{"id":124163,"date":"2026-06-22T01:47:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T05:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=124163"},"modified":"2026-06-22T01:47:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T05:47:33","slug":"yankees-al-east-lead-june-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/22\/yankees-al-east-lead-june-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Have Newfound AL East Lead, But It’s Showing Cracks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Entering this weekend’s series against the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Yankees were flying high. They had won eight of their last 10 games, including a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians, a series win over the Toronto Blue Jays (thanks to the heroics of Ben Rice<\/a> and Paul Goldschmidt<\/a>), and another series win over the Chicago White Sox. Their recent stretch of good play had the Yankees sitting atop the American League East, surpassing the Tampa Bay Rays, who had led for several weeks.<\/p>\n

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The good vibes continued in Friday’s series opener in the Bronx, as Cam Schlittler bolstered his Cy Young case<\/a> by racking up 13 strikeouts, and the Bombers blanked the Reds 5-0. However, a pair of losses to end the series, including a 10-2 rout on Saturday and an underwhelming 4-1 defeat on Sunday, put a damper on things. The Yankees’ AL East lead, which was as big as 3 1\/2 games on Wednesday, is now down to two games. While the Yankees’ lineup<\/a> has mostly come through without Aaron Judge<\/a>, losing a series at home to the last-place Reds serves as a wake-up call to its limitations.<\/p>\n

Yankees’ AL East Lead is a Good Development, But They Must Keep It<\/h2>\n

The Yankees continuing to play so well without their captain has been a pleasant surprise for fans this month. So far this season, the team has repeated a familiar pattern under manager Aaron Boone<\/a>‘s tenure: get off to a hot start in April, then teeter in May and June. In most prior seasons, though, they’ve bounced back to finish the season strong. While the Yankees showed some cracks in May and fell behind Tampa Bay in the standings, they’ve bounced back and largely avoided the “June swoon” so far. However, if the series loss to the Reds bleeds into the rest of the June schedule, New York could be in trouble once again.<\/p>\n

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The Yankees’ lead atop the AL East, Paul Goldschmidt, & the rehabbing Austin Wells were subjects as Aaron Boone’s pregame presser began Thursday. #YANKSonYES<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xqPXfIc0xl<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 YES Network (@YESNetwork) June 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n