Cause Ya Had A Bad Day

It's hard to believe that the start of game 3 of the Sox/Yankees series isn't far away. It seemed like only hours ago that game 2 ended. Oh wait. It did. Man that was a lot of baseball. The longest 9 inning game ever to be played. Wow. From a Yankee fan standpoint, that day could not have gone any better, with the exception of Farnsworth getting hit by that line drive. If you're a Sox fan, you've probably been listening to Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" non-stop since last night. The Yanks took both games of the doubleheader, and that's huge. It guarantees that regardless of how these 3 games go, we leave Boston with the division lead. We're in a much better position to win this series, which would mean we could split the final series at home and still win the season series with Boston. If you ask me for my honest opinion, I have to think that the momentum from yesterday is going to carry over to today's game and the rest of the series and we should be able to take at least 1 of the remaining 3.
I know it was only 2 games and they took place on 1 day, but as I mentioned a few days ago, when the Yankees get their butts handed to them they bounce back and go on a run. The "slingshot" effect if you will (thanks Level). The offense certainly didn't show any signs of slumping yesterday. 26 runs. 34 hits. What's surprising to em is that they only went yard twice, both by Damon. Of all those runs, and all those hits, only 4 were scored on the longball. The hit brigade was in full force. Bad timing if you're a Red Sox fan.
And I have to apologize to the missing "Mad Dog." He called Derek Jeter as the AL MVP pretty early in the season. At the time, I didn't think DJ had a shot with all of the talent in the AL. I'm starting to come around to the fact the Jeter is going to get some serious consideration for MVP, especially if the Yankees win the East and the Sox miss the playoffs. How huge was his 2-out, bases clearing double in the 7th inning last night? Captain Clutch baby. He may have only gone 1 for 6 in the nightcap, but he saved the 1 for the right time. You have to credit a lot of the Yankee lineup for coming through in 2 out situations. Yesterday was a great day offensively for the Yankees, especially if your last name is Cabrera or Abreu. What the heck are they going to do with Melky when Matsui comes back?
Wang was again awesome. He's quickly becoming the ace of this staff. You have to love Cashman for not trading him, or Cano, or Melky, for that matter. He was able to pitch his way out of trouble quite a bit yesterday. The Sox were all about the extra base hits, but Wang didn't let many of them find there way home. I wonder if he'll get any Cy Young consideration. He should get a vote or two if he stays on his current course.
The only negative things about yesterday was the pitching in game 2. I don't know one Yankee fan that thought Ponson was going to give the Yankees more than 3 innings. Personally, I was writing off last night's game before it even started. I figured Ponson was going to pitch and get shelled, and then we'd see reliever after reliever come trucking out and get hit as well. It was going to be one of those games where you couldn't get anyone out. And for a while, it looked like that was going to happen. But the Yankee pen nutted up and held the Sox scoreless for the final four innings, not counting Ortiz's solo shot off Mo. I can see why Villone had a rough go at it as he's pitched quite a bit lately. But Proctor, Myers, Farnsworth and Mo pretty much did what they get paid to do, shut down the opponent. Even this Brian Bruney cat looked alright, save the walks. I like how when Mike Myers was on the bump, the YES team showed how he positions himself on the mound when he's facing righties and lefties. The lefty specialist can now get out the righties too. Way to go Gator for having him try that. I don't think Mel would have. The bullpen turned in a solid performance and allowed the Yankee bats to take care of business. If only the Sox could say the same about their pen. Their staff is in shambles. These next few games will be interesting if starters from either side don't go deep into the games.
The only other dark cloud in yesterday's DH were the errors. When A-Rod committed number 22 in the 9th last night, I about died. I could just see the Sox rallying after that and Alex costing us another win. But Mo was on the hill, and getting 5 runs off of Mo isn't an easy thing to do. Then I felt better. But the errors are someday going to come back and bite us in the rumps. Not a good fielding day.
Well, we're about a half-hour from today's game. Man how the time flies. Johnson v. Beckett. Two guys that are very inconsistent. Should be a fun one. But it'll likely be a pitching duel. I can see that happening. So the game starts at 1:20, so it should be over by around 5-5:30. Let's go Yankees.
Peace, love and pinstripes.
J-Boogie