But with 36 games remaining on their schedule, the Yankees hold a commanding six-game lead over the Red Sox and would need to suffer the type of annual September collapse that their crosstown rivals have grown accustomed to in recent years.
With the division race wrapped up, the race for home-field advantage throughout the postseason now becomes the goal for the Bronx Bombers. And their competition for the top seed in the AL happens to be the one team that has given them the most trouble since 2002: the Angels.
Sitting just 3 1/2 games up on the Halos for the best record in the AL — not to mention the best record in all of baseball — holding home-field advantage could be the key to the Yankees’ return to the top of the baseball world. Since 2005, the Yankees are just 1-6 in their seven postseason games on the road. Their last road win in the playoffs came in Game 1 of the 2005 ALDS against the Angels.
The Yankees have the best home record in baseball at 42-20 (.677), meaning the team’s new stadium in the Bronx has carried over an edge similar to the one offered by the house across the street. And the advantage of hosting the first two games of any series and the chance to play possible Game 7s at home could mean the difference for the Yankees in October.
As it stands, the Yankees’ possible opponents in the first round of the playoffs would either be the Tigers or Rangers. And in the Bronx this season against those two teams, the Yankees are 6-3.
The short porch in right (that has become the even shorter porch in right in the new stadium) has played to the Yankees’ favor, as their stacked lefty lineup has taken full advantage of the jet stream that seems to be carrying toward the right-field bleachers.
The combination of power hitters and strikeout pitchers has been a successful recipe for the major league’s leading home run team, and in a short series or even over the course of a seven-game series, playing at home can only increase the Yankees’ chances of bringing home championship No. 27.
There are six weeks left in the season for the Yankees to separate themselves from their competition in the East and quickly clinch a postseason berth. But with a postseason berth seemingly inevitable, the focus is largely on home field. And this time, it looks like they will have to take down the Angels for the advantage.
