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Jazz Chisholm Jr continued his career year for the Yankees on Saturday.
The New York Yankees are starting to look dangerous, and they’re not afraid to talk about it.
After carrying the Yankees to their third straight win, and second in a row over the AL East-rival Boston Red Sox, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. declared them the team to beat in the majors.
New York (83-65) are of course the reigning American League champs and now lead the Red Sox by 2.5 games for the AL’s top wild card spot after its 5-3 win Saturday. Chisholm was 3 for 5 with three RBIs and one run scored, plus socked his 29th home run of the year.
The Yankees improved to 21-9 in their past 30 games and won for the seventh time in their past 11 games — their past 11 games have come against all three AL division leaders plus the first two games against Boston.
What Did Jazz Chisholm Say About the Yankees?
Chisholm wears his emotions on his sleeves, and after clinching the Yankees’ third series win in their past four, he put the rest of the league on notice.
“We’re the best team in the league,” Chisholm said. “Any team that thinks they’re better than us, they should know that when we step on the field, we’re coming with relentlessness. We’re coming to step on necks. We’re not here to play around.”
Though Aaron Judge is likely to win his second straight American League MVP Award, Chisholm has been a catalyst for New York’s elite offense, which leads the majors in home runs (250) and runs scored (765). He is third on the Yankees in home runs and RBIs (72) and leads them in stolen bases — he’s one homer away from his first career 30-30 season.
Yet, Chisholm’s confidence stems from the Yankees’ sudden clean play, especially against the top teams in the AL. Aside from winning series against the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays and now the Red Sox — they won one of three games at home from the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers — the Yankees have pitched well and played better defense, especially in the games they have won
“We’ve said it all year long: we’ve been playing to everybody else’s level instead of our own level,” Chisholm said. “We’ve been losing games ourselves; making errors, just having poor at-bats and stuff like that. We finally looked ourselves in the mirror and realized that we’re the team to beat. That’s how we’ve been stepping on the field for the past two weeks.”
What Did The Yankees Say About Winning Their Series Against The Red Sox?
It’s been a cathartic weekend in Boston for the Yankees, since they won just their fourth game in 12 head-to-heads against the Red Sox. They finally got to Boston’s No. 2 starter Brayan Bello — who had thrown 14 scoreless inning against the Yankees in two starts — touching up the righty for four runs on five hits and three walks in five innings.
Yankees ace Max Fried scattered nine hits and allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings, but the Yankees bullpen — Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, Fernando Cruz and closer David Bednar — allowed just one run on Jarren Duran’s eighth-inning homer.
“That’s a playoff atmosphere right there,” Weaver said. “Huge matchup, huge game, a lot on the line. It just takes me back to some of those moments last year, to just kind of feel the crowd.”
Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens
