Double Up (Uhh Uhh)

Man I missed the Moose. How good was it to see him back on the bump? He was outstanding. It almost seems like things are getting back to normal. The rotation is almost what it should have been on Opening Day. Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, and Igawa. The only one were missing is Pavano, which I think everyone is fine with. I think the odds are high we've seen Pavano pitch his last game in Pinstripes. I would be extremely surprised if he ever took the hill for the Yankees again. That signing was definitely a bust. What a waste. I was extremely encouraged by Mussina's outing. 64 pitches through 5 innings. He had his control working, 77% of his pitches went for strikes. It would have been nice to see him pitch a little longer but I can understand why he wanted to bail after 5 since it was his first start back. You don't want to over do it.
The entire pitching staff had a pretty good series for the most part. It still irks me that Vizcaycrapo got the win in the first game. Pettitte deserved that win. If you haven't been reading the posts, that's the 3rd game the bullpen has blown for Pettitte this year. That needs to change. Farnsworth had a pretty good outing in game 1 of the DH but he didn't fare as well in game 2. Thankfully, there was no one on and the Yanks had a 3-run lead. Thanks for not blowing it. Mo looked pretty sharp. It's about time he picked up some saves. Overall, a great series for the pitching staff. I think they flashed up that the team posted an ERA of 2.00 over these last 3 games. People might say "but come on it's the Rangers." Well, it's the Yankees pitching staff. They haven't exactly been superb to date, but things are coming around. The starters are lasting longer. The pen is getting rest. Things are improving.
Why is Wil Nieves on the roster? The guy is useless. He's still hitless in his last 5 years. Zero for his last 29. Here's what I propose, cut him. Let Josh Phelps be the backup catcher and free up a roster spot. Nieves is just horrible. I hate light-hitting catchers. Nieves is a no-hitting catcher. It gets no worse.
Damon and Abreu are slumping big time. Damon I can kind of understand with the bad back and bad legs, but Abreu? Something has to be wrong there. Over his last 12 games, Bobby is 5 for 48. The #3 batter for the New York Yankees cannot bat .100 over the course of a dozen games. If this were A-Rod, you know you'd hear a stadium full of boos when these guys return home tomorrow.
Jeter, A-Rod, Giambi and Posada are carrying this offense right now. Scratch that. Doug Mientkiewicz is carrying the offense right now. Just kidding but you have to admit his longballs have helped immensely. Jeter is in the zone. He's now hit safely in 59 of his last 61 games. I still can't find the stat my friend Don was telling me about the other day. It's something like Jeter is only the 3rd player in history to have a stretch like that, with the other 2 being Joe DiMaggio and some guy from the 1800s. If anybody knows that stat, lay it on me. Giambi's performance has been a pleasant surprise. I knew the OBP would be there but I wasn't expecting to see him hit for average. He justs needs to learn how to run. Talk about awkward. A-Rod has cooled off, homerless in his last 8 games. No big deal if you ask me. He had a tremendous April. You knew he wouldn't keep up that pace. He is due for a longball though.
I wasn't expecting to see the Yankees sweep the doubleheader. Not for lack of confidence in them to win both games, but it seems like teams always split doubleheaders. As Ice Cube would say, today was a good day.
The Yankees are out of last place. They've won 3 in a row. That's a winning streak.
"It's starting to come together, Pepper. It's starting to come together."
J