Just When You Think You're Out, They Pull You Back In

I was talking to my friend and fellow Yankee fan Don last night, sometime well after the Yankee game had ended. We were talking about how pitiful the offense was and I commented how I was going to be ticked if they had a similar output today against Moose. Don immediately said that wouldn't happen and they'd score at least 9 runs. For once in his life, my man knows what he's talking about. The offense exploded today, pounding the Royals for 15 runs and 17 hits. That's more like it. Everything was clicking today. It's about time.

Moooooooooooooooose! 16 wins baby. I was a little nervous at first. He didn't exactly start out the way I had hoped, getting knocked around pretty well in the 1st. I felt a little better about things when they flashed a stat during the broadcast that showed opposing team's average off Moose during the 1st 3 times through the order. Usually, teams do better off pitchers as the game goes on. I've rarely seen it go the opposite way, where the stats favor the pitcher as he gets deeper into the game. That's how Moose's season has gone this year. I wish I wrote down the exact numbers, but teams hit like 330ish off Moose the first time through the order, 280ish the second time through, and 230ish the 3rd time through. Like I said, you don't normally see that. It's usually the exact opposite. Maybe the blogosphere's resident Statistician Magician can help us out and drop some numbers on our collective asses. That's basically the way it went today for Moose. 6 of the first 9 Royal hitters had hits off Moose. And then he aptly retired 14 in a row. That's my boy right there. Way to shut things down. I still thought it was going to be tough as the team was quickly in a 3-0 hole. With the way this offense has been, nobody, except for maybe the aforementioned Don, would have expected this offense to break out like they did today. It was nice to see them bust out the whooping sticks right out of the gate and giving Moose some much needed run support. All that leads to win #16, career win # 266, tying him with HOFer Bob Feller on the all-time wins list. 8 more starts to win 4 more games and get to that elusive 20 win total. Very doable. If only Mariano hadn't given up that game-tying 3-run bomb in Minnesota. Oh well. One more time for good measure: Moooooooooooooooose!

Derek Jeter, with his 4 for 4 performance today, now has his batting average up to .295. Jeet has been swinging a hot bat, going 12-19 over the last 4 games. 300 is within reach. He'll be there in no time. A-Rod's 3-run HR in the 1st was so great to see. I was so afraid he'd K looking or ground into a DP, but he came through and set the tone for the rest of the day. That was big right there, both for A-Rod and the team. After that the flood gates pretty much opened. After a Giambi ground out, the next 4 hitters hit for the cycle, with Nady going deep, Cano singling, Molina doubling, and the lightning quick Brett Gardner hitting an RBI triple. There was no stopping these guys against Brian Bannister. The final nail in the coffin was the Giambino's grand slam. They got the big hits in key spots today. It was nice to see. And getting back to Alex, I really hope his 3-for-3 day with 2 walks snaps him out of the funk he's been in. We need that bat. We need all the bats really. More games like today fellas. More games like today. IS it me or have I become a big fan of repeating myself for "dramatic" effect.

So it's time for another road trip. The boys head north of the border for a 3 game set with the Jays (I'll be there!!), and then head down to Baltimore for a weekend series, before starting a homestand that brings the wild card leading Red Sox to town. The Red Sox by the are getting punked by the Jays again today, currently losing 5-3. Josh Beckett, and pretty much every Sox pitcher they've trotted out there, got hammered. Beckett gave up 8 runs in 2.1 innings before he was yanked. Assuming the score holds up, the Yanks will then be only 5 back of the Sox for the wild card. It's funny how quickly things change.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

ps- almost forgot. Congrats to Cody Ransom on his 1st hit as a Yankee, an HR!! Not a bad way to start your tenure as a Yankee. (Thanks to commenter Kishan for correcting me. I mistakenly listed it as his first ML hit, not knowing he had previously played for SF and Houston).