When general manager Brian Cashman showed up in Buffalo after the Yankees had dropped three straight and looked lost, he said the team needed to “become relevant again.”
This weekend, it’ll get its chance.
And that’s thanks to having won seven of nine since Cashman’s harsh words about his team, when it seemed Aaron Boone’s future might be up in the air.
On Thursday, the Yankees got homers from Aaron Judge, Luke Voit and Gary Sanchez and pounded the Royals, 8-1, to close out a homestand in The Bronx — giving them some momentum as they head to Boston to play the Red Sox on Friday night.
“We’re ready to go,’’ Giancarlo Stanton said.
“It’s good to see guys starting to get a little bit of that swagger,’’ Boone said. “We’ve got to continue it.”
While the Red Sox and Rays battle for the top of the AL East, the Yankees have frequently found themselves more in a fight with the Blue Jays for third place.
They have an opportunity to change that with three games at Fenway Park and their offense gave them more reason to believe Thursday afternoon, teeing off on some miserable Kansas City pitching.
Behind Jameson Taillon, who pitched into the seventh inning, the Yankees pounded the Royals early and often against right-hander Brad Keller.
Judge opened the Yankees’ scoring with an opposite-field homer with one out in the first. It was his first homer since June 9. He reached base four times on Thursday.
Sanchez followed with a single through the vacated right side of the infield and Stanton did the same to bring up Luke Voit.
Voit skied one to center and the rejuvenated Sanchez got to third on the play. That paid off when Rougned Odor reached on an infield single, allowing Sanchez to score to make it 2-0.
Judge added an RBI single in the second and Voit hit his second homer in three games since returning from his stint on the injured list, a solo shot in the third that made it 4-0.
Taillon held the Royals scoreless until the fifth and allowed one run in 6 ¹/₃ innings. Nestor Cortes finished the game, giving the bullpen a break.
DJ LeMahieu opened the sixth with a single, Judge doubled and Sanchez blasted a three-run homer into the visiting bullpen in left-center.
They’ll face a stiffer test in Boston, especially since the Red Sox swept the Yankees at the Stadium earlier this month — part of a stretch of games that led to Cashman’s concern.
“We have not been that relevant powerhouse in the American League,’’ Cashman said in Buffalo. “We’ve been everything but.”
Judge understands the importance of this series.
“These games, when you’re 4, 4½ [games] back and have a chance to chip away at the lead, it’s big,’’ Judge said. “We’re ready. If we go in there and take care of business, we’ll be in a good spot.”
The lineup scoring five or more runs in four of the past five games could be an indication that the offense is finally clicking, helped by the presence of a healthy Voit.
They’ll enter the Boston series just 17-21 against divisional opponents (and 23-13 against the rest of the majors), unable to thus far figure out how to get by the Red Sox and Rays.
“We’re getting closer,’’ Boone said of whether his team is where he wants it to be. “We expect a lot in that room. We expect to be a great team and we’re not there yet. … We’re starting to get results after going through a difficult stretch.”