturday, Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks homered, with Hicks’s four hits tying a career high and the center fielder and second baseman going a combined 7-for-9 with six RBIs and five runs scored in New York’s 18th victory over its last 23 games.
Who knew the Yankees could be this hot-blooded? They’re the polar opposite of last year’s unwatchable team that vaporized down the stretch. This summer was supposed to be the pivot toward 2018, but the rebuild has accelerated beyond anyone’s expectations.
Suddenly, the Yankees are up 2-0 against the history-making Cubs in the best series of the young season: world champs against the industry’s sleepers.
And when it was over, Cubs manager Joe Maddon stripped down his analysis to a single sentence: “They got us.”
We’ll see where it goes from here. Like the level-headed Joe Girardi said in his office, “you have to get in a couple of months” before it’s reasonable to discuss the pennant race schematic. Still, even though it’s only May, there’s forensic evidence of progress. Like Michael Pineda hanging a slider to Kris Bryant in the first inning, watching it sail over the wall in right and, instead of dissolving in panic, pulling himself together to throw six strong innings.
Like Aaron Judge getting two more hits, raising his average to .337. And Gardner, running his home run streak to five in eight games. Like Yankees rookie starter Jordan Montgomery (2-1) tossing a strong outing for the road win on Saturday.
The 24-year-old left-hander has showed surprising maturity for a first-timer, but this was his biggest test to date, standing on the mound at Wrigley without the benefit of a blow-away fastball.
The first-place Cubs were predictably shocked heading into Sunday’s series finale at Wrigley, but the Yankees weren’t. Chase Headley said: “We played better than them in both games. I’m not saying that to be snide, but we played great.”
Little by little, one statement game after another, the Yankees are changing the narrative in New York. What started as a crazy long shot is now being taken seriously. If the Bombers do in fact make it to October’s doorstep, they’ll look back on a windy weekend at Wrigley and say it all began there.