Well. They can check that off the list.
One four-game sweep later, New York looks like one of the best teams in baseball, if not the very best. The Yankees’ pitching — highlighted by C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and a resurgent Andy Pettitte — has looked better in the second half than it has at any point this year. The bats — Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and even Johnny Damon — are getting the job done simultaneously, and it’s making for a deadly combination in the American League East.
“It feels like we’ve got a special club right now,” Pettitte told the New York Post.
And he’s right: Before Monday’s loss to Toronto, the Yanks had won seven straight, 18 of 23 and 31 of 41. They can’t lose at home. And they know it, too.
Suddenly, the Red Sox — who began the season 8-0 against New York — look like they have no hope of winning the division.
“So much for 8-0, huh?” reliever Phil Coke said to the Post. “I think we made somewhat of a statement. I don’t think we took our foot off the throttle the whole [weekend].”
If they keep playing like this, look out: There’s a new World Series favorite in town.
Playoff Picture
AL East: New York Yankees (69-43)
AL Central: Detroit Tigers (59-52)
AL West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (66-44)
AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox (63-48)
Breakdown: The Yankees all but secured their stranglehold on the American League East with this weekend’s four-game sweep of the Red Sox. Now, Boston will be lucky to fend off the feisty Rangers for the wild card. The White Sox are sneaking up on Detroit, and the Angels lost some footing against Texas over the weekend but maintain a four in the West.
NL East: Philadelphia Phillies (61-48)
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals (63-51)
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers (68-45)
NL Wild Card: Colorado Rockies (62-50), San Francisco Giants (61-51)
Breakdown: The Phillies and the Dodgers, both of whom seemed to be in full control of their divisions a couple of weeks ago, are flailing. The Phils suffered a weekend sweep to the Marlins, who are now just three and a half games out of first place (and Atlanta is nipping at their heels). L.A. lost the final three games of a four-game set to the Braves. With the Rockies and the Giants playing promising second-half baseball, Joe Torre better get his troops in line for the stretch run.
MVP
American League: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins
Mauer edges out teammate Justin Morneau this week — not by much, but by enough. In a day and age when a defensively and offensively-sound catcher is hard to find, Mauer belies all logic. He’s leading the majors in batting at .365, and last week, during a rough six-game stretch when the Twins went 2-4, Mauer never went hitless. He went 13-for-25 during that stretch, highlighted by a 4-for-5 performance in a win against Detroit on Friday. If the Twins have any hope of getting hot this month, they’ll need a lot from him (and a little from Morneau, too).
National League: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
There doesn’t seem to be anyone in baseball more valuable than Pujols is to the Cardinals. After going hitless in a three-game set against Houston, he rebounded in a big way in the first game of a three-game set against New York, registering a four hits, two homers, and five RBIs. When Pujols hits, the Cards win; when he doesn’t, they skid. This week, he also won the race to 100 RBIs — and we still have two months left in the season. There really isn’t any competition.
Cy Young
American League: C.C. Sabathia, New York Yankees
For a while, it’s been a three-man race between Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez — but this week, C.C. Sabathia enters the mix, and all it took was one dominant performance against the Boston Red Sox. The big lefty looked like the second-half-C.C. of old, holding the Sox hitless until the sixth inning of Saturday’s game and finishing the afternoon with 7 2/3 innings of shutout, two-hit ball. Since the All-Star break, he’s 4-1 and has 28 strikeouts in 34.1 innings, and it seems like he’s only going to get better. That’s what he does in the second half.
National League: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants
Ever since his almost-no-hitter, Lincecum seemed to fall off the wagon a bit — he’s 2-3 since the All-Star break — but check out his other numbers. In that stretch, he’s got a 1.75 ERA. 29 strikeouts in 36 innings. Just two home runs. Eight walks. What’s the problem? Bullpen issues and run support. Four of his five starts since the break have been quality starts, and he still leads the majors in strikeouts (198) and ERA (2.20).
Rookie of the Year
American League: Ricky Romero, Toronto Blue Jays
The 24-year-old pitching phenom has been one bright spot — other than Roy Halladay — for a joyless organization this year. He hasn’t been great since the All-Star break, but overall, he’s 10-5 with a 3.66 ERA. He has 90 strikeouts and 44 walks in 2009, and the art of submitting a quality start is nothing foreign to him: He’s only gone less than six innings twice since June 5.
National League: Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
At this point, the Pirates have nothing going for them except the prospect of grooming young talent into something great. That’s where McCutchen comes in. This year, the 22-year-old center-fielder is hitting .292 with seven homers and 33 RBIs. He kicked off August with a three-homer, six-RBI affair against Washington, and ever since then he’s cooled off a bit, but he’s still asserting himself as a promising young talent in a struggling organization.
Weekly Wonders
American League: Billy Butler, Kansas City Royals
Butler was unstoppable last week, hitting .538 with two homers, 10 RBIs and six runs in seven games against Tampa Bay, Seattle and Oakland. In 26 at-bats, he struck out just twice and walked four times.
National League: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
The shortstop had a big week, going 12-for-29 with five RBIs — three of which came in a 4-for-6 performance against Philadelphia on Sunday.
