Yankees throttling it up, move to within one game of first place

The Yankees put together an almost perfect game last night which, coupled with a Red Sox loss, moved the team to within one game of first place. And from the looks of things, this could just be the beginning.

The Yankees are turning the corner. And it’s not just the fact they are winning more than losing. It’s that they look like a winning team again. The team is embracing the age-old formula in baseball of solid pitching, timely hitting, and heads-up defense to efficiently put away opponents.

Decidedly, the team looks better with Todd Frazier at third base and Chase Headley at first. Neither is a whiz at their positions, but they are proven major league players who can adapt to different circumstances with ease. And both lengthen the Yankees lineup.

Neither played a decisive role in last night’s 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Yankee Stadium. That was left to Jordan Montgomery (7-5, 3.92), Didi Gregorius, and Austin Romine, who all came up big before a welcome home (announced) crowd of 44,268 fans.

Gregorius cracked his fifteenth home run of the season in the eighth inning after the Reds had crept within one run and Romine’s double drove in Tyler Wade in the fifth. Gregorius also had a sac fly to drive in Aaron Judge, who had one hit, a scorching single to right field.

Yankees: Get ahead, slam the door, go home

On the pitching side, it was another made-to-order win for the Yankees. Noticeably, Joe Girardi turned to Romine over Gary Sanchez, who sat out the game, to guide Montgomery through 6.2 innings, before turning the game over to the Yankees Bullpen By Committee.

In order, Tommy Kahnle, Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, and Aroldis Chapman closed the door on the Reds, although Betances did turn in another of those “Say What? performances, managing to throw less than half of his 24 pitches for strikes and surrendering a run.

But in the pick-me-up style of a winning team, Warren and Chapman, who earned his twelfth save, gave Frank Sinatra another turn of “New York, York” and everyone went home happy.

Can you see it?

I read your comments on the Yanks Go Yard Facebook Page. And often, following a negative story I’ve written about the team, the comments usually take the vein of “How can you write this crap?”, or “What is this, the anti-Yankees blog?”

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But when the team is playing poorly, as it was until just recently, and you look outside seeing it’s raining, what are you supposed to say – it’s not raining?

It rained hard on the Yankees, and now it’s just a drizzle. And soon, if the team continues to do what it looks like it’s doing, clear skies are on the way.

The addition of Todd Frazier to the team by Brian Cashman is another masterful stroke of genius, even if Cashman only took Frazier on to block the Red Sox from getting him. Not only is he one of those guys who just looks good wearing the Pinstripes, but he’s back home and enjoying the cheers of the 500 or so fans from Toms River, New Jersey who made the trip last night to see him play.

The bullpen issues are solved, and it’s only a matter of Girardi pushing the right buttons on any given night, even if Betances and Chapman continue to have an occasional case of the hiccups.

The Tradewinds can still bring in that put-em-away starting pitcher, but the team is not crawling on its knees to get one. And the hunt for a first baseman should be over, at least until the winter and next spring by virtue of Headley moving over to make way for Frazier.

I’m not saying we can close our eyes, fall asleep, wake up in October, resting with the assurance that the Yankees will be seeded number one in the Playoffs. Hardly.

Next: Yankees Rumor Roundup: What's likely, what's not

But I am saying there is a different tone to the team that took the field last night and the one that will do the same in an afternoon contest today.

I can see it. How about you?

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