Just Checking In

I didn't see a lot of today's game. I dozed off right after it started. I woke up and it was 2-1. Not bad. I saw Cano make it 3-1 and then had to step out. I caught Wright's HR to make it 3-2, and then had to get my son ready for bed all by my lonesome b/c the missus was at her parent's house taking care of her 92 year old Grandmother while her folks went out. I finally got my son to sleep and made back to the game just in time to see Mo shut it down for the 1-2-3. Yankees win. Thuhhh Yankees win.

Andy Pettitte continued his dominant string of outings. Since getting bombed for 10 runs against the Royals he's been light out. Today was no different. He's now won 4 straight and has been impressive in each outing. To update his line over his last 4 starts: 4-0, 27 IP, 19 H, 7 BB, 23 K, 3 ER, 1.00 ERA. Talk about awesome. It seems that most of my Pettitte posts lately all say the same thing. Since that's the case, I'll reiterate my Pettitte-closing of choice. Andy always pitches better in the 2nd half. Looks like the 2nd half started early.

I didn't get to see last night's trouncing of the Mets. As I wrote earlier, I went to catch the Scranton Yankees take on the Buffalo Bisons. It was a real good game. Quite the pitcher's duel. Jeff Karstens threw for Scranton and he looked good. He left the game though on the losing end of a 1-0 game. The craziest part about the game was the fog. The field was pretty much fog covered the entire game. It was so bad that they actually suspended the game with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the batter in the bottom of the 9th. The Bisons took a 1-0 lead into the 9th and had the sky been clear they would have won easily. Two routine fly balls though fell beyond the left fielder and led to a tie game. It was kind of funny as the OF had no clue where the ball was. Even though it ended 1-1, all in all it was a good time. I may go back on Sunday for the finale but I doubt it.

I did follow along with the game on my XM radio. I had it on and would occasionally listen to the action. I thought for sure Ponson was done early. Bases loaded no outs in the 2nd and he works out of it? Wow. It's like I've been saying, Ponson is low risk, high reward. He comes at a cheap price and if he gives you anything, you're good. If he can continue to throw 6 shutout innings every time out there, we'll be real good. But don't get too excited. We all saw how Dan Giese fared in his 2nd start. But keep it up Sid, we're pulling for you.

So we're officially at the half way point, sitting at 44-37 and 5 games back of first and only 4 back in the loss column. Not bad considering how the year started and the injuries they've sustained. Last year after 81 games, the Yanks were 40-41 and 10.5 back of first. I'd say the positives this year have been the play of Johnny Damon, Mike Mussina, Mariano, Joba, A-Rod and the mustachioed one. While the disappointments have been Robbie Cano, Hughes and Kennedy, and 1/2 to 2/3 of the bullpen. But they're in a good position. Cano is starting to swing the bat. Jeter's OPS is up 39 points 6/17. Moose, Joba, and Andy are all pitching real well. The biggest questions right now are who are the 4th and 5th starters going to be, and will Matsui need surgery? Fingers crossed that he doesn't.

The Yankees sort of finish their interleague schedule tomorrow. D-Raz vs. Oliver Perez. 2 guys who have been incredibly inconsistent. Should be a fun one. I think I said the Yankees had to go 10-5 over this interleague stretch for it to be a success. I failed to take into account they had the DP today, so now that it's 16 games against NL teams below 500. Anything less than 11-5 is a failure. With 2 games to go the Yanks are 10-4. So far so good. The only negative about this stretch is that the Sox (8-6) and Rays (10-4) didn't fare so badly against they're tougher NL opponents. This now makes the upcoming games against the Sox and Rays a lot more important. The Yanks are playing good ball. They'll do well. If only we had the Wanger.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie