The Bombers streak mostly can be attributed to ARod's HR streak, as he homered for the fourth straight day. His 2-run shot in the bottom of the 1st put the Yanks ahead for good. The score would remain 2-1 through 6 innings, as Sabathia and Oriole rookie pitcher, Brad Bergesen, looked untouchable, both holding their opponents to 3 hits apiece. In the bottom of the 7th, the Yanks would blow the game wide open, perhaps not wanting to chance trusting their bullpen to hold the slim lead.
They would erupt for 7 runs in the frame, with a key 3-run, bases loaded double by Derek Jeter (the third run came in on a throwing error) and another HR from the hot hitting Mark Teixeira being the big hits of the inning, putting this game out of reach. The Yanks and their fans welcomed the return of 8th inning setup man, Brian Bruney, who had an easy 1-2-3 inning. And with an 8-run cushion, manager Joe Girardi felt it was even safe to throw Brett Tomko out there in the 9th to mop up the 9-1 victory.
It's cannot be coincidence that the hometown heroes are 9-2 since the return of ARod. He extends the lineup considerably, and as mentioned before in this blog, takes the heat off Teixeira, who admittedly has seen better pitches since ARod's return. In those 11 games with ARod protecting him in the order, Tex's clubbed 6 HRs and now leads the Yanks with 11 HRs. Their lineup should be even more formidable once Jorge Posada returns from the DL.
Observations around the league: Big Sloppy returned to the Sox lineup tonight after a 3 game absence and went 0-3 with 2 Ks. His batting average is down to .203 and he's still stuck at zippo homers. How much longer will Francona bat this guy 3rd in the lineup? My guess is he's dropped in the lineup tomorrow and has seen the last of any left-handers. He's being compared to Mo Vaughn and Cecil Fielder because of their sudden free fall from greatness at the age of 33. Oakland's Matt Holliday hit a 3-run shot in the top of the 11th inning, his fifth of the season, to beat the Rays. Tampa can't lose enough as far as I'm concerned. Still surprised they haven't brought up pitcher David Price to turn things around. Good to see good guy, Dontrelle Willis, pitch 1-hit ball for 6 1/3 innings tonight for Detroit. Willis, when he was good, always seemed to be having fun out there. Here's hoping he finds some of that again.
I read today on the River Avenue Blues blog found on the Yes Network website that Joe Torre stated Scott Proctor has no one to blame but himself for his arm injury. Ol' Padre Joe just continues to demonstrate what a lowlife dirtbag he really is and seems to forget the pile of dead arms he left in his wake: Paul Quantrill, Flash Gordon, Tanyon Sturtze, Ramiro Mendoza, Steve Karsay along with Scott Proctor. As for Proctor, Torre pitched him in 83 games and 102 innings in 2006, with 42 of those games being multiple inning appearances. Brutal. God knows how many times he had Proctor just warming up in the bullpen without entering the game. Before the Yanks traded Proctor in 2007, he already had 52 appearances in July before being traded to the Dodgers. What was the need for Torre to say anything at all? First, a tell all book about the Yanks and now this. Joe, please - just go away. And for the record, I think Zimmer was the real brains during his Yankee years.
Yankees Record: 22-17
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