The New York Yankees have gone 16-26 since the All-Star break, allowing their division rivals back into the American League East race and the Houston Astros to take a commanding lead for home-field advantage.
New York was once on pace to break the club’s 114-win record but now will have to finish 20-14 just to end up with 100 wins.
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The Yankees lost two of three against the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend and enter Monday with a five-game cushion. The two teams will face off again this weekend at Yankee Stadium, their final meeting of the season.
Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports panel voted this week:
Rank (movement from last week)
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (–)
- NL ERA leader Julio Urias is 8-1 with a 1.13 mark in his past nine starts.
2. Houston Astros (+1)
- Lance McCullers Jr. threw a season-high 97 pitches in his fourth start of 2022.
3. New York Mets (-1)
- Seven of the Mets’ next 13 games are against the Pirates.
4. Atlanta Braves (–)
5. St. Louis Cardinals (+1)
- Albert Pujols hit career home run No. 695 on Sunday.
6. New York Yankees (-1)
- Had their AL East lead cut to four games for the first time in nearly four months.
7. Tampa Bay Rays (+1)
- Corey Kluber has a 1.07 ERA in four starts against the Yankees this season.
8. Seattle Mariners (+1)
- Starter George Kirby was named AL Rookie of the Month for August.
9. Toronto Blue Jays (+2)
- Tough four-game…
