Weekend Preview: New York Yankees at Washington Nationals
June 14, 2012 · Colin Kennedy · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
The last time New York and Washington faced off in 2009, the Nationals were a last-place team and Chien-Ming Wang was a Yankee.
This time around, things are a little different.
Three years have passed and both clubs are in first place, leading arguably the two toughest divisions in baseball. Each team is riding a season high six-game win streak, and while it is still early in the year, the case could be made that we are watching a potential World Series matchup.
Only the LA Dodgers (40-24) have a better record than Washington (38-23) and New York (37-25), but back-to-back series sweeps by both during interleague play leaves fans pointing to these two teams as the best in the bigs. After taking all three games in Boston, the Nationals wrapped up a short road trip with a sweep of the Blue Jays in Toronto. And following wins against the Mets at home, the Yankees took care of business in Atlanta behind some timely hitting and solid pitching.
Their resumes are quite analogous, but the Yankees and Nats are not. While Washington has achieved success behind baseball’s best starting rotation, the Bronx Bombers have bashed their way into first behind a Major League leading 96 home runs.
One similarity could be found in relief pitching. Both bullpens rank in the top three of their respective leagues and have acted as a stabilizing force for two teams with inconsistent offensive production. An inability to hit with runners in scoring position has prevented New York from keeping up with the highest-scoring teams in baseball, and with two evenly-matched teams, it could be timely hitting that determines the winner of this three game series in Washington.
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