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Sweeny: Buckle Up For A Wild Yankees-Blue Jays Pennant Race

By Sweeny Murti
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"In a New York minute, everything can change. In a New York minute things can get pretty strange." -- Don Henley

A week ago the Yankees were reeling, swept by the charging, streaking Blue Jays and still in the middle of a major offensive slump. On Friday, the Yankees arrived in Canada in second place with Toronto's trade deadline darling David Price staring at them.

Yup, things can change rather quickly in a pennant race. The Yankees take the field today for the start of a 10-game homestand back in first place after beating the Blue Jays two out of three in their building.

Masahiro Tanaka's performance against the Jays in back-to-back starts was quite impressive, holding the league's best offense to three runs in 15 innings. There have been times this year when we've questioned his health and stamina, but when he pitches like this he makes you believe he can be the ace the Yankees need.

In fact, the Yankees have been pitching pretty well lately. In this recent stretch against the high-powered Toronto offense, the Yankees' staff gave up only 17 runs in six games. While the Yankees lost four out of six, they won arguably the most important game last Friday, when a series-opening win would have empowered the Jays with an extra boost of confidence. The pinch-hit home run by Carlos Beltran that won the game coupled with the epic 12-pitch battle between Andrew Miller and Troy Tulowitzki may go down as the biggest win of the season when this is over.

And following that up with Tanaka's gem on Saturday meant two wins over the first- (and then second-) place Jays in just 24 hours.

But the Blue Jays aren't going anywhere just yet. The Yankees are a good team. So are the Blue Jays. And there is nothing wrong with an honest to goodness pennant race. The Blue Jays have taken eight of the first 12 head-to-head meetings so far, with another seven games in 14-day stretch coming up in September.

Yankees-Blue-Jays
Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista is picked off second base against the Yankees on August 16, 2015 at Rogers Centre. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

With the Twins and Indians coming to town for the next seven, the Yankees need to flex their muscles at home and beat the teams they are supposed to beat. The pitching they've been getting lately should allow them to do that.

Sunday's loss was a tough one to take because of a Beltran error (later changed to a hit) and the hypotheticals of what might have followed. Yes, it's a play you'd like to see Beltran make but he's hardly the first player to lose a ball in the sun. What did follow was a rookie victimized by an MVP candidate and one of the best home run hitters of this decade.

Sometimes it's important to remember that the other players get paid too. And as the wise sage Nuke LaLoosh reminded us, "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."

Toronto was buzzing over the weekend. Sellout crowds for all three games against the Yankees; Blue Jays fans finally feeling like they belong in a race with the Yankees. Even the Toronto players felt like the excitement of the action, particularly Friday night, was something they hadn't seen here in a long time.

Toronto deserves a team that will stay in the race. If they can take this down to the wire we will all get to experience the drama. And don't worry if things shift one way or the other in a two- or three-day span. Because all it takes is a few hours -- or a New York minute -- to turn the whole thing upside down again.

Follow Sweeny Murti on Twitter: @YankeesWFAN

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