Precisely. Good (and mediocre) teams in the AL East inflated their records playing upwards of 18 games against the Baltimore Orioles.
The Rangers and Angels experienced a free fall by going through the second-half meat-grinder of the Astros (50-22, .694) and the Athletics (46-24, .657).
At the end of the day AL East teams were .500 in intradivisional play but below .500 outside the division. AL West clubs were .500 in intradivisional play but 34 games above .500 outside the division.
I avoided this thread while I was still emotionally healing from that nut stomp of a walk-off HR. But now that I've regrouped, I think the biggest reason for our loss against the Astros was our hitting. Yes I realize the starters didn't pitch deep into games which forced the bullpen to be overworked, but overall the Yankees still held the Astros deep lineup to 22 runs in 6 games. Playing against a juggernaut of a team like them with 3 games in their own stadium as well as 3 in a hitter friendly YS, I don't know if you could have asked much more going into the series.
On the hitting side though, the Yankees were atrocious when they had men on base. Their batting line with RISP? .171/.310/.286. Houston wasn't much better in those situations but they were able to come up with a few more big hits than the Yankees.
So in summation, our pitching wasn't perfect but kept us in almost every game whereas our hitting is what I feel really cost us. I will now revert back to football mode. Go Packers.
Last edited by bkzwhitestrican; 10-23-2019 at 12:23 PM.
While not a fan of either team, I don't classify as an impartial observer, as I was a Red Sox fan naturally rooting for the Astros. The Yankee bats went cold, true, but Houston's were worse: https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-fail...ng-on-historic
Two walkoff HRs were just clutch enough to take the pennant, but the offensive difference for the winners may have just come down to fortune or timing -- having more men on base for more of their dingers. The Astros really beat NY on D and on the bases, with moments like Correa throwing out DJ, and several key plays in the finale. Judge played great in right, Didi was good, but otherwise... And the Yanks may have to admit winning a ring is unlikely with Sanchez behind the dish. At least against Boston, NY always seems better with Romine catching (this is coming from a fan who also thinks Vazquez is overrated defensively).