The New York Yankees have picked the perfect time to play their best baseball of the year. Over the past two weeks, they’ve gone 10-3 with series wins over the Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays.
The push isn’t slowing down. Three games back of Toronto for first place in the division entering Tuesday night’s play, with the Blue Jays holding the tiebreaker, the Yankees have a three-game homestand against the 82-win Detroit Tigers. After that, they’ll hit the road for a 10-game trip, starting in Boston against a Red Sox team that has beaten them eight out of 10 times this season.
From there, the schedule tilts in their favor. Of the Yankees’ final 19 games, 13 will come against teams under .500, including a six-game homestand to close out what has been a turbulent 2025 campaign. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have a tougher path ahead. Four of their last six series are against playoff hopefuls, beginning tonight against the Astros.
As the Yankees kick off this pivotal set with Detroit, they also have a chance to make history. One more win would officially lock in their 33rd consecutive winning season, extending a streak that dates back to 1993. On the player front, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is just two homers and three steals shy of joining an exclusive club: the only Yankees to record a 30 HR / 30 SB season are Bobby Bonds (1975) and Alfonso Soriano (2002–03).
Coming into this past weekend, the biggest question was whether the Yankees could finally put together a clean series against a division rival. After a rough outing from Cam Schlitter on Friday night, the early answer looked like no. At that point, they had only won one series against a team 10 games over .500 since May 18, the Astros set just last week.
But this time, the pieces held. The bullpen, one of the season’s biggest question marks, delivered by allowing just three runs across 12.1 innings (2.19 ERA). The defense was steady too, committing only two errors over the three-game span. Pair that with a lineup that has been the league’s best all year, and suddenly it feels like things might be clicking at exactly the right time before October.
The Yankees open a three-game set in the Bronx against the AL Central-leading Tigers, and the matchup comes with plenty of intrigue. New York will see former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize in the opener, followed by veteran Jack Flaherty in Game 2. A starter has not yet been announced for Thursday, but with Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal scheduled to pitch Friday in Miami, it’s likely Detroit manager A.J. Hinch leans on his self-proclaimed “pitching chaos” strategy, which is usually an opener.
Detroit arrived in New York with the second-best record in the American League and the third-best run differential, though its season has been uneven. After a scorching 53-32 start, they’ve been just under .500 since the All-Star break. Still, their balanced lineup and deep rotation have kept them atop in a weak AL Central, and their aggressive style of play has made them tough all year.
Mize has had mixed results against the Yankees. In three career appearances, he owns a 3.86 ERA, though his lone start in the Bronx ballooned to 8.44. Still, the right-hander has enjoyed a bounce-back season, settling in as a steady mid-rotation arm and coming off a six-inning shutout against New York back in April. The Yankees’ lineup may have a favorable matchup, as they’ve hammered fastballs this season, Mize’s most-used pitch (34% usage rate), and his splitter has been vulnerable against lefties. Keep an eye on Trent Grisham, as dating back to August 20, no one in baseball has more home runs than him (9), and he’s slugging .642 with 18 RBIs in that span, tied for third most in the majors.
Flaherty, meanwhile, has struggled to regain his old form. After helping the Dodgers to a World Series title, he’s stumbled through this season with a 4.85 ERA and 13 losses. His recent history in the Bronx doesn’t inspire much confidence either. In Game 5 of last year’s World Series, he lasted just 1.1 innings, giving up four runs and two home runs in one of the shortest starts of his career.
The Yankees will counter with rookie Will Warren in the opener, Carlos Rodón in Game 2, and Schlittler in the finale. Rodón, in particular, has been their most consistent arm lately, allowing two runs or fewer in six straight starts while leaning on his slider and changeup mix to neutralize hitters. Warren continues to flash promise despite inconsistency, while Schlittler looks to rebound after a rocky outing in his last turn.
Detroit’s aggressive baserunning could pose a challenge for New York’s defense as no team in baseball takes the extra base more often, doing so 54% of the time. The next closest teams, the Dodgers and Rangers, sit at just 46%. That means Aaron Judge’s arm in right field, along with the Yankees’ outfield defense as a whole, is likely to be tested early and often in this critical series.
Overall, this homestand against Detroit could have a big impact on their playoff seeding. A series win keeps both their division hopes and the AL’s top seed alive. With a crucial series against the Red Sox coming up, the focus is simple: take care of business against the Tigers and carry that momentum forward.
