The Yankees are two steps closer to another world championship.

Before the MLB playoffs began, the Yankees were regarded as a mild long shot to make the World Series and win it for the first time in almost 10 years. Mainly because the Yanks would not have home-field advantage in the projected league championship and world series match-up.

The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers both finished with better regular-season records, giving them the advantage in a best-of-seven series against the Yankees, who needed to play more games at home for a serious chance to advance and win it all. They swept Minnesota in the American League Division series because they won the first two games easily at Yankee Stadium.

The American League championship will still be between New York and Houston, with the Astros playing the first two games at home. But after being extended to game five in the divisional round by Tampa Bay, the ‘Stros pitching rotation is now upside down.

Instead of having aces Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole pitching the first two games in Houston, it will be Zack Greinke starting game No. 1, when the Yankees will likely knock his off-speed stuff around with their lineup of big mashers. Verlander will start game two and strike-out artist Cole won’t go until game 3 in New York.

The Yankees will be favored to at least split the first two in Houston and go on to take command of the series with three straight games at home. And if they reach their first World Series since 2010, it will begin in the Bronx since the Dodgers were bounced by Washington in the last inning of the National League divisional round.

The Yanks are sitting pretty with a pitching staff that is rested and healthy and threw very well in the post-season so far behind starters James Paxton, Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka. Whether it’s the wildcard Nats or the Central Division champion Cardinals, who stunned the Atlanta Braves with a 10-run first inning in game 5 of their divisional series, the Pin Stripes are better than both teams.

So after rebuilding their ball club to take back the American League East from the Red Sox, who didn’t even make the playoffs in 2019, the Yankees are well-positioned to hang their 28th World Series banner after the last out of the season is made.

It’s some of what they did but more about what others didn’t do.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing Out
Roy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!
UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps Up
Dean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) Star
Ben Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and Ambitions
Garrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID Debate
Clemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft Dodgers
Carolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?
What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To Carolina
UNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra Motivation
Carolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›