Over the past four series for the New York Yankees it has been a case of sweep or be swept.  The Bombers took three from Minnesota and Detroit, while getting blanked themselves by the Los Angeles Angels and now the Baltimore Orioles become the latest casualty of broom ball. 

The O's who have now lost their last ten in the Bronx got pounced on early.  Derek Jeter got it started with a lined double to left-center.  Mark Teixeira followed with a single to center, setting things up for A-Rod who has been "hot-rod" of late, to drive in Jeter for the game's first run.  Robinson Cano kept the ball rolling literally, with a slow roller to second that Brian Roberts couldn't handle and it was 2-0 Yanks.  Then it was Nick Swisher plating two with a double, staking the Yanks out to a 4-0 advantage.  More on Swisher in a bit.

While A. J. Burnett picked up his 9th victory on the season tying him with CC Sabathia for the team lead, there were some moments of trepadation in the field.  In the 3rd Swisher dropped what looked to be a routine running catch.  However that same frame with runners on an two out, Swisher made an all out full extension backhand grab to seal the O's fate, while redeeming himself in the process.  Swisher also made another great grab up against the wall late in the ballgame.

In the bottom frame of the 3rd, Jorge Posada jumped all over Jason Berken, hitting a solo shot into the bullpen putting the Yanks in front 5-0.  The homer was Posada's 12th and his 11th from the left side.

From there Burnett kept on dealing, picking up six K's over seven innings of work, allowing only a sac fly and a third strike wild pitch to score for Baltimore.

The 8th inning was downright Philthy for the Yanks as Hughes was the news, recording a strikeout and double play for another scoreless frame. In the bottom of the 8th it was Posada again, delivering some insurance, this time from the right side pulling a double to the gap that plated A-Rod putting the Bombers up 6-2.

Brian Bruney came in for the 9th and what looked like smooth sailing turned ugly fast.  After striking out the first two O's, Bruney took an early birdbath as Adam Jones and Nick Markakis took him deep, causing the Yanks to have to bring in Mo.

And of course Mariano came in and did what Mariano does, mowing down Aubrey Huff for his 28th save in 29 opportunities, putting the Yanks 20 games over .500 for the first time in 2009.

It was an almost eerie sight for New York Yankees fans.  In desperate need of a 5th starter they marched out a former Florida Marlin wearing number 45 who'd missed all of 2007 with Tommy John surgery.  No it wasn't Pavano, but Sergio who did just enough to keep the Yanks in the game and help them vault into sole possession of 1st place in the East with the best record in the American League.

In what looked to be a rocky start for Sergio Mitre, the right-hander survived and advanced through 5 2/3 innings for his first win of the season and as a Yankee.  The O's jumped on Mitre quickly in the 1st with Nick Markakis driving in Brian Roberts to give Baltimore the early advantage.

After the Yankees played manufacture a run with your host Alex Rodriguez scoring on a sac-fly off the bat of Nick Swisher to tie it at 1-1, the O's bounced back again in the 3rd. 

Once again it was Roberts as the culprit/thorn in the Yankees side.  After stealing 2nd, Mitre appeared to have Roberts picked off 2nd, but Robinson Cano couldn't fully glove the throw which went into center.  Roberts then scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Adam Jones, 2-1 the Orioles re-gained the edge.

But that wouldn't last long as the O's made some more mental errors in the bottom frame of the 3rd.  After walking .176 hitting Cody Ransom, O's Shortstop Caesar Izturis broke toward 2nd as Ransom was running, allowing the Yanks righty Shortstop Derek Jeter to pull one through the hole to set up runners on the corners.  Then it was A-Rod taking one pitch Rich Hill and his junk-balling change-up into left, scoring both Ransom and Jeter to make it 3-2 Yanks.

There would be no 2-1 victory on this night but there would be a homer that would account for two runs.  That moment of atonement came in the bottom of the 4th as Cano drilled one into the rightfield bullpen, his 14th and amounted for the winning HR, extending the Yanks margin to 6-2. 

The O's would strike back for a pair in the top half of the 6th on a Melvin Mora two-run single, cutting it to 6-4.  But where conventional wisdom would tell you the O's would be in good shape getting into the "under-belly" of a team's bullpen, that isn't the case with the Yankees.

Al Aceves, Phil Coke and Mariano Rivera all made quick work of Baltimore, with Mo picking up his 27th on the season. 

And by virtue of that win, the Yanks improve to a league best 56-37, 19 games over .500 for the 1st time all season and take sole possession of the AL East for the 1st time since June 8th.  

So as fans pondered if the team would take another flier on El Duque, while dreading a possible apperance by Kei Igawa, their newest 5th starter Mitre was just good enough to get them their 5th win in a row, improving now to 5-0 after the break, at least for one day.

The Yankees win 2-1.  The Yankees win 2-1.  The Yankees win 2-1.  Yogi Berra would call it de ja vu all over again.  One might call it "trey ja vu," as for the third day in a row the New York Yankees defeat a team wearing gray, black and orange by a count of 2-1.  And by virtue of the BoSox tumbling Toronto/Texas two-step, there are now two teams atop the American League East with the league's best record to boot at 55-37.

Getting as far away from Anaheim as possible, the Yankees have stormed out of the gate and are now 4-0 in the second stanza of the season.  On Saturday the Yanks won 2-1 and Sunday and Monday's games were not only of that same margin but were mirror images of each other.  Granted Monday went off with a little more style.

Going back to Sunday it was three homers that accounted for every run, first off the bat of Detroit's Clete Thomas, then it was Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira for the Yanks.  Moving onto Monday it was Baltimore's Nick Markakis with a blast, followed by the Yanks Eric Hinske and finally a walk-off job by Hideki Matsui to claim the 2-1 victory.

Another encouraging sign Andy Pettitte bouncing back and looking sharp after two dreadful starts against the Halos and Jays.  Pettitte looked like the standout second half starter of old, going 7 1/3 innings allowing only the HR to Markakis while striking out eight along the way.

And sure all three of the game's runs came on homers, but most 2-1 games are decided by great defense.  With no Mariano Rivera or Phil Hughes available, Joe Girardi turned the ball over to lefty Phil Coke with runners on two on and one out.  Coke's pitch to Markakis was bounced to Teixeira who made an off-balanced throw to Jose Molina to nail Cesar Izturis.  Then Coke delivered a bouncer to Molina, who threw out the O's Brian Roberts as he was breaking for home.  Roberts missed the plate as Coke covered and applied the tag, keeping the game knotted at one going into the bottom of the 8th.

After Al Aceves pitched out of more trouble, it was Matsui providing the heroics putting the Yankees back into a tie for first.  Perhaps it'll be another 2-fer Tuesday for the Yanks tonight.

Spring Training has barely started and one has to wonder is all the hype surrounding Yankees camp really valid or is it a case of a press corps yearning for or wishing they were covering the old 'Bronx Zoo' of the 1970's just hoping to gin up any kind of controversy possible?  Oddly enough the ring leader of that circus George Steinbrenner, has been the most quiet and out of sight figure of them all. 

Excuse me but wasn't there supposed to be more stability with this ballclub after GM Brian Cashman wrestled away the reigns from the Tampa contingent?  Anyhow here's the Spring Training breakdown and no this breakdown doesn't  involve shavers or tattoos.

Brian Cashman: From sympathetic figure to cold-hearted and calculating?  Not necessarily a bad thing when one considers how he's managed to trim the payroll, re-stock the farm system and acquire more young pitching prospects for the future or as trading chips.  Cashman has also rid the team of percieved malcontents in Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield and Jaret Wright, while bringing in character guys like Bobby Abreu and Andy Pettitte.  Cashman does have a lot to explain for and do as well, such as why Bernie Williams has yet to be re-signed, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada have yet to be given contract extensions, Kei Igawa was given a pantload of money for never having touched a MLB baseball until last fall, Carl Pavano is still on this team, they plan to carry a platoon of no-hit firstbasemen, Phil Hughes isn't in the rotation and why wasn't Mel Stottlemyre invited to Spring Training to be a special pitching instructor?

Joe Torre: He's still the manager until Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi or Buck Showalter is.  Nobody questions Torre's ability to win and handle the pressure of New York and one assumes he still comands respect in the clubhouse, especially when backed up by the leaders from the dynasty teams in Derek Jeter, Rivera, Posada and Pettitte.  There's no question that given the Yankees poor pitching in 2005 and slew of injuries in 2006 that Torre was the one who was able to keep the team together, to handle and massage the egos while acting as a buffer between the media and Tampa.  However since after the 2003 season when Don Zimmer left, it's fair to question in the post-season if Torre has lost a little off the strategical fastball.  Though aside from Showalter, Torre's ability to give the Yankees organization stability has been un-matched since the days of Casey Stengel.

Bernie Williams: Except for the fact that he has created no leverage for himself and as much as I'd love to see him in camp and on the team, I really can't blame Bernie for telling the Yankees to shove it.  At least Don Mattingly was pushed out by Tino Martinez, but are you gonna tell me that the Yankees are seriously pushing out Williams for Doug Mientkiewicz and either Andy Phillips or Josh Phelps?  Why that would be like replacing Paul O'Neill in rightfield with a platoon of Shane Spencer and John Vanderwal and trading for a moody overpriced Raul Mondesi to replace them... oh wait they already did do that, whoops.

A-Rod and Jeet: Oh heavens there's no more sleepovers?  Who did all of you guys in the media think they were exactly Bert and Ernie?  They aren't openly trashing eachother and as long as they both produce, just leave it alone.

Mariano Rivera: Still no contract extension.  Kind of like the Boston Red Sox still have no closer.  It's incredible how Mo never says a peep, pitches through injury, gets worn out by Torre when the Yankees have a taxed bullpen and the Yankees won't budge on giving him an extension.  Tell me how it is that Mo was the tenth highest paid Yankee last season and now that he's asking for an extension the Yankees won't guarantee loyalty back?  Mo isn't worth more than Mike Mussina and Jason Giambi?  Not worth more than an un-proven Igawa?  Don't tell me he's too old or has a tender elbow because that didn't stop you from paying gobs of money to Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Kyle Farnsworth and Steve Karsay.  Ask yourself if Mo is worth $50 million over the next two years as you reach into your endless pockets to pay 45 year old Roger Clemens to pitch three months of five inning baseball for half of that this season. 

Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina: So already Pavano says he has heavy legs after running sprints huh?  Well perhaps if Pavano put down the gun and ski mask he wears everytime he picks up a paycheck from the Yankees, it would significantly help his cause.  Who could blame Mussina or anyone for blasting this guy? 

Phil Hughes: I've said it before and will say it again, Phil Hughes should be the Yankees 4th or 5th starter this season.  Tell me right now as of this moment who is better suited than Hughes to slide into one of those two rotation spots?  It seems to me that the Yankees never want to give "their guys" a shot, though recent history would prove them wrong on Hughes.  In 1996 rookie Derek Jeter took over for the injured and horrible signing of Tony Fernandez.  In 2005 Robinson Cano took over for another terrible signing in Tony Womack and in that same season Chien Ming Wang stepped in for injured and putrid signings Pavano and Wright.  And in 2006 Melky Cabrera stepped in and probably made the Yankees wish they hadn't overspent on Hideki Matsui or Johnny Damon.  Thus when one looks to the 2007 season, Phil Hughes could be the star and saviour of this team far before anyone thinks.