The New York Yankees will take on the Toronto Blue Jays starting on Friday night in what will arguably be the biggest series of the year.
If the Yankees find a way to sweep the Blue Jays, they could put themselves in an excellent position to lead in the American League East. Currently 3.5 games behind the Blue Jays, the Yankees have some work to do with less than a month remaining in the regular season.
However, the Yankees shouldn’t view this series as anything more than one they need to take seriously. The Yankees always go out there and try to win games, but there will undoubtedly be some extra pressure here.
Blue Jays' George Springer Talks Facing Yankees
The last thing the Yankees want to do, however, is put more pressure on themselves than they already have.
For the Blue Jays, including George Springer, that's something that's being spoken about in their locker room.
"At this point, every series is big, doesn't matter who you're playing," Springer said, per Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star. "We don't need to lay any extra hoopla on playing the Yankees."
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Springer understands that he also doesn't want to give the Yankees any more ammo than they might already have coming home to the Bronx.
The Yankees and Blue Jays will likely finish first and second in the American League East, depending on how things go with the Boston Red Sox.
While it's important to win the division, it isn't the end-all, be-all for either team.
There’s a very good chance they could both play each other in the postseason regardless of what happens, so there could be plenty of bigger games coming up.