The Yanks trailed 5-0 in the sixth, and even after Alex Rodriguez mashed a two-run homer, a New York loss seemed imminent. Yet over the following 90 minutes or so, the Yankees put on a display of why they're in first place to begin with, scoring six runs in the ninth and 10th innings to pull off their gutsiest win of the year.
It was just one game, but it was indicative of the season. For the Red Sox and Rays, that's a problem.
The reason, mainly, is that while both the Rays and Red Sox have gone on torrid runs during alternate portions of the 2010 season, the Yankees have remained steady.
The Rays got the jump out of the gate, going a ridiculous 32-12 to start the season, opening up a six-game lead in the division in the process. Included in that stretch was a 7-2 record against the Sox and Rays.
Then the Red Sox took over. The day after the Rays won their 32nd game, the 24-21 Red Sox went into Tampa Bay and swept a three-game series to kick off a 22-10 stretch that concluded with a series win in San Francisco this past weekend.
Much was made of both teams' stretches of good fortune, and even more was made of their slides. The Sox sat at 11-14 after getting swept in Baltimore on May 2, and many in Red Sox Nation already began thinking about 2011. The Rays, on the other hand, got out to that hot start but have gone 12-19 since May 23, a losing spell capped off with an old-fashioned dugout fight on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Yankees have just kept winning. Their 16-13 record in May was certainly not spectacular, but their longest losing streak of the season remains at three. They've countered any losing streaks with winning streaks of three games or more eight times, with their longest winning streak being just six games.
It all spells one word: consistency.
But that's only part of the problem for the rest of the AL East. The other is Mark Teixeira's .229 batting average. With a career mark of .286, and with his worst single-season average being .259 in his rookie season, Teixeira is guaranteed to get hot this summer. Considering he's managed 13 homers and 48 RBIs throughout his cold spell, the idea of him turning around his batting average won't be making any pitchers excited.
With all that in play, the Yankees are in the driver's seat heading into July. Of course, much stranger things have happened in this division than the Yankees blowing a two-game lead, and there's plenty of baseball yet to be played. Still, given how consistently well the Yankees have played, and given that World Series trophy No. 27 resides in the new stadium, there's more than enough reason to believe the division is the Yankees' to lose.
