MLB Weekly Roundup: The Yankees have become allergic to losing

By Ben Verlander
FOX Sports Baseball Analyst

It's the time of the season when division races are heating up, and you can feel the intensity of August baseball.

Of the six MLB divisions, four are still very much up for grabs and might come down to the last week of the season. 

The two that are all but wrapped up are the Centrals, with the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox holding pretty strong grips on their leads. 

With a little more than a month to go, we are in for a super exciting finish to the season.

For now, let’s take a look back at some of the best things from the week that was in baseball and preview some of the top storylines of the coming week.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

The New York Yankees just won’t stop winning.

Since the acquisitions of Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo at the trade deadline, the Yankees are an incredible 18-4.

Winners of nine straight, they have risen from fourth place in the AL East, on the outside looking in at the playoffs, to second place in the division and in the first wild-card spot, with the next team a few games behind.

New York's moves at the deadline have proven to be exactly what this struggling team needed.

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK

The Blue Angels were out and about in Chicago this week. During one game, they got so close, and the photos taken were absolutely spectacular.

My favorite image is of the Blue Angels flying behind the bleachers at Wrigley, with many of the fans turning around to check them out. 

SIX-TOOL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

This weekend, for the first time in my life, I got to visit Petco Park in San Diego, and it is glorious.

The game between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres was equally incredible, with San Diego walking it off in extra innings.

With the Padres down to their last out and trailing by two runs in the bottom of the ninth, Jake Cronenworth stepped to the plate and homered to center field to tie the game.

It was pure pandemonium at Petco, and Cronenworth, naturally, was fired up while rounding the bases.

That clutch home run (and just a little bit of bias because I was there to see it) makes Cronenworth the latest six-tool player of the week.

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

Dodgers at Padres

So far this season, every series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Padres has been incredible. These are two great teams creating one of the best rivalries in baseball right now, and this week in San Diego, the matchup means even more.

The Dodgers have been surging of late and are hot on the heels of the first-place San Francisco Giants, who have been leading the division almost all year. Meanwhile, the Padres find themselves holding on for dear life to the second wild-card spot.

The Padres have played the Dodgers quite well this season, and it seems they rise to the occasion for this opponent. Look for Fernando Tatis Jr. to have a great series, as his power seems to be on full display when these teams clash. (Six of his home runs this season have come against the Dodgers.)

Reds at Brewers

The Cincinnati Reds are another of the hottest teams in baseball right now. They have surged up the standings recently and are now on the verge of clinching one of the two National League wild-card spots.

The Brewers are in first in the division and have been one of the NL's top teams all season. If the Reds are to have any hope of catching Milwaukee in the Central, it must start with this series.

I think the Brewers are one of the best teams in baseball, and they're my pick to represent the NL in the World Series, so I'm taking the Brewers in this clash. But stay tuned because this is a battle the Reds desperately need to win.

THIS WEEK ON THE POD

Detroit pitcher Spencer Turnbull joins me to discuss all things Tigers, from his no-hitter earlier this season to Miggy's 500th home run to the young players on the rise. 

Detroit is an exciting place for baseball these days!

Here’s to another incredible week of Major League Baseball!

Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @Verly32.