Yanks Win One But Playoffs Still A Long Shot

Jason Giambi's late inning heroics breathed a little life into the Yankees' playoff chances, moving them back to within six games of the wild card leading Red Sox. They still have a tremendously deep hole to climb their way out of though. There are only 29 games left and making up 6 games is not going to be easy. Some might say, including myself, that it's impossible. While it's mathematically possible, when you look at all the factors, there's really not much of a chance. I've mentioned that a few times recently but for those new to the blog, don't remember, and/or are too lazy to scroll down (I'd fall into the category), I'll do a quick recap of why I think the Yankees' chances are slim and none: The Sox are on pace to win 94 games. The Yanks have 71 wins and would need to win 23 games to hit 94. They don't have the pitching and/or hitting to go 23-6 over the next 29 games against the teams they have to face. The Sox, and Twins, pretty much both need to have total meltdowns for the Yankees chances to improve. I don't see that happening.

The Yankees' rotation as a whole is pretty weak. Carl Pavano is, well, Carl Pavano. Ponson and Rasner both stink. Andy Pettitte is capable but inconsistent. Mike Mussina is the only Yankee starter that can be counted on to pitch well. Moose had another great outing today. I didn't see the game on TV but listened to it on the radio while I was at work. Moose did his thing and kept the Yankees in the game, allowing only 2 runs in 7 innings of work. Moose now has 28 starts under his belt and he's only allowed 4 runs or more 6 times. He's allowed 2 runs or less 17 times. He's the man, plain and simple. I didn't see the play but apparently Cano took too long in deciding to throw to turn a DP which led to a run. At least that's how Sterling made it sound. That would have been nice seeing that the Yankees only scored 2 for him. He could have left with a 2-1 lead and been in line for his 17th win. Moose now has 6 remaining starts and needs to pick up 4 wins to hit 20. I really hope he gets there but the offense needs to help him out. Man it's too bad the Yankees offense couldn't pick him up a 3rd run. God knows they had their chances.

Alex had another bad day at the dish, going oh-fer-4 with 3 Ks. He stranded 2 in the 1st and 2 in the 6th. The 6th inning pretty much summed up the Yankees' season in one half-inning. The first 2 guys get on and the heart of the order can't bring them home. Alex's first pitch foul out was especially disheartening. That would have been a nice spot for him to show everyone that he can come though in the clutch. I came so close to throwing my radio against the wall when I heard that happen. It's incredibly frustrating to listen to.

I really hope that Jason Giambi's 2 clutch hits provides some kind of spark to this lineup. His game-tying HR was huge. Not only did it tie the game but it got Moose off the hook for the loss. And nothing made me happier than his game-winner of Papelbon. I love watching him give up game-winners. Too bad it doesn't happen more often.

So now it's time to face the Jays. To keep hope alive they have to win this series. That's going to be tough to do considering they have to face Halladay and AJ Burnett. I think they can only afford to lose 6 more times. They have to win every series from here on out or their done. And just winning the series won't get it done. They have to sweep at least 3 of them. I don't see that happening, but I'll be watching hoping that it does.

I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be doing over the next few days. I have tickets behind home plate for Saturday's game. We're leaving tomorrow and staying about an hour outside of the city and I'm not sure how much of the game I'll see and I don't know if the hotel has any kind of "community" PC I could even use to blog about it. I'm really looking forward to Saturday. I think I'm 3 rows behind home plate near the Yankees' on-deck circle. I picked up the tickets by cashing in 24000 credit card points. I figured it's the Stadium's final season and I need to experience something like that once in my lifetime. I can't wait. Should be fun. I'll do my best to bring home a W. Enjoy the games.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie