When will Yankees clinch AL East title? Looking at magic number ahead of Orioles series

NEW YORK – Not too long ago, this week’s Yankees-Orioles series was circled as critical.

Exactly two weeks ago, the Yankees held a thin half-game AL East lead on Baltimore, making this looming three-game set appear pivotal.

Now, it looks like an invitation to the next Yankees’ clinching party.

As Aaron Judge has been saying, the Yankees “just have to take care of business,’’ and that means winning one game against the O’s to claim the division title.

With a magic number of one to win their second AL East championship in three years, the Yankees are scheduled to start Clarke Schmidt against Dean Kremer on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

A few other items of note as the Yankees arrive home from their 5-1 trip through Seattle and Oakland with a six-game lead on Baltimore with six games left in the regular season:

Yankees' Magic Number to clinch AL best record

Speaking of magic numbers, it’s 3 for the Yankees to claim the AL’s best record.

Any combination of Yankees wins or Cleveland Guardians losses that total three would give the Yankees home field advantage throughout the AL playoffs, and that’s something of note – especially if there’s another AL Championship Series date with the Houston Astros.

The Yankees own the league’s best road record at 50-31, and they’ve also owned the AL Central again, with a 24-7 mark.

This week, the AL Central champion Guardians finish with five home games – two against the 76-81 Cincinnati Reds, and three against the AL West leading Houston Astros.

Meanwhile, the last place (NL Central) Pittsburgh Pirates follow the Orioles into Yankee Stadium this weekend.

Gleyber Torres' ascension at leadoff

Way back in late March, Gleyber Torres began as the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, due to DJ LeMahieu’s right foot fracture late in spring training.

Torres never gained any initial traction at the leadoff spot, and manager Aaron Boone unsuccessfully cycled through Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo at leadoff before coming back to Torres.

Since being slotted back into the No. 1 spot on Aug. 16, Torres is batting .308 with an .830 OPS and five homers in 162 plate appearances – a sharp turnaround from his sluggish first 115 games.

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Prior to his switch back to leadoff, Torres was batting .236 with a .658 OPS and 10 homers in 481 plate appearances.

“He’s staying aggressive in his zone, I think that’s the biggest thing,’’ Judge told the YES Network on Sunday. “We all get a little passive at times if we’re not swinging the way we want to.

“But in the second half, he’s been confident, staying aggressive early in the count, and when you do that, good things are going to happen.’’

Yankees shaping postseason pitching rotation

Following Schmidt on Tuesday night, the Yankees are scheduled to start Nestor Cortes and Gerrit Cole against Baltimore.

Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman could get the weekend starts against Pittsburgh, and assuming they're the AL champs, the Yanks won't play again until the Division Series opener Oct. 5 at Yankee Stadium.

Cortes might have pitched himself into a No. 3 spot behind Cole and Rodon, and those are all the starters the Yanks might need in the ALDS.

Barring rainouts, there are off days following ALDS Games 1 and 2, meaning Cole could come back on full rest in Game 4.

So, Gil and Stroman could have bullpen roles at least in the first playoff round, and the Yankees are hoping to get Jake Cousins (strained pec) back for the start of the ALDS, having placed him on the injured list, retroactive to last Thursday.

John Sterling returning to Yankees' radio booth

Just in time for the postseason run, John Sterling will be back in the Yankees' radio broadcast booth .

Sterling retired in April but was asked to join longtime broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman for the Yankees' stretch run and into the playoffs - as long as they last - to call the games both home and away.

The return of Sterling begins Tuesday night against the Orioles, and maybe we'll get to hear what he's got in store for a Jazz Chisholm Jr. home run call, or another variation on the "It's Juan-derful'' Juan Soto call.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: When will Yankees clinch AL East title? Looking at magic number ahead of Orioles series