Bottom of lineup, bullpen help Yankees beat Rangers, retake lead over Blue Jays in wild card race

The New York Yankees toppled the Texas Rangers on Wednesday evening by a 7-3 last (box score), finishing a three-game sweep and higher positioning themselves for the season’s last week-plus. 

Yankees starter Corey Kluber lasted simply 4 ⅓ innings, yielding three runs on eight hits. New York’s bullpen — specifically Wandy Peralta, Clay Holmes, Chad Green, and Aroldis Chapman — then shut down the Rangers for the rest of the sport, allowing them no hits or walks over the remaining 4 ⅔ innings. 

Offensively, the Yankees have been paced by the underside of the order. Second baseman Gleyber Torres, shortstop Gio Urshela, catcher Kyle Higashioka, and pinch-hitter Gary Sánchez mixed for six hits and 5 runs batted in. 

The Yankees entered Wednesday a half recreation again of the Toronto Blue Jays for the American League’s second wild card spot. Moreover, the Yankees have been two video games behind the Boston Red Sox for the highest wild card spot. The Blue Jays misplaced on Wednesday, which means the Yankees are actually a half recreation up on them. (The Crimson Sox blew out the New York Mets, leading to no change on that entrance.)

The Yankees’ precise positioning close to the Blue Jays and Crimson Sox issues for greater than the apparent causes: New York has 9 video games remaining on its schedule, and 6 of them will happen on the highway towards Boston and Toronto. The Yankees will then end the season towards the Tampa Bay Rays, giving them no straightforward victories the remainder of the way in which. Conversely, the Crimson Sox will play the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, whereas the Blue Jays attend to enterprise versus the Minnesota Twins and Orioles.

It stands to cause that the Yankees might want to benefit from their head-to-head matchups towards the Blue Jays and the Crimson Sox as a way to attain the postseason. Shy of that, the Yankees should hope for an unlikely quantity of assist from non-competitive groups.