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BALTIMORE <\/b>\u2014 Almost home free to a playoff spot, the Yankees know who they want starting the first two games if they\u2019re in a best-of-three Wild Card Series.<\/p>\n
They want Max Fried pitching Game 1, then Carlos Rodon pitching Game 2. They currently have rookie right-hander Will Warren between the All-Star left-handers, but that will change for the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Fried already is lined up to pitch the playoff opener on regular four days\u2019 rest with Rodon positioned to pitch the next game on an extra day.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou want the two best pitchers going,\u201d pitching coach Matt Blake told NJ Advance Media prior to Thursday night\u2019s 7-0 win over the Orioles. \u201cI don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a real benefit of splitting them up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf those are the two main guys, if you split them up and put a righty in the middle, you run the risk of one of them not pitching in a wild-card scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n
The majors\u2019 wins leader, Fried is 18-5 in 31 starts with a 2.92 ERA that is fifth best in the AL after working seven scoreless innings in Thursday night\u2019s 7-0 win over the Orioles.<\/p>\n
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Rodon, who has two remaining starts, is 16-9 with a 3.11 ERA in 31 outings.<\/p>\n
The Yankees have been holding off on making a final decision because they still have to clinch a postseason berth. They\u2019re in great shape now sitting in the first wild card spot with a 4 \u00bd-game lead over the first team out. And even though the Blue Jays will go into the weekend leading the AL East by three games and hold the tiebreaker, the Yankees still have nine games to close the gap, all of them against last-place teams.<\/p>\n
Just in case, the Yankees have been open to starting Fried on regular rest twice next week at Yankee Stadium, Tuesday against the White Sox and then Sunday against the Orioles if and only if they needed to win their season finale to get in.<\/p>\n
But with the Yankees now in great shape to at least get a wild card, a decision probably will be made this weekend to keep the rotation in turn for the rest of the season. That would have Will Warren starting next Tuesday and Sunday with Fried making a final regular-season start on Wednesday and then pitching the first playoff game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s definitely a conversation we\u2019ve got to have the next couple days,\u201d Blake said. \u201cAre we going to push to have Max Fried available for that last game or not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Probably not.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t necessarily anticipate us doing that,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep them on their normal turn and try to win every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the Yankees steal the division, they\u2019d have five days before beginning a best-of-five Division Series on Saturday, Oct. 4. That would have Fried pitching Game 1 on nine days rest and Rodon starting Game 2 on eight days\u2019 rest from his regular-season finale, which is scheduled for next Friday.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not ideal, but the Yankees obviously would love to avoid a best-of-three series even though the first wild card has home-field advantage for every game.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s undecided is who would start a do-or-die Game 3 if a Wild Card Series goes the distance. At this point, rookie Cam Schlittler appears to be the favorite to get the nod over Luis Gil with Warren a possibility to make the postseason roster as a reliever.<\/p>\n
Schlittler (3-3, 3.41 ERA) has been good to excellent for most of his eight starts since being called up from Triple-A on July 9 to debut. Gil (4-1, 3.33) has 29 walks in 46 innings over nine starts since returning from a spring training late strain in early August.<\/p>\n
Warren (8-7, 4.44 ERA) deserves consideration, too. He\u2019s allowed two or fewer runs in 21 of his 31 starts and his ERA drops to 3.68 if you wipe out two starts in which he allowed a total of 15 runs over 5.1 innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Schlittler is really good and he\u2019s not afraid,\u201d Boone said. \u201cLuis is still kind of searching for it, but he\u2019s finding a way. Warren has had a lot of good starts.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the Yankees win a Wild Card Series, they\u2019ll go with four starters for their Division Series with Fried lined up to pitch the second and fifth games on regular rest.<\/p>\n
Warren could be play here, but Schlittler and Gil likely would be the choices to join Fried and Rodon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all three of them have their strengths that you can point to for why they should be the third starter,\u201d Blake said. \u201cAll three of them have warts, too, whether it\u2019s lack of experience or tough outings. But I think all three would give you a chance to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of what\u2019s the best composition for who you\u2019re playing and potentially who would help in the bullpen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Yankees\u2019 rotation has been one of the best in the majors this season. Its 3.68 ERA ranks fourth behind only the Rangers (3.39), Brewers (3.52) and Phillies (3.68).<\/p>\n
The starters have been on a roll since Aug. 19 with a 2.82 ERA in 29 games, 17 of them outings lasting at least six innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s probably as good as we\u2019ve been all year, this last month or so, with five guys taking the turn and give us a chance to win,\u201d Blake said. \u201cObviously there\u2019s been a blip here and there, but on the whole the work\u2019s been really good getting us through five and a lot of times six and turning it over with the lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re happy about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rotation has been so consistent lately that Blake joked former Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole might have to earn a spot when he returns next summer from Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo guarantees around here,\u201d Blake said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
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The Yankees’ magic number for clinching a wild-card playoff spot was down to six after Thursday’s 7-0 win in Baltimore and they’re still in the hunt for a division title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":102105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n