Yankees Keep The Winning Streak Alive With 8-5 Victory Over Mariners

Once I saw that the start of tonight's game was going to be delayed by rain, I had no intention of blogging after it ended. But it was a great win so how could I not? The team pulled Brian Bruney's ass out of the fire. He came in and absolutely sucked but the boys picked him up with some late inning heroics. Matusi doubles to right-center. Swisher reaches on an awesome bunt. Then the Melkman delivered (again). Melky has been pretty damn clutch this year. I've got to give it up to Melky. I'm still not 100% on board the Melkwagon, but I'm happy to go along for the ride. And as we've seen 500 times before, Mo closes it out for the save. He throws out the ceremonial first pitch and throws out the last pitch of the game. Very cool. The win runs the streak to 6. Let the good times roll.

Has there been a more undeserving pitcher who got the win? I'm kind of sickened that Brian Bruney can go out there and blow the lead by giving up 3 hits and a walk and walk away with the win. That's ridiculous. If anybody should get it, it should be Phil Hughes. He pitched an impressive 7th inning. 3 up 3 down on 9 pitches (I think). He was blowing balls by the M's hitters, hitting 96 on the gun. I would have liked to have seen Phil pitch the 8th, but I understand the decision to go to Bruney as he's the "8th inning guy." I'm really glad that they didn't send Phil back to Scranton. He makes the Yankees' bullpen exponentially better. He's facing a much higher caliber group of hitters also. That experience will serve him very well.

I think it's safe to say that A-Rod has found his swing again. Alex is now rocking a 6-game hitting streak. He's now homered in 3 of the last 5 games, driving in 11. A-Rod hits in 6 straight. The Yankees win 6 straight. The team goes as A-Rod goes. He's also playing a much better defensive game. He looks like he's having a much easier time getting to balls. Hopefully, Girardi plays it smart and gives him that rest. It looks like it's helping.

Joba was pretty unimpressive. He needs to attack the strike zone more often. The Mariners had a pretty good plan of attack for Joba. They were patient. They ran up his pitch count, worked a few walks, and chased him rather early. Joba has a tendency to try and dance around the plate when he gets ahead in counts. Just go after the hitters would you? He walked 3 and threw only 57% of his pitches for strikes. Joba has made 15 starts this year and only has 6 decisions. The Yankees are 10-5 in games Joba has started, including 5 of the last 6, and 8 of the last 10. I'll give him credit though for keeping the team in the game. He's good at doing that.

The best part of the night though didn't take place in Yankee Stadium. It happened a few hours south down in Baltimore. The Red Sox took a 10-1 lead into the 7th inning and gave up 5-spots in back to back innings, losing the game 11-10. Insert laughter here. That great Sox bullpen wasn't so great tonight. Talk about embarrassing. Best part is that Papelbon got sacked with the blown save. I love it.

The Yanks are now 2.5 back of the Sox. Andy Pettitte tomorrow night. I'll admit it. I'm a little worried.

It's after midnight. Looks like tomorrow will be another unproductive day at work for me.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie