It's Fun To Win The Close Ones

OK, I've typed the beginning of this entry like 7 times and 7 times now I've erased what I typed. I'm excited about the win. It was great to finally see a game like this go our way. The Yankees haven't been too successful in these close ball games. I thought for sure when Cairo was nailed at the plate, that their goose was cooked. But an aggressive steal of 3rd followed by a balk of all things, leads to the game tying run. Didn't see that coming. And then there was Matsui's near miss of a 10th inning walkoff. I thought for sure that the Baseball Gods were working against us, especially when he followed it with a K. But then A-Rod made a really heads-up play and took second base on a wild pitch. That was clutch. If A-Rod's not doing it with the bat, he's doing it somewhere else. One word: clutch. And then it happened! Robbie came through with the opposite field game winning single, and I am a happy camper. Am I the only one that thinks Robbie has one of the greatest smiles on the planet? If you paid close attention to the post game celebration you know what I'm talking about. If you missed it, pay close attention to him the next time that New Era commercial comes on. When he turns and looks up at Morneau, priceless. Hopefully that opening was good enough. I can dig it.
After a rocky start, Pettitte pitched his tail off. You can't front on his outing. The Jays absolutely murder lefties and Andy held his own going 7 and giving up just one run, while striking out a season high 7 batters. He went toe-to-toe with Halladay and for all intents and purposes, that battle ended in a draw. Halladay looked a lot sharper than Pettitte, but their lines were pretty much the same. Pettitte throughout his career has been a better second half pitcher. I'll take 7 innings of 1 run ball from him any day of the week. Keep it up Andy. Great job.
Kyle Farnsworth. Ugh. Dude has to go. He's an absolute nightmare on the mound. I'm dumbfounded that Torre still considers him his 8th inning guy. Torre even said on the post game show that he pitched well. What freakin' game were you watching Joe? 2 hits, 1 walk, 1 error. Are you nuts? I love how during the broadcast Girardi mentions how the Jays don't steal bases and if Farnsworth pays too much attention to the runner on first, he's likely to throw it by Phillips. I think the wrong Joe is heading up the Yankees. Girardi is such a smart baseball guy. No way he would have had Farnsworth throwing to first. I'll close this paragraph out with 2 words: eff Farnsworth. That's my new motto.
The Yanks are on a roll. Baseball is becoming fun again. They're now 7 behind the Sox in the loss column for the East, and 6 behind the Tribe in the loss column for the wild card. Cleveland is still playing so with any luck we'll see them 5 back in the loss column shortly.
Things "look like" they are finally starting to click. But I'm still a little weary. I hope they're not just beating the crappy teams because they're the best of the crappy teams. Know what I mean? There's still plenty of baseball left to play. Plenty of time for us to find out.
Peace, love and Pinstripes,
J