With Sweep of the Red Sox, the Yankees Shake Up the Standings

There were injuries, sure, but that hadn’t stopped the Yankees, a team with a lot of resources, in previous seasons. Their hitting, though, long a strength, was suddenly failing them. Coupled with poor defense, and troubles on the mound in June, it seemed like the team was going nowhere.

To make matters worse, their rivals were sending them further into a tailspin. The Yankees began the season with seven straight losses to the Red Sox, who initially weren’t expected to be a top contender but sat in the first place in the A.L. East for most of the year. On July 4, perhaps the nadir of the Yankees’ season so far, the Red Sox had an A.L. best 53-32 record and led the Tampa Bay Rays by four and a half games in the division.

The roles, though, have flipped thanks to the Yankees’ improved play, unlikely contributions from fill-ins, and a jolt of talent acquired by Cashman before the July 30 trade deadline. Undermined by poor defense and pitching of late, the Red Sox have gone 16-22 since July 4 while the Yankees are a major league-best 27-11. (The defending A.L. and division champion Rays surged into first place on July 31.)

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/sports/baseball/yankees-red-sox.html