The Yankees Lead In The East, Like Leon, Is Getting Larger

The Yankees win. The Red Sox lose. The lead is now a game and a half. All is right in the world.

CC Sabathia looked strong again. That's 5 straight outings where CC has looked really good. Here's a quick glance at his line over his last 5 starts: 4-0, 39 IP, 26 H, 9 BB, 32 K, 9 ER, 2.08 ERA. That's pretty damn good. CC was on for most of the game tonight. He was throwing strikes (62% were strikes) and most importantly he was throwing strike one. If a pitcher can stay ahead of hitters, he'll typically fare pretty well. CC is proving to be well worth every penny the Yankees gave to him. As nice as it would have been to have landed Johan Santana before last season, I'm glad that things worked out the way they did. The money would have been the same, but the Yanks kept their prospects, namely Phil Hughes. Hats off to CC for another great one. Give that man the WWE belt. I wonder if it fits?

13 hits, 4 walks, 10 runs. That's what I call offense. Everybody was getting in on the action. Brett Gardner was the only starter not to pick up a hit but he walked and scored twice so no biggie. The hit streaks (Jeter & Teixeira) stayed in tact. For Kim Jones' sake, I hope Jeter gets a hit tomorrow. She is doing everything in her power to jinx these guys. Funny thing is she thinks these guys are kidding when they bust her balls on it. You think she'd know better. The offense is firing on all cylinders right now. Coming into today's game, they had the 2nd highest team batting average in the AL and the highest team OPS (by a 28 point margin) in all of MLB. Considering A-Rod missed time, Posada missed time, and Teixeira's slow start, they are doing well. Very very well.

I have 3 letters for Jose Veras: DFA. Your days in Pinstripes are running out. Hopefully, the end is near.

The pitching is there. The offense is there. The defense is there. The team has won 3 straight, 4 of 5, 5 of 7, 14 of 17, and 15 of 19. The are 16-5 since A-Rod returned. Simply put, they are playing great baseball. Phil Hughes takes on Carl Pavano tomorrow. Last time the Yanks faced Pavano, CP pitched pretty well. It's hard to believe that Pavano has 5 wins this year, tied with Sabathia. The last thing I think any of us want to see is Pavano pitch well tomorrow. He's facing a much different team than he did last time around. The boys better light him up.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie