The Yankees went 4-0 this week, and it capped a real turnaround from how things looked before you left. They closed out that series against the Tampa Bay Rays with a 12-4 win on Thursday, July 9, then swept a three-game series against the Washington Nationals, winning 5-3, 4-2, and 5-3 in Washington. That's four straight wins, and the Yankees are riding a W4 streak into the break.
The standings moved in their favor too. Back on July 8 the Yankees sat 5 games back in the American League East. Now they're 3 back, still in second place, with a record of 54-42. Part of that is their own hot stretch, part of it is the Rays going 2-2 this week while the Yankees kept winning. Boston and Baltimore both went 4-0 in this stretch as well, so the division picture up top stayed crowded, but the Yankees gained ground on the leader.
Ben Rice (DH) was the story at the plate. He hit two home runs and drove in 5 runs in the win over the Rays on July 9, and over the four games he went 6 for 14 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI. Trent Grisham (CF) homered and drove in 2 runs on July 11, and Jasson Domínguez (RF) also went deep with an RBI on July 10. On the mound, Cam Schlittler went 6.2 innings on July 11, striking out 6 while allowing 2 earned runs.
There's no baseball right now. The league paused for the All-Star Game on July 14, so the Yankees have been off since that Sunday win on July 12. They're back Friday, July 17 at 4:05 PM PDT, at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.