A Win You Have To Love

I'm not even going to bother talking about how many hits CC gave up or how many baserunners the Sawx had last night or any of that.  The important thing is that the Yankees won the game.  And there were so many other good things that happened last night to love if you're a Yankee fan.

- I love the fact that everybody seemed to be a little extra hyped for last night's game.  With the small margin they have trailing the division lead and the wide margin they have leading the Wild Card, these games really don't mean that much in the grand scheme of things.  But there was a sense that the Yankees WANTED to win last night's game.

- I love that Joe was out of the dugout to argue the C-Grand HBP in the 1st inning last night.  And I love that he was still pissed about it during the postgame interview.  You don't usually see managers get that agitated that early in the game.

 (Girardi AAANGRY!!!  Courtesy of The AP)

- I love that CC was smart enough, and a good enough teammate, to use the umpire's bad call on C-Grand to his advantage and take his pound of flesh from Ellsbury in the bottom of the 1st.  Because it was ruled a strike there was no HBP and no warning, but CC knew Curtis got hit just like Curtis did and he made damn sure revenge was exacted.

- Speaking of the big fella, I love the fact that CC had to work hard to get his win last night.  You can talk about the 10 hits and say he got lucky, but the dude made pitches when he had to.  In 6 innings he struck out 10 and had 20 swinging strikes.  He varied his approach against righties and lefties and kept the Bahhston hitters off balance in pressure situations.  Dude brought it.

- I love that CC owned Adrian Gonzalez's world last night, getting him to strike out 3 times in 4 hitless at-bats against him.

- I love that Francisco Cervelli crushed a home run off of Lackey.  I love that he clapped in Saltalamacchia's face when he touched home plate.  I love that he was pissed when he got hit the next time up.  And I love that he didn't just lay down and take it.  He talked shit to Lackey and basically told Saltalamacchia to get fucked when he tried to intervene.  I'm on record as not being a Cervelli fan, but last night he won a few points from me.

(Cervelli's probably calling him a bitch for leaving his mask on.  Courtesy of The AP)

- I love that soft-spoken Larry Rothschild got tossed after the benches emptied in the 7th.  And I love his response when asked if he said some inappropriate words to the ump- "More than one."

- I love that Boone Logan is back to being the guy he was in the 2nd half of 2010.  Back-to-back Ks with the bases loaded in the 7th.  We wouldn't have gotten that from him a few months ago (more on Logan later today).

- I love that Mo decided to throw a little sweet chin music Saltalamacchia's way in the 9th.  Don't fuck with the G.O.A.T.

Most importantly, I love that the events that took place last night add a little extra sizzle to tonight's game.  With Beckett on the mound, you can put it in the books that a Yankee is going to get plunked early, and we'll see if Phil mans up and protects his boys.  It should be an interesting game tonight, and the potential drama could make my live blog that much better.