11-2! How Yankees aced their toughest test of 2018 (so far)

7:30 AM ET

NEW YORK -- Four top contenders. Thirteen games. And, after taking two of three from the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees finished the most challenging stretch of their regular-season schedule Thursday night ... with an .846 winning percentage.

Wow.

Since April 27, when this test started in Anaheim, the Yankees have posted not only the best winning percentage in baseball, but the best run differential (plus-30). And, when it really counts, they've been second only to the San Francisco Giants with a .294 batting average with runners in scoring position.

"It's a pretty good team," pitcher CC Sabathia says with a laugh. "A young team. It's fun to be around."

Sabathia and the Yankees' starting pitchers certainly have had a lot of fun lately, posting the best strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.9-1) in the bigs during this run, plus the second-best opponent batting average (.201) and WHIP (0.93), and fourth-best ERA (2.63).

But the numbers tell only a fraction of the story. Here's a series-by-series look at how the first-place Yankees overcame the Los Angeles Angels, Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians and Red Sox to go 11-2 -- and send a message to the American League.

Series 1: Angels

The setup: The Yankees have won six straight entering the series, but most of those wins are thanks to a four-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins, whom, historically, they've owned. But the true test is 13 games against the four (other) AL teams with the best odds of making the playoffs, starting with Mike Trout's Angels.

The result: A three-game sweep in Anaheim.

Most memorable moment: Didi Gregorius, who would later be named April's American League Player of the Month, not only wins Game 1 with a 10th-inning home run, he takes a curtain call -- on the road.

HOW YOU KNOW YOU ARE A BOSS!!!
A curtain call on the road for ⚔️ SIR DIDI ⚔️
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/9cJ3YMlPkE
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 28, 2018

"It was a little weird for me," Gregorius says. "There were a lot of fans here. I didn't expect that, to be honest ... [my teammates] told me to give the fans what they wanted. Especially the guy right here [Aaron Judge]."

Sir Didi's (conspicuously Didi-free) Game 1 recap:

#startspreadingthenews yankees win all around great game... WHAT A GAME!! This Team🔥🔥 bullpen🔥🔥
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) April 28, 2018

Series stat to know: The sweep in Anaheim is their first on the road against the Angels since July 2003.

Required reading: Yankees' emoji master, Didi Gregorius, is on :fire: »

Series 2: Astros

The setup: Sure, they swept the Angels, running their winning streak to nine games. But these are the Astros, the defending champs. And this is Houston, where the Yankees were beaten four times in last year's American League Championship Series. Good luck!

The result: Winning three out of four in Houston.

Most memorable moment: Gary Sanchez's three-run, ninth-inning home run off Ken Giles delivers the KO for the Yankees in Game 2. But that apparently isn't enough of a blow for Giles, who then punches himself in the face on his way back to the dugout.

🎶'Cause you had a bad day🎶 pic.twitter.com/5xHNe9JULh
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 2, 2018

"Obviously, because I just screwed up a win," Giles says, by way of explanation. "We should have won this game. We should have bounced back. I didn't give our team a chance. Of course I'm going to be frustrated over that."

Sir Didi's Game 2 recap:

#StartSpreadingTheNews yankees win #UnleashTheKraken 🦑 with the big 3run homerun .... 🔥🔥bullpen🔥🔥
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) May 2, 2018

Series stat to know: The Yankees hold Houston without a run for a span of 28 innings, the Astros' longest scoreless streak since 1992.

Required reading: The Yankees are who we thought they were »

Series 3: Indians

The setup: OK, maybe this team is for real. Just three games to go before a shot at the Red Sox; will it be a fight for first place or just another May series against Boston? Trouncing the Tribe means setting up a spring classic.

The result: A three-game sweep in the Bronx.

Most memorable moment: In Game 3, second baseman Gleyber Torres -- at 21 years, 144 days -- becomes the youngest Yankee ever to hit a walk-off home run. The previous record-holder? Just some 21-year, 185-day-old outfielder named Mickey Mantle.

"Everybody knew the kind of talent that Gleyber has. That's not a secret," Sanchez says. "For me, he's just doing what he knows to do, which is play good baseball."

Sir Didi's Game 3 recap:

🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼 With the Walkoff Homerun
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) May 6, 2018

Series stat to know: The Yankees' Game 3 comeback -- featuring three runs in the eighth and four more in the ninth -- marks their first win after trailing by four or more runs entering the bottom of the eighth inning in nearly two years (June 29, 2016, vs. the Rangers).

Required reading: Gleyber Torres latest walk-off hero for red-hot Yanks »

Series 4: Red Sox

The setup: The rivalry gets as intense as it has ever been this early in a season. Both teams come in with .700-plus winning percentages -- marking the latest in any season the two will square off with those numbers. Can the Yankees win the series and take a share of first place in the AL East ... or maybe even sole possession of it?

The result: Winning two out of three in the Bronx.

Most memorable moment: Pick just about any moment. Yankee Stadium is so raucous it feels like October -- starting from Game 1, particularly in the seventh inning when Boston brawler Joe Kelly trots in from the bullpen to a chorus of boos and then gives up a tiebreaking single to Judge. But here's one particularly epic sequence: In a see-saw Game 2, the crowd erupts as Brett Gardner's eighth-inning, two-run triple off Boston closer Craig Kimbrel zooms way over center fielder Mookie Betts' head to put the Yankees up for good and seal the series win. As if that isn't enough, Betts has no chance to make a play when the next batter, Judge, hits a ball into Monument Park.

"It's May, and it's bedlam," Yankees manager Aaron Boone says.

Sir Didi's Game 2 recap:

#StartSpreadingTheNews yankees win Big 8inning🚶🏻‍♂️to start it 👹 classic baseball moving 🚶🏻‍♂️over 🍼 with the walk and 🤡 with the big 2rbi triple for the lead and 👨🏽‍⚖️ with the 2 🏃🏽 homerun and 🇨🇺🚀 to close the game... WHAT A GAME!!!
— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) May 10, 2018

Series stat to know: On April 20, the Bombers trailed Boston by 7½ games in the AL East. Since then, they've gone 17-2 and have pulled dead even with the Red Sox atop the AL East. At 26-11, the rivals -- who have split their season series so far, 3-3 -- now share MLB's best record.

Required reading: 'This place is alive': Yanks, Sox turn May into October »

What's next

The Yankees start a three-game set Friday night at home against Oakland before hitting the road to play Washington, Kansas City and Texas, a far less daunting stretch -- at least on paper.

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