Yanks Rock Bedard, Beat M's 13-2

Never in a million years would I have expected tonight's game to go the way it did. 13 runs on 13 hits. 8 runs in one inning. Getting to Erik Bedard, one of the game's best lefties, for 9 runs. Un-freakin-believable. Great game. Great win. 3 games into the slingshot. They're on a mini-roll.

The offense was clicking tonight. I don't even know who to start with. I was very surprised that Shelley Duncan connected for a longball. A day after I bag on him for being not very good he goes deep for a 3-run bomb. I still don't think he's very good. I've said a few times that he's bound to get a few HRs. But he'll fail more than he'll succeed. He's kind of like Rob Deer, but worse. He looked lost on a few pitches. He's been way out in front of a lot of pitches this year. Tonight he had one of the biggest misses I've ever seen. Regardless, it was nice to see him connect to put the Yanks out front.

Jason Giambi has been swinging a real hot bat lately. He picked up 2 hits tonight and raised his average to .217. It was his 5th multi-hit game in the last 11 games he's played in. One of those games was a pinch-hit appearance so it's pretty much in his last 10 games. His average has risen 67 points since May 4th. Since 5/4, he's appeared in 13 games and is 14 for 40. That's a .350 average for those of you without calculators. The Big G is bringing it. You can tell he's on when he laces a double into the left field corner. He and Robbie Cano are battling for the lowest average on the team for the regulars. Giambi has Cano beat .217 to .214. Cano has been doing well lately also. He also got things going around the same time as Giambi. Since 5/3, Robbie has raised his average 64 points. He's appeared in 16 games since 5/3 and is 20 for 60 in that span. You should be able to do the math there. They're coming around and that's a good sign.

I was particularly impressed that the Yankees did so well without hitting any longballs, other than Duncan's. I've said before they look like they're swinging for the fences way too much. Keep the line moving and the runs will pile up. Tonight was a prime example of that. The 5th inning was by far their best offensive inning of the year. Everybody with the exception of Duncan was getting in on the action. Great inning. I hope we see more of it.

Andy Pettitte had a great outing. He was on point with his control. No walks. 9 Ks. You can't do much better than that. I didn't think Andy had that in him but he's been striking out a lot of hitters lately. In his last 4 games, he's sent down 27 batters in 22.1 IPs. Wow. At one point he had thrown 1st pitch strikes to 18 of the first 22 batters. First pitch strikes are so important. If you can pitch ahead in the count you're going to do well. Andy did it all night and the result was his 4th victory of the season. He finally avenged his 4th inning demons. Andy pitched a good one. Now it's Moose's turn.

Mike Mussina gets the call tomorrow against Carlos Silva. The M's scratched Felix Hernandez from his start which works out well for the Yanks. They were originally scheduled to face Silva on Sunday but they get him a day early. The Yankees rocked him when the teams last met. Silva lasted 3 innings and gave up 8 runs on 11 hits. Maybe we'll see a repeat of tonight's game. I don't think any of us would mind that. Joba is scheduled to pitch tomorrow so if Moose can get through 5 with the lead the Yanks should be in good shape. He pitched well against them when he faced them on May 3rd. For those that don't remember or are too lazy to look up the game log, Moose went 6 innings and gave up 1 run. The Yanks won that game 6-1. A win tomorrow would pull the team to within a game of .500. Go get 'em Moose.



Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie