A second-half spiral had the Yankees hearing footsteps in the standings for the first time in months.With each pa sing week, the number of games between New York and the second-place Rays had decreased. Meanwhile, the Yankees injury counter and amount of on 161st street Blank Jersey had gone in the other direction.That in mind, this past series against Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium over the weekend was pivotal. Lose the series or get swept and the Yankees would've been clinging to first in the AL East by a minuscule margin. Take care of busine s and those in pinstripes could exhale just a bit, moving forward with more of a cushion.After a lo s in Game 1 on Friday night, New Yorks lead over the Rays shrunk to just 3.5 games, the smallest its been since May 9. The surging Blue Jays weren't too far behind either.Thats when the bats woke up in a big way, looking like the club that routinely blew out their opponents in the first half.Over the next two afternoons, the Yankees dropped 20 total runs, including 17 within Emilio Pagan Jersey the first two innings. New York rattled off seven straight singles to knock Corey Kluber out of the game on Saturday in the first inning, sending the two-time Cy Young Award winner back to the lab for reprogramming. The next day, after a lengthy rain delay, New York slugged to another blowout victory with Giancarlo Stanton, Oswaldo Cabrera and Gleyber Torres (two times) each leaving the yard.By taking two of three, the Yankees clinched the season series against the Rays, winning 11 of 19. That gives New York the tiebreaker should Trevor Richards Jersey these two teams finish the regular season in a tie for first place. New York is 9-7 against Toronto this year with one more series acro s the border to play later this month.Scroll to ContinueWith 21 regular season games left, this race is far from over. New York is still limping through September (with a grand total of 15 players on the injured list) and even if the Rays finish the year with a tough schedule, you cant count out that pesky team until theyre mathematically out of contention. Same goes for the Jays.For New York, the next three-plus weeks feature some series with sub-.500 clubs. The Yankees play the Red Sox six Brad Miller Jersey more times (beginning on Tuesday night in Boston), the Pirates twice and they finish the regular season with four games against the Rangers down in Arlington.As manager Aaron Boone always says, the Yankees hold the pen. New York can build momentum and improve as some of their injured a sets returnHarrison Bader, Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton and more are on rehab a signmentsor they can revert to their debilitating tendencies, detrimental to the cause.If the Yankees can win 15 of these final 21 games, theyll Mallex Smith Jersey finish with 100 wins for the first time since 2019. Playing well from here on out will put them in position to do some damage in the postseason, giving them an opportunity to regroup while other clubs battle it out in the Wild Card round as well.MORE: