Yankees Sweep Rangers & Andy Pettitte Is A Golden God

The Yankees may be tied with the Rays for the best record in baseball at 9-3. But there is no question as to which is the better team and sits atop the MLB power rankings. The Yankees are definitely a-number one, top of the list, kings of the hill and top of the heap. The sweep of the Rangers gives Yankees their fourth straight series win to start the season. The Bombers haven't done that since 1926. That's hard to believe I know, but it's true. This team is doing it all. They're pitching. They're hitting. They're playing solid defense. And they're doing it against the best of the bunch. They took 2 of 3 from Boston in Boston. 2 of 3 from Tampa in Tampa. 2 of 3 from their arch-nemesis the Angels in the Bronx. Then a sweep of Texas at home in the Boogie Down. Most baseball pundits think that the Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox are 3 of the best teams in baseball, with the Angels and Rangers being the top contenders in the AL West. Starting the season 9-3 against those teams has to have every Yankee fan excited. Any Yankee fan out there not excited?

The Yankees starting pitching absolutely dominated the Rangers. CC, A.J. and Andy combined to go 3-0, pitch 21 IP, while allowing 3 runs on 13 hits and 5 walks while whiffing 20. That's an ERA of 1.29. Hot damn! CC started it off and A.J. and Andy definitely kept the good times rolling. Pettitte was again awesome today. He was again vintage Pettitte. He struggled early but quickly figured out how to correct himself. We saw Andy do this quite a bit last year. He'd give up a few early runs, would settle down and pitch his tail off. Today was no different except he flat out dominated instead of just getting by. Pettitte has been lights out all season. Sure, he's allowed a fair amount of baserunners (WHIP coming into today was 1.42) but he's found ways to keep those guys from scoring. AP has now thrown 20 IP, has allowed 15 hits and 9 walks. His ERA is 1.35. That's awesome considering those stats came against the Red Sox, Angels and Rangers. Yeah, I'm jocking Andy's nuts right now. As I wrote in my last post, he's awesome.

I was a little surprised today's game was as close as it was. It didn't feel like a 5-2 win. The Yankees had a lot of baserunners today but only managed 5 runs. They weren't terribly efficient with RISP. They went 1-7 and left 10 guys on base. The game shouldn't have been as close as it was. I'm still puzzled how the Rangers only gave up 5 runs because Rich Harden was awful. It was nice to see Mark Teixeira hit his first longball of the season. That was long overdue. Tex is hitting the ball better but he's still struggling. If he can string together a few good games in a row I think that will turn things around. He's standing on the verge of getting it on.

Brett Gardner filled in very well at the top of the order (get well soon Derek). BG reached base 4 times today (2 singles, 1 walk, 1 HBP) and swiped 2 bases. It's hard to believe BG's OBP is up to .444 (assuming I did the math right). I love having Brett hit in the 9-spot. His ability to get on base and speed compliment the top of the order quite nicely. I know he's not an OBP machine but he does well for a guy in the 9-hole.

Jorge Posada is a beast. 'Nuff said.

If anyone was wondering why I didn't post after Saturday's win it's because I was holed up in a car dealership buying a minivan with the wife. I think we devoted about 9 hours to it. It was brutal. I didn't see any of the game, so I took the day off. The Yankees now embark on a west coast roadie and west coast trips and I don't get along. It's hard to stay up that late when you've got a 2.66 year old and a 1 year old that both wake up before 6:30am every day. Add a job to it and it's tough to stay up past 10. I usually make it to 11 or so for the west coast games. So I'm not sure what my level of blogging will be over the next few days. There will be something. I'm just not sure what. Thankfully it's just 2 late weekday games. Maybe I'll nut up and tough it up. Knowing me I probably will because I love me some Yankee baseball!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie