The Yankees are back in the Bronx after taking six of seven on the road. First they swept the Angels, and then they took three of four in Houston, with two of the wins coming in the ninth inning.
“Just proud to be associated with them,” Aaron Boone said about his feelings of this team. “They’re really good at kind of turning the page on yesterday’s events, good, bad or indifferent. Having a strong game plan going into the game whether it’s offensively, from the pitching standpoint, how we’re going to defend teams. They grind away. These guys come to play and it’s a trait of there’s I really appreciate.”
That 9-9 start has been long forgotten with the Yankees winning 12 of the last 14. There was a wild extra inning win against the Angels, a blowout where they scored 10 runs in the first two innings, and then a 2-1 duel with CC Sabathia as the winner.
Gary Sanchez crushed a three-run homer off Ken Giles after Justin Verlander shut down the Yankees for eight innings. Boone let Luis Severino pitch a complete game the next night. And yesterday the Yankees scored three in the ninth for a satisfying 6-5 win as Aroldis Chapman struck out Jose Altuve with the tying and winning runs on base.
And some Yankees are saying they’re not playing their best ball.
“That’s my expectation of them,” Boone said. “It’s not to be satisfied. Obviously we’re playing really well but it’s a long season and I never want them to be satisfied with anything they’re doing. There’s always room to improve, there’s always room to continue to get better and hopefully we continue to do that.”
Now the Yankees return home to play the Indians, another 2017 playoff opponent. “Coming home hopefully energized you,” Boone said about trying to keep up the momentum and energy after a travel day and emotional series. “Get to play in Yankee Stadium against another great team. I don’t think it’ll be hard for us to psychologically be up for this game and excited to kick off a homestand.”