Game 76 - Yanks Streak Reaches 6

The Bombers continued their winning ways, prevailing 8-5 over Seattle, despite their struggles with RISP and blowing two different 2-run leads. Joba Chamberlain squared off against Seattle's own flamethrower - Brandon Morrow (picked ahead of Tim Lincecum!). Both starters were less than impressive. Joba allowed 9 hits and 3 walks in only 5.1 innings, and repeatedly found himself in a full count on most hitters. He allowed a HR to the .133 hitting Ronny Cedeno and blew a 3-1 lead in the 5th, allowing the Mariners to chip away for 2 more runs to knot the score. Morrow wiggled through 3 bases loaded jams, minimizing the Yanks to 3 runs in his 4.2 innings of work, despite giving up 5 hits and 5 walks. The Yankees certainly didn't help their cause or provide Joba with a comfortable lead, starting the game 0-10 with RISP.

ARod gave the Yanks their second 2-run lead of the night when he absolutely crushed a high-inside fastball in the 7th. It wouldn't last long. Brian Bruney gave up 2 runs in the 8th after he relieved the impressive Phil Hughes who tossed 9 pitches in the previous frame. I guess Joe Girardi is intent on Bruney being his 8th inning bridge to Mariano. However, Bruney's been ineffective since his return from the DL. In 4.2 innings, he's given up 3 runs, 4 hits, 5 walks with only 3 Ks. Brian Cashman said today that the Yankees may be hampering Hughes long term as a starter, but the team's current needs require him to be in the bullpen. Perhaps it's time to let Hughes throw multiple innings, a la Mariano in 1996, and be the 8th inning reliever, at least till Bruney can rediscover his form.

Luckily, the Yanks had one more rally in them in the 8th. Melky Cabrera laced a run scoring double and The Captain followed by knocking in 2 more runs with a single to give the Yanks the 8-5 lead. They finished the game 4-16 with RISP. Better late than never. In the 9th, the great Mariano came on to record his 501st career save, characteristically ending it with a punch out. The Yanks honored Mariano before the game by having him throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Notes: Great night overall for Yankee fans. Boston blew a 10-1 lead to Baltimore, giving up an astronomical 10 runs in the 7th and 8th innings. What happened to the "best" bullpen in baseball? Justin Masterson, Hideki Okajima, Takashi Saito and Papelbum were bitch-slapped in Baltimore's epic comeback. If I were a Red Sox fan, I'd want to throw up tonight. Thank the good Lord, I'm not. There's nothing to like about this smug team. They're so smug, they walked off the field in the 6th with only 2 outs! How embarrassing. Speaking of smug, the Rays won their 7th straight. Look out.

Yankees Record: 44-32 - season high 12 games over .500

Yanks Acquire Eric Hinske

The Yanks have acquired Eric Hinske from the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor leaguer P Casey Erickson and OF Eric Fryer. Both 23-year olds played in Single-A for the Yanks.

Ken Singleton on the Yanks pre-game show on YES said Brian Cashman was looking for some pop of the bench. Cashman realized he could use someone who could knock it out of the yard when Brett Gardner came to the plate against the Marlins as the tying run.

Hinske's an interesting choice and has plenty of playoff experience. He can play 1B/3B and either corner OF position In the last 2 seasons, he won a World Series with Boston and went to the dance again last year with Tampa Bay. Does this mean we will never see the likes of Shelley Duncan again?

Game 75 - Mo Saves 500th; Yanks Sweep

Mariano Rivera became the 2nd MLer to save 500 games, joining Brewers' closer, Trevor Hoffman, as the only players in history to achieve the feat in the Yanks 4-2 victory over the hapless Mets. Mo earned this save, too, as he entered the game with 2 outs in the 8th after Brian Bruney walked 2 men in the inning. He caught Omir Santos looking on a 3-2 cutter on the inside corner to get out of the jam.

Mo picked up another milestone tonight, as well, when he came to bat against K-Rod, the single-season saves record holder. With 2 outs and the bases loaded, Mo worked a full count on K-Rod, including one helluva vicious cut on a 2-2 fastball. Mo walked, driving in the Yanks final run for his first career RBI (in 3 career at bats). Robinson Cano - please take note.

Mo's RBI wasn't the only first of the night - his save marked Chien-Ming Wang's first win of the season in his 11th start. He pitched 5.1 innings of 2-run ball in another respectable, but rather unspectacular outing. He did lower his ERA to 10.06 and has a shot at lowering it to single digits in his next start. He didn't have great command, walking 3 and 1 HBP, but fortunately he faced a depleted Mets lineup that couldn't take advantage.

The Yanks looked like they were going to blow this game wide open in the 1st against Livan Hernandez. They put 3 on the board on a 2-run double by Mark Teixeira and a sac fly by Jorge Posada. The Mets might've had a chance to limit the damage to 2 runs, but 1B Daniel Murphy dropped the relay throw on a potential double play ball off the bat of Robinson Cano.

Amazingly, the Yanks only managed 1 more hit off of Livan Hernandez. They did have a couple of opportunities to blow the game open. My favorite whipping boy, Robinson Cano, came up with the bases loaded twice, and killed both rallies, one with a double play. For the game, he left a whopping 8 men on base. I've written so much on this topic, it's become absolutely boring to me. Someone please explain to me why this guy continues to be penciled into the 5th spot of the lineup. Cano best serves the team in the lower third of the order where there's less pressure on him. He's now 2-12 with the bases loaded this season and batting .236 with the bags juiced for his career. I won't even rehash his career RISP numbers.

Fortunately for the Yanks, those missed opportunities didn't come back to haunt them as their bullpen continues to pitch well. Phil Coke and Phil Hughes did their jobs and bridged the gap to Bruney in the 8th, setting the stage for Mo's big night. With tonight's win and Boston's loss earlier in the day to Braves outstanding rookie, Tommy Hanson, the Yanks closed to within 3 games. They better not look in the rearview mirror - Tampa Bay swept the Marlins and have won 5 straight just like the Bombers.

Yankees Record: 43-32 - ties their high season mark of 11 games over .500

Cleveland Trades Mark DeRosa to St. Louis

My dreams of the Yanks acquiring super utility man, Mark DeRosa, was squashed when Cleveland sent DeRosa to the Cardinals for reliever, Chris Perez and a played to be named later. Did the Yanks even kick the tires on DeRosa? I'm sure they could have come up with a comparable package.

I feel DeRosa would have been ideal as insurance for ARod and his hip at 3B. He could have spelled ARod once a week or moved ARod to DH more often. DeRosa could have also been a constant source of motivation to Robinson Cano, lurking in the wings. Last week, Derek Jeter twisted his ankle and missed a couple of games, but when he did return, it looked like he may have rushed back a game or two early. Someone like DeRosa could have taken the pressure off of these guys who feel they have to return to the lineup. Mark DeRosa also plays both corner OF positions and could have been a good replacement for Xavier Nady, who is now lost for the season. DeRosa, a right-hander, could have been a spot starter for Damon against lefties or fill in for switch-hitter Melky Cabrera, who is a weak hitter from the right side.

DeRosa is hitting .270 with 13 HRs and 50 RBIs and would have a huge upgrade over Hideki Matsui at DH. I've been pulling for this trade all season, so I guess now that he's officially traded, there's nothing for me to talk about! I'll have to find someone else to focus on.

Game 74 - Burnett, Yanks One-Hit Mets

The Yanks shutout the Mets 5-0 today, as AJ Burnett tossed 7 innings of 1 hit ball and 3 walks while striking out a season-high 10 batters. He had a no-hitter through 5 innings before Alex Cora led off the 6th with the Mets lone hit of the game. Relievers Brian Bruney and David Robertson pitched the final 2 frames to complete the 1-hit shutout.

Burnett dominated from the get-go, striking out 2 in the first inning. His fastball routinely hit 94-95 mph on the gun all day and his curve balls were nasty, diving in and disappearing on the Mets left-handed hitters. He was aided by 2 brilliant defensive plays by Melky Cabrera in LF and a diving stop by Ramiro Pena at SS - all off the snakebitten Daniel Murphy. Burnett improved to 6-4 and lowered his ERA to 3.93.

The Yankee bats started out slow against ex-Yankee and Mets starter, Tim Redding. He lasted all of 1 start for the Yanks in 2005, lasting just 1 inning in a loss to Boston. He was shelled for 6 runs in that game, thus ending his brief Yankee career with an ERA of 54.00. Nick Swisher finally broke through in the 3rd with an opposite field solo shot to LF. The score remained 1-0 till the Yanks broke through for a 4-spot in the 6th. On 4 straight pitches from Redding, Teixeira hit a 415' double, ARod knocked him in with a single, Robbie Cano doubled and Jorge Posada hit a 3-run shot. That would be more than enough for the Yanks, as the Mets couldn't scratch a sniff against Burnett and the bullpen.

Granted, the Mets have sent out a depleted lineup the past 2 games, but this same team just took 3 of 4 from the 1st place Cardinals, including an 11-0 drubbing in one game. The Yankees were shorthanded themselves, as they played without Derek Jeter, sitting out a second straight game with the flu, and he must have passed it on to Johnny Damon, who also missed the game.

Brett Gardner came crashing back to earth going 0-5 after his career game yesterday. Next up, Chien-Ming Wang goes for his 1st win of the season against Livan Hernandez.

Yankees Record: 42-32

Game 73 - Sabathia, Gardner Manhandle Mets

The Bombers blasted the Metropolitans, 9-1, to win their 3rd straight. They've scored 28 runs in their 3 wins, after only scoring a total of 18 in their previous 7 games. CC Sabathia, after being pulled in the 2nd in his last start for biceps tendinitis, pitched 7 solid innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 8 Ks. His lone run came on a Gary Sheffield blast, as the Yanks continued to donate to their favorite charity "Revive an Aging Slugger". It's Sheffield's 3rd homer of the year against the Yanks. Sabathia helped his own cause at the plate, too, going 1-4 with a run and an RBI single. Bret Tomko tossed 2 hitless innings to finish up for the boys from the Bronx.

With Derek Jeter sitting out with a respiratory infection, Brett Gardner took over the leadoff spot and looked like a man who doesn't want to go back to the bench. Gardner had his best day as a major leaguer, going 5-6 with a triple, HR, SB and 2 RBIs. Who says it's hard to hit HRs at the new Citifield? Melky Cabrera and/or Nick Swisher may want to stock up on their sunflower seeds, because Gardner has clearly regained his starting CF position.

ARod continued his recent hot streak, hitting a dinger for the 2nd day in a row and passing Reggie Jackson for 11th place all-time with HR # 564. It's bittersweet, though, as Reggie was a childhood hero of mine, and despite being an ARod apologist, I can't help feel his HR total is tainted with his steroid admission earlier this year. However, it's obvious the Yanks offense clicks when ARod is hitting.

The starting lineups looked like the Yankees B-team vs. the Mets C-team. The Yanks were missing Jeter, Posada, and Swisher from their lineup while the Mets were playing without Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado. It was real apparent that the Mets were fielding an inferior team during their embarrassing 3-error performance in the 2nd inning that staked the Yanks to a 4-0 lead. Meanwhile, Jeter's replacement, Ramiro Pena, had a nice day at the plate. He went 3-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI in the Yanks 14-hit attack.

Of course, I can't finish my blog without reference to my 2 favorite subjects - Robinson Cano and RISP. Despite going 2-6 with a double, Cano stranded 7 men on base. Nothing astounds me more than his 42 RBIs on the season. He if could hit close to his average with RISP, he'd probably be leading the league without 70+ RBIs. As for the team, despite scoring 9 runs, the Yanks were an abysmal 3-17 with RISP. Thank God for the Mets porous defense and the long ball.

AJ Burnett will face off against Tim Redding in game 2. However, what looks like a mismatch on paper in the Yankees favor has proven to be anything but in this interleague rivalry.

Yankees Record: 41-32

Game 72 - Yanks Take the Chop Out of Atlanta

In a game that featured 18 runs, 29 hits, 11 walks, 4 errors and 11 pitchers, the Yanks prevailed 11-7 over the Braves. The contest lasted nearly 4 hours before Mariano Rivera came on to retire the one batter he faced for his 499th career save. The Yanks knocked out old nemesis, Derek Lowe, in 3+ innings, going up 8-1. Yankee starter, Andy Pettitte, would not be around the enjoy the benefits and generosity of the Yankee offense though, as he did everything in his power to get the Braves back in the game before he was knocked out with 2 outs in the bottom of the 4th. With the Yanks large lead trimmed to 8-6 and the tying runs on base, Alfredo Aceves struck out old, and I mean old Yankee killer, Garret Anderson.

Aceves pitched 2.1 shutout innings to improve to 5-1. Phil Coke followed up with 2 scoreless innings of his own. David Robertson came on in the final frame when he awakened the Braves bats before Mariano brought semblance to the night's festivities. Robertson allowed a HR to Brian McCann for the 2nd time in the series and gave up 2 hits between 2 strike outs, before Mo picked up the "easy" one out save because the tying run was on deck.

ARod, The Captain and Johnny Damon were the hitting stars of the night. ARod went 3-5 with a HR in the 1st, a walk, and knocked in 4 runs. Jeter went 4-5, reached on an error and a walk, stole a base and scored 4 runs Damon had his hitting shoes on as well, going 3-4 with a bases loaded triple, 2 walks and knocked in 4 runs, too. Even Cody Ransom, fresh off the DL, got into the act. He went 2-5 with a 2-out, 2-run double. He played for Cano, who was out with a sore wrist. Hmm, I can't remember the last time Cano got a 2-out run scoring hit. Maybe Ransom could be the motivation Cano needs. In all, the Yanks had seven 2-out RBIs.

Strangely enough, while the Yanks pounded out 16 hits, Tex and Swisher combined to go 1-11. Tex alone stranded a Cano-like 6 men on base, going 0-5. The Yanks gained a game on Boston, who were shellacked by the mighty Nationals, 9-1, in John Smoltz' 2009 and Red Sox debut. The Yanks close out these overrated and highly annoying interleague games with their metropolitan rivals this weekend.

Yankees Record: 40-32, 1 game up in the wild card

Cody Ransom Recalled from DL

Cody Ransom was activated off the 60-day DL. To make room, the Yanks designated Angel Berroa for assignment. Will Yankee fans now vent their anguish at Ransom?

Xavier Nady hit a double in his first rehab game tonight for Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Is this the reason for the closed door meeting between Nick Swisher and management? Perhaps Swisher was told to start producing or he'll find himself caddying for Nady again.

Game 71 - Joba, Yanks End Slide

Things looked grim, as the first 15 Yankees were retired through 5 innings. Despite a closed door meeting between the hitters, and Joba Chamberlain knocking out Braves starter, Kenshin Kawakami, with a line drive to the neck in the 3rd, the Yanks could muster nothing. Not even against Braves reliever, Kris Medlen, owner of an ERA just under a tick of 6.00. When Jeff Francouer took Joba deep in the bottom of the 5th, I'm sure a lot of Yankee fans, including myself, felt that could be the ballgame.

Brett Gardner finally broke up the perfect game with a leadoff walk in the 6th. However, all hope appeared dashed when Gardner was horrendously called out on a pickoff at first. Replays clearly showed Gardner beat the tag back to the bag. Joe Girardi jumped all over the ump for his terrible gaffe and earned an early shower. Girardi's boot finally awakened the slumbering bats of the Yanks.

Francisco Cervelli tied the game up with his 1st ML home run, providing a huge lift to an offense that was clearly pressing. With 2 out, hits by Jeter and Damon, and a walk to Tex loaded the bases for the enigmatic ARod. Struggling through a 1-25 slump, ARod quickly fell behind 0-2 in the count. After fouling off a pitch, he laced a single to right to knock in 2 runs and giving the Yanks a 3-1 lead on what was considered an endangered species around these parts - the 2-out hit with RISP.

Nick Swisher, who had a mysterious closed door meeting with GM Brian Cashman and Girardi earlier in the day and then found himself in the lineup after being initially left off of it, laced an opposite field HR to left to make it 4-1 Yanks in the 6th. Joba pitched into the 7th before he ran into trouble. The Braves rallied to make it 4-3 with Phil Coke closing out the inning, thanks in part to a circus catch by Swisher in RF. The Yanks would "rally" for 2 more runs in the 8th, despite Robinson Cano's best efforts to sabotage the whole inning. With the bases loaded, no outs, Cano embarrassed himself, yet again, by hitting it to 1B for a force out at home. Braves catcher, Brian McCann, hit Cano in the back in an attempt to double him up at first, leading to the 5th run. Swisher knocked in another run with an RBI groundout. Someone please tell me how Cano is still hitting 5th in this lineup.

There was a Brian Bruney sighting in the 8th, but with 2 outs, he ran into trouble, setting the stage for another rare sight - Mariano Rivera. Mo hasn't pitched in 8 days, but it didn't show in his performance tonight. He struck out all 4 batters he faced, recording his 16th save this season and 498th of his career. He even got to bat with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th, while the Yanks cushioned the lead to 8-4. Mo hit a hard liner to CF to end the inning, as his amused teammates were hopeful it would fall in for a hit. It's been awhile since these guys had any fun.

After starting the game 0-15, the Yanks ended it by going 10-20 after Girardi's ejection, with 2 dingers and scoring in every inning after the 5th. Joba improved to 4-2 on the season, 4-0 on the road. They'll face an old foe in Derek Lowe tomorrow in the rubber match.

Other AL East notes: Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay all won. Big Sloppy hit his 7th HR of the year, 6th this month, as the Sawx beat Craig "Yankee Killer" Stammen. They've never seen him before either, yet they proved it is possible to beat someone the first time a team faces a pitcher. That excuse is getting old for the Yanks. Other teams are beating these first timers like a drum, so why can't a club of the Yankees caliber do the same? Besides, they've faced the likes of Josh Beckett and Roy Halladay all the time and they still beat the Yanks regularly, so that "facing a pitcher the first time" theory is garbage. Pat Burrell helped Tampa beat his old team, the Phillies. I'm sure that will be a topic of discussion in Philly tomorrow.

Yankees Record: 39-32

Game 70 - Braves Blank Bombers

Yankee hitters continued their June swoon, as they were blanked by the Atlanta Braves 4-0. They were held to 4 hits by the much-hyped Tommy Hanson and a plethora of relievers, but had plenty of chances early to break the game open. They stranded 8 runners between the 2nd-4th innings, leaving the bases loaded twice. They never mustered the big hit, going 0-8 with RISP despite collecting 6 walks, 1 hit by pitch and swiping 4 bases.

Chien-Ming Wang continued to show improvement, though he dropped to 0-6 on the season. He looked sharp through 2 outs into the 3rd after striking out the first 2 batters, he yielded an 0-2 single to Yunel Escobar, opening up the flood gates. A run scoring double by Brian McCann and a 2-run double from old Yankee nemesis, Garret Anderson, made it 3-0 Braves. Wang only lasted 5 innings because he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 6th, but he threw 42 out of 62 pitches for strikes. Phil Hughes pitched another impressive 2 innings of relief, retiring all 6 batters he faced. Whether he starts or relieves, Phil Hughes must remain with the big league club. He's been absolutely nasty since he's been sent to the pen. David Robertson pitched the 8th frame and gave up a homer to Brian McCann, who finished the day 3-4 with 2 ribbies.

After the Yanks had their ample opportunities early, they virtually had none after the 6th inning. Johnny Damon was the only runner to reach in the last 3 frames with a pinch hit walk in the 9th. The Yanks had one rally snuffed by Chien-Ming Wang. A huge reason for my discontent with pitchers hitting - they are rally killers. Nick Swisher had a hand in 2 rally killers by failing to move over Jeter after his leadoff double and ending one of the bases loaded threats with a fielders choice. Robinson Cano was his typical self - flying out with 2 runners in scoring position and 2 out in the 3rd inning and promptly lacing a single in his next at bat with no runners on. I'll give Cano this - he's consistent. Jeter killed the last potential threat by hitting into a double play with runners on 1st and 2nd. Posada performed the Golden Sombrero - 4 Ks tonight. Terrible.

This team better find their bats. The starters and the relievers have been pitching their best ball all season this month. Boston beat the Nationals tonight to increase their division lead to a season high 5 games and Toronto tied the Yanks with a win over Cincinnati. Boston's doing what the Yankees can't - winning against teams they should be beating. The Sawx have taken 2 of 3 against the Marlins, 2 of 3 against the Braves and tonight's win vs. the Nats for a 5-2 record. The Yanks have posted a 2-5 record against those same teams. Hopefully, the Yanks won't be kicking themselves late in September for this awful stretch.

Yankees Record: 38-32 and falling fast.

Yankee Injury Updates

Xavier Nady went 2-3 today in a simulated game as DH. He did some OF work prior to the game. According to the Journal News beat writer, Peter Abraham, Nady will begin rehab at Scranton-Wilkes Barre on Wednesday.

Jose Molina and Damaso Marte continued their workout programs, but haven't gotten into any game action yet. Rumors have been circulating that Marte may need exploratory surgery on his shoulder. MRIs have not shown anything, however, Marte is still experiencing pain.

Cody Ransom has been rehabbing in Scranton and due to come off the 60-day DL any day now. I imagine he will replace Angel Berroa on the roster.

Game 69 - CC Leaves Game Early; Yanks Struggles Continue

CC Sabathia left the game in the 2nd inning with tightness in his left biceps while the Yankee hitters mentally left the game after the 3rd inning. The Bombers built an early 3-1 lead on a 2-run single by ARod in the 3rd. However, after Brett Gardner's infield single in the fourth, they didn't scratch out another hit till the last frame when their rally fell just short, losing 6-5 to the Marlins.

Alfredo Aceves relieved CC in the 2nd and pitched a brilliant 2.2 shutout innings. Joe Girardi brought in Brett Tomko to start the 5th, saving Phil Hughes for the 8th inning. Brian Bruney pitched Friday and warmed up yesterday according to Girardi and wasn't going to pitch today. Tomko, though, through a wrench into Girardi's plans, surrendering 3 runs on 2 dingers in 2 innings of work, giving Florida a 4-3 lead after 6 innings. Relievers Phil Coke and David Robertson didn't fare any better in the 7th, giving up 2 critical runs that ultimately led to the Yanks downfall. One of the runs scored on an ill-advised throw to the plate by Melky Cabrera, allowing the Marlins' 6th and deciding run to score.

Unfortunately for the Yanks, their bats didn't wake up again till there were 2 outs in the 9th. Jorge Posada and Melky Cabrera extended the inning with singles before Brett Gardner laced a triple into the RF gap for 2 runs. Johnny Damon came in to pinch hit and walked, leaving the game in the hands of The Captain, Derek Jeter - the man most Yankee fans prefer to see at the plate when the game is on the line. Jeter, however, ended the game on a grounder to short, curtailing any hopes for a miraculous comeback.

Red Sox, Rays, and Jays all won today, as the Pinstripers fell back 4 games. They still lead the wild card over the Rangers by a half game, with the Jays and Rays nipping on their heels.

So what's happened to this team lately? Since the calendar hit June, they've stopped hitting and fielding. In each of their last 10 games, the starters have hit the following: Jeter - .300, Damon - .205, Tex - .231, ARod - a team worst .114, Cano - .375, Posada - .200, Melky - .229 and Swisher - .206. With the exception of Jeter and Cano, no one is even hitting .250. Cano's and Jeter's stats don't look bad due to their respective big game in the 15-0 blowout game against the Mets last Sunday. Since the Yanks ML record setting 18-game errorless streak, they've made an error in nearly every game since.

Does GM Brian Cashman have to look for another bat to jump start this team? I'd love to see Mark DeRosa in a Yankee uniform to spell ARod at 3B, motivate Cano at 2B and send either a struggling Melky or Swisher to the bench. Hopefully, Xavier Nady can provide a jolt when/if he returns from the DL. In the meantime, Brett Gardner went 2-4 with a triple and has been producing in his spot starts. I'd like to see him take away more starts/at bats from Melky. Plus, with his speed, maybe he can help generate a run or 2 without reliance on the long ball. Girardi needs to play the hot hand - or at least a lukewarm one, because they're just not cutting it at the plate right now.

Yankees Record: 38-31 (4-8 in their last 12)

Game 68 - Burnett Loses in Pitchers Duel

AJ Burnett and the Yanks suffered a tough loss, stumbling to the Marlins and Josh Johnson, 2-1. Burnett and Johnson locked up in a good ol' fashion pitchers duel. AJ went 6.1 innings, giving up 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, with 8 Ks. In the 3rd inning, he struck out the side on 9 pitches. At one point, he recorded 6 straight outs via the strike out. AJ's doom came in the 6th inning when Johnny Damon couldn't make the catch on a drive by Jorge Cantu, with his error leading to the Marlins 2nd run that proved the difference.

As great as Burnett was dealing, Josh Johnson pitched even better. He went 7 frames, allowing only 1 earned run on 3 hits. He only allowed an AJ Burnett bloop single that barely escaped a diving lunge by 2B Dan Uggla through 6 innings and retired the side 4 times. He finally surrendered the Yanks lone run in the 7th on a walk and 2 singles, but escaped further trouble by striking out Melky Cabrera.

The Yanks best shot to tie the game came in the 8th against the Fish's bullpen. Hideki Matsui led off with a pinch-hit single. With Brett Gardner running for Matsui, he swiped second. ARod came on to pinch hit and walked, giving the Yanks runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs and The Captain coming to the plate. After failing to lay down a bunt, Jeter banged into his 2nd double play of the day. For Jeter, king of the DP last year, it was his sixth twin-killing this season. The Yanks last gasp came in the 9th when Mark Teixeira led off with a single, but for the 2nd time this week, Robinson Cano ended the game on a double play. It was the 3rd DP of the game for the Yanks as their team-wide troubles continue at the plate.

Notes: Boston beat Atlanta 3-0, regaining their 3 game lead on the Yanks. Xavier Nady continues to rehab in Tampa and is scheduled to begin playing in minor league games next week. Phil Hughes pitched a dominating 8th inning, striking out 2. Damn, he looks good in the pen - although I'm still on record that he's a starter and belongs in the rotation.

Yanks Record: 38-30

Game 67 - No ARod, No Problem

The Captain was back in the lineup, ARod asked for a day off, and after two embarrassing losses to the Nats, the Yanks got a much needed vintage Andy Pettitte performance in a 5-1 victory over the Marlins.

Derek Jeter led off the game with a bomb to the deepest part of the park, hitting a 430 ft ground-rule double. If it stayed in the park it would've easily been a triple and perhaps an inside-the-park HR, bum ankle and all. That set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Bombers mounted a 13-hit attack with every starter having at least one hit. Jeter, Damon, Teixeira and Posada each had 2 hits, Melky Cabrera went yard and even the much maligned Angel Berroa had a run scoring double. Not to be outdone, Pettitte followed Berroa's hit with an RBI double of his own.

Berroa played in place of ARod today at 3B. ARod asked Joe Girardi for a day off, and according to Yankee announcer Michael Kay, there must have been some miscommunication between the 2, because ARod found himself in today's lineup when he came to the ballpark. ARod, Girardi and Yankee GM, Brian Cashman, had a sit down meeting and announced that ARod will sit the next 2 days due to fatigue. Let's hope that's all it is, but I still wonder if he's having issues with his hip.

Andy Pettitte looked like the Andy of old when he regularly would stop Yankee losing streaks. He pitched 7 strong innings and only gave up 3 hits. His control was excellent, as he walked none while striking out 7. His lone mistake came on a solo HR by Cody Ross. Pettitte scuffled his previous 6 starts, particularly with his command, but tonight he came out firing, as he kept the Fish off-balance. It's amazing how good Pettitte can be when his breaking ball is working and he can spot his fastball. I guess you can say that about all pitchers, but Andy has made a career of getting by like a crafty veteran, dancing in and out of trouble when all his pitches aren't working.

Brian Bruney made his second appearance since returning from the DL, retiring the side in the 8th and Bret Tomko went 1-2-3 in the 9th to finish up a successful start on the 9-game interleague road trip.

Other notes: Maybe it's not just the Yankees that lose to mediocre pitchers. Tampa Bay lost to the Mets as Fernando Nieve held them to 1 run in 6 innings. It was Nieve's first start since beating the Yanks last weekend.

Boston also lost to little known Kenshin Kawakami and the Braves tonight. Kawakami and his 4.54 ERA outpitched his more popular and famous countryman, Daisuke "The Dart Thrower" Matsuzaka. He held the Sawx to 2 runs on 2 hits in 6 frames. Matsuzaka lasted just 4 innings, giving up 8 hits, 4 walks and 6 runs. Terrible! If you had the over on the 100 pitches over/under tonight, amazingly enough, you lost! The Dart Thrower only threw 69 darts as the Braves came out swinging. Newly acquired Nate McLouth hit the game's first pitch for a HR en route to an 8-2 win. Even Matsuzaka admitted tonight he doesn't belong in the Sawx rotation.

Don't look now but the GNats have a 3 game winning streak, as they beat the Jays 2-1 in 11 innings. Who said this team can't pitch?

Yankees Record: 37-29 and 2 games back of Boston

Game 66 - Yanks Lose Their Bats During Rain Delay

The Yankee game was delayed 5.5 hours by rain today, and someone must have packed up the Yankees bats for their upcoming road trip to Miami. The pesky GNats shutout the boys from the Bronx, 3-0, as another no-name pitcher from nowhere, Craig Stammen, befuddled, bamboozled, hoodwinked and stymied the Yanks for 6.1 innings. For Stammen, who entered the game with a robust 5.86 ERA, it was his first major league victory.

The Yanks embarrassed themselves by dropping 2 of 3 to the worst team in baseball. Until yesterday, the Nationals hadn't won a road game since May 13th. Coming into the series, they had lost 25 of 30 games. In the 3 game series, they combined for 7 runs and 19 hits against the worse pitching team. Totally inexcusable and absolutely unacceptable. After being swept in Boston last week, this was the perfect series to gain those 3 games back. Unfortunately, the Yanks lackluster performance during this series negated all chances of that happening. If Elijah Dukes made some plays on 2 catchable balls in game 1, we might be discussing a Nationals sweep.

As for the game, Joba Chamberlain's performance was nothing to write home about. It was a quality start, 3 runs in 6 innings. He yielded 7 hits and 4 walks, with six of the hits to Ryan Zimmerman and Christian Guzman combined. He struck out 6. One of his walks came with the bases loaded for the second game in a row. He walked Wil Nieves, yes, the same Wil Nieves that started his Yankee career 0-26. That was after he walked Willie Harris to load the bases. Between these guys, they have 1 HR this year, and Nieves has 1 lifetime HR to his name in 400+ career at bats. God awful. But Joba could have walked 10 runs in, because the Yankee hitters weren't going to do anything tonight.

Unfortunately for the Yanks, the lineup has gone in a collective slump, with the exception of Cano. Jeter is nursing a sore ankle and Damon is struggling. Teixeira, who like Icarus, flew too close to the sun, looks like he is coming back down to earth. And who can blame Tex, because no one stays that hot forever. ARod looks lost or injured or both. He's using all upper body on his swings and doesn't appear to be getting the torque his strong lower body usually gives him. Is that hip bothering him? Posada's in a small funk and Matsui is looking closer to 55 then his reported age of 35. Melky has also been slumping. Of course Cano is hitting - there's no men on for him! Before Swisher's 2 hits tonight, he was in an 0-16 slump.

The Yanks had a scare in the 8th inning. Brett Gardner made a great catch crashing up against the CF fence, but nearly knocked himself out as he hit the plexiglass. Initial tests revealed no concussions and he is expected to travel with the team tonight to Florida. The Yanks need to be careful - they don't want a Ryan Church issue like the Mets had last year when they brought him back too early.

As usual for the Yanks, now that they're not hitting, their pitching is coming around. The bullpen has been outstanding lately. Aceves, Coke, Hughes and Robertson have all been exceptional this month and now they have Brian Bruney back. If this team can having everything clicking at once, I don't think anyone in baseball could beat them. Hopefully, the bats will come around again - soon. Especially with a 9-game road trip in the National League parks - they'll be unable to use a DH.

Other notes: The Sawx lost to the Marlins in a rain-shortened game. I thought Boston would keep Florida there till the wee hours of the morning to give them an opportunity to rally. Thank you Mother Nature. Luckily, the Rays loss as well. Look out, Toronto! Despite losing Roy Halladay to the DL, they just swept Philadelphia and sit one game back of the Yanks. The Bombers hold a tenuous 1 game lead over the Jays and Angels for the wild card, but there's plenty of season left. KRod blew a save tonight against Baltimore with Joba's fist pumping buddy, Aubrey Huff getting the walkoff hit. Yanks are 8-8 this month.

Yankees Record: 37-29

Tex - flying too close to the sun, had to come crashing down.

Game 65 - Cano Continues Killing Club in the Clutch

How's that for alliteration? The Yanks lost to the lowly Washington Nationals 3-2, and they were the last team in the majors to lose giving up 3 runs or less in a game. The Nats starting pitcher, John Lannan, New York born and bred, mowed down the Yanks tonight, repeatedly throwing first pitch strikes and keeping the Yanks off balance. Through the first 8 innings, he only allowed 2 hits, including a solo HR to Robinson Cano.

Meanwhile, in a possible do or die start for Chien-Ming Wang, he allowed 3 runs in 5 innings of work. There was nothing exceptional about his start, but he was let down in the 5th inning by some shoddy defense and an ump's bad call. With the weak-hitting Willie Harris on 1st, he stole 2nd base when Ramiro Pena dropped Posada's throw. It appeared the throw would have nabbed Harris. With one out, Christian Guzman hit a grounder to ARod. Guzman was called safe at first - replays clearly showed ARod nipped Guzman by a half step. Instead of 3 outs, inning over, Nick Johnson tripled in both runners to give the Nats a 3-0 lead. Adam Dunn had homered an inning earlier.

Cano cut into the lead with his HR in the bottom of the frame, but Lannan continued to deal till the 9th inning. Johnny Damon led off the final inning with his 14th dinger, bringing the Yanks within 1. Mark Teixeira laced a one-out single to left and Brett Gardner went in the game to pinch run. With ARod at the plate, Gardner stole both 2nd and 3rd, setting the table for the tying run with 1 out. ARod worked a walk, bringing Cano up with runners on the corners. I've been killing Cano all season for his lack of ability to hit in the clutch. He is probably the last batter on the Yanks I would want up in any situation with the game on the line.

After tonight, my opinion about Cano hasn't changed. He promptly fell behind in the count, 0-2. During the at bat, he fouled off 6 pitches, mostly on a 2-2 count. I thought at least 2 of those foul balls were certainly pitches he could have drove to left field. On the 8th pitch, Cano grounded sharply to SS into a game ending 6-4-3 double play. The Cano apologists will say the guy went 4-4 with the go ahead RBI yesterday and he hit a HR earlier in today's game. The problem with Cano though, is his propensity to fail repeatedly in clutch situations. His stats with RISP are abysmal for a ballplayer of his talent. Maybe he should get pointers from his pal, Melky, who's had a penchant for the dramatic this season.

As for losing to the Nats, now the proud owners of 17 wins this season, these are the games the Yanks can't afford to give away. John Lannan was dealing tonight, but in the end, the Yanks still had a chance to tie this game. With the Nats bullpen, the worse in baseball, I like the Yanks chances had they went into extra innings. They play in the AL East, the roughest division in baseball, and every game counts. Boston won again tonight. You would never find that team taking a night off. Their lead is up to 3 games. The Rays lost tonight, but have been coming on like gangbusters winning 6 in a row before today. Not to mention Toronto, who is still hanging around and only 2 games back. The Yanks need to find a way to win against teams they're suppose to beat. This is the second type of loss in less than a week, too. They were shut down by Fernando Nieve last Saturday, a guy who hadn't won a game since 2006. Games like this could come back to haunt them.

Yankees Record: 37-28

Blown Games: 6

Jeter Out Tonight vs. DC

Derek Jeter is sidelined for tonight's game, due to a sore left ankle. He believes he may have suffered the injury on a Gary Sheffield slide this past weekend against the Mets. There is no currently no timeline for his injury. Ramiro Pena will get the start tonight.

Say It Ain't So, Sammy

Roger Maris lives!  It appears 61 HRs in a season is still the "real" record, as the New York Times broke a story today that Sammy Sosa is one of the 104 who tested positive for steroids in the "anonymous" testing back in 2003.  There are just 102 more names to be discovered, as ARod was implicated before the season started.  As for Sammy being fingered, I AM SHOCKED - not really. 

Sammy mysteriously hit 66, 63 and 64 dingers in 3 separate seasons and finished with 604 in his career.  Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds also surpassed the magical 61 number, but both have been linked to steroid use as well.  Sosa is also well known for his sudden lapse of understanding the English language during the infamous Congressional hearings regarding steroid use, as he used an interpreter and played the stooge.  He was also suspended in 2003 when his corked bat exploded one day.  Ol' Sammy tried to cover it up by saying it was his batting practice bat.  Uh-huh.  

When will Bud Selig take a stand and re-crown Roger Maris as the true home run champion?  And, when will we get the rest of the cheats on that fateful list?

Game 64 - Yanks Rally For CC

The Yanks led 2-0 after 3 innings, but it looked as if they were taking the lowly Washington Nationals for granted, as they started the game 1-7 with RISP.  CC Sabathia cruised through the first 4 innings till he faced the Nats' daunting bottom of the order.  Ex-Yankee rejects, Alberto Gonzalez and Wil Nieves both singled with one out, and the very light-hitting Anderson Hernandez hit his 2nd career HR, first since 2006, to give the Nats a 3-2 lead.  

Washington starter, Shairon Martis, held the Yanks to 2 runs on 4 hits in 6 innings, despite walking 5 batters.  He looked as though he could have walked every lefty batter in the lineup, if the Yankees had let him.  He was bailed out twice by Hideki Matsui's weak dribblers with RISP, ending potential threats.  

The Yanks finally woke up from their slumber in the 7th, rallying against ol' Yankee reliever, Ron Villone for 2 runs.  Doubles from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano (yes, there was a Cano sighting with a RISP), gave the Yanks a 4-3 lead.  Both doubles were aided by the horrendous fielding of criminal CF, Elijah Dukes.  Cano finished the day an impressive 4-4 to raise his season average to .309.  

CC improved to 6-4, pitching 7.2 innings with 2 Ks - his only mistake the 3-run shot to Hernandez.  Brian Bruney, fresh off the DL, came on with 2 out in the 8th to retire his only batter.  The great Mariano finished up the 9th for his 497th career save, 15th this season.  Besides the lack of clutch hitting, the only other thing to mar the Yankees win was Derek Jeter leaving the game in the 8th due to soreness in his ankle.  

Yankees Record:  37-27 

Bruney Activated Off of DL

Brian Bruney was activated off the DL today, but in  a surprising move, the Yanks designatedt the hard-throwing Jose Veras for assignment.  They can either waive or trade him in the next 10 days.  If he clears waivers, the Yanks would send him back down to Scranton-Wilkes Barre, however, I doubt a live arm like Veras' will last long on the waiver wire.  

It's a shame Veras could not repeat last year's performance out of the pen.  I was surprised he was DFA'd instead of the 35-year old Bret Tomko, who got lit up this weekend by the Mets.  Tomko probably would have a better shot at passing through waivers, too.  The Yanks other option was sending David Robertson back down to Triple A, but Robertson has become one of the Yanks reliable arms out of the pen and deserved to stay with the big league club.

Game 63 - Yanks Blow Out Mets & Santana

In the "that's why you play the game" category, the Yanks handed Mets ace, Johan Santana, the worse start of his career en route to a 15-0 win.  Santana got shelled for 9 runs in 3+ innings.  Derek Jeter led the Bombers 17-hit attack with 4 hits.  Francisco Cervelli chipped in 3 hits of his own.  His first hit in the 2nd inning led to the Yanks first run, when he blooped a 2-out, 2-strike pitch to rightfield.  That hit may have doomed Santana, because he followed that up with run scoring hits to Jeter and Johnny Damon during a 40+ pitch inning that gave the Yanks a 4-0 lead.

The Pinstripers knocked out Santana in the 4th, scoring 9 more runs in the inning that was highlighted by Hideki Matsui's and Robinson Cano's HRs.  AJ Burnett followed up his stinker in Boston with 7 shutout innings, limiting the Metropolitans to 4 hits while striking out 8.  He wiggled out of a bases loaded jam in the top half of the 3rd after the Yanks gave him a 4-spot.  He struck out Yankee pest, Alex Cora, and then Fernando Martinez, before Carlos Beltran ended the threat by lining out to the Captain. 

After losing yesterday's game that looked favorably for the Yanks against a pitcher who hadn't started in the Majors since 2006, they were able to turn the tide today in the rubber match.  The Mets must have liked their chances with one of the best pitchers in baseball on the mound, but Santana didn't have his stuff today.  The long 2nd inning certainly did him in.  The Yanks improved to 8-1 in series clinching games.  With Boston's loss today, the closed within 2 games for the division lead.  99 games left in the season.  I'm predicting Yanks go 60-40 for their last 100 games to make the playoffs.  

Yankees Record:  36-27

   

Game 62 - Feels Like Early April Again

Apparently, there was no hangover for the Mets and their embarrassing blunder from the night before, as they came out and slapped the Yanks like a red-headed stepchild for 17 hits in a 6-2 win. Andy Pettitte, for the 5th time this season, averaged 2 runners per inning, but unlike other games when he tapped danced his way out of major trouble, it finally caught up to him today. In 5 innings of work, he surrendered 12 hits and 1 walk for 5 earned runs. If it weren't for Chien-Ming Wang's issues, perhaps the Yankees would consider removing Pettitte from the rotation.

The only thing worse than Pettitte today was the Yankee hitters. Facing the little known Fernando Nieve in his 12th Major League start, and first since 2006, they only mustered 4 hits off of him. ARod closed the Yanks to within 2-1 with a solo shot in the bottom of the 2nd, but they never got any closer. They didn't score again till the 7th on The Captain's infield single. Mets relievers Sean Green and KRod limited the Yanks to Jeter's single in 2.1 innings to close out the game and putting yesterday's blunder behind them.

The Yanks continued their rehabilitation program for aging sluggers. For the second day in a row, Gary Sheffield went deep. This coming on the heels of allowing Big Sloppy Ortiz to hit 2 HRs in the Boston series.

As for taking away any positives, Jose Veras made a rare appearance, pitching 2 shutout innings. He allowed 3 hits, but one hit fell in when Brett Gardner slipped in the OF. He K'd 2 batters without any walks, lowering his ERA below 6.00.

To top off the terrible day, the Yanks fell 3 games behind Boston, as they did what the Yanks failed to do - slap around a young pitcher they'vw never seen before, scoring 5 runs in the first inning. So what's the Yanks excuse now?

Yankees Record: 35-27

Game 61 - The Popup Heard 'Round the World

In a game with more twists and turns then the Coney Island Cyclone, it was only fitting how the intraleague rivalry game between the Yanks and Mets ended tonight.  Before the start of the game, it looked like a total mismatch with Joba Chamberlain facing off against Mets pitcher, Livan Hernandez.  The depleted Mets lineup is missing Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado and Hernandez came into the game with an 0-3 record and 6.37 ERA against the Bombers.  It seemed the perfect recipe for the Yanks to put the Boston embarrassment behind them, but there's a reason why these games are played on the field and not on paper.

Amazingly enough, the first inning went quickly and quietly, as both pitchers retired the side.  Cano got things started with a homer in the 2nd - solo, of course, because Cano has no clue how to hit with men on.  I feel like a broken record when it comes to Cano, as he left 2 more men in scoring position tonight.  

Joba looked real good for 2 innings, but took a trip on the wild side in the 3rd.  He walked the light-hitting Brian Schneider and the punchless Alex Cora, before hitting the overmatched Fernando Martinez to load the bases for Carlos Beltran.  Joba walked him after a 10-pitch battle, tying the game at 1.  It looked like Joba would work out of trouble when he struck out the dangerous David Wright, but then he hit Ryan Church with a pitch, gift-wrapping 2 runs without a single hit for the Mets.  It also took him a whopping 43 pitches to get out of the inning.  

The Yanks took the lead for the second time in the 3rd on Mark Teixeira's league leading 20th HR.  The 2-run shot put the Yanks up 3-2.  Joba ruined the good mood in the 4th.  After quickly retiring the first 2 batters, he walked the equally punchless Luis Castillo and Cora (his 2nd walk) before getting out unscathed.  Unfortunately, that frame cost Joba another 25 pitches, giving him an even 100 on the night, only 52 for strikes.  It also ended Joba's night after 4 innings.  He only allowed 1 hit, but his 5 walks and numerous full counts did him in.  Joba and Jorge Posada didn't connect all night on signs, as Joba continually shook him off and Jorge wore out a path to the mound.  Jorge, at one point, barked at Joba, probably telling him to stop throwing breaking balls and throw his damn fastball.  Joba just wouldn't ease up on the slider tonight, despite having no control with it.  Why anyone with a plus 90's fastball would shy away from using it is astounding.

Enter Bret Tomko in the 5th - goodbye Yankee lead.  He got shelled for 4 runs, including a bomb to ol' Yankee buddy, Gary Sheffield.  The Yanks have been very charitable this week to struggling, overaged sluggers (see:  Ortiz, David).   The Captain, Derek Jeter, got one back in the bottom frame with a solo shot, bringing the Yanks within 6-4.  Hernandez, despite yielding 3 homers, was being efficient, not allowing the Yanks any rallies - until the 6th.  With 1 out, Cano singled (again, no men on) and Posada walked.  Mets manager, Jerry Manuel brought in freshly called up lefty, Jon Switzer, to face birthday boy, Hideki Matsui.  Last year, I saw Matsui hit a grand slam, live, at Oakland.  This year, I watched him take Switzer's first pitch on TV and deposit it into the rightfield seats.  With the game's 5th lead change, the Yanks went up 7-6.  

It didn't stay that way for long, as ol' man Sheff led off the 7th with a gapper for a double.  2 batters later, the game was tied.  In the bottom frame, both ARod and Cano (seeing a pattern here with this guy?) left a man on 2nd.  In the top of the 8th, Phil Coke quickly retired the first 2 hitters.  He retired the last 4 overall.  Joe Girardi then panicked.  Apparently, he spent most of his day reading Yankee blogs or listening to the sports radio about how he should have used Mariano Rivera in the 8th against Boston yesterday.  I thought Girardi was in a tough spot in yesterday's loss and gave him a pass.  Not today.  As soon as he called for Mo to face Beltran, I didn't understand why he would turn the switch-hitter around to bat left-handed at Yankee Stadium.  Mo walked Beltran and then gave up a run scoring double to David Wright.  Absolute terrible call.  And historically, Mo is not as dominant when he enters a game tied.  

Entering the bottom of the 9th, trailing 8-7, things looked grim for the Yanks as KRod entered the game, a perfect 16-16 in save situations.  The Captain provided a small window of hope as he singled with 1 out.  He stole second on Johnny Damon's strike out, leaving it up to Big Tex.  KRod pitched around Tex, bringing up ARod.  He fell behind ARod, and to my horrors, I was afraid he would walk ARod, too, and leave the fate of the game in Robinson Cano's hands.  It never got that far - on a 3-1 count, ARod lifted a popup towards 2B.  Angrily slamming his bat to the ground as he trotted to first, Mets 2nd basemen Castillo circled under the ball - and dropped it!  Jeter scored and Big Tex hustled all the way from 1B with the miraculous winning run.  It looked like the bad dream of a little leaguer and it's something I've never seen end a baseball game (the Bill Buckner play comes the closest thing to it).   

For one night - the sins of Cano, Rivera and Girardi could be forgotten as the Yankees bless their good fortune.

Yankees Record:  35-26    

Wang to Get Another Start

Joe Girardi announced today that Chien-Ming Wang will pitch next Wednesday against the Nationals.  Girardi made it sound like this could be Wang's last shot before the Yanks make a decision to remove him from the rotation.

I just have this to ask -  Can the Yanks afford to lose a game against a team they're suppose to beat?  And, as bad as the Nationals are - they can hit the ball.  I hope this doesn't bite the Yanks in the ass.  

Game 60 - Yanks Leave Boston With Tail Between Their Legs

Brutal.  Absolutely brutal loss for the Yankees, as they were swept out of Boston in a 4-3 defeat.  The Yanks led 3-1 going into the bottom of the 8th.  CC Sabathia had cruised through the first 7 innings, only giving up a solo shot to the mysteriously better Big Sloppy Ortiz up to that point, when he came out for the 8th.  That's when the wheels came flying off the bus.  

The bottom of the 8th started with Nick Green lacing a hanging changeup into left, Yoda Pedroia weaseling out a walk and JD Drew lining a single up the middle to load the bases before Joe Girardi finally pulled CC.  Alfredo Aceves came in and surrendered the lead on 2 dinky hits (he was absolutely squeezed by the ump on a 2-2 pitch to crybaby Youkilis) and a sacrifice fly.  Papelbum hammered the final nail in the Yanks coffin with a 1-2-3 ninth for the ballgame.  

Somewhere off in the distance, all the "Joba to the bullpen" troglodytes are beating their drums.  Joe Girardi is getting raked over the coals for his decisions.  Unfortunately, that's not the true reason the Yanks lost tonight's game.  CC did tire in the 8th and the bullpen did cough up the lead, but the offense, once again, cost the Yanks a second night in a row.  Facing Brad Penny and his 5.85 ERA, they allowed him to escape one jam after another as he threw 6 shutout innings.  After last night's unexplainable 2-16 with runners in scoring position, the Yanks followed that up with another comatose-like 1-10 performance.  They had a man on 2nd with no outs in the first 2 innings and left them stranded.  For a second straight night, Nick Swisher inserted his noggin up his derriere, once again running into out after the ball was caught in front of him.  Are you kidding me?  This is little league stuff.  

Has anyone seen Robinson Cano?  This guy is just God-awful with runners in scoring position and an instant out when he's in that situation with 2 out.  He left 3 more men on in scoring position.  For the season, he's 11-40 with RISP and 2 out for a .220 batting average.  My poor wife has been listening to me about Cano's failures for 3 years now.  Digging further into Cano's statistics, before tonight's game, I discovered he hits .242 against starters and .403 against relievers.  This would be the last guy, outside of the rarely used Angel Berroa, I would ever want to see at the plate with the game on the line.

Girardi should seriously consider dropping Cano deep in the lineup and giving Swisher a day or two to think about his base running blunders.  As for his use of CC and the bullpen, it's hard to second guess him.  CC only had 106 pitches going into the 8th.   If anything, maybe Girardi should have broken the mold of saving your best reliever for the 9th, but if he brought Mariano Rivera during the 8th to get out of jam and then someone else lost the game in the 9th, he would get killed publicly.  

So Boston is now 8-0 against the Yanks and now lead them by 2 games in the standings.  Fortunately for the Yanks, they don't see Boston again till August.  Yankee announcer, Kenny Singleton brought up a good point on tonight's telecast.  The Sox are tough to beat at home, but they are a below average team on the road and also hit 40 points less away from home.  I'm looking forward to the Sox next road trip.

Yankees Record:  34-26

Blown Games:  6

Game 59 - Last Night Gutless, Tonight Clutchless

The Yanks fell to 0-7 on the season to their archrival Red Sox, losing a close one, 6-5.  The Yankees fell behind early, as Chien-Ming Wang pitched abysmally again, lasting just 2.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks.  He's now 0-4 on the season and it's time for the Yanks to decide what to do with this guy, because they can't keep playing catch up every time he's on the mound.  

Believe it or not though, Wang wasn't the real reason the Yanks lost tonight's game.  They've reverted to their old ways of not hitting with runners in scoring position.  They were a horrific 2-16 in those situations tonight.  One of the hits was a bunt by Nick Swisher.  The Yankees had a base runner on in all 9 innings, including the tying run on second base with 1 out in the 8th and 9th innings, leaving 10 men on base for the game.  The worse culprits were Derek Jeter, who looked absolutely clueless, going 0-5, leaving 5 on, and no shocker here, Robinson "worse clutch hitter ever" Cano left 4 on.  

Two big plays that probably turned this game around was Nick Swisher misjudging a fly ball for a run-scoring ground rule double, and Phil Hughes surrendering a 2-run shot to the Big Nugget, Youkilis, that stood up as the difference in the score.  It was Hughes only mistake, as he pitched effectively in 3.2 innings, striking out 5. 

The Yanks hit 3 HRs, but unfortunately they were all solo shots - Posada, Damon and Teixeira.  Tex's was his league-leading 19th, as he was one of the few Yanks who came to play tonight, going 4-5 with 2 doubles along with his dinger.  His single was a liner off the Green Monster, too.

The Yanks will need Crooked Cap to step up in the series finale.  Unfortunately, I don't think Sabathia has pitched well against the Sox in his career.  

As for Wang - I'd move him to the bullpen as a long guy with the occasional spot start, but I don't manage them.  Joe Girardi didn't sound committed to Wang in the rotation though, in his post game interviews, so I may get my wish.  It's all about confidence right now, so maybe a string of shutdown appearances out of the pen would give him a boost.

Yankees Record:  34-25 and 1 game back  

Game 58 - Yanks Turn In Gutless Performance

Robinson Cano's strike out to end the game tonight was a fitting end to a dreadful, gutless performance by the Yankees.  There wasn't any positives to take away from this game, unless one considers Jose Veras not walking a batter in 2 innings of relief a success.  This despite Veras only throwing 13 out of 29 pitches for strikes and hitting a batter (plus giving up a HR).  Below is a list of the many, many Yankee negatives in what was suppose to be a marquee matchup of the AL's 2 best teams:

-AJ once again stood for Absolute Joke when it comes to facing the Red Sox.  When Burnett signed with the Yanks this offseason, one of the big positives was his sterling 5-0 record against the Yanks archrivals.  In 2 starts against the Bosox this year, he coughed up a huge 6-0 lead in a 16-11 blow out and looked completely lost in his 2.2 innings of work tonight in the 7-0 loss.  He threw only 40 strikes in 84 pitches and fell behind the hitters from pitch 1.  Amazingly enough, he only allowed 5 runs and only 3 earned, but there were Red Sox base runners everywhere you turned.  He surrendered 5 hits and 5 walks with 1 K.  He was down right God-awful.  He did get ahead of 2 hitters, Big Nugget Youkilis, who he walked after having him down 1-2 in the count and JD Drew, who smacked an RBI double on an 0-2 count.  Pitiful.

-Big Sloppy Ortiz hit a 2-run bomb to dead center with the wind blowing directly in.  This is inexcusable.  This guy had the same number of HRs as Yankees reserve outfielder, Brett Gardner did coming into this game - and Ortiz plays everyday!  He's hitting below the Mendoza line.  Big Sloppy supposedly visited an eye doctor and received eye drops the other day.  Since then, he's hit 2 HRs in 3 games.  I guess eye doctor and eye drops is now code for steroid supplier and a needle in the ass.  All of a sudden he's catching up to a 95 mph heater on natural talent?  Doubtful.

-Nick Green knocking in 2 runs with a double and a HR.  I repeat, Nick Green.  This guy has been dumped by the Braves, Rays, Yanks and Mariners before showing up on the Red Sox doorstep.  He didn't even play in the Majors last season.  And yet, the Yanks made him look like an All-Star tonight.  Unbelievable.

-The entire Yankees starting lineup amassed a total of 2 hits and 4 walks.  They finally mounted a "threat" in the 4th, already trailing 5-0, when Jorge Posada struck out with runners on 1st and 2nd to end the inning.  Derek Jeter set the tone, grounding out on the game's first pitch.  Josh Beckett recorded 8 Ks in 6 innings of work.  I believe the offense is beginning to slump and it couldn't come at a worse time, going up against the Sox.  In the 3 games against Tampa Bay, they recorded 7 hits, 6 hits, and 6 hits before dinking in 2 tonight.  21 hits in 4 games - not acceptable.  What happened to this dangerous lineup?  Jeter, ARod, Cano, Posada and Cabrera have all gone into mini-slumps.  Horrendous.

-ARod had an error in the 2nd and now the Yankees have erred in 7 straight games after setting the ML record of errorless ball in the previous 18 games.  ARod's gaffe came against the aforementioned Nick Green - a batter the Yanks just need to get out against the Red Sox lineup.  Sloppy.

  

-7 walks to the Red Sox.  To quote Yankee announcer, Michael Kay, "that's dreadful".  You can't walk the Sox - they'll kill you every time.  3 of the walks came in to score.   What Kay said. 

I'm sure I've missed some other negatives, but what it comes down to is the Yankees didn't look like they came to play against a team they are competing with for the division.  Boston has beaten them like a drum this season and the Yanks, going 6-0.  Tonight, the Yanks acted like a team who knows the Sox have their number, which surprises me, because this team has been walking around with a lot of swagger since the ARod's return off the DL.   No matter how badly the Yanks struggled in the last few seasons, they always showed up to play against Boston.  Where were they tonight?

I just found at least one other positive from tonight's game - the fraudulent MVP, Yoda Pedroia went 0-4.  

Yankees Record:  34-24

 

Game 57 - 4 HRs Lead Yanks Over Rays

If it weren't for the long ball tonight, the Yanks may have been shutout.  Solo shots by Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira, plus a 2-run dinger from hot-hitting Nick Swisher, led to all the Yanks scoring in a 5-3 victory over the Rays.  Andy Pettitte gutted it out through 6 innings, giving up 3 runs, 2 earned, while striking out 7.  Pettitte's only mistake came against Gabe Kapler in the 4th, when the .169 hitter hit his 1st homer of the year.  Inexcusable, but at least it didn't cost the Bombers the game.  

Despite all those HRs though by the hometowners, the highlight of the night may have been Phil Hughes appearance out of the bullpen in the 7th.  Johnny Damon just gave the Yanks a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the 6th.  Facing the top of the Rays very talented order, he retired BJ Upton and Carl Crawford on grounders.  Mixing 94-95 mph fastballs with a 77 mph curve ball, Hughes reared back and blew away the dangerous Evan Longoria.  Phil Coke and the great Mariano Rivera finished the Rays off in the 8th and 9th to clinch the 3-game series.   

But let me return to the subject of the young Phil Hughes.  I'll be the first in line to say Phil Hughes is a starting pitcher, just like I feel Joba belongs in the rotation, and just as I believed that Dave Righetti was on track to be a great starting pitcher in the 1980's before the Yankees destroyed his career by making him a closer.  But I could not help being tantalized by Hughes performance tonight out of the pen.  It was electric.  The guy came in throwing gas and had sharp command of both his fastball and curveball.  Unfortunately for Hughes, the Yanks have 5 starting pitchers.  He's not going to unseat Sabathia, Burnett or Pettitte in the rotation.  Wang is a question mark, so Hughes may unseat him if Wang's troubles persist.  Joba is on an innings limit this season and I assume Hughes will pick up some of his starts later in the season.    There's always the chance of a mid-season injury, too.  In the meantime, Hughes has proved all that he can down in the minors.  Why not keep him in the bullpen for awhile with the big club?

The problem with keeping Hughes in the pen is that it prohibits his development as a starting pitcher and denies him a chance to build up his innings total toward the magic 200 innings total.  Intelligent Yankee fans and baseball experts will tell us he should continue to start, even if it's in the minors.  Normally, I agree 100%, but if Hughes can dominate out of the pen like he did tonight and shorten the game to get to Mariano, I might be onboard.  And my reason is this - Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano are not getting any younger.  This could be their last hurrah before their games begin deteriorating in front of our disbelieving eyes.  They're not the only ones aging, either.  Johnny Damon is getting up there in age and in his free agent year.  Do the Yanks want to lose out on making a long run in the playoffs in what may be his last year with the team?  Matsui is in the same boat as Damon.  Hughes could be that missing piece to bring the Yanks back to the promised land.  Manager Joe Girardi's philosophy, just as he learned from his mentor, Padre Joe Torre, is to win today and not worry about tomorrow.  Shouldn't that be applied to this season as well?  

For once, I'm glad I'm not Brian Cashman.  He's got some tough choices ahead.  If the Yanks are lucky, the triumphant return of Damaso Marte and Brian Bruney to the bullpen could make all of this a moot point and Hughes can continue his dominance and development in Triple A.  For once though, the Yankees have a very good problem on their hands.

Yankees Record:  34-23, 1 game up on the Bosox as they head up to Boston for a 3-game set.

Game 56 - Cardiac Kids Come Through Again

For 7 innings, the Yankee bats looked lethargic, collecting only 4 hits and a run on a Nick Swisher HR.  Meanwhile, Joba Chamberlain pitched 6 solid innings, limiting Tampa Bay to 5 hits and 3 runs.  He only walked one and struck out 4.   The game was tied 1-1 till the sixth, when Joba, who had only thrown 70 pitches coming into the inning, lost command of his fastball.  In his last inning of work, he labored through 30 pitches and surrendered a 2-out, 2-run single to Gabe Gross to give the Rays a 3-1 lead.  

Things looked grim for the Yanks coming into the 8th.  Joe Nelson, coming into the game toting a robust ERA over 6.00, relieved Tampa starter, Matt Garza, and retired 6 straight Yanks without even giving them a whiff of first base.  Grant Balfour answered the bell for the 8th and retired his first batter.  But, as the hometown heroes have done time and again in this young season, they rose from the deck and mounted their signature rally.  Johnny Damon started it off innocently enough with a hard fought single on a 1-2 count after fouling off a couple of mid-90s fastballs.  Mark Teixeira followed with a rip off the right field wall, but held to a single because he hit it so hard.  ARod loaded the bases with a walk and then things really starting going the Yankees way.  

Robinson Cano pulled off the rare feat of actually walking with the bags juiced.  Cano has been swinging at a lot of first pitch swings lately, bringing on his old, terrible habits of yesteryear, but looked patient at the plate as he drew a 5-pitch walk.  Posada then stepped up to the plate with the tying run at 3rd, the same position he found himself in last Sunday's loss when he failed miserably by ending that threat with a double play.  Posada failed again today, but was spared by the ineptitude of the Rays defense.  3B Willie Aybar couldn't handle Posada's potential double play grounder, allowing the tying run to score and keeping the bases loaded with 1 out.  Hideki Matsui then chopped the ball up the middle to the 2B, and once again, Posada almost blew the Yanks chance of taking a 4-3 lead when he ran straight into the Ben Zobrist's tag, but Matsui found another gear in those old, tired legs of his, and beat the throw to first.  Without the ball leaving the infield (because they're the Yankees and they wouldn't know a sac fly if one came up and bit them on the ass), they scored 3 runs to take the 4-3 lead.  

Mariano Rivera avenged yesterday's poor outing by retiring the side in the 9th for his 13th save.  Alfredo Aceves picked up his 4th win, pitching 2 brilliant innings in relief of Joba, striking out 4, including the side in the 8th.  As for the Rays, it's enjoyable to watch their socialistic ways catch up to them in the bullpen.  By signing cheap retreads like Troy Percival and Jason Isringhausen and mixing and matching the rest of the bullpen with hacks (although JP Howell is not too bad), they are costing themselves a good shot at challenging for the division.  I can only imagine how good this team could be if they signed someone like K-Rod in the offseason.  Why wouldn't they even make an offer?  Their weak-ass bullpen nearly cost them the game yesterday as well, as the Yanks tied the game in the 8th and almost came back from a 4-run deficit in the 9th.  I'm glad I don't root for this team - their bullpen would give me a stroke.  Are Tampa fans calling for David Price to pitch in the pen a la Yankee fans with Joba?  Better question - are there any real Tampa fans in existence?

Yankees Record:  33-23, .5 game up on the Sox who lost today to Texas.  One more with Tampa Bay tomorrow and then 3 games in Boston.  Should be an interesting test.

Game 55 - Pitching Duel Blows Up

The Saturday matinee featured a doozy - CC Sabathia vs. David Price.  The cheap, upstart Tampa Bay Rays vs. the free spending, capitalistic Yankees.  What the customers watched was a slop fest, as Tampa prevailed 9-7.  Crooked Cap limited Tampa to one hit through the first 4 innings, as the Yanks led 2-0 on an ARod homer and Robinson Cano's RBI groundout.  In the top of the 5th, the Crooked One served up a dinger to the hot-hitting Ben Zobrist.  The Rays tied the Yanks in the inning, when Johnny Damon took minor league journeyman Joe Dillon's single in leftfield and promptly tossed it into short rightfield.  If you didn't know there was a game going on, one would have thought he was trying to have a catch with Yankee RF, Nick Swisher.  What really happened was he airmailed the throw over second that Nick Swisher had to go chase down.  Rays catcher and ex-Yankee, Dioner Navarro followed up with a sac fly to tie the game.

David Price pitched 2-hit ball through 5.2 innings, walking 5 and striking out 3.  He gave up 3 runs, but only 1 earned.  Tampa would commit 4 errors in the game, with Navarro throwing the ball all over the place, committing 3 throwing errors himself.  He left the game with the lead, 5-3 after Willie Aybar deposited a pitiful changeup from Sabathia into the leftfield seats for a 3-run blast.  

The Yanks rallied back to tie it up at 5 against the Rays pathetic bullpen in the 8th, with Teixeira hitting his 17th HR and Melky Cabrera's RBI fielder's choice.  The only thing more pathetic than the Rays pen today, though, was Mariano Rivera.  He was brought in the top of the 9th to hold Tampa, but instead got torched for 4 runs.  He wasn't helped out by Phil Coke, who came in and allowed a run scoring single and ARod committed the Yanks second gaffe of the day for the last run.  

In the bottom of the 9th, the Yanks, following a trend all season, would not go away quietly.  Mark Teixeira's double knocked in Jeter and Damon to close the gap to 2 runs.  In a move that saved the game, Rays manager, Joe Maddon, moved back CF BJ Upton after Damon doubled over his head.  Upton normally plays a very shallow centerfield, so when Maddon moved him back, he was able to catch Jorge Posada's deep fly to center and corral and absolute bullet from Cano to end the game and stranding Teixeira.  

It was a tough loss for the Yanks, especially in the first game of a series where your staff ace pitched.  Mariano continues to struggle in non-save situation games, which follows his career trend.  This season, in 10 non-save games, his ERA is 5.59 and opponents are batting .310 off of him.  Maybe he doesn't bring the same adrenaline into those games, because he looks mortal, almost Edwar Ramirez-like.  It's easy to spot when Mariano is not on his game.  His pitches will be lower in the zone and not have the rising movement or dart down like a slider which his cutter normally does.

Tomorrow brings another good matchup with 2 more hard throwers - Joba Chamberlain vs. Matt Garza.  

Yankees Record:  32-23

Blown Games:  5

Yanks - Rays Rained Out

The CC Sabathia - David Price matchup was postponed tonight due to rain.  They'll try again tomorrow in the Bronx.  

In other games - the girl softball player, Seattle's Suzuki, hitting streak ended at 27 games.  The Red Sox lost to Texas, putting the Yanks up by .5 game.  Big Sloppy Ortiz announced he's getting his eyes checked - is that code for hyperdermic needle?  Are we to believe if he starts hitting better it will be his new contact lenses?  Ironically, he had the Sox only RBI tonight.  

Carl "American Idle" tossed a complete game shutout against the White Sox and improved to 6-4 on the season.  That's more than anyone on the Yankee pitching staff.  Amazing how productive he's become pitching on an incentive-laden contract.  In 4 seasons with the Yanks he went 9-8.   

MLB Suspends Burnett 6 Games

Major League Baseball suspended Yankee pitcher, AJ Burnett, for 6 games.  Burnett threw a high hard one towards Texas Rangers, Nelson Cruz, in apparent retaliation of Vicente Padilla tagging Yanks first basemen, Mark Teixeira, not once, but twice.  

Burnett is appealing the suspension, hoping it will be reduced.  Predictions are 5 games, for one turn through the rotation.  What's shocking about the suspension is that Padilla, the true criminal that continues to walk the streets a free man, was only fined an undisclosed amount.  I must admit though, I like Padilla's style.  Instead of walking batters and wasting pitches, he's known to just plunk a batter.  Often, I've wished Yankee pitchers would hit Big Nugget Youkilis with a pitch just to move on from his customary 8 pitch at bat.

Game 54 - Melk-man Delivers Again

Chien-Ming Wang returned to the starting rotation, and what started out as promising, began to turn ugly when he departed after 4.2 innings, trailing 5-1 against Texas.  He came out firing, retiring the first 6 batters he faced, striking out 3 them.  He yielded 2 runs in the 3rd, 2 more in the 4th and was pulled after giving up a bomb to Nelson Cruz in the 5th.  

Compared to his first 3 frightening starts, Wang actually wasn't as bad as his numbers indicate.  His sinker was working, as he recorded 7 ground ball outs.  He did struggle against the lefties though, as Chris Davis laced 2 doubles off of him, knocking in 2 runs and scoring on a wild pitch.  Hank Blalock also hit a two-out single for a run.  Perhaps he ran out of steam, pitching out the bullpen recently.  In my opinion, I would love to see him return to the bullpen.  I think he has better stuff and strikes out batters at a better rate than he typically does as a starter.  

The Yankees actually had a 1-0 lead after the first, as Johnny Damon led off with a HR that just cleared the fence in right.  Their offense then went into a little lull, as they stranded Nick Swisher who hit a double after Damon's shot, and stranded Mark Teixeira who led off with a double in the 4th.  They woke up in the 5th against Texas pitcher, David McCarthy.  Swisher did what he does best, working a walk with the bases loaded.  Big Tex, by far the Yanks MVP in the first third of the season, hit a cue shot double past 3rd to clear the bases and tie the game.  ARod followed up with a single to put them up 6-5.

Alfredo Aceves, who relieved Wang, quickly let Texas tie it up on an Ian Kinsler blast that hit the upper foul pole in the 6th.  It would remain tied till the bottom of the 8th, when Melky Cabrera, who's been struggling at the plate since he lost his battle with the Cleveland centerfield fence, hit a 2-run shot that scraped the back of the left field fence.  Enter the Sandman, Mariano Rivera.  He scared some Yankee fans by giving up 2 hits and allowing the hot-hitting Nelson Cruz to come to plate representing the go-ahead run.  The Hammer of God struck out Cruz and got David Murphy to pop up to record his 12th save of the season and 494th of his career.     

Other notes:  Boston kept pace with the Yanks as they downed Detroit 6-3.  Dontrelle Willis walked 5 guys in the 3rd that led to a 6-run rally.  Yesterday, I lamented how the luck of Boston by dodging the likes of Justin Verlander and Roy Halladay.  But not only did they not faced the Tigers ace pitcher in this 3 game set, they avoided their #2 stud as well, Edwin Jackson, who's been pitching as well as anybody in baseball right now.  I'm amazed they faced Johan Santana in the Met series (thankfully, the frauds lost). 

Randy Johnson won his 300th game in front of just 16,000 people in D.C despite the fact that he may well be the last pitcher to reach that milestone for a very long time.  There's a team in D.C. because...?  It's time to start contracting teams.  If you can't economically compete year after year (Pittsburgh, anyone) or draw fans, it's time to fold shop.  Less teams would equal better talented teams.   

Yankees Record:  32-22, tied for 1st and 1/3 of the season down.  Projected win total:  96 - I'll take it.  

Game 53 - Yanks Fail in the Clutch

The Yanks lost to Texas 4-2 and it can be contributed to 2 at bats that cost them the game.  With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 3rd and the Yanks trailing 4-1, ARod grounded into a double play on a 3-1 pitch that was likely ball 4 after Texas pitcher, Matt Feldman, walked the bases loaded.  Then ARod followed that terrible performance by striking out with Johnny Damon on 3rd and one out in the 6th.  It appears the Yankees are slumping again with runners in scoring position, which led to their mediocre start to the season.   

Andy Pettitte's performance wasn't any better - he surrendered 3 runs in the 1st and another one in the 2nd, but it could have been much worse.  He got out of a first and second with no out jam in the 3rd and walked the bases loaded in the 4th.  In 5 innings of work, he yielded 7 hits and 6 walks.  13 base runners!  He did record 6 Ks, which helped limit the damage.  

On the bright side, Jorge Posada homered for the 2nd straight game.  Brett Tomko pitched 3 scoreless innings, giving the Yanks a fighting chance to get back in the game.  He's sporting a 2.16 ERA in 8.1 innings and could be a valuable reliever who could hold the fort down and spare the rest of the bullpen.

Other notes:  Red Sox won their 3rd straight game, beating Detroit 10-5 and tying the Yanks for first.  Josh Beckett pitched a no-hitter into the 7th.   Of course, the Red Sox will dodge Justin Verlander tomorrow in the series finale.  God continues to shine on this overrated team.  They've already ducked Roy Halladay twice this season, but the earth would freeze over before Halladay's turn didn't come up in a Yankee series.  

How come every time I turn on the XM radio baseball channel, they're interviewing either Pirates GM Neal Huntington or their manager, John Russell.   The Pirates?  C'mon, the Pirates?  I keep hearing callers complain that all they talk about is Sox and Yanks, but I hardly ever hear these teams mentioned.  I would actually prefer some good Sox talk, besides the perfunctory Ortiz is in a slump banter, then to hear once again how the Pirates are rebuilding.

And the Pirates trade of Nate McLouth - did the Yanks get to kick the tires on that one?  He sure would have looked good patrolling CF in the Bronx.  

Yankees Record:  31-22

Wang Back in Rotation; Hughes to Bullpen

The Yankees announced Chien-Ming Wang will return to the rotation tomorrow against Texas.  The move means Phil Hughes, not Joba Chamberlain, will move to the bullpen.  In the meantime, CC Sabathia's start was pushed back to Friday against Tampa Bay.  

Personally, I don't like the move.  Sure, Wang has a track record and 46 wins in the past 2.5 years, but he's looked downright God awful this year as a starter.  He's had some recent success in the bullpen, which is why the Yanks are making this move now.  I feel because of his success in the bullpen, that's a great reason he should remain there until the Yanks need him in the rotation to either spot start, fill in for an injury, or replace an ineffective Joba or Hughes.  Maybe by coming out of the pen, he could crank up that sinking fastball a few more ticks on the speed gun.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow against Texas, who is an aggressive hitting team.  It should be a good test.     

As for Hughes, will this retard his maturity as a top of the line starting pitcher?  He finally looks comfortable and belongs in the Majors.  At least the Yanks didn't send him back to dominate the minors again.  And, they could really use another good arm in the pen.  Perhaps, the Yanks don't really trust Wang is all the way back - but how many starts will they give him before they consider moving Hughes back to the rotation?  I put the over/under at 2 starts.  

Game 52 - Yanks Take Texas Behind the Woodshed

The score was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 4th, when Texas pitcher, Vincente Padilla, plunked Mark Teixeira in the buttocks.  It was the second time in the game he hit Tex, and you could see Tex shout at him "(Bleeping) throw the ball over the plate".  Unfortunately for Padilla, he woke the sleeping giant and he was very angry.  

With ARod at the plate and the bases loaded with one out, Padilla still had a shot to get out of the inning.  All he needed was a double play ball and it looked like ARod would oblige Padilla when he hit a grounder to second.  But Tex went in hard to the base with a vengeance, upending SS Elvis Andrus and allowing ARod to just beat the throw, avoiding the DP.  Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada would follow with run scoring singles and Hideki Matsui hit a 3-run blast, completing a 7-run outburst for a 9-3 lead.  Tex loved every minute of it, as he shed his usually calm and stoic persona and showing, dare I say, true emotion and fire.  I can only hope the Yankees will continue to show any kind of emotion and passion, which seemed to have disappeared with O'Neill, Brosius, Knoblauch and others of the 90's dynasty as they took on the boring, business-like persona in the latter years of Joe Torre's regime.  

AJ Burnett pitched well, despite nearly collapsing in the 3rd inning.  For the first 2.2 innings, he was in cruise control, until he walked a batter.  That was followed up by a double and 3-run jack by Nelson Cruz that gave Texas a brief 3-2 lead.  Burnett gave up 2 more hard singles and a long drive to deep center that finally getting him out of the inning, but he looked very shaky.  However, he would settle down again and pitch 7 strong innings with 8 Ks and one walk.  He even defended his teammate, Tex, nearly decapitating Nelson Cruz with a high inside fastball.  Both teams received warnings from the ump and it will be interesting to see if this bad blood will carry over tomorrow night. 

The Captain, Derek Jeter, banged out another 3 hits tonight and scored his 15ooth run of his career.  He collected his 2600th hit of his career yesterday, and with the 3 more tonight, has an excellent shot at passing Lou Gehrig for the all-time Yankee hit record later this season.  Gehrig had 2,721 hits in his career.  Posada also had 3 hits, including a 3-run blast and 4 RBIs, although his throwing error brought an end to the Yankees consecutive errorless streak at 18 games.  

But other things went well for the Yankees tonight, so well that even Brett Tomko and Jose Veras pitched a scoreless frame each, as the final score was 12-3.  They also didn't issue any free passes.  To Veras' credit, he won a tough battle against Ian Kinsler for the last out of the game, repeatedly challenging him on a full count after Kinsler fouled off numerous fastballs, instead of walking him.  Hopefully, Veras can build on this performance.  The Yanks need him till Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte return from their injuries.  

Yankees Record:  31-21 - best record in AL

Game 51 - Yanks Walk Out of Cleveland With Win

With Chien-Ming Wang pitching decently in relief and Phil Hughes coming into his own, the "Joba to the bullpen" fanatics started circling their wagons again.  In response, Joba Chamberlain came out and threw a career-high 8 innings, limiting Cleveland to 2 runs on 4 hits with 5 Ks in the 5-2 victory.  Who still wants Joba in the bullpen now?  Joba came out with ace-like stuff, flashing all 4 of his pitches as he was perfect for the first 3 frames.   In the 4th, he made his only real mistake of the night when he surrendered a solo homer to Victor Martinez, tying the game at 1.  

The play of the game came in the 5th, with Joba showing off his catlike reflexes.  He turned a Kelly Shoppach popup bunt into a highlight play, going full out on a dive (Joe Girardi characterized it as a bellyflop) and miraculously speared the ball as he hit the turf.  Runners were on 1st and 2nd, no out, and as he caught the ball, he jumped up and threw a strike to Derek Jeter to double up the runner.  

The Yankee hitters almost didn't provide Joba any support tonight.  Going into the top of the 6th, they loaded the bases on 3 walks with none out.  ARod, Posada and Cano were coming to the plate.  They all failed miserably and all runners were stranded.  ARod struck out.  Posada, after blowing yesterday's game, promptly swung at the first pitch and tapped back weakly to the mound, forcing the runner at home.  And, to finish off the humiliation, Cano lined out to left to end the inning.  

In the top of the 7th, like deja vu all over again, they loaded the bases on 3 walks.  With one out, Nick Swisher, batting in the 2-hole with Johnny Damon resting, ripped an opposite field double to left that just missed a grand slam by a foot.  After an intentional walk to Tex to reload the bases, ARod hit a 2-run single to finish up the Yankees scoring.  The Indians walked the Yanks 11 times tonight and the score could have been much worse, if the Yanks had come through with all of their opportunities.  They were 3-13 with runners in scoring position, and with Posada failing in yesterday's loss, I hope this doesn't start becoming a trend like earlier in the season.  They've been playing exceptionally well for the better part of a month now and cannot let up, playing in the brutal AL East.  

The Yanks defense went errorless tonight for the 18th straight game, setting a major league record, and to make it sweeter, broke the 2006 Red Sox record.  Joba wasn't the only pitcher to make an outstanding play tonight, either.  On the final batter of the game, Mariano Rivera fielded a Baltimore-chop over his head from Shin-Soo Choo and threw him out by a step at first for his 11th save in 12 opportunities.  With tonight's win, the Yanks gained a half game over the idle Red Sox.

Yankees Record:  30-21