Yankees Cap Big Week by Taking Down Blue Jays
- Sal Maiorana
- Sep 8
- 4 min read
By Sal Maiorana
September 8, 2025
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Sal Maiorana shares his analysis on the New York Yankees here, but you can see much more on his free Pinstripe People Newsletter at https://salmaiorana.beehiiv.com/subscribe.
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An edited version of Sal's most recent article follows...
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The Yankees continued their steady climb back to the top of the AL East and they are now just two games behind the Blue Jays thanks to a big series win at Yankee Stadium. They are now back to their high point of the season, 17 games over .500, a place they haven’t been since May 28. Three weeks left, and making the postseason now seems like a lock, but they’re aiming higher. Lets get to it.
I’ll be the first to admit that I did not think the Yankees were going to win either of these two big series they just wrapped up Sunday afternoon, first against the AL West-leading Astros in Houston, and then against the AL East-leading Blue Jays in the Bronx.
It was one thing to beat the Nationals and White Sox, but an entirely different animal facing the Astros and Blue Jays.
Proves that while I like to think I know everything, I don’t. They won two of three in each series, so I am perfectly happy to say I’m glad I was wrong because after all the baloney we went through with this team since the end of May when they were seven games ahead in the division and cruising, through Aug. 23 when they got blown out 12-1 at home by Boston and were 6.5 games behind Toronto, they are peaking at the right time.
Since that day when the Red Sox won their third straight in a four-game set in New York, embarrassing the Yankees every step of the way, Aaron Boone’s team has won 11 of 14 games including the final two against the Blue Jays, another team that has had their number all season. The Yankees are now just two games out of first place with 19 left to play, and in terms of the wildcard chase they lead the Red Sox by 1.5 games and that’s very important.
If the Yankees don’t complete their comeback and steal the division from the Blue Jays over these final three weeks, securing the first wildcard spot is vital because that means they would host the best-of-three series against the second wildcard, and right now that’s the Red Sox. The Yankees have been awful against Boston all season with a 2-8 record, but both of the wins came at Yankee Stadium.
Ultimately, I don’t think homefield advantage means much of anything in baseball, but I think we’d all agree that Fenway is a house of horrors for the Yankees and they’d have a much better chance of winning that series if it was at home.
“I feel at this point, every win is pretty big,’’ Cody Bellinger said.
He’s not kidding. And it won’t get much easier this week because after a day off Monday, they host the AL Central-leading Tigers for three, and then have to go to Boston for three next weekend.
Rarely is it pretty with these Yankees - they were brutal Friday night, and then Saturday and Sunday there were definitely moments in each victory where it looked like the games were going to flip in favor of Toronto, but credit where credit is due and the Yankees stood up and delivered in some key situations. Even Devin Williams helped!
“We know what’s at stake,” Boone said. “We know how important these games are. But you also can’t make them bigger than what they are. It’s a game - we’ve got to go play well, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We have a chance to be a really excellent club. And the one thing I know is we’re pretty healthy, and I feel like we have a lot of guys that are in a good place. We are in a position to go get it. Now we gotta go do it, but I’ve felt that way for a long time.”
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The Yankees are off Monday and then start a tough three-game series against the Tigers Tuesday. Detroit has stumbled a little lately and at 82-62, they are 8.5 games ahead of the Royals in the Central, but they now trail the Jays by a half-game in the race for the best record in the AL. In fact, they are only 1.5 games ahead of the Yankees in that race.
The pitching matchups are scheduled to be:
Tuesday, 7:05, YES: Will Warren (4.28 ERA) vs. Casey Mize (3.87) who faced the Yankees on April 7 and gave up one run in six innings.
Wednesday, 7:05, Amazon Prime: Carlos Rodon (3.12) vs. Jack Flaherty (4.85) who returned to the Tigers in free agency and has been their worst starter with an AL-high 13 losses and a 1.302 WHIP.
Thursday, 7:05, YES: Cam Schlitter (3.24) vs. TBD, and the good news is that it probably won’t be AL Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal who pitched Saturday for Detroit.
"Casey Mize" may be one of the best baseball names I've ever seen. The only thing is he should be a power-hitting first baseman; "Casey on the Mound" doesn't have the right ring to it.
I think Thursday's Tiger starter is TBD to see if they decide to pitch Skubal on regular rest rather than giving the whole rotation the extra day. I predict that if the Yankees take the first two, we'll see Skubal in the third game.
it'll look utterly real to me if the Yankees can go into Boston and win two of those three games.
beating Detroit seems as though it's of less import
Casey Mize has had a very bad time post ASB. Warren's home ERA is 3.30 in 14 GS. Rodón has had a couple of clunkers but generally has either been very good or found a way to gut through. Flaherty, looks more like his 2023 version, not his 2024 version. I really want to see how Schlittler bounces back after his worst start of the year, minors included. They won't pitch Skubal on 3 days rest; they don't need to.
Too bad MLB said nothing about umpire Brian Walsh, who really caused the Yankees to lose that game with his sudden reimagining of the strike zone. Plus with what came out later about him, it's really embarrassing for both the Umpires Union…