The Yankees just finished a relatively successful road trip to the West Coast.
Aaron Boone's team was swept by the Athletics, but then it took two-of-three from the Dodgers (who are also battling for the best record in Major League Baseball) before then sweeping the Mariners.
One highlight of the road trip was the pitching of James Paxton, who is pitching much better than he did earlier in the season. On Thursday, Boone joined John Jastremski and Bart Scott as they filled in for Mike Francesa on WFAN. The Yankees' skipper had quite a bit of praise for Paxton.
"You know I think getting fully back into the injuries and just getting back into a routine," said Boone. "I think really tightening up and being convicted … he's got the stuff to match up with any other elite pitcher in the game … I think he's done a really good job over the last month of incorporating his curveball."
Paxton went seven innings in Friday's win over Los Angeles and then he went five innings five days later in a win against Seattle. Overall, the 30-year-old has gotten the win in each of his last six starts, dating back to the beginning of August.
The Yankees and Dodgers are arguably the two best teams in baseball. They're arguably the two most storied franchises in the history of the sport. Thus, the question naturally arose during their series whether it was a prelude to a World Series matchup.
Boone was asked whether that crossed the minds of him and his players while playing under the bright lights of LA.
"Yeah I think it did because obviously that was something that was talked about so much, and we were answering questions about it all weekend … being a part of that environment over the weekend where you could really feel a buzz, it had a postseason feel to it, in the course of a long season … it was fun to be a part of that."
Both the Yankees and Dodgers are 88-47 on the season. The two clubs haven't met in the World Series since 1981, when Tommy Lasodra's Dodgers won 4-2.
Click on the audio player above to listen to the full interview with Aaron Boone.
WFAN is the flagship station of the Yankees. Tune in to 660 AM or 101.9 FM this season to hear all the action.
