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Yankees’ sustained excellence has them back in elite company

Don’t look now, but there’s a decent chance the New York Yankees are an excellent baseball team this season.

With a rash of early injuries – $162 million lefty Carlos Rodon is only now throwing bullpen sessions – and listless play through the season’s first month, the Yankees were a last-place club with burning questions throughout the lineup and rotation.

Yet since falling to 15-15 on May 1, nobody’s been better.

The Yankees have won 21 of 31 games since that day, just a half-game off the Texas Rangers’ record in that span for best in baseball. Those rampaging Tampa Bay Rays? Just six games ahead. The Baltimore Orioles are just two games up on them for second place. And after a stirring series at Dodger Stadium, where the Yankees won two of three and Aaron Judge wrecked a fence, New York has won seven of its last eight series.

They’ve moved up to sixth in USA TODAY Sports’ MLB power rankings, and another strong week would vault them into the top five for the first time since the season’s earliest stages.

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, left, is greeted by center fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa after hitting a two-run homer in the ninth inning of Sunday's 4-1 win over the Dodgers.

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, left, is greeted by center fielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa after hitting a two-run homer in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Dodgers.

A look at this week’s rankings:

1. Tampa Bay Rays (-)

2. Texas Rangers (+1)

3. Baltimore Orioles (-1)

6. New York Yankees (+1)

  • The record: 12-49. The run differential: -212. The number of “SELL” T-shirts sold for June 13 reverse boycott in Oakland: 27,000.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yankees flying high, moving up in weekly MLB power rankings