Bronx Bomber Ball

After a series opening win against the Mets Monday night in the Bronx, the Yankees were back in action Tuesday night. Sonny Gray (6-7, 3.39 ERA) got the start and pitched into the seventh inning. After allowing only two runs, Gray and the Bombers offense were able to get a 5-2 victory over the Mets, Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. AP Photo/ Frank Franklin II

After a much-needed day off, the Yankees were back in action Monday night facing the Toronto Blue Jays. For the Bombers, C.C. Sabathia (9-4, 3.81 ERA) got the nod looking to keep the Yankees close in the battle for the American League East. For the Blue Jays, J.A. Happ (4-8, 3.92 ERA) took the hill coming off a solid start against the White Sox. Fred Thornhill/ The Canadian Press via AP

Fresh off a 7-3 victory Monday night, the Yankees were back in action against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium. Making his 500 th career start, C.C. Sabathia (9-3, 3.66 ERA) took the mound looking to continue his string of solid outings. Sabathia was roughed up early, as close calls did not go his way, and mistakes led to big home runs for the Tigers. Those runs would be costly as the Bombers fell 4-3 Tuesday night in the Bronx. AP Photo/Kathy Willens

After a dramatic win last night against the Rays, the Yankees continue to roll and surge for first place in the American League East. Friday night in the Bronx, Masahiro Tanaka (7-9, 5.37 ERA) took the hill looking for some consistency in what has been an up and down season for the former ace. Tanaka was very sharp all night long, striking out five out of the first six batters he faced. The Rays had no answer for Tanaka all night, as he struck out a career-high fourteen batters, in a 6-1 victory. AP Photo/ Julie Jacobson

After a much-needed night off after a long road trip, the Yankees were back in action Tuesday night in the Bronx. For the Bombers, Jordan Montgomery (6-5, 4.09 ERA) got the nod as they continue to fight their way back atop the A.L. East as they were only two games back entering tonight’s ballgame. The Cincinnati Reds came into Yankee Stadium for tonight’s interleague battle with Luis Castillo (1-3, 3.86 ERA) taking the mound. The Reds had struggled lately with the majors highest ERA, and have been subpar against lefties all season long. That was evident tonight as Montgomery shut hitters down all evening helping the Yankees secure a 4-2 win. AP Photo/ Frank Franklin II

On a beautiful Friday night in Seattle, the Bombers were looking to ride the momentum of a dominate Luis Severino start that gave the Yankees a victory Thursday night. The birthday boy C.C. Sabathia (8-3, 3.54 ERA) was on the hill for the Bombers, and in Safeco Field he started the evening 9-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Lead by another strong outing from Sabathia, a three-run bomb by Aaron Judge, and a shutdown performance by the bullpen, the Yankees cruised to another clean 5-1 victory. AP Photo/ Ted S. Warren

The Yankees have continued to struggle in close games, and after the loss last night they needed starting pitcher Luis Cessa (0-3, 4.18 ERA) to give them at least five strong innings. With a well-rested bullpen ready to go, it was evident that Joe Girardi might have to go there early, as Cessa struggled out of the gate. On the contrary his counterpart, the ageless wonder Bartolo Colon (2-8, 8.14 ERA) looked solid to start the game. However, on a night with trade rumors circulating, the Yankee bats woke up in the fifth inning to take a commanding 6-3 lead that they would hold onto for the rest of the game. Photo Credit: Bruce Kluckholn | AP Cessa was wild out the gate after he walked the first two batters. He then hit Miguel Sano to load the bases. Lacking control and struggling to get ahead in the count, Cessa walked Robbie Grossman to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. The Yankees only managed two hits through three innings against Colon, but during the bottom of the third inning...

After a much-needed break, the New York Yankees returned to action Friday night at Fenway Park. Needing to push the reset button and begin the second half of the season on a high note, the Bombers looked to take game one from the rival Red Sox. The Yankees were able to take a 4-3 lead to the bottom of the ninth, until Aroldis Chapman and the defense imploded, leading to a heartbreaking 5-4 loss. AP Photo/ Michael Dwyer

For the Bombers all was well early, as Sabathia looked good coming off the disabled list, but things quickly fell apart for the veteran during the third inning. Since May 16 th Sabathia had the lowest ERA in the American League at a 0.99. However, after three weeks off, and no rehab starts the big lefty would not be long for today’s outing. In his last six starts C.C. was 5-0, but with two outs in the third, Sabathia was unable to find the strike zone. AP Photo/ Kathy Willens

The first-place New York Yankees embarked on a seven-game trip to the west coast Monday night. With the struggling Masahiro Tanaka taking the hill after getting an extra day off, the Bombers were able to escape with a 5-3 victory courtesy of Aaron Judge. In tonight's game, Chase Headley was the primary contributor on the offensive side, but the Yankees saw the former Yankee Eric Young Jr. hurt them in a big way with a game tying home run, and walk-off single in the 11th inning to lift the Angels over the Yankees by a score of 3-2. AP Photo/ Jae C. Hong

With only three games remaining during their thirteen straight against the American League East, the New York Yankees have gone 5-5. Some great wins during this stretch, but the concern surrounding Masahiro Tanaka remains as he continues to struggle. Last night the Bombers wrapped up their three-game set against the Boston Red Sox, with another victory led by Gary Sanchez with his two home runs and the strong pitching of Michael Pineda. The Yankees have gone 4-1 against the Sox this season outscoring them by a combined score of 27-7. Before the Yankees head west, they wrap up at home against the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles started the season on fire, and have cooled off as of late. However, they are still only three and a half games back in the division, and are 6-4 in their last ten games. The Bombers will need to score early and often this weekend to come out with a series win. Photo Credit/ Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox once again occupy the top of the American League East.  Many people have said that the rivalry has taken a step back in recent years, and while that seems to be true, many people believe the new, younger players will revive this rivalry to what it once was. To have a heated rivalry, both teams need to be in contention and for the first time in a few years the Yankees and Red Sox are both surging and playing well which should make for a good series. Boston is only two games behind the first-place Bombers at this point, so a series sweep in either direction can really help or hinder how one team's summer begins. Photo Credit/ Jim McIsaac

The New York Yankees started off their thirteen-game A.L. East trip struggling out of the gates against the Baltimore Orioles. After losing two out of three games in a ballpark they have struggled in, the Bombers traveled north of the border to take on the surging Toronto Blue Jays. After starting the season very slow, the Jays are getting healthy, and slowly climbing up the A.L East standings. Thursday night in Toronto, in what would be game one of a four game set, the Yankees were able to showcase their stellar offense and pitching. Winning the game 12-2, behind two home runs by Gary Sanchez, and six runs batted in by Aaron Hicks, C.C Sabathia was able to relax and attack the strike zone in route to just over six innings pitched and seven strikeouts. With Aaron Judge batting third in the lineup for the first time all season, Sanchez was obviously able to benefit, and hopefully this is where his hot streak will begin. AP Photo/ Frank Gunn

The New York Yankees knew that their upcoming road trip would be a true testament. A trip that would tell the team, and the fans just where they stand, as the dog days of summer lurk. Camden yards has not always been kind to the Bombers, especially in the last two seasons. Monday afternoon in Baltimore, the Yankees found themselves struggling once again. Their offense, which has been inconsistent to say the least, was unable to get things going and that led to the Orioles taking game one by a score of 3-2. As a whole, pitching for the Yankees has been surprisingly good, and in order to come out of this A.L. East road trip with their spot in first place, the Bombers need their offense to get rolling once again. AP Photo/ Patrick Semansky

Throughout the past five games you could say the Yankees offense has been in a slump. The Bombers had not scored more than three runs in a game since last Monday night against the Royals. However, the Yankees had a chance on Sunday afternoon to close their brief home stand with a 4-2 record, and those wins would have been large in part due to pitching. Luckily while the offense has been cold these past few days, each pitcher has stepped up and kept the Yankees in the game, sometimes without their best stuff. Yesterday afternoon in the Bronx, C.C. Sabathia pitched his third solid outing in a row. Lasting six and a third innings, and only allowing two earned runs, the veteran was able to help the Yankees even up the series with the Athletics, striking out a season high nine batters. AP Photo/ Kathy Willens

Coming off a tough series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees opened up another series at home against the Kansas City Royals, Monday night in the Bronx. The Bombers were just 3-3 in their last six games, and needed a win to start another hot streak and keep pace in the division. Big Michael Pineda got the start Monday night and gave the Yankees just over six quality innings allowing just two runs. The Bombers, who once again were forced to face what has been the Royals best pitcher in Jason Vargas, scored three runs on during his six-inning outing, and Chris Carter was able to add an insurance home run in the seventh inning to secure the Yankees 4-2 victory. AP Photo/ Kathy Willens

After a rough weekend series against the Houston Astros where the New York Yankees saw themselves win only one game, they still managed to stay in first place. The A.L. East will be a tough division all year long, and while the Yankees can ill afford to rely on other teams losing, it greatly benefited the Bombers that the Orioles have lost four in a row, and the Rays took two of three from the Red Sox. Sunday night against the Astros on a night where Derek Jeter had his number retired, the Yankees had a chance to split the series with what looks like the best team in baseball, but failed to do so. However, after going down 8-0 early, the Yankees did what they have done all season, and that is fight. They were able to make the game closer than it should have been, ultimately falling by a final score of 7-10. Photo Credit: TNS/ John Sleezer

After the Yankees epic bout with the World Champion Cubs on Sunday night, they had every right to come out flat in Monday’s opener against Reds. However, as this team has done all season long they found a way to win. Masahiro Tanaka did not have his best stuff, but he found ways to work out of potential trouble all night. Starting off with three runs in the first inning, the Yankees never looked back and were able to win their sixth game in a row behind ten runs from the Bomber offense. AP Photo: John Minchillo

All season long this Yankee team has had a different feel about them. A spark, even a few players that are must watch when they come up to bat. For the first time in at least a handful of seasons, this team is fun to watch. The 2017 New York Yankees are never out of a game, and they have shown that so far, they will not waive the white flag and say, “tomorrow is another day”. This was evident yesterday afternoon in Wrigley, where the Yankee bats were shut down all day, and the confines of the so called “Windy City”, had not been too kind. But during the bottom of the ninth, after Chase Headley and Jacoby Ellsbury got on base Brett Gardner hit a three-run shot that turned a bad day, into a great victory. Do not count these Yankees out, and do not believe the game is over before the final out is made or they can and will make you pay. AP Photo Nam Y. Huh

The Yankees will not win every for the rest of the season. As great as this young team is, and as surprising as they are atop the A.L. East they will run into trouble occasionally. That happened last night, when the Yankee offense was shut down, and the young righty Luis Severino looked human. Tonight, however the Yankee bats looked to return the favor and even the series. For Toronto, Mat Latos (0-0, 3.27 ERA) was on the hill. Latos coming off a solid start against St. Louis, was looking to stifle the Yankee offense and pick up his first win on the young season. For the Bombers, their ace Masahiro Tanaka (3-1, 4.20 ERA) took the hill looking to build off his dominant outing against the rival Red Sox where he pitched a complete game shutout. Photo Credit: AP Photo KathyWillens