Remember when the Yankees swept the Blue Jays on the road a little while back, with a couple of good offensive showings and some key moments in the clutch along the way?
Yeah... that feels like a lot longer than just around a dozen days ago, doesn't it? That's the effect of a tough three-game sweep, this one going in the direction of the opponent, at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. That's the equivalent of all the wind getting taken out of a team's sails, a gut punch, a reminder of the harsh reality that is playing in the American League East. In fact, one could say that it's the equivalent of getting your equipment truck stuck in your biggest rival's garage.
But those momentum-killing ups and downs have been the story to this point in the frustrating 2021 Yankees campaign, and that's exactly what manager Aaron Boone pointed to in a press conference on Monday.
"Our season's on the line... too many ups and downs, and we're in too good a division to have those ups and downs obviously continue," Boone said. "We can't afford to play great for two weeks and struggle for a week, not if we're going to make up ground. We've dug ourselves a little bit of a hole in the division, obviously. The good news is we still are in complete control of the script, but I don't think there's any question moving forward that, night in and night out, our season's on the line."
Regardless of the result on Monday night against the Angels, the first of a four-game home series, or any other game this season, Boone says it's important to take that mentality into each game the rest of the way. Fortunately, he doesn't think that the team is getting overly frustrated or letting the ups and downs of the season affect their play negatively.
"I actually think as a group they're doing okay, you know? I do believe that they are really confident in what they can and hopefully will do, and I think that confidence is born... for good reason," Boone said. "These guys know what they're capable of doing. We've certainly done it in spurts this year. Again, it's been up and down.
"We've gotten a little bit healthier from a position player standpoint and getting some guys back, and I don't want to lose sight of the fact that, especially from an offensive standpoint, we're a different team than we were three weeks ago. We're a better group."
Prior to the Yankees' series in Boston, the offense seemed to be trending in the right direction, with six games of at least five runs scored in a nine-game span. Hopefully, it was just a blip on the radar, and this series against Los Angeles proves to be a bountiful one.
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