This year is different. This year, the Yankees are promising to go all out down the stretch and not play any wild card games.
It’s about time. But this all comes with a “healthy” catch.
Even though facing Justin Verlander twice in a five-game series may be the prize for winning the AL East, taking the division remains the goal, as it should.
When I asked manager Joe Girardi yesterday what his emphasis will be down the stretch, he said: “Stay healthy. The reason we had so many issues last year is that we couldn’t stay healthy.
“There was so much made of last year,” Girardi noted after the game against the Rays was washed away at Yankee Stadium, “and people thought, ‘Were we trying to win?’
“Yeah, we were trying to win. I want to play here as many games as I can if we are fortunate enough to get to the playoffs. That’s the bottom line. Our team is built for this park, so why wouldn’t we want to win our division? But you can’t run guys out there if they are hurt. We have to stay healthy, that’s very important.”
Derek Jeter told The Post the team’s goal is to win the AL East, and that the Red Sox are in the Yankees’ crosshairs the final 44 games. The Yankees trail the Red Sox by a half-game and are tied in the loss column. They own a comfortable 10-game lead in the loss column over the Angels for the wild card.
The AL East winner likely will earn home-field advantage through the ALCS. If the Yankees make it to the ALCS again, they are going to need all the help they can muster if they face the Red Sox, who have won 10 of 12 from them. Much is at stake. The Yankees own 40 home wins this season. Only the Phillies (42) have more home victories.
“Ideally, you’d like as many games as possible here,” Jeter said. “You love to play at home, but if you are going to win you are going to have to play well on the road, too.
“I don’t want to be on a team with someone saying, ‘Well, we finished second, that’s all right,’ ” Jeter added. “You can’t have the mindset of finishing second is OK. I don’t think you can just change your mindset anytime you want to change it. You either have it or you don’t. Our mindset is to win. That’s how the mindset is of everyone on this team.”
Last year down the stretch, Girardi was trying to get his team healthy for the postseason and it didn’t always seem like the Yankees had that hunger to win the East, a division that was won by the Rays. The Rays then were beaten in the division series by the Rangers, who destroyed the Yankees in the ALCS.
This year, Girardi said, being healthy is again the Yankees’ No. 1 goal heading into the postseason, but he was adamant that he wants to win the AL East.
The Yankees and Red Sox still have six games remaining and the division figures to come down to the final week when the Yankees play three at home against Boston before traveling to Florida for the final three games of the regular season against the Rays.
“I thought these were an important two weeks and I think we’ve played well,” Girardi said. “I think we’ve played well the second half. As a club we’ve had a lot of people step up and do some really, really good things.
“With the injuries we’ve had to our bullpen, the uncertainty of our rotation when we left spring training, the injury to Phil Hughes, the injury to Derek, the injury to Alex [Rodriguez], this club has persevered. And we’ve had some really tough losses and our club has seemed to find a way to bounce back.”
The Yankees have put themselves in position to win the East. Let’s see if they can do it this time and set the tone for October.