SEATTLE \u2014 Part of what doomed the New York Yankees last year was finishing with the same record as the Toronto Blue Jays. It tied them for the best mark in the American League, but it also meant they landed runner-up in the division to Toronto and lost out on crucial home-field advantage in the playoffs because the Blue Jays owned the head-to-head tiebreaker.<\/p>\n
The Yankees don\u2019t want any of that to happen again, and in a meeting before Saturday\u2019s win over the San Francisco Giants, a trio of veterans \u2014 Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Paul Goldschmidt \u2014 impressed upon their teammates the importance of bringing their highest level of focus to every game they play this year, several players told The Athletic.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day,\u201d Stanton said, \u201cit\u2019s focus with it being everyday: late nights, cross-country, early mornings \u2014 whatever you want. Focus is the main thing that sways, with energy, as well. But low energy is low focus. It\u2019s one and the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the Yankees continued to show their focus in a thorough, 5-0 win over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park to improve to 4-1. Max Fried and Stanton starred, and the club made a bunch crisp plays on defense and on the bases.<\/p>\n
Oh G. <\/p>\n
112.8 mph RBI-double \ud83d\udcaa pic.twitter.com\/1s2muGRija<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Stanton went 2-for-4 with a double and now has multiple hits in all five of the Yankees\u2019 games this season. He also advanced to second base on a wild pitch, despite how cautious he has been when while running. Fried struck out six, walked one and give up three hits.<\/p>\n Center fielder Trent Grisham went a long way to track down Randy Arozarena\u2019s second-inning liner. Jazz Chisholm Jr. made a nice backhand stop on Leo Rivas\u2019 grounder in the third. First baseman Ben Rice, still learning the position, made a nice stop and throw to Fried on the run covering the bag in the third.<\/p>\n \u201cJust a really well-played game,\u201d manager Aaron Boone said.<\/p>\n There were times in the middle of last season where the Yankees didn\u2019t play even close to their best baseball. They were plagued with sloppy fielding and base running<\/a>, in addition to rocky relief work, through a summer swoon in which they went 18-27 from June 13 through Aug. 4. At one point, Boone declared it \u201cgut check time\u201d for his club. But a late-season course correction that included winning their last eight games and 11 of their final 12 was a major help.<\/p>\n But the Yankees don\u2019t want to have to feel like they\u2019re playing catchup again.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a hard game,\u201d Stanton said, \u201cbut if we beat and finish the teams we\u2019re supposed to beat and finish, and not just be satisfied we won the first two (games) and come in like we won the series already. Because it\u2019s important. It\u2019s important clearly from last year and we did a great job at the end of the year when we won, what, eight in a row or whatever \u2014 and it still didn\u2019t get us where we wanted. Take that energy across the whole year instead of, \u2018Here\u2019s the comparison and the numbers. Let\u2019s try to beat them now (and) catch up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the meeting was also about finishing out series sweeps, which Judge mentioned after Saturday\u2019s victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s going to make a difference between winning a division or end up tying and losing it,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n But Chisholm said the rest of the message was about the Yankees not letting themselves \u201cstoop to any team\u2019s level.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re already way above them,\u201d the second baseman said, \u201cdon\u2019t drop down and make it an even playing field just because you\u2019re already up.\u201d<\/p>\n Jazz joins the fun \ud83c\udfb7 pic.twitter.com\/WjwX9PDgW9<\/a><\/p>\n