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The Yankees are having two different seasons. The one against the Blue Jays and Rays, and the one against all other opponents.

With Toronto’s blowout win Tuesday in The Bronx, the Yanks are 5-11 against the two AL teams who until this week were based in Florida — the Blue Jays are now relocating from their minor league facility in Dunedin to Buffalo. The Yanks are 23-9 against everyone else they have played; that is 1-1 vs. the Braves and a winning record against their other seven foes.

The Yanks were 2020 bullies, overwhelming the outmanned Orioles and Red Sox with a 16-4 record while going 7-15 against the Blue Jays and Rays — that cost them the AL East. They played exclusively a regional schedule last year. This year they are 11-1 against non-Eastern division teams. That includes sweeping the AL Central-leading White Sox over the weekend.

Chicago is good. But recent playoff history is the Yanks will steamroll a Central opponent, like Cleveland last season. Then they ran into the Rays and their season expired.

Plus, the AL East appears a bear. Tampa Bay is as good as last year, Toronto is better, Boston is way better. Heck, Baltimore already has beaten the Yankees four times (in 10 games) this year after going 5-24 the past two years.

The Yanks are in the midst of a 12-game period that includes the horrible Tigers, but also three three-game home series versus Toronto, Tampa Bay and Boston. The Yanks will play the Red Sox for the first time 58 games into the year. Nineteen of the Yanks’ final 105 games — 18.1 percent of their games — are against their historic rival.

The AL East — and perhaps a wild card or two — could come down to how this strong foursome fares against each other. The Yanks did take two of three against the Rays in St. Petersburg two weeks ago. Still, in this division within the division they are 5-11. The Blue Jays were 9-10. The Rays 11-8. The Red Sox 6-2.

The Yanks are currently the second wild card and only there because of how well they have pitched. But Corey Kluber’s shoulder injury will keep him out at least two months, a reminder that the fear with the Yankee starters was how few innings so many logged in recent years and what this could look like as workloads mounted. Kluber broke at 53 ¹/₃ innings.


  Justin Wilson gives up a home run to Randal Grichuk of the Blue Jays in a loss. Getty Images Justin Wilson gives up a home run to Randal Grichuk of the Blue Jays in a loss. Getty Images

At some point — like so much of the recent past — the Yankee offense either wakes up and carries them or this division and possibly a playoff spot altogether will vanish. The Blue Jays, Rays and Red Sox were three of the seven teams averaging five or more runs a game. The Yanks were one of seven averaging fewer than four. Batting average might not mean what we thought in, say, 1991. But even in 2021 it is going to be impossible to score consistently if eight of the 13 players who have batted most often continue to hit .202 or worse.

The Blue Jays are succeeding and their biggest offseason addition, George Springer, has been limited to four games. The Rays probably improved their offense by trading starting shortstop Willy Adames and replacing him with Taylor Walls. They can (and probably will) summon at some point Wander Franco, the consensus best prospect in the sport, and Vidal Brujan, who might be Ketel Marte 2.0. Plus, with their system, the Rays will be a trade-deadline threat for the best bat — someone like Nelson Cruz. Nearly one-third of the way through this season, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez have combined to hit .312 with a .966 OPS and 35 homers. The Yankee big three of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gio Urshela were .290, .870 and 26 — and the fall after them was substantial, beyond a recent rise from Gleyber Torres.

Now 2020 homer champ Luke Voit (oblique) is out for a while. That transfers more responsibility to 2020 batting champ DJ LeMahieu, who has been a ground-ball machine and is down 100-plus points of batting average from last year. The Yanks have gotten almost nothing from left and center fields, so the Yanks sure need Clint Frazier and Brett Gardner to awaken. Can Gary Sanchez stir? His .158 average is the worst among the 171 players who have batted at least 300 times the last two years. They are all diminishing the Yankees.


  Gleyber Torres scores on a double from Miguel Andujar. Getty Images Gleyber Torres scores on a double from Miguel Andujar. Getty Images

There is a race within the race in the AL East, and — so far — the Yankees have not been a hit.

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