$341 Million Well Spent

Chalk up another series win and the outright division lead for the Bombers!!  And they have the 2 big prizes from the 2008 free agent sweepstakes to thank for it.

Teix still doesn't look like he is all the way back to where he should be at the plate, but his grand slam off of Santana today was picture perfect.  He's still hitting under .230 on the year, but at least he's producing runs with the hits he does get (44 RBIs on the year).  It almost makes you wonder where Teix's numbers would be right now if he was hitting half as well as he did last season.  His GS today did represent the only Yankee offense for the day, but it was the only offense they would need with the way CC threw.

CC was an absolute machine, much more like the CC we're used to seeing than what he had been before last week.  He threw 8 shutout innings, allowing just 6 baserunners and striking out 6.  He showed much better fastball command than he had been showing, and used his off-speed stuff beautifully on both sides of the plate to force a lot of bad Met swings and to get strikeouts when he needed them.  The only thing that prevented CC from finishing this masterpiece up himself was that bitch, Mother Nature, because the Mets certainly didn't have anything for him.

In his 4 June starts, CC is 4-0 with a 2.48 ERA with 28 Ks in 29 IP.  He has lowered his ERA from 4.16 to a much more CC-like 3.68 and his record is now 8-3.  If he can keep this hot streak going as the weather continues to heat up, the Yankees are going to be in good shape.

P.S.- Johan Santana, BAH!!

Is The Offense Starting to Re-Awaken?

After the Yankee offense continued to get shut down by Takahashi's crane style last night, they turned to Phil Hughes today to get back to their winning ways and Hughes did not disappoint.

After allowing a couple of cheapie home runs to Jose Reyes in the first 3 innings, Hughes buckled down and shut the Mets out over the next 4 innings, giving the Yanks' offense just enough time to wake up and take the lead thanks to a pair or 2-run homers from Teix and C-Grand.  After that it was Joba and Mo for 2 and the news was being spread.

No Jeter in the lineup today because of a bruised heel, and without The Horse out there the left side of the infield was made up of the dynamic duo of Ramiro Pena and Kevin Russo today, so that's still a concern for the Yankees moving forward.  And it's also not good that they scored more runs today than they had in the past 3 games.  But once again, the Yankees found a way to win and have a chance to win the series tomorrow.

P.S.- Mike Pelfrey?  BAH!

Must Be A Mets-Yanks Weekend Series...

(Photo used courtesy of Deadspin)

... Because this motherfucker is ready to rock and roll in the bleachers!!  Probably going to be leading the roll call in the top of the 1st tonight.  It ain't the best beer choice, kid, but kudos to you anyway.

Enjoy the game tonight, Yankee fans.  I won't be able to watch it but I'll be getting hammered anyway.  Check back tomorrow and all weekend for hastily-thrown-together recaps and childish analysis of each game.

Turn That Frown Upside Down. The Mets Are Coming To Town

Ya know, I was still a little down in the dumps this afternoon thinking about how shitty last night's loss was.  And then I remember that the Mets will be in town this weekend and suddenly everything was all better.  See?  There they are above boarding the team bus.  David Wright, Jose Reyes, Gay-Rod, even Mr. Met himself is coming.

And the pitching matchups are the same as last time so we get to see Hughes-Pelfrey II, CC-Johan II, and the even more epic Vazquez-Takahashi II matchup tonight.  Hopefully the rest of the Yankees remember to bring their bats with them.  If they can do that, I promise you it will be a good weekend.

If only I wasn't stuck out here in Wisco with the fucking Brewers...

Yuck!

Oh Joba!!!  Look what you did!!  And all over the sheets too!  You are in big trouble, mister.

And you too, Damaso?!  Look at that mess!!  How can you still be doing this??  You're supposed to be a big boy.

You are both grounded!  Wait until your father gets home and sees this.  Unbelievable!

Thanks, A.J.

Holy Christ!  Did anybody tell A.J. that it wasn't Game 5 of the World Series last night?  Talk about being nervous in the service out there.  Dude couldn't locate the fastball anywhere other than right over the heart of the plate and couldn't throw the curve for a strike if his life depended on it.  And when you're almost exclusively a fastball-curveball pitcher that's a dangerous combination.

Of course it didn't help that the Yankee offense was mastered by the slow-slower-slowest garbage of Jamie Moyer.  Yes, THAT Jamie Moyer.  The same guy who's closing in on the all-time record for most HRs allowed and the same guy who got his teeth absolutely kicked down his throat by Boston last Friday.  It was like watching the old Bugs Bunny cartoon where he throws the slow pitch and everybody swings and misses 3 times while the ump yells "One, Two, Three, You're Out!!"

On the positive side, Boone Logan and Chad Gaudin came in for 5.2 innings of hitless shutout ball to keep the Yanks in the game.  On the negative side, the fact that Boone Logan and Chad Gaudin were in the game was a clear sign that Joe was willing to throw the game away and wave the white flag early.

With the rest of the 'pen intact and Andy on the mound tonight, the Yanks are still in good shape to win the series.  Hopefully Jeter can get it going at the top of the order tonight.  He's just 1-12 after his 2-HR job against Houston on Saturday.

Does Brett Gardner Deserve All-Star Consideration?

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

Upon first glance at that title, you're probably inclined to say "fuck no!" and ask what I've been smoking.  But if you really stop and look at what Gardner has done so far this year, it's worth taking a second to think about it.  Observe Gardner's stat line so far:

• .322/.406/.436 BA/OBP/SLG tripleslash
• 44 run scored
• 65 hits
• 13 extra-base hits (6 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 3 HRs)
• 22 RBI
• 22 steals (in 26 chances)

Those numbers put Gardner in the top 10 in 4 major offensive statistical categories in the AL.  He's currently 9th in batting average, 10th in on-base, 5th in runs scored, and tied for 3rd in stolen bases.  Not too shabby for a guy who went into the season with plenty of people, some within his own organization, questioning whether or not he was capable of being a full-time Major League player.  And within these great numbers is proof that Gardner is more than able to handle left-handed pitching, something that was a major concern for the Yankees.  His tripleslash against lefties this season is .295/.371/.410.

But All-Star selection is about more than just good stats and exceeding expectations, and selections are based on position, so Gardner has to be looked at against his fellow outfielders to truly determine if he's worthy.  Luckily for Gardner, his numbers look even better when stacked up against the rest of the AL outfield.

• His .322 average is 3rd amongst AL outfielders, behind only perennial All-Star Ichiro and Magglio Ordonez.
• His 44 runs scored are 2nd amongst outfielders, behind only Carl Crawford's 50.
• His .406 OBP is 1st amongst outfielders, leading Ordonez by a slim margin and making Gardner and Mags the only 2 AL OFs with a .400+ on-base.
• His .842 OPS is 10th amongst outfielders, and better than that of Ichiro and Crawford.

No matter how you cut it, Gardner has been one of the top 10, if not one of the top 5 outfielders in the AL this year.  And he's done it with just 202 at-bats, which is anywhere from 20 to 60 fewer than his major competitors.  Who knows?  Give him those 50-60 more and we may be talking about the AL outfield leader in average, runs, steals, and OBP.

And as if that wasn't enough, Gardner has played stellar outfield defense this season, splitting his time between left and center and making the transition back and forth between the two look seamless.  He has made only 1 error on the season, which was made on a shitty throw home in the season opener against Boston, and has a perfect fielding percentage in center field.  Sure, his UZR ratings are both in the slight negatives this year for both OF spots, but UZR is a funky stat anyway that doesn't take a lot of other factors into account.  The bottom line is, Brett Gardner has played Gold Glove-caliber defense to go along with his excellent all-around offense.

It's doubtful Gardner will get a nod to the All-Star Game, even with his manager calling the shots to fill out the roster.  But the case can certainly be made and Joe certainly could make a solid argument for including one more of his guys.  Jeter, Cano, and Mo are shoo-ins, Swish should be there, and Pettitte and Hughes will most likely make the team unless they fall apart over the next month.  That's 6 Yankees right there, and although 7 from one team would be a lot, it's not unheard of.  Usually the best team at the break has the most representation, and if the Yankees continue to play the way they have and Gardner keeps putting up the numbers he has, he's got a legitimate case to be included as the 5th or 6th All-Star outfielder.

Midweek Linkapalooza Fun

More quality stuff from around the Yankee blogosphere.  As usual, all of it is better than my slop.

- Joe Paw at RAB looks at Frankie Cervelli's jaw-dropping numbers with RISP this season.  447/.500/.553 is an incredible triple slash for ANYBODY in baseball, especially somebody who was always considered not enough of a stick to play every day in the Majors.  It must be the helmet.

- LoHud has some details on Yankee first-round pick Cito Culver and his decision to skip on his commitment to Maryland.  No word on whether or not this move will affect Jeter's contract negotiations.

- 2 pieces from TYU regarding All-Star selections, one good and one bad: 

- Stephen R. rains on Andy Pettitte's parade by arguing that Pettitte doesn't deserve an All-Star selection.  Come on, dude!  Really?!?!  Don't get me wrong, I like sabermetrics as much as the next guy, but that's not what the All-Star game is about.  It's about giving props for a job well done and giving fans who they want to see.  And when a 38-year-old guy is rocking it with the best young arms in the game, he deserves to be there no matter what his xFIP is.

- On the other side of the All-Star poo-pooing coin is Chris H. pleading with Yankee fans to not vote for Teix.  Now this I can get on board with.  Teix has been awful and pretty much every stat you can think of supports that.  I'd rather he use the All-Star break to get his shit together.

- Rob at BBD has some good stuff on the resurgence of Andrew Brackman and Dellin Betances.  Sure these guys are still a long ways away from being "serious" prospects, but it is encouraging to see these 2 monsters putting up the big numbers many people thought they were capable of.

- Last but not least, el duque from It Is High... poses a pretty reasonable question after the way last night's game went.

It's Wednesday, people.  And it's already half over.  That's good news.

How To Kill A Yankee Killer

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

How's 8 hits, 2 walks, 6 earned runs, and 3 home runs by left-handed batters in 6 innings sound?

Roy Halladay became the latest in a long line of media-created "Yankee killers" to get his dick smashed in by the Bombers last night.  Granted, Halladay actually has a long track record of success to speak of against the Yanks, unlike Josh Beckett, Scott Kazmir, or John Lackey, but baseball is a "what have you done for me lately?" sport and Halladay looked anything but a killer last night, except if you count him killing his team's chances to win.  The Yankees jumped on him early and jumped on him often and save for a blip on the radar in the 4th inning, it was smooth sailing from there.

The offense continues to get it from all sources.  C-Grand was 2-5 with a HR and is now hitting .276/.358/.551 since coming off the DL; Swish was 2-5 with another HR, 2 RBIs, and 2 runs scored, and continued to make his case for an All-Star selection; Teix cranked what turned out to be the shortest homer in the Majors this year and helped creep his average closer to .230; and Brett Gardner and Frankie Cervelli each had big 2-run hits to get things started and close things out offensively.  In case you haven't noticed, Gardner is hitting .322/.406/.436 on the season with 22 RBIs, 22 steals, and 44 runs scored, and despite cooling off from his torrid start Cervelli now has 29 RBIs on the season.  Fuck rushing A-Rod back.  Let the guy's groin, hip, and hooves rest if the rest of the team is going to play like this.

And it was another solid if not stellar outing for CC last night.  He started out like a house of fire, striking out 6 through 3 shutout innings before running into trouble in the 4th and 5th.  His high pitch count through those 2 innings almost certainly sapped him of his sharpness for the rest of the game, as he only recorded one more K before leaving after 7, but after the 5th CC bore down and got the job done, and at the end of the day he still put up 7 innings of 3-run ball to get the win.  He still isn't all the way back to top form (only 17 out of 30 first pitch strikes), but he's getting better, getting the job done, and still picking up wins for his team.

Last night was Philly's best chance to get a win in this series and they got absolutely smashed.  Now they have to hope and pray that Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer don't continue to pitch as horribly as they have this season, otherwise they can kiss any hope of revenge goodbye with the weekly garbage.

World Series Rematch! ZOMG!!!

The Phillies return to the Bronx tonight looking to exact even MORE revenge for last year's WS loss as they send last year's postseason hero, Cliff Lee, to the mound against Carsten in a rematch of last year's Game 1.

Oh wait, that's right.  Philly doesn't have Cliff Lee anymore because they stupidly traded him for Roy Halladay, leaving their spotty rotation exactly where it was to end 2009 and less than up to the task of beating teams with their pitching now that their supposed "American League" offense has forgotten how to hit the ball.  And it's not even like they have an excuse like the Yankees, who have dealt with major injuries to 3 All-Star-caliber starters, some key bench players, and pretty much the entire bullpen since the season starter.  The Phillies have just flat out played like dogshit for the better part of the season.

BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!  Suck it, Philly.  Go ahead and get all excited about this series and how it's going to help jumpstart the rest of your season.  I personally don't give a fuck if you come in and sweep the series starting tonight.  You're still going to be toiling away in the middle of your division behind the Braves, setting yourselves up for an epic battle for the NL Wild Card, while the Yankees will still be cruising towards another division title and World Series while they wait for the rest of the team to finally get healthy.

An Open Letter To Jorge Posada

Dear Jorge,

I know you still don't want to admit it, but the time has come for you to stop being an everyday catcher.  I know that's difficult to hear but it's true.  Your value to this team has never been behind the plate, but rather at it.  In the last 2 games you've hit 2 grand slams and that swing of yours is still a thing of beauty.

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

The thing is, the more time you spend behind the plate, the more your body wears down and the more time you spend on the bench and the DL instead of mashing the shit out of balls like you've been doing the last 2 days.  First game back behind the dish or not, when you have to leave after 8 innings because you're too sore and tired, that doesn't bode well for your health or the team's success.  And it's hard to produce at the plate when you got sore feet and strained hammies and messed up hands and fingers.

Don't take it personally, dude.  It's not like anybody in the locker room or in the stands is going to think less of you.  You're still going to be the slightly crazy vocal clubhouse leader that you have been over the last decade.  And you're still going to be hearing those "Hip, hip!  Jorge!!" chants raining down upon you from the bleachers.  And you're definitely going to be helping the team win more games and march towards title 28 with your bat in the lineup.  And isn't that what's most important?  Certainly more important than throwing on the chest protector and shin guards and crouching back there for 3 hours a day.

And sure, you can still catch every now and then.  Frankie's young but he's still going to need days off.  You can throw the gear on and hop in when you're needed.  But please, don't be a hero anymore.  It's time to face reality.  As the great Marcellus Wallace once said, this business is filled to the brim with unrealistic motherfuckers.  Motherfuckers who thought their ass would age like wine.  If you mean it turns to vinegar, it does.  If you mean it gets better with age, it don't.  Please Jorge, don't let yourself turn to vinegar.  Take off the gear, step into the DH role, and keep mashing the fuck out of the ball.

Don't Look Now...

... But the Yankees are back on top of the division, folks.

Sure they are still technically tied for the division lead with the Rays, but that's not the point.  The point is the Rays have had their fun in the beginning of the season, and it was cute and all, but they've spent the last 2 weeks coming back to Earth and now it's time for them to step aside and fall in line for the race for the Wild Card because the Yankees are fucking coming.

Frankie, you're up.

Big Wheels Keep On Rollin'

Injuries?  What injuries?  So The Horse has a bad groin or hip or both or whatever.  So Brett Gardner's thumb is still banged up.  So Marcus Thames is heading for the DL with a strained hamstring (much to the disappointment of all flyball-hitting AL players).  The Yankees just keep plugging motherfuckers in and having them perform and keep winning games.

Another quality start from the suddenly solid Javy Vazquez, a grand slam from Jorge, 2 shutout innings out of the bullpen by D-Rob and Chad Gaudin.  Oh, and some old fart named Jeter went 2-4 with w 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, and 3 runs scored.  But in defense of all of his critics, they were 2 pretty overrated-looking home runs and 3 of the 4 RBIs looked a little slow moving to their left.  Yep, just another underachieving, not-that-good day at the plate for Jeter as he continues to put up pedestrian .295-8-39-42 numbers from the leadoff spot.  Guy should really just hang 'em up now before he starts embarrassing himself out there.

A Milestone For Andrew Eugene

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

Only 2 pitchers in Yankee history have won 200 games as a Yankee: Whitey Ford and Red Ruffing.  Until tonight that is.  In an outing that has become the norm for him this season, Andy Pettitte put on another masterful performance against the only remaining non-Yankee team that he had not beaten, shutting down the Houston Astros to pick up his 200th Yankee win.

You can argue all day and all night about his HOF credentials, and with the HGH thing still hanging out there it's a safe bet that Andy won't make it to the HOF when his career is over.  But there is no arguing that he has been one of the best pitchers in Yankee history.  From a consistency standpoint, from a big-game standpoint, and from any other standpoint imaginable.  The guy has just been dynamite over his time in pinstripes and tonight was the culmination of his Yankee greatness, as he firmly etched himself into Yankee history.

So congratulations, Andy.  Well done.

Friday Morning Linkapalooza Roundup

I'm still pretending that last night's game never happened.  To help everybody else do the same, here's a few choice nugs to check out this morning:

- Matt at TYU has a nice little writeup on Swish's splits as a 2- or 6-hitter in the lineup and what the numbers show us.  The analysis tells us what we already knew, Swish has been the tits this year, but it's always nice to see the numbers supporting it.  With the way guys like Teix, Jorge, and Cervelli are not hitting lately, and with A-Rod's groin still acting up it's good to know the Yanks can plug Swish in anywhere and have him produce.

- Speaking of The Horse's groin, Chad at LoHud has a postgame report detailing everything you could possibly want to know about the injury from last night.  I don't know if reading that much about another man's groin makes me gay or not, but I do know that this being the 2nd or 3rd time this season that A-Rod has tweaked means it's officially a serious issue.

- Last but not least, Ben at RAB says what all of us other real fans think and calls out people for doing The Wave at Yankee Stadium this year.  I can't even come up with anything snappy to say about this.  Ben pretty much covers it.  Fuck The Wave.

Hopefully that helps get everybody through their Friday.  Weekend's coming, bitches!  Get excited.

** UPDATE 8:41PM- The piece on The Wave was actually written by Larry Koestler, Ben was just the delivery boy of said piece.  That's what happens when I'm rushing to get posts put up at the office, but sincerest apologies to Larry.  I'm always one for posts ragging on the stupider side of sports and you, sir, hit the nail right on the head.**

What's Up With Carsten?

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

CC picked up another win last night with what looked to be a solid 7-inning, 2-run, 8-K performance against the steaming shit pile that is the Baltimore Orioles.  But beneath the surface of that victory are the continued issues that have plagued CC for over a month now and make his numbers not as good as they look.

Right now CC stands at 6-3 on the season with a 4.01 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and a .244 BAA.  The ERA isn't spectacular, but the WHIP and BAA are pretty solid, so at first glance it appears he is having another great year.  But 4 of his 6 wins have come against the previously mentioned Orioles, a team whose record and play on the field brings back memories of the Bad News Bears.  In fact, the Orioles are the only team CC has beaten in over a month, and his ERA in those starts is 2.79, so it's a safe bet to say he's been feasting on weak competition and his numbers have been inflated to reflect that feast.

The 2 biggest problems with CC this season have been fastball command and the long ball.  He has struggled to locate the fastball and has gotten himself behind in a lot of counts.  Last night, for example, he threw first-pitch strikes to only 16 of the 32 batters he faced.  Driving up a pitch count is no concern for a horse like CC, but when you're constantly pitching in hitter's counts it severely limits the options you have as to what you can throw.  More often than not, CC has had to go back to the fastball to try to even up the count, rather than be able to go to the changeup or power slider as his out pitch.  Like most pitchers, the fastball sets up the rest of what CC tries to do, and when he can't consistently locate the fastball for strikes like he's struggled to do lately, he can't give himself as many opportunities to put batters away.

The home runs have also hurt CC this year by driving up his ERA higher than it should rightfully be with his WHIP and BAA numbers.  He's only allowed 77 hits in 85.1 IP to this point, which is very solid, but 12 of those 77 hits have been home runs.  When teams are connecting of off CC, they are connecting big and making their hits count.  If you eliminated a third of the homers he has given up, even if they were all solo homers, CC's ERA would drop down to 3.58, which is much more like what we're used to seeing from him.

More than likely, the high home run rate is a byproduct of CC's inconsistent fastball command.  The more strikes you don't throw early in the count, and the more hitter's counts you get yourself into, the more pitches you have to risk grooving and the more at risk you are of giving up the big bombs. 

The other peripheral numbers are there so there shouldn't be any worry about CC's stuff, it's just a matter of getting the fastball back into the strike zone earlier in the count.  I personally don't think there is anything physically or mentally wrong with CC.  He probably is working through some mechanical issues and once he gets those resolved and gets back to throwing more first pitch strikes, we can expect to see the homer rates going down, the ERA go down with it, and the wins keep on coming in. 

A Grandy Slam!!

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

Curtis!  Buddy!  Glad to have you back in the lineup.  Things weren't quite the same without you.  I don't think we could have made it through a less-than-stellar Phil night like last night with Randy Winn fucking shit up in your spot.

And what's this?!?!  You brought Mark Teixeira with you!  Well will you look at that!  It's almost like there's a dangerous lineup back intact here with all you boys hitting.  What a concept!

Yankees Draft Somebody In The First Round

So apparently the Major League Baseball draft was last night and apparently the Yankees took a high school shortstop named Cito Culver with the 32nd pick of the first round.  See, here he is:

(Photo courtesy of MLB.com)

The book on this kid is that he's got a great arm and is a great athlete that still needs to put the polish on his overall fielding and hitting, but the Yankees were high on him so they reached.  The MLB draft is such a crapshoot that it's almost impossible to predict who will turn into something and who won't, so I'll let all the other blogs analyze the shit out of this kid.  

If the Yankees actually do sign him and pull him away from his commitment to Maryland, give him a couple years in the Minors and then come back and talk to me.  In the mean time, I've got division standings and bullpen issues to worry about.

Teixeira Drops In All-Star Voting

Well it's an off-night for the Bombers tonight, which sucks, but it does leave me with more free time to bag on Mark Teixeira.  As if the poor bastard hasn't had things go hard enough for him lately, today's MLB press release on the AL All-Star voting carried this saddening news:

"Three-time American League All-Star Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins has continued his surge through the standings by overtaking Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees in the third set of American League balloting figures for the 81st All-Star Game, to be played on Tuesday, July 13th at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The third National League All-Star balloting update will be released tomorrow, Tuesday, June 8th.

Bidding for his first fan-elected starting assignment, Morneau has jumped atop a deep field at first base with 973,563 votes, slightly ahead of 931,405 cast for Teixeira, who is aiming for his second straight fan election and his third overall. Miguel Cabrera (659,965) of the Detroit Tigers and Kevin Youkilis (456,101) of the Boston Red Sox rank third and fourth at the position, respectively." (courtesy of Major League Baseball)

I'll admit, I voted for Teix the last couple times I was at Miller Park recently and they passed out the ballots.  But I'm a fucking Yankee fan.  It would be sacreligious for me not to vote for him.  Anybody else in that group of 931,000+ who has been voting for Teix should have their fucking head examined.  The dude is terrible this season.  His yearly April slump carried right through May (save for 2 weeks) and has already settled in nicely for June and Teix has resorted to having clubhouse therapy sessions with his hitting coach to get his shit together.

Now Teix is staring at a .211/.363/.326 split a third of the way through the season, virtually guaranteeing himself no chance of replicating last year's almost MVP-Award-winning numbers and setting himself up to be on a shorter leash than A-Rod was on in the last few postseasons when the Yankees inevitably get there.  Good thing the Yanks have Jeter, Cano, A-Rod, Swish, Hughes, Pettitte, and Mo setting themselves up to be selected to participate in the ASG.  At least then Teix can feel like he's part of the action when he's curled up on the couch in his Snuggie watching the game with his wife.

I wonder if Teix called another impromptu meeting with Kevin Long today to discuss his drop in the ASG polls.  At least he can take solace in the fact that he's still whooping Kevin Youklis' candyass in the votes.  What's the story, Fraud Sox Nation?  Too busy jerking off to Rajon Rondo that you can't show ah little suppoaht fah yah boy, Thah YOOKAH?!?!  Figures.  Fucking fugazis.

Saving A Lost Weekend

Well everything looked to be sunshine and lollipops in Yankeeland after the consecutive beatdowns of the Indians and Orioles, and then the Yanks went north of the border and ran into a little trouble  in the form of the surprising Toronto Blue Jays.

On Friday, the Yankee offense was shut down by someone named Brett Cecil (yeah, I don't know who the hell he is either) for 8 innings, and Jose Bautista made A.J. Burnett his bitch, cracking 2 home runs and helping chase Burnett after 6 bad innings.  The Yankee offense managed just one run, scored by the immortal Chad Moeller on a Nick Swisher GIDP in the 6th inning, and Robbie Cano took an 0-fer to end his recent hitting streak. 

Yesterday the Yankees wasted another solid Andy Pettitte outing (7+ innings of 2-run ball complete with 10 Ks) by getting worked by Ricky Romero for 8 innings.  The heart of the Yankee order went a combined 1-18 for the game, and only Derek Jeter seemed interested in hitting the ball and scoring runs as the game moved into extras before the Yanks were finally beaten in the 14th inning by an Aaron Hill RBI single off of Chad Gaudin.  And honestly, when you have Chad Gaudin pitching in the 14th inning of a tie game, you have to kind of expect that outcome.

Now onto today, where the Yankee offense once again stumbled out of the starting blocks, getting shut out for 7 innings by Brendan Morrow.  Luckily, Morrow hit the wall in the 8th and his bullpen didn't help him much, allowing 4 Yankee runs to score, the 2 go-ahead ones off the bat of Cano.  Joba did his damndest to give the game back to Toronto in the bottom of the 8th, but was able to work out of trouble and Mo locked it down in the 9th inning to give the Yanks at least one victory this weekend.

The good news from the weekend was that the Yankees are still getting very good starting pitching.  Sure A.J. sucked on Friday, but that's what he is and if you can't accept that by now, then you just shouldn't be a Yankee fan.  Andy was fantastic yesterday for almost 8 innings and his 10 strikeouts were a season high and something he didn't seem capable of anymore.  And today was another great outing for Javy, who went 7 innings, allowing 2 ER on just 1 hit.  He got in trouble with 4 walks, but battled out of everything and struck out 9 batters of his own, a sign that both his stuff and his confidence are improving and coming together at the same time.  The rotation finally seems like it is forming into the dominant group that everyone wished for when the season began.

The bad news was that the offense continues to sputter.  It wasn't much of a weekend for The Horse, who is taking a lot of bad swings after his big 6-RBI game earlier in the week.  And Mark Teixeira is completely lost at the plate again.  He was 0-6 with 5 Ks yesterday, and is such a mess at the plate that he had a meeting with Kevin Long after the game to try to get his shit figured out.

 (Photo courtesy of The AP)

At this point in the season, the time for patience is over.  Teix isn't some rookie or 2nd-year guy trying to complete his adjustment to Major League pitching.  He's a fucking veteran and it's time he started acting and playing like it.  I, like everybody else, has been saying that sooner or later it was all going to come together and the offense would click, well that time better be sooner now for Teix because if it isn't, then he's going to start hearing a few more Bronx cheers when he gets back home.

Also worth noting was Dave Eiland announcing that he's taking a leave of absence from the team.  What's that about?  And who is going to take over his job of standing in the dugout too long when pitchers start blowing up on the mound?

Look! There's Carsten!

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

CC!  Good to see you.  Especially so late in the game.  I didn't think you were allowed to be in the game this late anymore.  Musta almost forgotten what the 7th inning felt like, huh?  Still rocking the parachute pants and custom Air Jordan baseball spikes, I see.

Well it's good to have you back, buddy.  Let's keep these quality 7-inning, 7-K, 1-walk outings coming, alright?

How the fuck are the Orioles still a professional baseball team?  Somebody hust disband them already, burn that stadium down and distribute their players to the rest of the franchises still left in Major League Baseball.  And when you're done doing that, do me a favor and start spreading the fucking news.

The Ship Is Almost Righted

Another day, another beatdown of an overmatched ballclub.  I thought this next stretch of games would be important in helping the Yankees get it back together and they certainly have not let me down, taking 5 of 6 already from the Indians and Orioles with the fugazi Blue Jays and Astros still on tap.

Hughes was masterful last night, throwing 7's all over the place (7 innings, 7 Ks, 7th win of the year).  Most importantly, he changed his approach up early when the cutter wasn't working.  Hughes worked primarily off the fastball and curve last night and once he substituted the curve for the cutter the Orioles really had no chance.  Joe might not commit to him right now as an All-Star, and even if he does make the team there is no chance in hell he plays in that game, but right now Phil Hughes could very well be the STARTER of the All-Star game with the way he's pitched.

Robinson Cano is on another tear right now rivaling the one that he kicked the season off with.  He's top 3 or top 5 in almost every major offensive statistical category and now it's getting to the point where we can all stop talking about if he's the best second baseman in baseball and start talking about where Cano stands in the hierarchy of best players in baseball period.

It was good to see Jorge back in the lineup last night, especially at DH where he belongs now.  Jorge can say he's still a catcher all he wants, but the fact is his body can't hold up the physical stress of catching anymore and his offense is always going to be more valuable than what he gives the team defensively.  That and the fact that Frankie has more than proven himself capable of being an everyday Major League catcher.

Yessiree, things are brightening up in Yankeeland again.  Jeter is pounding the ball again, The Horse continues to get it done even without his usual power numbers, Jorge is back, C-Grand is back, Joba and Mo have rid themselves of their hiccups, and the rest of team from top to bottom is producing more than well enough to cover CC and Teix's struggles.  They still aren't quite hitting on all cylinders, but at some point this summer, it's going to happen and when it does, all Tampa can do is close their eyes and hope the train doesn't hurt them too bad as it goes flying by.

P.S.- spare me all the "they're doing it against shitty teams" routine.  Yeah, they are doing it against shitty teams, but that's what good teams do, they beat the shitty teams.  And not just beat them, but beat them down, outclass them.  And that's what the Yankees have done over the last week, minus one bullpen meltdown.  So quit looking to pick nits and just sit back and enjoy the show.

Hey! Isn't That Javy Vazquez?

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

7 innings, 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 earned run allowed, and 7 Ks?  And escaping from a bases loaded, nobody out jam unscathed?  And all this was done in front of the home crowd who no doubt still treat every Javy start like sharks waiting to smell blood in the water, no less.  I think this is what the Yankee brass and fanbase had in mind when they traded for this guy back in December.  I wouldn't say it absolves Javy of all his sins in the eyes of the fans, and he's still carrying a 6.06 ERA after last night, but that's 3 quality starts out of his last 4 now and he's starting to pitch with more confidence.  I guess trusting and locating your fastball will do that. 

If Javy can keep this up, it makes CC's struggles all the less important and give him more time to work his shit out as the rest of the staff seems to be doing just fine.

Return Of The A-Horse

How's 6 RBIs right in your facepiece taste, Cleveland?  Knocking your pitchers into next week with line drives off the dome one day, knocking runs in like there's tomorrow the next.

All hail The A-Horse!!

A Taste Of Their Own Medicine

Looks like the Yankees can make late-game comebacks too.  After getting shut down by former Red Sock Justin Masterson for 6 innings, the Bombers finally came through in the 7th with a 2-out, 2-run Derek Jeter single (he's finally back to finding gaps and holes in the outfield instead of the shortstop's glove), and a 3-run Teix message to left (he's still flailing around at the plate for the most part, but dude still has 34 RBIs). 

Good A.J. outbattled Bad A.J. despite Bad A.J.'s best efforts to blow the game  in the 7th inning, and Joe did the right thing sticking with him through 8 innings to preserve the lead after watching his bullpen yesterday and over the last month.  Mo also looked good for the first time in a while yesterday, striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced in the 9th and making a great play leaping over a shattered bat to field the game-ending groundout.

If you're a fan, you still don't quite get over the sting of Saturday's loss that never should have happened, but at the end of the day it's still another chance for a series win today and another game off the division lead deficit with Tampa scuffling right now (lost 5 out of last 7).

Happy Memorial Day, everybody.  Enjoy the cookouts and red, white, and blue caps today.