Three Days of Smiles, and One of Them Came Before Rush Hour

Prior to reading this, let's set the mood. Please indulge me by pressing play.

Good thing this series didn't mean anything, right?

It was only this past Monday that the Yankees took their second-worst shutout loss in franchise history (16-0), and in the process left Detroit losing 3 of 4. As if that wasn't bad enough, Mike Mussina may have effectively sledge hammered the final nail in his professional coffin (more on him later); and oh yes, the Red Sox were coming!, the Red Sox were coming! And not only were they coming, they were coming in with an 8-game lead in the division and certainly looking to have some fun with their 3 best pitchers set to take the mound.

Naturally, Man Ram and his traveling circus were poised to affirm their gargantuan lead and make life that much more difficult for the Yankees and their playoff aspirations. Or maybe Boston just wouldn't care since their lead is so insurmountable and losing to the Yankees right now wouldn't be such a big deal. Yeah, sure it wouldn't. Regardless, it was more than likely that Boston would leave the Bronx with no less than a 7 game lead, right? Well, not exactly, and Man Ram only stuck around for 1/3 of the extravaganza.

Tuesday: Andy Pettitte out dueled Dice-K (who's given up 15 runs in 19.1 innings against the Yankees this year; I love this guy) and got a little help from Boston's former cro-magnon son...Johnny Damon. Plus Boston had the good fortune of being properly introduced to Joba Chamberlain, whom I may one day (dependent on further evaluation) have Baptize my children. Sprinkle a little Mariano in there and game one went to the Pinstripes.

Wednesday: Roger Clemens v. Josh Beckett - Ah yes, the Cy Young candidate against the living legend. Even I was a bit apprehensive. Little did Boston know The Rocket saved his best start of the season just for them, taking a no-hitter into the 6th (when Papi absolutely pulverized a baseball into "The Short Porch" (get it?). Anyway, Rocket finished 6 strong innings and despite Farnsworth doing his very best, yet again, to sabotage the Yankee lead, it was A-Rod's homer off of Beckett in the 7th (God it was great seeing the look on Josh's face) after his moment of stupidity (where he overran first and got thrown out) to seal the game for the Yanks. You have to give a lot of credit to Beckett though, the poor bastard was pelted for 13 hits and somehow managed to only allow 4 runs. Plus Coco Crisp, of whom Terry Francona, prior to start of the series, claimed was "the best center fielder he'd ever seen," (well said Skip) came about two feet short of a Matsui shot to the gap and left his faceprint in left centerfield. A little more Mariano iced the cake and gave the Yankees the first two games; but who really wants two when you can get three?

Thursday: Chien-Ming Wang was unbelievable as he got into the 7th with a no-hitter, and boy I know Boston could have a 50-game lead and still would've been devastated if the Yankees no-hit them. Unfortunately, it was indeed broken up, but had no effect on the end result: Sweep. And I'd be silly to forget mentioning the brilliance of Mr. Youkilis running outside the basepath (nice job by the umps getting the call right, that's what we pay 'em for folks).

Pitching, pitching, pitching. The Yankees only allowed 6 runs in the series and the bullpen held the leads in each game. And that mighty mighty mighty mighty mighty Boston pitching staff got out pitched the entire series. The only thing missing, and its absence left me feeling quite empty frankly, was the presence of Eric Gagne and his uncanny ability to give up runs in the late innings. Basically the series had almost everything I could ask for. And please let me not forget the efforts of J.D. Drew, who gracefully went 1 for 11 in the series with 3 strikeouts and no RBI, and whose slugging percentage is now a Ruth-esque .386. Absolutely brilliant.

Yes Boston, I know the lead is still five games and it's still relatively safe to assume the Yankees won't catch up...blah blah blah. You're right though, I definitely concede that. The Wild Card is the realistic goal, but I bet Boston felt a lot better on Monday than they do right now. And this was major for the Yankees, who now get to host the Devil Rays while Seattle goes to Toronto. Also, nobody thought that Boston would visit the Bronx and leave with 3 losses, not to mention Mr. Traveling Circus is having back spasms. No complaints here. Hopefully the next time these two teams meet they will be in closer proximity in the division, and maybe then I'll get my wish for Gagne, or my personal favorite: Wakefield. See you soon Beantown.

In Other News, Moose No Longer in My Five

Can't say I know for sure where this will be going. I know that with Mussina it's been "what have you done for me lately" for what seems like the last 3 years or so, but you gotta feel for the guy now that retirement may finally be staring him in the face; or maybe it's kicking him in the 'nads.

It's something that has to be done right now, though, and trying Ian Kennedy right now is a good alternative, even if it's only for one start.

The Yankees tried this formula at the beginning of the season with DeSalvo and Karstens...and it failed miserably. As much as Cashman did not want to bring up Phil Hughes, he's bringing up the "children of the farm" like it's going out of style. And he has reason: It's working. They say Ian is a like Mussina in that he's more of a pitcher; not really a hard thrower, has a lot of breaking pitches, etc. The essence of Kennedy's game is control. And we all know what happens when a pitcher has control issues. If Kennedy looks terrible, we'll know he's not ready and Moose will more than likely make the next start he can be penciled in for. If Kennedy comes on and looks sharp, well, then Moose better pack a toothbrush...cause he'll be somewhere sitting down for a long time.

@ Detroit      W(7-2)      72-57     6.5GB     2GB Wild Card

Only 33 games left in the regular season ladies and gentlemen.

Wang won his second straight start against the Tigers tonight, going 8 innings and only giving up 5 hits, 2 earned, and 2 BB, while striking out 6.  He was sharp tonight and kept himself out of trouble most of the game. This is the Wang you hope for every single start; he kept himself under control, never lost his composure after a hit or walk, and protected the lead his teammates gave him. He did have a moment in the 5th where he threw a wild pitch that Inge scored on though. Sometimes that sinker gets the better of him, I've seen that happen several times this year. He'll get in a little trouble, maybe bothered by a baserunner, and suddenly the sinker is only 57 feet. But normally with Wang you get that stoic composure, and that's what makes him such a reliable pitcher.

Matsui doubled in the first two runs of the game, Johnny Damon then managed a 412-foot bomb in the 3rd (and believe me, a 412-foot homer for Damon is a bomb), and Melky sealed it with a base-clearing triple in the 6th, which Damon followed with a triple of his own to make it 7. They really took it to Bonderman, who was pretty efficient for the most part tonight, until the Yanks got him for 4 in the 6th. The lead was apparently so comfortable that Brian Bruney didn't even walk anyone when he pitched the 9th.  For a guy that has walked 30 batters in 43 innings, he must have felt REALLY comfortable.

It was a good way to bounce back after last night's loss, where Sean Henn gave up a game-winning hit in an extra-inning game for the second time in 4 games. This guy just can't catch a break; he gets the first out, gives up hit, catches the guy in a rundown, then gives up a hit to Sean Casey, then a half-swing bloop hit to Ordonez, and then a 3-run golfshot homer to Carlos Guillen. What can I say? They managed to rebound and looked strong tonight in the process.They need to push hard these next two games so they're focused next week when ManRam and his traveling circus come to the Bronx.

Outlook for the Home Stretch

This is going to be one difficult month of baseball. I know the schedule gets easier and everything, but there are several reasons why a perfect storm of focus and luck is paramount if the Yankees hope to be playing in October. I know we Purveyors of Pinstripolous would give an arm, leg, small child, plasma tv, car, house, life insurance policy, or even wife for the Yankees to catch Boston in the division. I know this. But we have to acknowledge how much more important making the playoffs is than simply catching Beantown. The Yankees need to get in, period, and something is happening right now that Yankee fans aren't used to.

Other teams really want to make it too. The Mariners are playing the best baseball I've seen them play in a long time. Mind you I have no idea how the hell they are doing it. All of a sudden, they're an offensive behemoth, and are currently the only foe standing between the Yankees and the Wild Card. Their stellar play even has them threatening the Angels, and if you combine the AL West race with the AL Central race, any one of the top 2 teams in those divisions could be the winner, and thus, any could be the Wild Card. Plus with Boston, their pitching is literally the glue that has kept them from losing streaks (which are what the Yankees need most from them). The Yankees have all that to compete with, which makes the gruesome April and May efforts more haunting. Think about it this way:  If the Yankees won only 2 more games in April and 2 more games in May, they would be 76-53 and only 2.5 behind Boston right now.

And even though the Yankees are playing good baseball right now, and they truly are, other teams are playing up to par as well. It will be extremely interesting to see who can keep it together in September.

You wonder if Mike Mussina is going to show that he can still pitch in the Majors. He's showing that age more now than ever, and if he doesn't figure it out quickly, he might lose his job. I know you can't assume that he'll be thrown in the bullpen or sent to the minors, the guy is a veteran, but if he keeps getting bombed or near-bombed every single game, he'll force somebody's hand.

I feel confident right now because they're in every game, every night, and they're making things happen to put themselves in position to win. if it's not a timely hit, it's a guy advancing to third on a grounder. Or it's a two-out single to score a guy from second, or a 3-run bomb to tie the game. And the pitchers are holding their own for the most part as well. You can't ask for guys to throw gems every night, they just have to give you a shot to win. That's all you can ask for. This is all as distant from April and May as possible, they're playing like they're supposed to.

With 33 games left, there's still a pretty big mountain staring them in the face. But, there's 6 games against Boston and 3 more against Seatlle. It can be done.  If they can catch Boston, fantastic, if not, let's get the Wild Card. Either way, it's a shot in the dance, a ball in the lottery. It's all about getting in...that's what she said.  But seriously, the fact that there is an actual playoff race of this magnitude in the AL is pretty exciting, and should make for one heck of a September.

@ 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.

August 5, @ Toronto     W (5-4)    62-50    6GB      .5GB  Wild Card

So Toronto finally made their "retaliation" for their own imbecile infielder's mistake back in May (for those who forgot, A-Rod was nearly sent to the guillotine for screaming at Howie Clark on a routine pop-up to third that Clark let fall).  Jesse Litsch was given the order to throw behind Alex in the 2nd inning to "send a message."  Alex kept his composure and eventually took a base on balls.

One thing managed to slip the minds of the Blue Jays, though: Winning the game. When retaliation for perceived injustice on a routine fly clouds the mind as much as it obviously did in this case, victory can be a difficult task. Actually, victory is normally a difficult task for the Blue Jays. Today was no different, coincdentally, as their bullpen imploded in the 6th and turned a 3-1 lead into a 5-3 deficit.

Am I against the old school brand of baseball? Certainly not. If a guy earns it and you want to let him know he better be careful, go ahead and send a message. But what A-Rod did was so ridiculous and minute compared with the attention it received; and obvioulsy only because he's Lightning-Rod, a man who so many love to hate.  What exactly were they retaliating for though? Maybe poetic justice would be to sneak up on A-Rod and scream Ha! in his ear and scare him, then point a finger and say gotcha!

Despite the fireworks, or lack thereof, the Yankees played one heck of a game in spite of the "retaliatory" efforts of the Blue Jays. Pettitte ran into some trouble in the 5th after already giving up the third run of the game. But did Andy ever pitch his way out of it, getting all three outs on K's. He saved the game in that 5th inning. In the 6th, Abreu led off with a walk and A-Rod singled before Matsui blooped one into left field to score Bobby. After a Posada K, and with runner at the corners, Robbie Cano doubled to center and gave the Yankees the lead. Then Melky, with 2 out, singled in Cano for an insurance run (which ended up being the difference). Luis Vizcaino actually pitched 2 full innings today, and though he ran into a little trouble, survived long enough to get to Mariano in the 9th. Mo was in true Mo form, striking out the side for the W.

I can't say enough about the efforts that Cano and Melky are putting in right now.  Melky solidified himself as the starting CF, there's no question about that. And his proven ability to hit at the ML level now has really made him valuable. That's why Brian Cashman (who I supported in this) held on to Melky. The same goes for Cano. He was terrible for the first half of the season but finally figured it out, and is one of the hottest hitters inthe game, plus a reliable 2B.

So today there was comeback win, a gutty pitching performance, a bullpen that held together, a Mariano save, and all of this on the road. This was encouraging. Much has been made of the Yankees ability to pound on weaker opposition, and how it means nothing (despite them having the best record in baseball over the last 2 months).  This is a .500+ team that they beat on the road, after needing to come back. While this is only a small step, it's an encouraging one nonetheless. There will be 2 more in Toronto before a huge 3-gamer in Cleveland over the weekend. Monday saw the road trip start off well and hopefully it will continue.

Note: Mike Myers was designated for assignment today and likely will never see the Yankees again. Best of luck Mike, I wish I could say it was good while it lasted. I'll say this, though, you weren't as bad as Kyle Farnsworth. Accordingly, the release of Myers allowed for the call-up of Jim Brower, who more than likely will eat some time until Joba Chamberlain gets the call. Joba, between AA and AAA has struck out 84 in 48.1 innings. God help him translate it to The Show.

The Yankees reached 10 games over .500 today and that was just one several events that took place at The Stadium. A-Rod (finally) hit number 500 of his career off of poor Kyle Davies who seemingly was only just traded from Atlanta to lowly Kansas City in order to give up that homerune (poor bastard). Today was also the return of Phil Hughes, whose solid and later shaky performance may not be as bad as it seemed, but more on that later. And also, of course, the Yanks bombed KC for 16 runs and continued their wooden assault on opposing pitching.

As for Hughes, he finished going 4.2 and gave up 7 hits and 6 earned after being given a 6-2 lead going into the 5th. He also struck out 5. The kid came out and had that wicked stuff that we can remember from May, but KC figured him out the second time around the order and began pelting the ball all over the field. Mainly, he continued trying to sneak his fastball in and the Roayls sniffed it out; without being able to make adjustments, little Phil was throwing BP.

What does this mean, exactly? It doesn't mean Hughes is Mike Pelfrey, or that he's going to channel Jaret Wright, but it does mean that he's going to have growing pains. He's only 21 years old people. Take this example: Felix Hernandez of the Mariners is the same age and has far more experience than Hughes. You may recall him throwing a one-hitter in Fenway earlier this year, but you won't recall his so-so and bad games. They're growing pains, and Phil will likely be better more often than he is bad. He's wasn't great in his debut this year, but came back with a near-no-hitter in Texas. Plus the Yankees were scoring runs, and pitchers have a tendency to pitch to the score a lot, meaning that they may throw more freely because they have a lead. Phil is way too young to do that, and also still not schooled on making adjustments to big-league lineups. He will be, though, and I was encouraged by what I saw.

On to the bats. Cano had 4 hits today, moving his AVG to .311. He's raised his BA 45 pts since July 1st and his struggles from the first half are a distant memory. Actually, all the offensive struggles have become a distant memory. Abreu hit .353 in July and knocked in 29 runs, a career high month. Not to mention the gargantuan month of Hideki Matsui, who slugged .735 and hit 13 homers (leading the majors) in July while knocking in 28. He was also named player of the month. Even Shelley Duncan was called up and already has 5 homers.

The offensive surge is important because it was missing early on in the year, and could have saved them a significant portion of the hole they dug themselves. While the pitching hasn't been perfect, it's been ok, and has been surviving. At this point, the Yankees are handling the "make-or-break" portion of their schedule as they are supposed to, going 16-7 since the all-star break, and 21-9 in their last 30. The bullpen is still an issue, and while I'll commend Cashman for not going through with the Gagne deal, there is still a gaping hole in the bullpen that will be hemmoraging should they make the playoffs. Joba Chamberlain is suppoed to be called up as a reliever, and my fellow Yankee fans and I will be praying that this will call-up will work. Joba has been annihilating every level he's played on, so we'll see where it goes.

With about 2 months left, the Yanks are 1.5 games out of the Wild Card and 7 behind Boston. There's reason for both optimism and worry, but far less than there was in May or even June. The month of August will take the Yankees on the road to Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto, and Los Angeles, and will have them host Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit. This will be a monumentally difficult and telling month on what the Yankees will be doing come playoff time. The Yankees are 5 games below .500 on the road this year and will need all the offense and pitching they can muster against the upcoming schedule. My feeling is that with one more solid reliever they'll have a solid bullpen. What will be equally interesting is what Torre does now that Giambi is about to come back to the lineup, leaving him with a plethora of solid everyday players to choose from. If only one of them could pitch, right? Stay tuned.