Diaries
The marathon is over. After 162 games of ups, downs, and everything in between, the Yankees’ season now hinges on what happens in the next three. Win and they move on to the ALDS against the Toronto Blue Jays. Lose and an entire year’s worth of work ends abruptly at the hands of their biggest rivals, the Boston Red Sox.
It is a storyline baseball cannot resist: Yankees and Red Sox, October, and everything on the line. Just 25 games ago, New York swept Boston in a three-game set, proof that this team can rise to the occasion. But if history has taught us anything, it is that the Red Sox never come unprepared. Last year, they ran wild on the bases, swiping nine bags in one game. Jose Trevino may not have had the quickest release behind the plate, but that kind of aggression shows just how dialed in Boston can be when it comes to exploiting New York’s weaknesses.
Meanwhile, Aaron Judge enters October already in the thick of the American League MVP conversation. His bat has carried the Yankees through stretches where offense was scarce, and his presence alone changes how opposing pitchers attack the lineup. But even an MVP-level season does not guarantee October success. Judge and his teammates have to deliver under the brightest lights.
The key for the Yankees will be more than just star power. It is execution. Can the rotation hold steady against a Boston lineup that thrives on long at-bats and timely hits? Can the bullpen, which has been both lights-out and shaky at times, close games when it matters most? And, perhaps most importantly, can the Yankees control the running game to keep the Red Sox from manufacturing offense the way they have in past showdowns?
After 162 games, the questions are many, but the answers will come quickly. For the Yankees, the next three games will define not just their season, but their place in one of baseball’s greatest rivalries.