THE YANKEES CAN WIN THE AL EAST IF BOONE DOESN'T GET IN HIS OWN WAY

Better late than never.   I guess the idea is to be red hot going into the playoffs than not.  And right now the Yankees have a winning streak and to be honest, it's great that the Yanks are playing a team like the Orioles right now.  

Let’s rewind a few nights. The Yankees smacked the Twins around 10-5, and Trent Grisham is apparently on his “pretend I’m Barry Bonds” tour again. The guy parked two balls in the seats, Cody Bellinger added his own fireworks, and suddenly the Yankees looked like an actual offense.

Aaron Judge, meanwhile, went 3-for-4 and raised his average to a league-best .329, because he’s just casually carrying the entire team on his back like it’s no big deal. With that win, the Yankees crept within four games of Toronto in the AL East.

Now, here’s the rub: Luis Gil. Four and two-thirds innings. Nine hits. Five runs (four earned). Not exactly the dominance you want from a supposed starter. It’s like clockwork with this staff—another day, another short outing that forces the bullpen to punch in before the 5th inning. And if there’s one thing we know, it’s that Aaron Boone managing a bullpen is like me trying to assemble IKEA furniture—chaotic, inefficient, and guaranteed to break at the worst possible moment. The pen deserves better.

But then, baseball giveth. Last night, Max Fried was absolutely filthy. Seven innings, 13 strikeouts, and his 18th win of the year. Yankees blank the Orioles 7-0, and suddenly hope feels possible again. Fried was a gift. The kind of performance that makes you think maybe, just maybe, the Yankees can claw back some ground in the division.

Tonight it’s Warren vs. Trevor Rogers, and let’s be honest—Warren has been a coin flip all year. Heads: solid outing. Tails: bullpen at it again in the 4th inning. Which, again, brings me back to the point: if this team wants to actually make October matter, the rotation has to learn how to carry its weight.

Now, credit where due: the Yankees are riding a little winning streak, and momentum matters. They’ve got a stretch of home games against opponents that aren’t exactly setting the league on fire.They play the Chisox and O's. Translation: no excuses. They can Win. Don’t make boneheaded Boone mistakes, don’t yank starters too early, and for the love of all things pinstriped, don’t trot Anthony Volpe out there to do his best impression of Robinson Canó jogging to first. What a waste of a shortstop.

This team needs to act like a runaway train—10 straight wins, no looking back, smash everything in sight. That’s how you clinch the AL East. Otherwise? We’re back to the same tired story: the Yankees leave it to the last week, pray for perfection, and Boone stands at the podium shrugging like, “What do you want me to do?”

As it stands, the Yankees are three games up on the Red Sox and Mariners for the first Wild Card spot. The Sox (83-70) and Mariners (84-69) are chewing each other’s ankles off. Meanwhile, the Yankees are three games behind the Blue Jays for the division. Translation: anything can still happen.

So now we wait. Will the Yankees act like contenders, or will Boone trip over his own bullpen phone and remind us why we all drink in October? Stay tuned.