NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees can dream. They can do it for the next month. They can do it for the next few years. They can do it because Sunday was another night in this surprising 2017 season in which remnants of the next Core Four showed their talent.
It's not hard to imagine Luis Severino, Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge playing in even bigger games than Sunday's series finale against the Boston Red Sox. But Sunday did hold a certain significance, as the Yankees tried to maintain a chance to catch the Red Sox in the American League East.
The game was all about the young guns, starting with Severino, the Yankees' 23-year-old ace, who looked Red Sox ace Chris Sale in the eyes and didn't back down. Then there was Sanchez, who in the sixth inning beat out a two-out RBI infield single that, thanks to a replay review, turned into a six-run inning. The exclamation point of that inning was when Judge crushed his 38th homer of the season -- his first in 57 at-bats.
In fact, the offense did so much that Severino was lifted after six innings, allowing only two hits and one unearned run through 87 pitches of work. He dominated, while Sale wilted.
It all added up to a 9-2 win and a chance for the Yankees, who are 3½ games back of the Red Sox with 26 games remaining, to still take the division. The teams don’t meet again, but by winning three of four this weekend, the Yankees have put pressure on Boston.
The Yanks needed the series win, especially with a trip to Baltimore to face the red-hot Orioles starting Monday afternoon.
In striking out nine, Severino became the first pitcher age 23 or younger to reach 200 strikeouts in the majors since Felix Hernandez had 217 in 2009. That's the type of company Severino is beginning to keep. He would've pitched longer if the offense hadn't exploded in the sixth. The long inning and all the runs made it so Severino’s outing ended early.
Severino not only matched Sale on Sunday, but is 12-6 with a 3.03 ERA compared to Sale’s 15-7 with a 2.85 ERA. The difference there is marginal. The young ace showed a lot this week. On Monday, he went pitch-for-pitch with Indians ace Corey Kluber before being beat. Then Severino came back against the Red Sox, who had put a 10-spot on him the previous time he faced them.
“I think it is important to his development because you have to be able to do that,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Severino's beating Sale. “If you want to call yourself an ace, you have to be able to match up against their No. 1 guy.”
After Sanchez’s hustling single that kept the sixth inning alive, Starlin Castro followed with a bases-clearing double, which set up Judge. Judge sent a ball deep into the night with the type of swing that was so familiar for so long, and perhaps might lead to some sustained success.
“I think he is going to go on a run for us,” Matt Holliday said.
One of Girardi’s big spring training stump speeches was about how the Yankees couldn’t just rely on the young players. The veterans had to pull their weight. So it's worth noting that before Sanchez beat out the throw at first and Castro and Judge had their big hits, it was Chase Headley and Holliday who homered off Sale for the Yankees' first two runs.
Headley has turned into a monster of late, hitting .333 over his past 41 games. He and Holliday both homered for the second consecutive game.
The Yankees’ chances of winning the AL East are still slim. It's hard to make up that much ground in so little time. But it isn't over yet.
And, even if they don’t catch the Red Sox this year, with Severino, Sanchez, Judge and more young players around the corner, it might not be long thereafter that the Yankees are the kings of the East again.