The Yankees’ scorching start to the season doesn’t seem as if it will tail off just yet. They had the best record in baseball at 26-9 and led the American League East heading into Tuesday night’s game on the road against the Baltimore Orioles, the last place team in division at 14-22 before Tuesday’s matchup. Playing the Baltimore Orioles four times this week has given the Yankees a prime opportunity to add more wins.
Immediately before the Orioles series, the Yanks took three out of four games on the road against the Chicago White Sox fueled by a potent offense. They scored a total of 33 runs in four games versus the Sox and began the Orioles series putting up six in a win (6-2) on Monday. The Yankees pitching has been even more impressive.
Lefty Nestor Cortes has been as good as any starter in baseball, going 2-1 with a 1.35 ERA and 49 strikeouts in seven starts. Starter Luis Severino (3-0) set the tone to open the week by giving up just one run and one hit with seven strikeouts in six innings to earn Monday’s victory.
“The first two games, they were just better than us,” said White Sox center fielder Luis Robert last Saturday through an interpreter after his single off Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman drove home the winning run in the ninth inning giving Chicago a 3-2 win. The Yankees hammered the White Sox in the previous two games, scoring 15 runs last Thursday (15-7) and 10 the next night (10-4).
“But today, we came prepared and were able to execute and then we got on top,” added Robert.
The Yankees will play their 38th game of the season this afternoon with Jordan Montgomery as the scheduled starter to conclude the four-game series with the Orioles. They will return home to host the White Sox for three games tomorrow through Sunday, then face the Orioles for three games Monday through Wednesday.
In addition to being the best team in the win column, the Yanks are also the hardest working. Their last day off was May 7 and their next day off is May 30.