Nick Senzel looks to take a bite out of the Big Apple as the Reds battle the Yankees

I still can't believe it happened. Despite dropping five of their first seven games to open an 11-game homestand, the Cincinnati Reds (32-54) rallied to win their last four at Great American Ball Park, including a series sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, to finish with a 6-5 record in front of the home fans.

The Redlegs not only concluded a successful homestand, but they completed the unlikely feat playing nine of those games against quality opponents in the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and the aforementioned Rays. For a ball club that has struggled winning close games, Cincinnati is suddenly thriving in clutch situations.

Entering play on Sunday, July 3rd, the Reds didn't have a walk-off to celebrate in the 2022 campaign. Fast forward a week and the Reds have miraculously walked it off victoriously four times in an eight-game span.

The Reds head to the Bronx to battle the Yankees.

Cincinnati will need to pull out every trick possible as they visit Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers are the proud owners of the best record in baseball by a wide margin. Entering play today, the New York Yankees (61-25) have an incredible 14.5 game lead in an ultra-competitive American League East and are virtually guaranteed to win the division crown.

Needless to say, the Yankees excel in every aspect of the game. Their vaunted offensive unit leads the AL in OBP (.327), slugging (.444), and home runs (146). If that's not impressive enough, they're tied for second with 58 stolen bases.

All-Star right-fielder Aaron Judge has already compiled nearly a season's worth of amazing numbers. The free-agent-to-be is slashing .283/.361/.610 with a staggering 30 round-trippers and 65 RBIs. However, he's not the only one playing long ball.

First baseman, and longtime Reds' nemesis, Anthony Rizzo and DH Giancarlo Stanton have each gone deep 22 times as well. Whatever the Yankees are drinking must be contagious because 36-year-old former St. Louis Cardinal Matt Carpenter has launched 10 bombs in only 64 at-bats since donning the pinstripes on May 26th following his release a week earlier from the Texas Rangers.

New York hurlers sport the second-best team ERA in the junior circuit with an impressive 3.04 mark. In addition, they're second in strikeouts (782), and only the Houston Astros have surrendered fewer gopher balls (80) than the Yanks' pitching staff.

Since interleague play was introduced in the 1997 season, the Yankees own an 11-8 advantage over the Reds, including a current five-game winning streak in the Bronx. However, the two clubs have split their six season series meetings over that time.