Tight Race

The race in the AL East is on. It is the most competitive right now with the Yankees (72-50) leading but Tampa Bay (68-54) is right behind them, and Baltimore (66-56) is six games behind. This is such a crucial time for the Yanks to continue to win, because one loss can put them in jeopardy of losing that first place spot. Teams like the Rays and Orioles are too good to slip behind. Tampa Bay has a five game winning streak and they are playing some of their best baseball right now. The Yankees have a tough schedule coming up with two more games against the White Sox, a series with the Indians, who are playing very well, and then they play the Blue Jays, and the Orioles. The White Sox are leading the AL Central with a record of 66-55, and came back last night to beat the Yanks. It was all Yankees until the fifth inning, when Chicago scored five runs. The Yankees and the White Sox battled it out in the fifth when the Yanks tied it and then took the lead to make it 6-5 but then Beckham homered to right and tied the game once again. From then on, it went downhill for the Yankees. Chicago scored three more runs, winning the game 9-6.

The White Sox scored five runs off of Garcia and Joba Chamberlain was booed off the mound when he gave up a leadoff home run to tie the game. "He has to be more consistent, he has to help us." Girardi said of Chamberlain. (nypost.com)

Derek Jeter has been a key to the Yankees success lately. He homered on Monday against the White Sox, and went 4 for 5 to raise his average to .398. "He just continues to have big days for us," Joe Girardi said. "That's what he's doing. It is pretty amazing." (ESPN.com)

Ivan Nova (11-6,, 4.76 ERA) is on the mound for the Yankees tonight against Liriano (4-10, 5.22 ERA). Nova has been inconsistent but he has shown signs of improvement over his last couple of outings. The Yankees need to get more wins on the board in order to stay in first place with a nice lead above Tampa Bay and the Orioles. Hopefully they can deliver. Of course, let's go Yankees!