@ Cleveland     W(6-1)     64-51     5GB      Tied for Wild Card

Phil Hughes can pitch, make no mistake about it. He's not ready to win 20 games yet, or a Cy Young for that matter, but this kid had the biggest game of his life tonight (next to his debut) against a 13-game winner and won. And, by the way, he didn't just slip past them.

Hughes went 6 innings and allowed 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 and allowing just 1 run which came on a seldom homer from Josh Barfield. He was baffling a very good lineup, which was without Travis Hafner, but was still quite potent nonetheless. The movement on his breaking balls was superb, and the kid isn't afraid to go to them when he's behind in the count. Tonight the Indians often knew what was coming, and were still unable to hit it. Coming in, I wondered how he would fair against a good team on the road with that sort of lineup, but the young man was very impressive. He really bounced back from his last start against the Royals.

The question after Hughes' exit, then, was whether the Yankees could hold their lead; enter Joba Chamberlain. I was a big advocate for the keeping of Joba and Melky rather than pursuing Eric Gagne at the trade deadline.  Gagne, by the way, blew a 4-run lead on his own in 1/3 of an inning tonight, costing Boston the game (thanks, Baltimore).  Anyway, Chamberlain entered in the 7th and was throwing smoke. The guy paints corners with high 90s fastballs and sets up a ridiculous change, not to mention a curveball that, as do all his breaking pitches, has late movement. Plus his slider moves in the high 80s, which is just plain unfair to the rest of the world. The Yankees added 2 more insurance runs in the 8th and Torre sent out Joba for another inning, and the young reliever went Emeril and "kicked it up a notch" by striking out the side. The kid is just as advertised.

To recap, a 21 year old starter went 6 innings and a 21 year old reliever bridged the 2 inning gap to get to Mariano Rivera, and no that's not a typo. Sure the kids have very little experience and nothing can be certain, but if they are to become what the Yankees envision, they are off to the right start. It's been a long time since the Yankees got contributions such as these from their farmhands in the middle of the season. Considering what has happened to the pitching staff since 2003, the performances thus far from Phil and Joba are an absolute Godsend.

Fausto Carmona took the mound for the Tribe tonight and he's another young guy that can pitch, but it simply wasn't his night. After A-Rod hit HR number 37 it seemed as thought the Yankees took control. While Carmona wasn't terrible tongiht, the pitching from Hughes really kept the Indians lineup under control.

Along with the team effort tonight, the baseball gods helped the Yankees as well. The Tigers, Mariners, and Red Sox all lost and placed the Yanks in a tie for the Wild Card with Seattle and tied with the Mets for the 6th best record in the Majors. They come a long way to reach this point and while there's still plenty of baseball to play, they are smack in the middle of playoff contention. This tough August stretch may likely be the key to the Yankee season and if Hughes can remain a solid 5th starter and Chamberlain can stay effective out of the bullpen, the Pinstripes might just have all they need to make the playoff push. But none of us can hit the fast forward button, so we've gotta wait. And wait. And wait. And keep on watching.