We’re back for another podcast with two important chases afoot. First, the Yankees are inching closer to their 2022 AL East crown, and their magic number is down to eight with just about a week and a half to go in the season. They shook off a couple annoying losses in Milwaukee to win big on Sunday, and then recorded a huge comeback in the bottom of the ninth at home against the Pirates on Tuesday. That bailed them out of an even more worrying defeat, and then they pummeled Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, moving to 90-58.

Aaron Judge, of course, played a huge role in these wins, and his own chase for home run history is what the majority of the baseball world cares about. With two bombs in Milwaukee on Sunday and another on Tuesday, he has become just the sixth player in MLB history to join the 60-homer club, and the first in the American League since Roger Maris in 1961. It’s remarkable to see Judge do this while also chasing a Triple Crown, so we obviously spent several minutes in awe of him.

We also talked about the impact of both Harrison Bader’s introduction and Frankie Montas’ IL stint (particularly on how little we trust Montas going forward), as well as Luis Severino and Anthony Rizzo’s own returns, and the murky status of each of DJ LeMahieu, Matt Carpenter, and Andrew Benintendi. There are also some thoughts on the surging Gleyber Torres, home stretch, the Wild Card race, and a Lance Lynn anecdote on the AL Central, as well as the usual B-Ref update and Yankee/Manfred of the Week.

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