Three Games Up, Wild Card Edition

With their
two games to one series victory over the Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees find themselves with a three game lead in the Wild Card race. Now the Yankees finally have a chance to give themselves some real breathing room as they reach the final stretch of the regular season as they head into Kansas City to face the Royals for a three game set over the weekend. If they handle business, which means sweeping all three games, the Yankees could have some serious space between themselves and either the Seattle Mariners or the Detroit Tigers as those two teams begin a series with each other that may decide each others' season.

It would seem that the most favorable scenario for the Yankees would see them sweeping the Royals, while the Mariners take two of three games from the Tigers. Despite being a half game in front of the Tigers in the wild card, the Mariners are the far inferior team and the Yankees would certainly have an easier time keeping the Mariners at bay the rest of the year. If the Yankees sweep and the Mariners take two, it would leave the Yankes with a four game lead over the Mariners, and five and a half game lead over the Tigers.

However, the last time the Yankees faced a lowly team this past weekend, they lost two of three games to them. Many cited a letdown after sweeping the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium as the prime cause, it's hard to get excited to play the Devil Rays after sweeping the Sox for sure. The Yanks recovered against the Mariners, but they must avoid another letdown. The only "big" series on paper left now for the Yankees is in Boston, September 14-16. But in reality, every series will be big for the Yankees until the clinch a playoff spot. If the ups and downs of this season have proven anything to the Bronx Bombers, nothing is guaranteed anymore. Any sort of extended slump in the last three weeks of the season might and probably will cost them their shot at the playoffs. There's going to be a lot of Tampa Bays, Baltimores, and Torontos these last few weeks, and the Yankees have to take care of business.