Game 94 - Yanks Complete Second Straight Sweep

The Yanks completed a sweep of Baltimore with another 6-4 victory and have gone 6-0 since the All Star break. AJ Burnett shut down the Orioles for 6 innings before surrendering a 2-spot in the 7th. He pitched 7 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 runs while striking out 6. The Pinstripers were led by Jorge Posada who went 2-3 with a double, homer, walk and 2 RBIs. ARod and Cano each knocked in 1 run and Nick Swisher, in an event-filled day for him, knocked in 2 runs.

Swisher had quite the adventure in RF. In the 3rd inning, he dropped a fly ball that allowed Brian Roberts to reach second. Burnett worked out of trouble, but was bailed out by the man that initially caused the trouble in the first place. Ty Wigginton laced a liner tailing away from Swisher toward the right field line. Swisher made a great running catch at full extension as his momentum carried him up the RF wall. Burnett greeted Swisher at the dugout to share high 5s. Swisher wasn't done in the field, either. In the 6th, he went back and crashed into the wall and robbed Luke Scott of an extra base hit. Something Yankee fans would've never seen with ol' friend Bobby Abreu in the field last year.

Philthy Phil Hughes tossed a scoreless 8th inning and ran his scoreless streak to 20 innings. With the Yanks tacking on an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th for a 4-run cushion, Mariano Rivera sat down and Brian Bruney came into the 9th for some work. Bruney looked great - for 2 batters. He struck out the first 2 guys he faced, but then gave up 2 solo bombs to Adam Jones and Nick Markakis. Manager Joe Girardi quickly gave Bruney the hook and brought in Mo to strike out Aubrey Huff and end the game. It was Mo's 28th save and 510th of his career.

The Bombers increased their division lead to 2 games as Boston got the broom treatment and got swept out of Texas. It's the Sawx 5th straight loss as they dropped to 1-5 since the break while scoring only 13 runs. The Rays also lost, falling 4-3 to the White Sox, and they currently trail the division by 5.5 games. It'll be interesting to see if the Rays make any big moves to help the team or if they will continue their miser ways.

Yankees Record: 57-37, a season-high 20 games over .500

Game 86 - Angels Bedevil Yanks

After 1 inning, things appeared golden for the Yanks. The offense spotted starter, Joba Chamberlain, with 3 runs, and he responded with a quick 1-2-3 first inning. Plus, the Angels were playing without their sluggers, Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter, both placed on the DL this week. The Yanks tacked on another run in the 2nd when Johnny Damon's single knocked in Jose Molina, fresh off the DL from his quad strain. The Angels came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the 2nd, and the score remained 4-1 till ARod's long bomb in the 5th, put the Yanks in great position with a 4-run lead. In the bottom of the 5th, the train derailed off the track.

After the first inning, Joba wasn't particularly sharp. He gave up 5 hits in his next 3 innings before he got lit up in the 5th. A couple of singles, a couple of stolen bases, an ARod error and a jack to dead center for Kendry Morales tied the score at 5. After the homer, Joba gave up a double, and he headed for an early shower. In his past 2 starts, he's been absolutely dreadful. He's given up 18 hits, 13 runs, 7 earned in only 8 innings. That's not even acceptable for a 5th starter. Perhaps it's time for Joba to be sent down to the minors and find his rhythm, regain his confidence, and learn to attack hitters like he did when he came out of the pen. As the season has gone on, he's regressed as a starter.

Things got worse for the Yanks after Joba's departure. With the Yanks bullpen depleted after tossing nearly 6 innings the game before, highly touted reliever, Mark Melancon, was recalled from Triple A and the Yanks optioned Jonathan Albaladejo back to the Scranton shuttle. Melancon hasn't impressed in his brief stints with the big league club this season. He gave up 3 runs, 2 earned, in 2.1 innings. He wasn't helped out in the 7th, when Derek Jeter made a very rare drop on a pop up and Brian Bruney came in to relieve. Bruney walked the first batter and coughed up a dinger to the 9th hitter in the lineup, Erick Aybar, that gave the Angels a 10-6 lead after 7 innings.

The Angels banged out 9 runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings, as the Yanks suffered the consequences for their overextended bullpen. Melancon, despite all the high expectations, has shown nothing in his short time. Bruney better start pitching better, because he's may find himself in garbage time situations a la Brett Tomko. At this point, I'd rather see Tomko in a tough spot than Bruney.

Derek Jeter's 4 hits and ARod's 3 hits paced the Yanks offense in their 14-hit attack. On most nights, 6 runs would have been more than efficient, particularly with the way the Yanks have been pitching lately. But Joba's recent struggles has to be troubling to the Yanks hierarchy.

Yankees Record: 52-34 - 1 game back again

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 79 - Burnett Beats Former Team

One of the major reasons the Yanks signed AJ Burnett during the offseason was his 20-5 career record against AL East opponents. Today, he defeated his former team, the Blue Jays, in the Yanks 4-2 victory. AJ improved to 7-4 this season, 3-2 against the AL East, as he continued his impressive run since getting slapped around by Boston 5 starts ago. He limited the Jays to 2 runs in 7 innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, while striking out 7. His only real mistake was allowing a HR to Vernon Wells on an 0-2 fastball down the pipe. He's 3-1 with an ERA of 0.99 in his last 4 starts.

Robinson Cano got the Yanks on the board with a solo shot in the 2nd. It was his 13th HR of the season and his first RBI in 12 games. Cano still retains the title of "Greatest Hitter with No Men on Base", but his struggles continue with RISP, going 0-2. With the score tied at 1, the Yanks rallied for 2 in the fifth frame, but it should have been a bigger rally. With bases loaded and none out, Mark Teixeira walked in a run. ARod then forced a runner out at home. With the enigmatic Cano at the plate, Johnny Damon scored on a passed ball as all runners moved up a base. 1 out, 2 runners in scoring position, Cano at the plate - you probably guessed it, he didn't knock in anyone, as Tex was tagged out at the plate on a grounder to 2B. Swisher, who's turning into the switch-hitting version of Cano, minus the high batting average without men on base, ended the inning taking a called 3rd strike.

ARod supplied an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th with an opposite field solo shot, his 14th of the season. The 2 Phils - Coke and Hughes, pitched a scoreless top of the 8th, as Joe Girardi didn't go with his "8th inning guy", Brian Bruney. Girardi feels Bruney needs to work things out, but he trusts Bruney will return to the form he displayed prior to his DL stint. It's good to see Girardi managing to win these games first, instead of continually throwing Bruney into the fire, especially after he blew a 2-run lead against Seattle. As usual, we Yankee fans are so spoiled, Mariano Rivera came into the 9th and wrapped up the Bombers 8th win in 9 games.

Tomorrow - Yankee killer, Roy Halladay.

Yankees Record: 46-33

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

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.