The Surprising New York Yankees

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The Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 last night and, with a record of 56-42, sit at first place in the American League. They have built a healthy seven game lead on the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles with 64 games to play. This is a team that most experts had written off at the beginning of the season.

It helps that the rest of the teams in the American League East are playing at or below .500 baseball. That aside, how has a team that no one expected to do anything this year, built such a lead?

As a team, they are hitting just .255, which puts them 10th in baseball and fifth in the American League. They don’t have a single batter over .300, however, their usual starting lineup has only one hitter below .248. Stephen Drew is hitting .188 but even he has 13 home runs. Their speedy outfielders, Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury lead the team with .298 averages.

The Yankees have scored 456 runs, the second most in baseball, and have 131 homers, the second most as well. On the other hand, their earned run average of 3.91 is 20th worst in baseball. Their total strikeouts sit at third best in with 816 and have given up the fourth least walks with just 251.

Perhaps the biggest reason for their success is the back end of their bullpen. Dellin Betances who is a 27 year old reliever in only his second full year in the majors, has a 1.35 ERA and has struck out 84 batters in just 53 1/3 innings. Their closer, Andrew Miller, has a 1.57 ERA in 34 1/3 innings with 23 saves in 23 tries. Though he missed from June sixth to July ninth with an injury. Between them, Betances, a 254th draft pick in 2006, and Miller, signed as a Free Agent, after playing for the Red Sox and Orioles, have appeared in 81 games and have a 1.44 ERA.

The Yankees are actively looking in the market for another reliever and a starter as the trade deadline looms. If they get one or both, or even if they get neither, and make it through the last 64 games without major injury problems, this team should win the American League East and challenge the Kansas City Royals for a shot at their 28th World Series win.