Incredible run from rare trio of aces carrying Yankees but they will have to ask much more
By the time the Braves left town Sunday, they had experienced what the Yankees hope their postseason foes will have to feel, provided that their lineup can hang on just enough to get there.“We came in here and faced three No.1s, really, three aces,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said Sunday.
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.Max Fried, Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler started the three games and combined to hold what had been one of the majors’ highest-scoring lineups to just three runs on 12 hits and two walks across 20 ¹/₃ innings with 27 strikeouts.And that, even with the mounting worries about their scuffling lineup, is what the Yankees are banking on not only to reach October but to use as a roadmap for a deep run when they get there.The Yankees rotation has been best in show all season, entering Monday with a major league-leading 13.4 fWAR.
And that is despite missing Cole for the first two months as he finished off his Tommy John rehab, then missing Fried for another two-plus months with a left elbow bone bruise.But they have taken it to another level of late — coinciding with Fried’s return from the injured list to join Cole, Schlittler, Ryan Weathers and Will Warren as Carlos Rodón now works his way back again — allowing one or no runs in nine of their past 12 starts and 12 of their past 17 (and two or fewer runs in 10 of 12 and 13 of 17).At a time when their lineup is struggling mightily to push runs across, the Yankees starters are the biggest reason why this stretch has not destroyed them, even if they waste the occasional gem like Schlittler’s seven innings of one-run ball Sunday.“It’s tough, but that’s the reality of where we are right now,” manager Aaron Boone said.“But also, it’s a big reason why I have the highest of hopes for our club still.
Because I feel like the guy that takes the ball every day [gives us a strong...