Game 131 - Pettitte Nearly Perfect

Andy Pettitte loves pitching against Baltimore, as he improved his career record against them to an unbelievable 26-6 in the Bombers 5-1 win. His performance tonight was just as spectacular as his career has been against the Orioles. Pettitte was perfect for 6.2 innings till Scott Hairston, playing for a resting Arod, let a grounder go through his legs for an error in the 7th. Andy may have lost his focus, because Nick Markakis followed with an opposite-field hit on an 0-2 count to break up the no-hitter. The shutout would also disappear when Pettitte allowed a HR to Melvin Mora in the bottom of the 8th, but it didn't put a damper on his fantastic performance. He tossed 8 great innings of 2-hit ball with 0 walks and 8 strikeouts.

Nick Swisher continued his strange road/home splits by going 3-4 with a HR, double and 2 RBIs to lead the Yanks. Robinson Cano had 2 doubles and 2 RBIs, unbelievably knocking in both runs on a 2-out hit in the 8th. That's 2 days in a row he's done that, despite hitting less than .200 in those situations. This guy would be dangerous if he ever overcame his inexplicable inability to knock in runs. Despite his RBI-phobic tendencies, he has 72 RBIs for the season. If he hit near his average, he'd probably be leading the league.

Joe Girardi made things interesting in the 9th. Instead of going to a well-rested Mariano Rivera to seal the victory, he decided to use Brian Bruney in the non-save situation. I thought Mo could use the work. Bruney, of course, made Yankee fans, and I'm sure Pettitte, nervous, when he gave up a hit and walk sandwiched around an out. Girardi stopped fooling around though, and Mo earned his save, getting the final 2 outs to wrap up the 227th career win for Pettitte. With the win, the Yanks improved their lead to 6.5 games over the idle Red Sox.

Yankees Record: 83-48

Game 126 - Pettitte, Posada Pace Pinstripers

Andy Pettitte held the vaunted Texas Rangers lineup to 2 runs in 7 innings and Jorge Posada hit a monster 3-run homer to deep center to lead the Yanks to a 9-2 victory. Pettitte only allowed 5 hits while striking out 7. He also induced 3 DPs, including the decrepit Pudge with the bases loaded in the 1st (take notes Joba).

Posada's blast came in the 2nd inning, giving the Yanks an early 3-0 lead. Jerry Hairston, Jr., playing for Johnny Damon, hit a solo shot in the 4th to put the Bombers up 4-0. Pettitte's only problems tonight was David Murphy, who hit an RBI double and a solo shot to bring the Rangers within 2.

The Yanks unleashed for 5 runs in the 7th to put the game out of reach. The Captain hit a 2-run bases loaded single, Nick Swisher doubled in another run and Tex finished off the scoring with a 2-run single. Yankee relievers, Brian Bruney and Phil Coke, pitched 2 scoreless innings to wrap up the victory and even the series. Bruney escaped a bases loaded, 1 out situation when he got the ancient Pudge Rodriguez to ground into his second bases loaded, inning ending DP (Joba, I hope you were taking notes on how to retire this fossil).

Posada injured his catching hand in the 8th on a foul ball and was removed from the game. According to Yankee announcer, Kenny Singleton, he injured his ring finger. X-rays were negative.

In other games, Big Sloppy Ortiz must have made another trip to "GNC" for his "vitamins", because he hit 2 HRs, including the walkoff shot in Boston's 3-2 win over the Chisox. After hitting just 1 HR for the first 2 months of the season, he's swatted 21 since June. Hmmmmm.

Toronto slowed down Tampa Bay's recent hot stretch with a walkoff wild pitch. JP Howell's pitch in the dirt allowed Marco Scutaro to score the winning run. Howell walked the bases loaded after allowing Rod Barajas to tie the score at 2 with 1 out in the 9th. Cheapness is so unbecoming, and the Rays frugal ways with the bullpen are costing them big time. They had an opportunity to put in a waiver claim for Billy Wagner before the Red Sox, but chose not to spend $3.5M to give them a solid shot at the wild card. They'll probably make that amount 10-fold in revenue sharing (they can thank the NY Yankees for that).

Yankees Record: 79-47

Game 122 - Yankees Hit the Batting Cages in Boston

The Yankee hitters took the Red Sox pitchers behind the woodshed and pounded them for 23 hits en route to a 20-11 victory. As great as the offense was, the Yankee pitching and defense were awful. Andy Pettitte, perhaps suffering from the effects of sitting 29 minutes while the Yanks batted in the 5th inning when they scored 6 runs, began to get tagged by Boston in the bottom of the 5th and 6th innings. He departed after 3 batters and no outs in the 6th and was charged with 7 runs, 5 of them earned. Despite Pettitte's shaky performance, he's been brilliant since the All Star break, but he only had 1 win to show for it. Tonight, he finally had support and then some.

Every Yankee in the lineup, including Johnny Damon's replacement, Eric Hinske, had a hit, scored a run and knocked in a run. Damon fouled a pitch off his knee in the top of the 1st and left the game with a deep bruise after striking out. ARod went 4-4, Hideki Matsui hit 2 HRs with 7 RBIs, Melky collected 4 hits and The Captain and Tex chipped in 3 hits apiece. In fact, everyone had at least 2 hits with the exception of the slumping Robinson Cano, who finished 1-6. They feasted on Sox starter, Brad Penny for 8 runs, highly touted rookie, Michael Bowden for a 7-spot, and reliever Ramon Ramirez for another 4. Manny Delcarmen got off cheap with 1 run and Takashi Saito was their only reliever to escape unscored upon.

The Yankee pitching didn't fare much better, they just weren't as bad as the batting practice pitchers Boston threw out there. Brian Bruney came in to relieve Pettitte in the 6th and was God-awful. Statiscally, he didn't give up any runs, but he allowed his inherited runners to score and inexplicably walked in a run with a 10-run lead. In the 7th, Joe Girardi had seen enough when Bruney loaded the bases with one out. Damaso Marte, on the DL since April, was activated before the game and got the final 2 outs of the inning and stranded all 3 runners. Sergio Mitre came on for mop up duty for the final 2 innings, and the Sox did just that - mopped him around for 4 runs in the 9th. He surrendered 2 bombs to Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek. Mercifully, the game finally ended.

The Yanks defense was a little sloppy in the blowout, too. Cano had a fielding error and his buddy, Melky, allowed a pop up to drop in the 6th inning, hastening Pettitte's departure. On one odd play, Hinske couldn't make a play on a Yoda Pedroia fly that hit the Monster. For some dumb reason, Yoda thought he could stretch a triple out of it, but Jeter played the rebound off the wall in shallow left and threw him out with the Sox down by 5 runs at the time. I don't watch the Sox much, but it seems Yoda is thrown out at least once a series against the Yanks trying to stretch a hit or steal a base. Is it possible he's a dumber runner than Posada?

With the win, the Yanks now lead the Red Sox by 7.5 games. It was the Yanks first win of the season at Fenway and their first since Mike Mussina won his 20th last season.

Yankees Record: 77-45

Game 111 - Yanks Use the Broom on Boston

It began to Look and feel a lot like the Burnett-Beckett game when the Red Sox and Yanks swapped zeroes for 14 innings. Tonight's starters, Andy Pettitte and Jon Lester, matched donuts for the first 6 innings. Lester and Boston blinked first in the 7th, allowing an A-Bomb from ARod to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. The Yanks held the overhyped, overrated, Boston lineup scoreless for 31 innings when Andy Pettitte left the game after 7 shutout innings.

Newly acquired Victor Martinez connected for a 2-run blast off Phil Coke in the 8th, as another brilliant performance by Pettitte resulted in a no decision. Why Joe Girardi went with Coke instead of Phil Hughes is a great mystery. My first guess is that lefty Jacob Ellsbury led off the inning and he didn't want the switch-hitting Martinez to bat lefthanded at the Stadium - obviously, a bad calculation. My second guess is Hughes pitched in back-to-back games. However, he only threw 5 pitches and 4 pitches in those 2 games. Are they really protecting him this much?

The Bombers, though, never blinked, as the game changed on 12 pitches. Not even when the Bosox brought in Peter Gammons love child, Daniel Bard. Gammons, who waxes soliloquies and love poems about the hard-throwing Bard, must be crying in his pillow tonight after watching the rookie soil his pants. Bard allowed back-to-back bombs to Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira with 2 outs. It was the 6th time they've followed each other with a dinger, setting a club record. If you're curious, Mantle and Maris went back-to-back 4 times in their magical 1961 season.

The Yanks weren't done, making sure Boston understood before they left NYC who's the better team and crushing their short-term jubilance after Martinez' jack. Gammons' boy walked ARod and Sox manager, Terry Francona, brought in the freak with the rubber neck, Hideki Okajima to get his whipping. Jorge Posada slapped a double and Nick Swisher followed up with a 2-run single to give the Yanks a 5-2 lead with Mariano Rivera all warmed up in the bullpen.

The Great Mo though, insisted on making things interesting, as he always does against Boston. He allowed the talentless, overpaid bust, JD Drew, to leadoff with a single. He retired the next 2 before walking the fraudulent hack, Big Sloppy. Why he didn't challenge the bum is another mystery. Mo would retire Ellsbury for his 32nd save and give the Yanks a huge sweep of their division foe, increasing their lead to 6.5 games with 51 remaining.

Except for Thursday's 13-6 laugher, this had to be a mentally grueling series for the Yanks. For all of Boston's struggles at the plate, it's not like the Pinstripers were tearing the cover off the ball. They scored 1 run in 15 innings Friday and grinded out 1o runs Saturday and Sunday, going 3-20 with RISP. Josh Beckett was brilliant. Jon Lester was excellent, only allowing 1 run and he left with a lead. This series is a credit to the Yankee starters. Burnett, Sabathia and Pettitte combined to toss 22.1 shutout innings. The relievers weren't nearly as great, but they were pretty damn good - only allowing 4 runs in 14.2 innings of work in the series. For once, with the exception of Thursday's game, the Yankee pitchers challenged the Boston hitters and didn't look like a deer in headlights. Perhaps it helps that they weren't facing a performance enhanced Big Sloppy and all-time Yankee killer, Manny Ramirez.

Yankees Record: 69-42

Game 106 - Yanks Slay the Halladay Dragon

Prior to tonight, Roy Halladay was 8-0 in his last 10 starts against the Yanks, and 16-5 in his career. Make that 16-6. The Yankees and Andy Pettitte outdueled the notorious Yankee killer in a 5-3 victory. Pettitte defeated the Blue Jays for the 19th time in his career, as he pitched 6.2 solid innings. He limited the Jays to 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 6, finally earning his first win after the All Star break despite pitching well in his previous 3 starts. Luck was on his side, too, as the Jays laced 4 line drives right at his infielders, including 1 for a DP.

The Bombers jumped out quick on the AL All Star starter, putting 2 runs on the board in the first on an ARod RBI double and an error by Halladay allowed ARod to score on a Hideki Matsui grounder. It looked like the Yanks were going to get to Halladay early, collecting 5 hits in the first 3 innings. In the 3rd, with Mark Teixeira on 2nd after a double, ARod hit a shot down the 3B line that appeared destined for another RBI double. Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion dove to keep it in the infield for a single and Halladay was able to escape the jam. Halladay would cruise through the next 15 outs. Only Jorge Posada reached on a single, but he was quickly erased by a DP.

The Yanks finally struck for 2-out lightening in the 8th. Johnny Damon and Teixeira hit back-to-back HRs, providing what would prove to be the winning runs. In the bottom of the 8th, Phil Hughes allowed 2 straight singles before coming back with 2 Ks. Enter Mariano Rivera. He did not look good and perhaps is starting to feel the effects of his 4-out saves this year. He fell behind Vernon Wells before allowing a 2-run double to bring the Jays within 1 run. Matsui provided a little breathing room with the Bombers 3rd solo shot of the night off of Halladay in the top of the 9th. Mo made things interesting again by allowing 2 more singles in the 9th before escaping with a huge victory against Halladay. Especially with Sergio Mitre going on the mound for the Yanks tomorrow.

Yankees Record: 64-42

Game 103 - Sergio Mitre? Is This the Best They Can Do?

The trading deadline came and went at 4 pm EST today and all the Yankees could muster in a trade was career utility player, Jerry Hairston, Jr. After kicking the tires on Roy Halladay, taking a sniff at Cliff Davis and being linked to starters Jarrod Washburn and Brian Bannister in potential trades, the Yanks came up with bupkis. Nada. Zilch. After watching the pitiful performance of Sergio Mitre in their 10-5 thrashing by the White Sox, I'm sure GM Brian Cashman must be feeling sick to his stomach tonight that he didn't trade one of his overrated, overhyped prospects.

The Yanks came out swinging in the 1st inning, nearly matching their hit total from last night. 4 hits gave them a nice 3-0 cushion. It didn't last long. Mitre had absolutely nothing and looked like complete garbage on the mound. He pitched 3 pathetic innings and gave up 5 runs. Amazingly enough, Mitre did not receive credit for the loss. Eric Hinske hit a 2-run shot in the top of the 4th to tie the score at 5-all. It was his 5th HR in 20 ABs for the Yanks. I'd like to see more of him and less of Nick Swisher.

Through 4 innings, the Yanks had 9 hits and 5 runs off of White Sox emergency starter DJ Carrasco. They only had 3 hits the rest of the game against the bullpen. Ol' friend, Octavio Dotel, shut them down for 2 scoreless frames, allowing 1 hit. For the game, the Yanks were 2-10 with RISP, but 0 for their last 7. Jorge Posada was useless, stranding 6 runners and hitting into a DP.

David Robertson took the loss, allowing the go-ahead run to score in his 2 innings of work. The Yanks were still in the game till the 7th. Alfredo Aceves, who's been nursing a sore shoulder, since his arsonist act against the A's last Saturday, did it again tonight. He got lit up for 4 runs after it looked like he might escape a 2-on, no out jam. He retired the next 2 batters and then allowed 2 hits and a walk to open the floodgates. Aceves must be hurt, because right now, he's hurting the hell out of the Yankees. I guess Cashman didn't want to trade for another reliever, either.

The Sawx pulled out another win out of their ass against Baltimore. Interesting that David Ortiz hit another HR today - he's kind of had a resurgence after 2.5 terrible months...is this guy being tested? With Boston's win and the Yanks loss, the division lead dwindles to 1.5 games. Wouldn't you know, the Sawx end their season with a 4-game set against Cleveland, who traded their one ace, Lee to Philly. Meanwhile, the Yanks have finished their season series against the Indians. Amazing, utterly amazing how Boston continues to duck and weave teams' ace pitchers. When's the last time the Yanks faced Toronto without going up against Roy Halladay? I can't remember, but Boston's ducked him twice this year.

Initially, after watching the Yanks take 9 out of 10 on the homestand and 2 of 3 from Tampa, I thought they could stand pat at the trading deadline. But, with the recent news that Chien-Ming Wang is done for the season and Joba Chamberlain is on some secret innings limit, my gut feeling is the Yanks need another starter. It didn't have to be an ace like Halladay or Lee, but Washburn or Bannister would have been a nice upgrade over Mitre, who has shown nothing in 3 starts since being called up from Scranton. Rumors reported by Joel Sherman of the NY Post said the Mariners were looking for an Austin Jackson-like prospect. I'm not sure why the Yanks are high on A-Jax. My gut feeling is he will be like Melky Cabrera, but makes less contact. No thanks.

Yankees Record: 62-41

Game 102 - White Sox Turn Yanks into Swish Cheese

The White Sox pitchers, Gavin Floyd and Matt Thornton, mowed through the Yankees lineup for 14 strikeouts, and the Yanks failed to provide any support for the 3rd straight game for poor ol' Andy Pettitte in their 3-2 loss. Teams generally are not going to win games when their 3-4-5 hitters go 0-12 with 8 Ks. Mark Teixeira, ARod and Hideki Matsui essentially took the night off.

As a team, the Yanks only mustered 6 hits. Johnny Damon had 2 of them, including an RBI double. Nick Swisher gave the team false hope by tying the score at 2 with a 2-out HR in the top of the 9th. The Philthys, Phil Hughes and Phil Coke though, lost the game in the bottom frame.

Andy Pettitte pitched solidly for the 3rd straight game since the break, but like his previous 2 starts, the Yanks couldn’t score muster many runs for his efforts. Things turned bleak in the 7th, when the Yankees defense turned into the Ringling Bros Circus. Pettitte slipped and fell on a Jim Thome dribbler for an error to start the inning. After a strikeout, ARod couldn’t handle a single and Pettitte’s night was done. Hughes came in and looked like he was going to get out of the jam when he induced Carlos Quentin to hit a potential double play ball, but Robinson Cano threw wildly past first allowing Thome to score.

The White Sox struck out the side in the 8th and 9th innings. Tex struck out with 2 runners on in the 8th before Swisher’s solo shot in the 9th tied the game. In the bottom of the 9th, Hughes allowed 2 singles and was relieved by Coke with 1 out. Coke retired the 1st batter, but DeWayne Wise, the perfect game hero with his miraculous catch, lined a shot up the middle. Coke actually tipped it, but alas, it went through for the walkoff hit.

With the Sawx win earlier in the day, on a suspicious Big Sloppy HR to boot, the Yanks lead is down to 2.5 games.

Yankees Record: 62-40

Game 97 - Aceves Plays Arsonist

For 6 innings, Andy Pettitte and Athletics' starter, Gio Gonzalez, were locked into an old fashioned pitchers duel. Brett Gardner's triple finally put a run on the board as the Yanks led 1-0 through 6. In the top of the 7th, the wheels fell off the bus. Scott Hairston led off with a double and the fossil of Nomar Garciaparra worked out a walk. After Pettitte got Jack Cust to fly out, Rajai Davis, the same Rajai Davis that was cut last season by the offensively challenged San Francisco Giants, singled in the tying run.

For some inexplicable reason, Joe Girardi visited the mound and forgot to bring Pettitte back with him to the dugout. Bobby Crosby, proud owner of a .227 batting average followed up with a bunt single. Out goes Pettitte and in comes Alfredo Aceves, toting his gasoline can. For 3 pitches, Aceves looked great. He retired Mark Ellis on a first pitch pop up and went up 0-2 on Landon Powell. That's when Aceves lit the match to watch the inning, and essentially the game, go up in flames. Powell singled in 2 runs. Adam Kennedy, the same Adam Kennedy that the St. Louis Cardinals let go last season, singled in another, and Orlando Cabrera capped off the 6-run rally with a 2-run double.

Aceves piss poor performance cost the Yankees their 8-game winning streak. Girardi probably mismanaged the bullpen, too. He should have taken Pettitte out against Crosby and should have brought in Phil Coke to face the lefty hitting Powell or Kennedy, too.

As been the Yankees M.O. all season, they mounted a minor comeback. Derek Jeter hit a 2-run shot in the 8th and 1 out later, Mark Teixeira hit his league-leading 25th homer to make the score 6-4. After there was an actually Nick Swisher getting a hit sighting, Cano ended the threat with a long fly out to right. It wasn't Cano's fault - Swisher had the audacity of being in scoring position with 2 out and should know Robbie doesn't like hitting in those situations.

The Yanks finally gasp came in the final frame, but after leading off with 2 walks, the slug-footed Jorge Posada killed a chance of a rally hitting into a double play after fouling off a pitch down the pipe and swinging at absolute garbage in the dirt. The Captain ended the game with a runner on 3rd with a long fly out to center. And like magic, an 8-game winning streak vanished against a team with a lineup that could challenge for 3rd place in Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Yankees Record: 59-38

Game 92 - Matsui's Walkoff HR Leads Yanks

For a team record 3rd game in a row, the Yanks won 2-1, beating the Orioles in the opening set of a 3-game series. Andy Pettitte pitched 1-run ball for 7.1 innings, with his only blip a HR by Nick Markakis in the 1st inning. He also struck out 8. After Eric Hinske matched Markakis' HR in the top of the 2nd, his 4th dinger in 15 ABs with the Yanks, Baltimore retired 22 of the next 24 Yankee batters. Only Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon were able to get on via walks.

With one out in the bottom of the 9th, Hideki Matsui blasted his 15th HR of the season against reliever Jim Johnson for the win. It was Matsui's first walkoff hit since his rookie year in 2003. AJ Burnett kept up this year's custom of shoving a cream pie into the walkoff hero's face in the post game interview. It's good to see Burnett does not shy away from delivering the pie treatment to stoic and serious players like Matsui and Posada.

There was a moment in the game though, that looked like the Yanks might have needed more than Matsui's heroics. Pettitte left the game in the 8th with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Phil Coke came in to face Nick Markakis with 1 out. Markakis hit a grounder to Mark Teixeira. Tex threw home to catcher Jose Molina, who tagged out Cesar Izturis for the 2nd out. Coke then threw a pitch in the dirt that bounced away, but Molina pounced on it and threw to Coke to tag the speedy Brian Roberts out at the plate.

Alfredo Aceves came in relief during the 9th with a runner on and 1 out. After a stolen base, he sandwiched the final 2 outs around an intentional walk to avoid any trouble. He was credited with the win and improved his record to 6-1. It also gave Mariano Rivera a much needed, not to mention a deserved, night off after saving all 3 games in the Tigers series.

The Yanks, who lead or near the top in most offensive categories, can credit their 4 game winning streak to strong pitching. In the last 3 games, they have combined for only 16 hits, relying mostly on solo shots for their scoring, while holding their opponents to 3 total runs.

With Boston's loss against Texas, the Pinstripers moved into a tie for the AL East division. Kevin Millwood beat his old Atlanta teammate, John Smoltz, as Boston looks like they haven't been notified the All Star break is over. Adding insult to injury, Tim Wakefield took his 11-3 record to the DL. Laptop thief, Clay Buchholz, will take his place on the roster.

Yankees Record: 55-37

Game 87 - Angels are Hell on Earth for Yanks

Another blown 4-run lead, and another lost opportunity for the Yankees against their arch-nemesis Los Angeles of Inglewood/Beverly Hills 90210, The O.C., Melrose Place of Anaheim Angels. Andy Pettitte, David Robertson, Brett Tomko and Phil Coke did their worse imitations as Major League pitchers, giving up 14 runs on 16 hits, as the Yanks were blown out 14-8 today. Things went so bad, that even when the Yankees recorded strike outs, 2 runners reached base on dropped 3rd strikes. Unfortunately, my wife and I went to the Giants-Padres game at AT&T Park and I had to be reminded of this hideous loss as I sat directly across from the scoreboard and reminded of the Yanks futile efforts all game (see picture above).

Except for the top 3 hitters of the lineup, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira, who went 1-13 combined with 5 Ks, the rest of the lineup did some some real damage, going 8-22 with 5 HRs. ARod and newly acquired Eric Hinske both went deep twice and Hideki Matsui hit the other one. ARod's second blast and Matsui's were back-to-back in the top of the 8th that brought the Yanks within 10-8 before Coke imploded in the 8th, giving up the Angels last 4 runs to put the game out of reach. ARod entered the top 10 on the all-time HR list with #570, passing fellow juicer, Rafael Palmeiro.

The Yanks started this game in grand fashion again, just as they did yesterday. ARod hit a 2-run homer in the first, Hinske connected for a solo blast in the 2nd, and miracle of miracles, Robinson Cano laced a rarely seen for him, 2-out RBI single, giving the Yanks a 4-0 lead. Andy Pettitte cruised through 3 hitless innings before yielding his first run in the 4th. The wheels came spiraling off the bus in the 5th when the Angels roughed up Pettitte and Robertson for 7 runs. How has a lineup that just lost their 2 biggest run producers (Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter) produce 18 runs in 2 games? Simplest answer - the Yankees pitching has been horrendous.

Couple of things I wish manager Joe Girardi would take note of: Jorge Posada should never start as catcher against the Angels. They ran roughshod over him, going 4-5 in steals. Also, David Robertson shouldn't come in the game in the middle of an inning. He has been ghastly in a number of appearances coming into the game in that situation. He should have been sent to Scranton instead of Jonathan Albaladejo earlier this week after walking in 2 runs in Minnesota. Cano's been batting in the bottom third of the lineup and performing better lately. Let's not be fooled again and raise him in the order. Hinske had a great game today and is 4-9 with 3 HRs since being traded for. Girardi should continue to play the hot hand and stop forcing Nick Swisher and/or Melky Cabrera into the lineup. Swisher's best month of the season was April when he started the season as the 4th OF before Xavier Nady's injury. Melky also picked up his game when he lost the starting CF job to Gardner. Competition seems to motivate both of them.

This loss, on top of a Boston win, dropped the Yanks 2 game back in the division. I did enjoy watching the scoreboard at the Giants game jump from a Boston 9-1 lead close to 9-7, as their bullpen imploded again. KC's bullpen, apparently was worse, as they lost 15-9. Hopefully, I've heard the last about Boston having the best bullpen in baseball. They've been horrendous in July. CC Sabathia needs to be the stopper in the series finale.

Yankees Record: 51-36

Game 82 - Yanks Rally Falls Short

The Yanks start to the second half of the season started the same way as the first half - with a loss. Unlike the first one, they made this one interesting, falling just short against Toronto, 7-6. The Yankees offense got off to an inauspicious start when Derek Jeter, inexplicably, got thrown out at third with none out. Replays showed Jeter avoided the tag with a nifty swim move, but 3B umpire, Marty Foster, called him out. Jeter vehemently argued his case, and stated in the post game that Foster told him the throw beat him to the bag and he doesn't have to be tagged! Joe Girardi came to Jeter's defense and found himself being ejected for his efforts. This wouldn't be the last blown call that went against the Yankees today, either.

Safe, out, either way, Jeter shouldn't be trying to steal 3B with no outs and the 2-3-4 batters coming to the plate. Jays starter, Ricky Romero, was clearly nervous, too, in his first Yankee Stadium start. He walked Jeter after being ahead in the count, 1-2. He then balked Jeter over to 2B. Nick Swisher singled after Jeter was thrown out, and advanced on a wild pitch. After Romero induced Mark Teixeira to fly out on a full count, he hit ARod with a pitch in the dirt. Unfortunately for the boys from the Bronx, Romero settled down, striking out Jorge Posada to end the inning.

Andy Pettitte looked sharp - for the first 5 batters. He then walked old Yankee killer, Kevin Millar, owner of a .233 batting average. He allowed a single to the seldom used Jose Batista before another guy that haunts the Yanks - Rod Barajas, singled home the game's 1st run. Pettitte ran into more 2-out trouble in the 3rd. He gave up a 3-run shot to Alex Rios. Doesn't it seem the Jays are stacked with Yankee killers? Rios' HR came after replays showed Jeter clearly threw out base runner, Aaron Hill, at 2B. That bad call cost the Yanks 3 runs.

Pettitte settled down till the start of the 7th, when he gave up a HR to John McDonald, the proud owner of 10 career dingers in nearly 1600 ABs. After walking his 5th batter of the game, he was pulled in favor of Brian Bruney, who's appearance doomed any Yankee chance. Bruney came in and set a torch to the Jays' rally instead of squelching it. His struggles continue since his return off the DL, as he gave up back-to-back doubles that led to 2 runs and gave the Jays a 7-1 lead.

Eric Hinske got his first start as a Yankee today, and he went from early hero to late goat. He got the Bombers on the board with a solo shot in the 5th. The Yanks tacked on 2 more runs in the 7th on a Swisher single. That was after the Yanks had the third bad call go against them when the 2B ump called Hinske out on a force play at second when SS Marco Scutaro was nowhere near the bag. In the 8th, a bases loaded walk to Jeter brought the Yanks to within 3 runs. Entering the bottom of the 9th, it looked like Jays closer, Jason Frasor, would quietly put the Yanks away, retiring the first 2 hitters. The Yanks, however, wouldn't die easily. Posada hit a single, Cano doubled and hot-hitting Hideki Matsui pinch hit for Melky and laced a 2-run single to bring the Yanks within 1. New Yankee, Eric Hinske came to the plate representing the go-ahead run. He worked the count to 3-1, when for some strange reason, he checked-swinged a foul on a pitch nearly in the dirt. He struck out on the next pitch to end the game. A walk would have put the tying run on 2B with Johnny Damon coming to the plate.

Despite 3 horrendous calls from the umpiring crew, the Yanks still had their chances to pull this game out. Brian Bruney didn't do his job, getting hit hard, again. Since his activation from the DL, his ERA has climbed from 3.00 to 4.11 in 6.2 innings. They were also visited by an old friend who's come to visit quite a bit this season - inability. As in the "inability" to hit with RISP. They went 2-12 in those situations. Has anyone seen Tex? He was the main culprit, leaving 6 men on base and hasn't homered in 21 games. Swisher, despite going 3-4, also had a terrible at bat, flying out on the first pitch in the 8th with the bases loaded, right after Jeter walked. What happened to this guy taking pitches?

On to Minnesota for a 3 game set after a 5-2 homestand. Still no word on Thursday's starter for Wang.

Yankees Record: 48-34

Game 77 - Pettitte, ARod Lead Yanks to 7 Heaven

Andy Pettitte rebounded from his previous bomb of a start, tossing 7 strong innings, and ARod jacked another long bomb to lead the Yanks to a 4-2 win over the Mariners. Everything came up 7s, as the Yanks won their 7th straight in their 77th game. ARod's 2-run dinger was the 7th of his career against Seattle starter, Jarrod Washburn, giving him a 7-game hitting streak since his 1-25 slump.

Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera hit solo shots to account for the rest of the Bombers scoring. They couldn't muster much of anything else against Washburn, who induced 2 double plays in the first 2 innings to kill both threats.

Pettitte only allowed 2 earned runs on 6 hits in his 7 innings of work. He walked 1 and struck out 5. It was a stark contrast to his last start against Atlanta, when he couldn't get out of the 4th inning despite the Yanks giving him an early 8-1 lead. Pettitte did allow a HR to the shell of former greatness known as Ken Griffey, Jr., as the Yanks continued their "Rehab an Aging Slugger" program. See: Ortiz, David and Sheffield, Gary - both who have already benefitted from the Yankees charity this season. Griffey's shot knotted the score at 2 before ARod's heroics in the bottom of the 6th. ARod deposited a shot over dead center into Monument Park. It was his 4th HR in 7 games.

Curiously, Joe Girardi used Alfredo Aceves and Phil Coke to pitch the 8th instead of Brian Bruney or Phil Hughes. Mariano Rivera retired the side in the 9th and is off to a great start towards saving 600 games. It was his 20th save of the season and he's now recorded a save in 3 straight games. The Yanks are 13 games above .500.

Notes: The Sawx pulled a game out of their asses today, rallying from 4 runs down in the 9th against Baltimore to tie the game before winning it in 11 innings. Orioles' manager, David Trembley demonstrated why bad teams are bad. Instead of going with his closer, George Sherrill, to start the 9th, he went with Jim Johnson, who gave up a walk and HR to the Nugget - Youkilis. Trembley then went to Sherrill, who struck out the 1st 2 batters before giving up a single, 2 walks and a 2-run single to Rocco Baldelli. Granted, Sherrill still had a chance to save the game, but I would have liked his chances if he started the inning.

Good news for the Yanks - the Jays finally snapped the Rays 7-game winning streak.

Yankees Record: 45-32

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 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 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 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

Game 48 - Yanks Hang On For Win

For the first time since the 2006 season ended, the Yanks find themselves alone at the top of the AL East.  Last night, Andy Pettitte, Alfredo Aceves and Mariano Rivera clamped down on the vaunted Cleveland Indians offense, winning 3-1.  Pettitte would leave the game in the 6th inning after battling lower back stiffness.  He tightened up in the 4th, but hung on through 5+ innings.  It was a typical Pettitte performance, not overly sharp, but crafty enough to work in and out of trouble when he had to.  His improved his record to a team best 5-1.

Aceves relieved Pettitte with 2 runners on and a 2-0 count on Cleveland's Jamey Carroll.  Aceves would walk him (walk charged to Pettitte) to load the bases with none out.  He struck out Kelly Shoppach on a knee-bending curve, gave up a sac fly, and induced an inning-ending ground ball to Derek Jeter.  Mark Teixeira made the play of the game by ranging to his right and picking the terrible throw from Jeter which might have led to a second run and 2 runners in scoring position if the throw had skipped by.  Aceves pitched 3 shutout innings with 3 Ks, limiting the Indians to 1 hit.  Mariano pitched around a leadoff single, striking out 2, including the overhyped and overrated Grady Sizemore.  

The Yankee hitters nearly had Cleveland's Cliff Lee on the ropes in the first inning, loading the bases with 1 out.  However, Robinson Cano continued to follow his career trend of being terrible with runners in scoring position, particularly with the bases loaded.  He struck out on 3 pitches and is now 20-83 lifetime with the bases jacked.  Jorge Posada, back from the DL, followed up with a tough at-bat, having some good cuts, but looked a little rusty, and eventually struck out as well.

The Bombers, however, kept the pressure on Lee in the 2nd, and this time, broke through for 2 runs.  Jeter and Tex knocked in the runs to put them up 2-0, and Nick Swisher would hit a rarely seen sac fly in the 3rd.  I say rarely seen, because the Yanks appear to be the most inept team to hit that lazy fly ball to knock in the run.  But things have been different on this run, particularly with ARod's return, as the team improved to 15-5 with him in the lineup.  Last night marked the first time this season that ARod and Posada were in the lineup together, and it lengthens the lineup considerably.  Swisher, who has been struggling mightly in May, was knocked down to the 8th spot in the order.  As for Posada, he rebounded from his 1st inning strikeout to go 2-3 with a double and a walk.  

For the Yanks, everything's clicking and tonight, Crooked Cap faces his old teammates in a matchup against Fausto Carmona.  

Other notes:  The Big Sloppy has officially become the Big Floppy.  Another 0-4 performance in the Sox 6-3 loss to Toronto and now hitting an inexplicable .189.  The Blue Jays win snapped a nine-game losing streak.  Great timing, Toronto!   

Yankees Record:  28-20, first place by .5 game over Boston

Game 9 - Capitalist Yanks Overcome Socialist Rays in Squeaker

The free spending Yankees defeated the revenue hoarding Rays, 4-3 today, as the Yankee old timers stepped up, yet again, and helped the Yanks win the series.  Andy Pettitte pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up 3 earned runs and provided the Yankees with a quality start and another respite for the beleaguered bullpen.  Derek Jeter knocked in the winning run with 2 out in the top of the ninth and Mariano Rivera needed just 8 pitches to record the final three outs for his second save.  

Brian Bruney, still channeling the ghost of Goose Gossage for a second straight game, came in to strike out 2 more Rays in 2/3 of an inning, giving him 5 straight Ks overall.  Who is this guy all of a sudden?  Robinson Cano helped the Yanks tie the game 2-2 with a 2-run HR in the 4th inning, before Carlos Pena put the Penny Pinchers up 3-2 with a HR in the bottom of the inning.  

Yankee hitters struggled all day, but Joe Maddon, Rays manager, began to outguess himself and started to believe the hype that everything he did turned to gold.  He started the ol' Tony LaRussa school of thought with mixing and matching his bullpen and paid the price.  Jeter doubled to lead off the eighth and with Maddon bringing in lefty JP Howell, Johnny Damon doubled in the tying run.   In the ninth, Maddon brought in his 6th pitcher of the day, Troy Percival.  He gave up a one out double to Cody Ransom, and after Jose Molina lined out to 3rd, Mr. November stepped up and delivered the game winning hit.  The win gave the Yanks a 5-4 record on their longest road trip to start a season in team history.  

Congratulations to Cody Ransom who is finally hitting on the interstate.  Unfortunately, Mark Teixeira joined him today with an 0-4 and 3 Ks and is now hitting .174.  Cano and Swisher continued their hot hitting, although Swisher struck out with Damon on second in the 8th.  As a team, the Yanks struck out another 8 times today.  These high strike out rates could begin to haunt them if they begin leaving potential runs on base. 

I'm hoping the Rays get exposed this year.  I wonder what Maddon would have done if the game remained tied for awhile, since he practically blew through his whole bullpen.  I'm just dumbfounded by these managers with the quick hooks on their pitchers.  I'm also tired of hearing about all their young talent. They better have young talent - they've had 2 out the top 40 draft picks for the last 10 years!

Other Notes:

- Tomorrow, the new Yankee Stadium opens with Crooked Cap taking on his old teammates, the Indians.  Let's hope some of the old ghosts in old Yankee Stadium have made the trip across the street.

-Kudos to Tim Wakefield for his near no-no which he lost in the 8th against the A's.  I remember going to a game in Boston in the mid-'90s where Wakefield had a no-hitter going into the 8th when Mark "I'm not hear to talk about the past" McGuire deposited one over the Green Monster.

-Rangers' Ian Kinsler hit for the cycle and went 6-6. LA's Orlando Hudson also hit for the cycle earlier this week.

  

Yankees Record:  5-4  

Game 4 - Pettitte Outstanding

The Yankees replayed a hit from the past, as Andy Pettitte  mowed through the KC Royals lineup through 7 solid innings in the Yanks 4-1 victory.  Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter drove in 3 of the 4 runs and Mariano Rivera came in and nailed down the final 3 outs for his first save of the season, demonstrating the old timers still have some game left in them.

Pettitte allowed three hits and one run in his 7 innings of work, but should have left with a shutout.  Nick Swisher dropped a fly ball when he came charging in during the second inning.  It was scored a double and allowed the only KC run of the game to come in.  Swisher would atone for his gaffe in the second with an RBI double in the 4th, for his team leading 6 RBIs.  Girardi continued his game of revolving Nady, Swisher and Matsui by sitting down Nady.  Bad choice - Matsui was horrendous, going 0-4, leaving 3 guys in scoring position and striking out twice.  

Please, Joe, find a nice warm spot on the bench for the 48 year old Matsui and call on him to pinch hit once in a while.  

The Yankees may have been able to do more damage but threw some outs away with their base running blunders.  Brett Gardner was picked off first.  Cody Ransom forgot his little league training when you're suppose to hold at second when the ball is hit in front of you to the SS. Like a frightened child, he remained frozen till he finally realized his bone head mistake before being tagged out.  I hope this doesn't become the Yankees new disturbing trend.  Earlier in the week, Nady was caught napping at third on a line drive and tagged out.

As for the rest of the game, the Royals should seriously consider ever scheduling another game at 3 pm local time.  After the shadows settled in around the batters box in the 5th inning, the Yankees struck out 9 times and the Royals 7 times.  16 Ks for the final 30 outs of the game!  I thought I was watching a Sandy Koufax - Juan Marichal duel.  I knew things got out of hand when ex-Yankee, Kyle Farnsworth, came in and struck out the side in the 7th inning.  

Let's hope the old timers have at least one last season of glory in them.

Yanks Record:  2-2