Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Bronx Bombers have returned, for the last four games at least.
After hitting three home runs in Tuesday night’s win against the Los Angeles Angels, the New York Yankees now have eight in the past four games.
In the previous 10 games leading up to this current four-game stretch, the Yankees had eight. They also have hit 16 dingers in their last 14 games after going nine straight games without a homer from July 19-27.
Last year, one of the common complaints from fans was that the team was too reliant on the long ball for offensive success. After losing Raúl Ibañez, Eric Chavez, Nick Swisher and Russell Martin to free agency and losing Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, and Alex Rodriguez for a significant amount of the regular season due to injury, the Yankees have suffered from a bit of a power outage this season, hitting only 104 home runs in 118 games.
Those homers are an important part of what the team has been able to accomplish in previous years and this year. The Yankees are 41-21 when they hit at least one home run in a game this season, and now are 21-7 when they hit at least two.
If the Yankees are going to make a serious push toward the postseason and attempt to erase their 5 1/2 game deficit of the second Wild Card spot, they will need to continue to hit home runs. They are 4-1 in their last five games, taking two out of three games from the powerful Detroit Tigers and now taking two of the first four games against the Angels. In that stretch, the Yankees have actually looked like a competent offensive team. Hitting home runs can help make up for the overall struggles of the lineup (23rd in team batting average and 25th in runs scored) and possibly help them to secure a few more victories as they head toward the home stretch of the season.
Ethan Leavitt is a writer for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
