Best-Kyle Higashioka C New York Yankees-3-4 3R 5RBI 3HR
A week ago, people talked about the Yankees’ demise as they had fallen to 21-21. The Mariners were coming in hot and were looking to snatch the final playoff spot from under them.
This week, a new conversation surrounds the Yankees as they saw contributions from the entire team get them on their seven-game winning streak. Higashioka is the latest of players to come up big for the Yankees with Wednesday’s monstrous three home run game, that helped beat the Blue Jays, 13-2. The Yankees are now back at 28-21 and are getting healthy, so for them to have depth like Higashioka will only make them scarier come playoff time.
Other Notable: Luis Castillo SP Reds-7IP 3H 0ER 1BB 10K 1W; DJ LeMahieu 2B Yankees-3-4 3R 3RBI 2HR; Brady Singer SP Royals-6IP 2H 0ER 1BB 8K 1W; Jorge Alfaro C Marlins-2-4 2R 4RBI 2HR; Kyle Gibson SP Rangers-9IP 4H 0ER 3BB 9K 1W.
Worst-Tanner Roark SP Blue Jays-4IP 6H 6ER 2BB 4K 1L
The Toronto Blue Jays hold the 8th spot right now, but they look like they will be a one and done playoff team. This past week, none of their starting pitchers have shown they are ready for the playoffs. They had the opportunity to take a series against the Yankees who are right above them in the AL East, but they fell flat on their faces instead. In the series against the Yankees, the Blue Jays dropped the first two games by 20 runs then followed that up by giving up 13 runs on Wednesday.
Tanner Roark could not stop the bleeding over from Tuesday’s beatdown and put the Blue Jays down early and often. He gave up runs in every inning but one. Roark and the Blue Jays’ pitching staff need to pull themselves together before the playoffs; otherwise, the other teams will smash their sub-par pitching right out of the playoffs.
Extra Trash: Jo Adell OF Angels-0-4 3K; Dylan Bundy SP Angels-2.2IP 6H 5ER 2BB 2K 1L; Ronald Acuna Jr OF Braves-0-4 3K; Mike Kickham SP Red Sox-2.2IP 7H 6ER 0BB 3K 1L; Willy Adames SS Rays-0-4 3K.