Yankees peaking at right time, set sights on top seed in American League as first-place Tigers visit Stadium

Opportunity came knocking for the Yankees on Tuesday night with the arrival of the Tigers for three games at the Stadium. There was no mistaking it.

After long stretches of poor or mediocre play, they finally appear to have hit their stride as the race for the postseason enters its final stage. The Yankees had won 18 of their last 25 games and closed what had been a 6½-game gap behind the Blue Jays in the AL East to a meager two games.

And there in the visiting dugout was Detroit, long the front-runner in the AL Central and in a tie with Toronto for the best record in the American League. With the Jays hosting AL West leader Houston for three games, the possibilities were palpable. With a strong series, the Yankees could not only be looking at grabbing the division title, but also the No. 1 seeding for the AL playoffs.

These lofty things almost seemed unimaginable when the Yankees lost 31 of 51 and were 62-56 after an Aug. 10 loss to the Astros, hanging on for a playoff spot.

“I'll be honest . . . it's been a tough year in a lot of ways, just some tough moments grinding you down at times,” manager Aaron Boone said. “There’s been some low moments, but at my core, I've always felt like the potential for this team is great.

“There was some frustration when we weren't playing our best, but now I feel like . . . we have a chance to be a really, really good club and maybe our best days [are] in front of us here, down the stretch and hopefully beyond . . . The group’s playing with a lot of confidence and we expect, we expect to go out there and win.”

In this 25-game stretch that began with an Aug. 11 win over Minnesota, the Yankees lead the AL in home runs (60), OPS (.870), runs per game (5.5) and are 32-for-38 stealing bases.

“They're hitting the ball out of the ballpark pretty regularly – they are a team full of power-type hitters who continue to put pressure on you,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Obviously, it starts with Judge . . . but it's it goes beyond him [especially] with the way they stack their lefthanded hitters in this ballpark.

“When they're playing well . . . they're doing a little bit of everything: their starting pitching stabilizes, they have a lot of different arms they can throw at you from the bullpen and they hit the ball out of the ballpark,” he added. “Those are the key components to winning baseball.”

Indeed, the Yankees’ pitching staff has also stood out with an AL-best 3.27 ERA over the 25-game stretch. Starters Max Fried and Carlos Rodon entered Tuesday tied with Milwaukee's Freddy Peralta for the major-league lead in wins with 16.

“Our starting pitchers have done a really nice job [and] we've been able to close out most of those games that we've needed to with our [relievers],” manager Aaron Boone said. “I feel like we've swung the bats really well [and] our athleticism has shown up and been a factor for us on the bases and the running game.”

“I feel like playing more in line with the way we're capable of and but it's all in the past now too,” he added.

Making the opportunity feel even bigger is that Detroit has been mediocre for over a month. The Tigers had the best record in the majors at 59-34 after beating the Rays on July 8. They are 23-28 since. And the Yankees know from last season’s trip to the World Series that big advantages lie ahead for the No. 1 seed in the postseason.

“We know what's at stake,” Boone said. “And we've done a really good job here in the last several weeks of just handling the day – ‘let’s get after it today’ – and we’re playing with confidence. I feel like we’re in a really good place [where] we can go out and win games if we play our game.”

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.