AL Notes: Yankees Streaking, Jays Plummeting In Wild Card Race; Cabrera “Mr. 500”

It seems the only thing that could stop the New York Yankees and their winning ways was Tropical Storm Henri, as the final game of the Bronx Bombers eight-game homestand against Minnesota on Sunday was postponed. New York has won nine in a row and went 7-0 at Yankee Stadium against Los Angeles, the Twins, and most importantly a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox to move ahead of the East rival in the AL wild card race.

The Yanks have been beneficiaries of clutch hitting from unsung heroes like fill-in Andrew Velasquez, first baseman Luke Voit, pitcher Nestor Cortes and rookie hurler Luis Gil, as well as immediate contributions from Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, and Anthony Rizzo after returning from the COVID-19 list.

Velasquez had four RBI’s in the sweep of the Sox and the 27-year-old Bronx native hit his first career home run in a 7-1 romp over the Twins on Saturday. Voit has been injured three times this season and lost his starting job to Rizzo after the trade deadline, but with the ex-Cub on the COVID list, last year’s MLB home run leader hit three HR’s and stepped up with an eight-game hitting streak and raised his average from .220 to .266 in a week.

“(Velasquez) can really play short, but he has the defensive versatility to move around.” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said last week. “You see the speed that he has, and he can swing the bat a little bit. He’s gotten some big hits for us here the last couple of days and played really well in helping us win games.”

Cortes and Gil were pressed into service with Cole, Montgomery, and Domingo German landing on the IL and filled in admirably by allowing only three runs in five starts.

The Toronto Blue Jays have been the exact opposite of New York. Less than two weeks ago, the Jays were neck-and-neck with the Yankees and looked well-positioned for the stretch run after bolstering their rotation with the trade for Jose Berrios, but the Jays went 3-6 on the road against the Angels, Mariners, and Nationals, lost two extra-inning contests to Detroit at home and now find themselves seven games behind New York and 4.5 games in back of Boston and Oakland for the second wild-card spot.

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Miguel Cabrera Joins 500 Home Run Club

There is little doubt that Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters of this century and will be honored in Cooperstown after his career comes to an end. The veteran Detroit Tigers slugger made that case even more inevitable on Sunday, becoming the 28th player in MLB history to hit 500 home runs in a 5-3 victory over Toronto on Sunday.

Cabrera won a World Series with the Florida Marlins as a 20-year-old rookie in 2003, has a .311 career batting average, and after joining the 500 home run club, the 38-year-old is just 45 hits from 3,000, but will probably have to wait until next season to hit that milestone.