Yanks Blast The A's, Jays Blast The Rays, And The Red Sox, We'll They Just Suck

Like with last night's game, I'm jumping the gun and writing my post before the game ends. The Yankees are currently up 9-3 headed into the 8th. I'd say things are well in hand. I'm currently also folding laundry and blogging in between articles of clothing so I definitely won't finish this before the game ends.

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughes! 16 wins baby! I'd like to see him hit 20. Wouldn't that be something? I don't think it's in the cards though. I think he'll have the chance as if he stays on schedule he should get 6 more starts. But he's probably nearing a team-imposed innings limit so he might not have enough pitches left to make it happen. If he wants to better his chances he needs to pitch better than he did tonight and better than he has been. He's walking way too many guys. He issued 5 walks tonight and 5 in his last start, a span of 8.2 innings. He had 11 total walks in his 9 prior starts, a span of 52.2 innings. Somebody is having trouble finding the plate. If he could get back on track with his control he'll have a much better chance of winning more games. The later he pitches in games the better his chances of picking up the W. He'll figure it out.

Speaking of figuring things out it looks like Mark Teixeira is in the groove. He's 5-6 with 1 2B, 2 HR, 5 runs scored and 4 RBI since returning from his brief stint out of the lineup. Crazy that his average is up to .264. Speaking of not figuring things out, Derek Jeter had another oh-fer. Crazy that his batting average is barely above Teixeira's. Derek is scuffling. He's 1 for his last 25 and 2 for his last 30. His average has dropped 14 points over his last 8 games. DJ is having the worst offensive season of his career. As I wrote the other day I can't figure that one out. When you're that established in your career your skills don't regress that much from one year to the next so don't tell me it's because he's getting older. I'd love to hear some theories so lay them on me if you feel so inclined.

Nick Swisher belted his 25th HR which puts the Swish's Wishes fundraiser total up to $998. Next HR and we're over the $1000 mark. Thanks again to my fellow Yankees bloggers and fans for pledging along.

Props to Chad Gaudin for a solid outing out of the bullpen. Props to David Robertson for a quick 1-2-3 to close it out. Yankees win.

The Red Sox lost to the Orioles so the Yankees magic number to clinch a playoff spot just dropped by 2. It now sits at 23. Sorry Sox fans, you ain't catching us. Do the math. Let's say the Yankees nosedive and go 15-15 the rest of the way, the Red Sox have to go 23-7 just to tie. That ain't happening. Sorry but your faith won't be rewarded this year. The Rays game just ended and they lost as well. They got blown out by the Jays. Nice. Both teams the Yankees are in a playoff chase with lost. Great night for the Yanks.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Beat A's To Keep Pace With Rays

The Yanks and A's are currently in the bottom of the 7th. The game is pretty much in hand (knock on wood) as the Yanks are up 11-4. I'm jumping the gun hear because my goal tonight is to go to bed by 10pm. That's 6 minutes from now so it's not looking like I'll make that goal. I don't want to slack on the blogging either.

I was giving my kids a bath during the start of the game. I thought we were in for a rough night as I listened to Dustin Moseley allow what seemed like everyone and their brother to reach base. I'll admit my confidence for a Yankee win was pretty low at that point. What was I thinking? This is the New York Yankees were talking about here. The Bronx Bombers. No deficit, especially 3 runs, in the 1st inning no less, can't be overcome. It didn't take long for the tide to turn.

Not Moseley's best outing as a Yankee, eh? 5 hits and 4 walks. I think Girardi made the right call to lift him when he did. It's nice to have ex-starters in the bullpen to eat up a lot of innings. Javy Vazquez pitched had a rock-solid outing. That's 2 not-so bad relief outings for JV. He keeps that up he'll probably pitch his way back into the rotation. That's a nice luxury for the Yankees to have. It's good to have options. Too funny. I write that Javy has a rock-solid outing and he just gives up an RBI double. Funny how that goes.

Great night offensively, through the 7 innings I saw anyway. Well, great night for the 3-4-5 hitters. As I write this, Swisher, Teixeira and Cano each have 3 hits a-piece. The trio is currently 9-11 with 3 2B, 2 HR, and 7 RBI. Nice job by the middle of the order. Am I the only one who can't believe Swisher is hitting just under .300. Assuming he doesn't get another AB, he'll end the night at .298. What a year he's having! I guess I can no longer call him "The Rally Killer." I'm so happy not to have to do that anymore.

Derek Jeter went 0-4. Sigh.

Another HR for Marcus Thames. I can't help myself. Anytime he steps up to the plate I yell, "MAH-CUS!" It's fun. You should try it.

Well, they're headed to the 9th. The game is still safely in hand as the Yanks are up 11-5. I don't see the A's scoring 6 times this inning. It looks like the Yanks will keep pace with the Rays, who also won. The Red Sox were off so we couldn't benefit from a Red Sox loss. The win drops the Yankees magic # to clinch a playoff spot to 25. 7 games with 31 to play. The fat lady is tuning up.

There's now 1 out in the 9th. I might as well stay up for the finish. Javy just whiffed Carson for his 5th K. Just closed it out with his 6 K. Great job by Javy. Too bad he can't do that every time out. Yankees win. Thuhh Yankees win. Off to bed. 21 minutes behind schedule.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Joba Chamberlain & Hideki Irabu = Long Lost Brothers

Yesterday I tweeted and mentioned in a blog post that I thought Joba Chamberlain looked a little like Hideki Irabu. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Am I on crack or do we have Fat Toad Part 2?

J-Boogie

Super Nova Leads Yankees To 2-1 Victory Over White Sox

I haven't checked out any other Yankees sites yet but I'll bet that I'm not the only one who's going with "Super Nova." I don't really want to but it's been a long week and the brain is running on empty. But let's face it, he has been a little "super" in hist 1st 2 starts. So it works.

The name of the game today was pitching and the charge was led by Nova. He looked pretty sharp in my book. 66% of his pitches were strikes. Great K/BB ratio @ 7:1. Well done rook. Congrats on your 1st big league win. There's been some chatter in the last few days about the Yankees possibly changing up the rotation based on the sub-par performances of certain pitchers (talking 'bout you A.J.). It looks like they're staying with the current rotation but they could very easily switch things up. Personally, I wouldn't move A.J. out just yet. The guy has good stuff. I think his problem is more mental than anything else. I'd like to think he'll figure it out. Anyway, it's a little crazy to think that we're headed into September and the Yankees rotation features guys named Nova and Moseley. What's crazier is that right now they're 2 of their better starters. I hope they keep it going.

Major props to the bullpen for shutting things down. Nice little rebound from last night. The pen really has been pitching rather well in recent weeks. I'm going with Saturday's meltdown as an anomaly and not reality. They got it done today. Even with his nice string of games I still get crazy nervous whenever Joba takes the hill. I don't think I'll ever shake that feeling. He's got a lot of work to do to earn my faith in him back. He's on the right track but he's got a ways to go. Something hit me about Joba today and tell me if you agree or think I'm totally wrong. Doesn't he kind of look like the Hideki "The Fat Toad" Irabu? I think they could pass for half-brothers of something. Again, brain is fried from a long week so maybe I'm wrong.

Not a lot of offense today. Crazy that Francisco Cervelli went 4-4. Never thought I'd see that happen. Cisco has had some ups and downs this year but I do think he's suitable as a backup catcher. Problem is that because of Jorge Posada he's a little more than a backup. I think I expect more from him since he sees more action than the average backup but he really does have some value. If he played less I don't think people would be as critical of him.

What has gotten into Marcus Thames? He had one hell of a road trip. He saw action in 5 games, had 8 hits in 17 AB (.471), hit 1 2B, 4 HRs and knocked in 8. To be honest I'm surprised he's still with the team. I thought for sure the Yankees would have released him back in May or so. So glad he's proved me wrong. He's been rather productive in a limited role.

I'm really surprised at Jeter's numbers. I would have thought they'd be much higher especially in a "walk year." His .270/.336/.384 are well behind his career averages of .315/.385/.454. Not counting 1995 when he appeared in 15 games, they're the lowest averages of his career by far. He's never hit below .291, never had an OBP below .352, and never had a SLG below .408. Very un-Jeterlike. I'm not sure what to make it of it. I wouldn't think his skills would drop off that much from last season. Here's hoping he has a great September.

The win today was nice because it means that they'll either keep pace with Tampa for the division and have 7 losses at hand on the Red Sox for the wild card, or they'll be 1 up on Tampa and 6 losses up on the Red Sox. Quite frankly either outcome works for me but I'd prefer that Tampa win. I'll take the playoff spot ASAP. A Red Sox loss would put the Yankees 7 up in the loss column with 32 to play. Same distance the Sox were back 19 games ago. 19 games have rolled off the schedule and the Sox at best will have gained one game on the Yanks. That wont get it done. Making up that ground could be done but let's face it the Sox would have to go one a historic September run and the Yankees would have to have a historic September collapse. You don't need a magic 8-ball to tell you that outcome is unlikely. It's currently 10:10pm and a check of the scoreboard says that the Rays are ahead 4-3 at the 7th inning stretch. That works. Hope to see that outcome hold true when I check in the morning. For now, it's off to bed.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Win A Wild One, Beat White Sox 12-9

That was certainly an interesting ballgame. If you told me before the game that the Yankees were going to put up a 12-spot in a game that CC Sabathia started I'd have thought the game would be a blowout. Tonight's win was anything but. It ended with Mariano Rivera doing what he does best, saving games. It was too close for my comfort but a win is a win. Doesn't matter how you win as long as you do. Well, maybe it matters a little.

CC was far from dominant, which is something we Yankee fans have to come to expect from CC in August based on his previous outings. CC owns the month of August. Coming into tonight's game, CC was 9-1 in 11 starts as a Yankee. 11 starts, 80.2 IP, 68 hits, 15 walks, 76 strikeouts, 23 ER, 2.57 ERA. One word, dominant. He was far from his typical self tonight but he still pitched pretty well. 69% of his pitches were strikes. He whiffed 9 and only walked 1. The home runs are what did him in. Lucky for him, and for us, the offense brought their game tonight. He picked up win #18 and with 5-6 starts left you'd think 20 wins is in the bag. Cy Young favorite? He just might be.

Big night for the offense. 12 runs on 14 hits and 9 walks. 4-12 with RISP. Swisher went deep for HR #24 (add another $38 to the Swish's Wishes fundraiser). Marcus Thames went deep twice. How awesome is he playing, right? Posada had 2 hits and 2 RBI. But the player of the night has to be Eduardo Nunez. Wardo went 3-4 with 4 RBI and he hit his 1st big league HR. Career night for the newbie. Good for him. I hope he can keep it up.

The game really should have been a blowout. CC went 7 innings and when he left the score was 11-5. A 6-run lead should be safe even with the Yankee bullpen. But they did everything in their power to blow the game. Joba sucked. D-Rob sucked. Even Boone Logan was a little off. Mo wasn't vintage Mo but still got the job done. I'll give them a pass tonight based on how well they've done recently. Yes Joba, even you. Coming into tonight Joba had allowed only 1 run in his last 13 appearances. Logan hadn't allowed a run in his last 15 games and still hasn't. D-Rob just had a string of 19 scoreless appearances snapped. They've all pitched pretty well. Hopefully it's not a sign of things to come.

The Rays beat the Red Sox tonight. That works for me. As I wrote yesterday all I care about is that the Yankees make it to the postseason. I don't care if they finish as the AL East champs or the wild-card. Again, would prefer the division but wild-card works for me. The Yankees magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 28. Losses by the Red Sox reduce that number. So go Rays.

Ivan Nova tomorrow. I missed his last outing. Hope to catch this one.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Well That Just Sucked

Tonight's Yankee game was the first one I got to see from start to finish in a long time. And just my luck, it was a stinker. A.J. Burnett was again beyond brutal. A.J.'s inconsistency is really puzzling. He'll go on a roll and then make a total 180. Just look at his ERA for example. It was 3.28 after his start on 5/30. It went up after each of his next 5 starts and was at 5.25 on 6/26. It went down to 4.52, then up to 4.93, then down to 4.66, and it now sits at 5.17. His record on the year now sits at 9-12. He needs to straighten things out. The ups and downs need to stop. It's obvious that A.J. knows how to pitch. He has pretty damn good stuff. Someone needs to figure out how to harness it.

I'm hoping as the calendar turns from August to September, A.J.'s fortunes change with it. A.J. made 5 starts in August and the Yankees lost all 5 of those games. To be fair to A.J. he did pitch fairly well in 2 of those games but the bottom line is that he lost 4 of the 5 starts. The same thing happened last season. He went 0-4 in 6 August starts last year. This can't happen. His performance tonight is unacceptable. Just think, he's signed for another 3 years.

It was just an ugly game. Very sloppy. Francisco Cervelli is quickly playing his way out of everyone's good graces. His average is down to .240. He's made 10 errors. Tonight he was on the receiving end of 3 wild pitches. He's got to be better but it's becoming evident that he's not a major league catcher. I can totally see his playing time decrease significantly once the rosters expand. Jesus Montero anyone?

Only positive from tonight was Nick Swisher hitting his 23rd HR. It kind of made up for the God-awful throw to the plate. anyway, the HR adds more money to Swish's Wishes charity fundraiser. That puts the total up to $922. It's not too late to donate if anyone is interested. Basically what's happening is a bunch of us are pledging to donate money to his charity. Every time he goes deep, it's $ in his charity's pocket. Right now every Swisher HR earns his charity $38. Want more info? Click here.

While I was tweeting tonight I noticed some Yankees fans pulling for the Red Sox to beat the Rays. I'm rooting for the opposite. I'd rather have more distance between the Yankees and the team 2nd in the wild card standings than I would the Yankees and the Rays for the division. All I care about is that the Yankees get a ticket to the show. It doesn't matter to me if it's as the division winner or as the wild card. You can't win it all if you're not playing in October. While winning the division is the goal, I'll be happy if they end up finishing 2nd to Tampa Bay. Red Sox losses equal one step closer to getting their ticket to the postseason punched.

CC, aka the Big Man, goes tomorrow. He's on fire. Pay attention Burnett. He'll show you how it's done.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Back To Business

My how time flies. It's hard to believe that it's been 2 weeks since I've been able to blog. I've got so much going on. For starters, the wife and I welcomed a new addition to the family. Just over 2 weeks ago the wife gave birth to our 3rd child, a daughter named Bailey. Thanks again to everyone on Twitter who sent well wishes my way. I appreciate it. Our oldest just turned 3 last Sunday so as you can imagine when you have 3 kids at home aged 3 and under, you don't have a lot of free time. On top of all that we closed on our brand new home about a week after the baby was born. It took about 3 days to move everything in and another 3 days to put it all where it needs to go. I did have time at night to watch the Yankees but we didn't get our cable hooked up until this past Tuesday. I caught a little of the last few games but as you can expect I haven't had time to blog about it. Here's my attempt at catching up a little:

The Yankees are 9-6 since I blogged last. Could be better, could be worse. I'll take it. At the close of the last Boston series the Yankees were 7 up on the Sox in the loss column with 51 to play. 16 games have been played in that span and the Sox are 6 back in the loss column. 6 games back with 35 to play. Yeah, not going to happen. If the Yankees go 17-18 the rest of the way, the Sox would have to go 22-12 (.648) just to tie. Yeah, not going to happen.

A-Rod and Lance Berkman landed on the DL. Andy Pettitte is still on it. Bummer. But I've been so far removed from Yankees news I'm not even sure what's up with them.

CC is the man. He's gone 3-0 while I've been away. He's won his last 4 and has been rather impressive. As the weather heats up, so does CC. Over those 4 starts, he's 4-0, 29.2 IP, 24 hits, 6 walks, 24 K, and has allowed 7 ER for an ERA of 2.12. He's sitting on a record of 17-5 and an ERA of 3.02. Amazing. He's got 5-6 starts left. I don't want to jump the gun but I'd have to put the odds of CC picking up 20 wins at least at 75%. He leads the league in wins. Has the 5th best ERA in the AL. Can you say Cy Young?

Johnny Damon is still the man. I love how he basically gave the middle finger to the Red Sox by deciding to stay with the Tigers. Ha ha ha. I love it.

Phil Hughes was not at all impressive in his last outing but it's nothing I'm concerned about.

I was bummed about not being able to make it to Toronto for the series (1st time in like 4 years) but I suppose a new house and new baby is as good a reason as any to miss out. I plan to be back for the September set.

Javy Vazquez is in the bullpen. Anybody care?

Best Yankees spot starter in recent memory has to be Dustin Moseley.

What's gotten into Boone Logan? 15 straight appearances without allowing a run. 10.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 walks, 11 K, and no runs! Who would have thunk it? Not me. That's for sure.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something but my brain is a little fried. 35 games left. They've rounded 3rd and their heading for home. Will they have to slide or can they cross the plate standing up? Will there be a play at the plate? My gut and head are both telling me that October baseball will be played in the Bronx yet again. But it's baseball. Anything can happen.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

It's Baby Time

The wife's OB/GYN decided to induce labor today so at some point today (I'd think), the Boogie Down Baby #3 (it's a girl!) will be joining the family (and the Yankees Universe). Blogging will be light over the next day or two, which I'm sure you understand.

Depending on how things go I may be able to catch some of the games. I listened to last night's loss to the Rangers. Tough loss. You don't normally hear/see Mariano cough it up like that. Texas is a really good time so while the loss stings as both Tampa and Boston won, it's no biggie in the grand scheme of things. Pretend you're Mo and forget about it right after it happens.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Fall To Red Sox In Finale But All Is Good In The Yankees Universe

I got to listen to pretty much all of today's game on the radio today. My work schedule was kind to me. Busy day but it was desk work for the most part. The outcome of today's game didn't go in the Yankees' favor but nobody should be disappointed with the outcome. There were definitely a lot of positives to go around.

For starters, the Yankees knocked 4 games off their schedule and the Red Sox have nothing to show for it. They came in 7 losses behind the Yankees and they're leaving 7 losses behind the Yankees. The Red Sox needed to win at least 3 of 4 this series if they had any hopes of contending for the division. They failed. Time is running out and making up 7 games when you have 51 to play is a tall mountain to climb. Can it be done? Sure. But it would take both a monumental run by the Sox and a monumental collapse by the Yankees to happen. The Sox have 49 games left. Let's assume they play out of their shoes the rest of the way and play .650 ball, which is 84 percentage points higher than their winning percentage to date (.566). They'd finish the season 32-17. If they pull that off, which is unlikely, the Yankees would have to finish 27-24 (.549), which is 73 percentage points below their winning percentage to date (.622). Assume the Sox could somehow pull off a .600 finish. They'd finish 30-19. The Yanks would have to tank and finish 25-26 just for the Sox to tie. Both scenarios are highly improbable. But it's baseball and anything can happen. Though again, it's really unlikely.

Phil Hughes could have pulled a Josh Beckett today and taken his team right out of the ballgame. He had a brutal start, throwing 50 some odd pitches in 2 innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 runs. He was in shutdown mode the rest of the way. Nice composure from the youngster. Philly boy finished with 6 strong innings, keeping his team in the game and giving them a chance to win. You'd think the team with the most runs scored in MLB could have mustered a few more runs, right? Well, against someone other than Jon Lester and I'd say maybe. Lester is as tough as they come and he shut the Yanks down today. I don't want to call Hughes a hard-luck loser but it was a solid outing. It was nice to see, I mean hear, him pitch his way through 6 innings. I hope Joba and A.J. were paying attention today. Hughes gave a lesson on how not to implode on the mound. Well done.

Speaking of Joba, he put up another solid outing. That's 7 straight scoreless appearances for the Jobster. 7.1 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 K. He had an impressive 2-pitch 2-out inning to close out the 8th. Hopefully he's got his head on straight. I think I might have to work him back into my fantasy lineup.

Offensively not the best day for the boys in Pinstripes. Again though, they faced Jon Lester. He's a tough cookie to crack. I thought they had him in the 7th but then Daniel Bard showed up and K'd both Jeter and Swisher with the bases loaded. I haven't seen the replay but it sounds like Marcus Thames was a hair away from tying the game. I'm more curious to see though why Posada didn't score on the hit. The way John Sterling made it sound was that the ball was nowhere need going to be catchable. Did Jorge hold up, get a bad read on the ball, or is he just slower than molasses? If I had to guess I'd say C, he's slower than molasses. Dude is slow.

It's road trip time. The Yankees head to Texas to play 2 and then to KC for a 4-game set. We're now a day past my wife's due date and still no baby. Going past a due date is kind of like a soccer game. Regulation time expired and were now into extra time and we have no idea when the game is going to end. It would work out well if she were born sometime before Wednesday afternoon. Tomorrow's game is on My9 and Verizon FiOS here in Buffalo doesn't carry that feed. So since I can't see the game it would work out well for me if the baby came tomorrow or Wednesday morning. I'm such a selfish person, aren't I? As long as she shows up healthy that's all that matters.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Blast Beckett, Beat Boston 7-2

Boone Logan just got David Ortiz to ground out with the bases loaded in the top of the 7th to keep the lead at 7-2 Yankees. I'm writing this before the game ends in hopes to save myself some time. I'm either getting up for work at 6am or I'm getting up earlier if the wife goes into labor. Her due date is today and she's been getting some major contractions. So who knows what's in store?

I'm going to write this one a little differently. It's going to be a mash-up of thoughts on the last 3 games. I listened to Friday's loss on the radio. I missed the 1st half of Saturday's game but caught the 2nd half on the radio. I saw all of Sunday's game. Not ideal when it comes to taking in the Yankees/Red Sox but it is what it is. I'm glad I at least got to see Sunday's game. I thought for sure I'd be tuned into the radio again since we're currently a 1 TV house and I'm low man on the totem pole.

• Congrats to Derek Jeter on passing Babe Ruth on the all-time hit list.
• Congrats to A-Rod on stealing his 300th base.
• Congrats to Lance Berkman for finally showing up. Pathetic that prior to tonight his best hit as a Yankee was during BP when he took out A-Rod.
• Dustin Moseley is the man. He's pitching his tail off and is earning his keep.
• Mariano Rivera is insanely good. I'm not sure how he keeps getting better and better as he gets older. His ERA is now below 0.90. Unreal. 1 pitch 1 out on Sunday. He's God.
• CC Sabathia is worth every penny of his salary. He hasn't allowed more than 3 ER in his last 13 starts. He's 10-2 with a 2.38 ERA in that span. The team scored 1 total run in his 2 losses.
• I hate Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. Seriously, how hard is it to pronounce the name "Beltre?"
• I wrote before that something always seems to prevent me from seeing Phil Hughes pitch. Add back spasms to that list. A.J.'s "injury" moves Phil up a day and it's a day game. No chance I'll be in front of the TV for it. Hughes v. Lester. If there's ever a game to call in sick for that's it.
• When did Boone Logan become good? 8 straight appearances without allowing a run and 7 straight without allowing a hit. 6.2 IP, 1H, 6K. Who knew?
• Not that he has been but so much for Josh Beckett being a Yankee-killer. In case there's any question about it, his membership in that club has been officially and permanently revoked. In 4 starts this year against the Yanks, JB is 0-2 and has only thrown 19.1 IP, allowing 33 hits, 11 walks, and 24 ER. That's an ERA of 11.17. Career ERA against them is now up to 6.23. What a bum.

The game's over. Yankees won 7-2. The win guarantees that the Yankees can do no worse than split this 4 game-set. Even if they lose on Monday they come out ahead. Nothing wrong with knocking 4 games off the schedule and keeping the distance between you and the team chasing you the same. But who wants to split, right? Go for the deathblow. The Red Sox are currently 8 behind the Yankees in the loss column with 52 games to play. Time is running out for the Red Sox when it comes to catching the Yankees. Big up to the Blue Jays for sweeping the Rays. The Rays have now lost 5 straight and the Yankees lead in the East is up to 2.5 games (3 in the loss column). How quickly things change!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Didn't Play But It Was A Good Day

The Yanks might not have played today but it was still a good day. The Twins beat the Rays again so the Yanks are back in 1st place all by themselves. On top of that it was announced that Kevin Youkilis is going to miss the rest of the season due to injury. Now I don't wish that anyone gets injured. But injuries are a part of the game. Losing Kevin Youkilis is a huge blow to the Red Sox offense. You can't easily replace a perennial MVP candidate. It's going to be tough for the Sox to make up 6 games without Youk in their lineup. Is it impossible? No. Improbable? Yes. His injury greatly increases the odds of the Yankees playing baseball well into October. That works for me.

I didn't get to see Wednesday's game. I listened to it at work as best I could and caught most of the action. Unfortunately, I missed hearing A-Rod hit his 600th career HR. Lucky for me I finally got my smartphone (Droid X - IT ROCKS!) so I got to see the replay of it right after it happened with MLB's At-Bat app. That app rocks. If you're a baseball fan I don't know how you can live without it. I'm not sure how I existed without it for so long. Back to Alex....I don't know what it is about milestone HRs that cause him to go homerless for so long. Same thing happened with #500. How crazy is it that he hit #600 3 years to the day of hitting #500? Funny how things like that work out. Hopefully with #600 out of the way Alex can get back to playing a normal game. His "slump" had to be wearing on him. I think he's going to go on a tear now. When he does, remember, you heard it hear first.

Huuuuuuuuuuuuughes! 13-4 baby! Phil is having an awesome year. Yesterday wasn't his best outing of the season but still a good game. I wish I had seen it live. It's funny that Hughes is probably my favorite Yankee pitcher and I've seen very few of his games this year. Between day games, My9 games, and personal obligations, I think I've seen him pitch 3-5 times. If anybody saw the game and wants to fill me in on how he looked I'd appreciate it. Hard to tell from just the box score.

Not sure how much blogging I'll be doing in the coming days. I have a lot going on. We're now tentatively scheduled to close on our new home on the 13th. My wife's due date is Sunday and things are starting to happen so who know how that'll go. It's going to be quite a busy and hectic time 'round these parts. I wouldn't have it any other way though. New house. New baby. All is good.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Blue Jays Bomb The Bronx Bombers 8-2

Before I get into my condensed game recap I wanted to give a quick update. Blogging may be hit and miss over the next few weeks for a multitude of reasons. 1)Our 3rd child will be here any day now. 2)Our new house will be ready any day now. 3)While we're waiting for the house to finish we're staying at my in-laws and we're down to 1 TV. The 3rd item is probably the biggest impact right now. I was staying in the basement where I had my own setup. My wife's sister and her 2 kids are visiting from Georgia and they are also staying at my wife's parents. I've lost my room and am now on the couch. So the TV I was watching is now in the make-shift bedroom of a 2.5 year old and the main TV is being split between 3 people and there's already stuff being DVR'd. My ability to watch the games is seriously compromised. But I did get to see most of tonight's game, which wasn't a good thing.

The Yankees bats need to wake the funk up. There's been more bad games than good recently when it comes to the Yankees offense. They managed 2 hits tonight. Pitiful. 2 hits. Wow.

The Jays seem to be doing OK, don't they? Holy mackerel. It seems like they're going yard every other inning. They went deep 4 times tonight and twice yesterday. I'm amazed they lead the league in HRs (by a wide margin) and are mired in 4th place. Sucks to be in the AL East. Sucks for the Yanks too. There 3-game losing streak has allowed Tampa Bay to leapfrog into 1st place by a full game. If the Yanks were in any other division they'd be sitting on a 4-game lead or so. Again, sucks to be in the AL East. It's going to be a dogfight the rest of the way.

Hopefully, the Yankees right this ship. They're not too far off course and you shouldn't really be concerned by a 5-game swoon (1-4 in last 5). The season has its highs and lows. This is definitely a low. But there's plenty of baseball left to play and the Yankees are definitely one of the best 2 teams in baseball. They won't tailspin out of control. We just need to ride this one out and it'll be over before we know it.

Day game tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to listen at work. Not sure what my day is like but I should be able to catch some of it. But if they play like they did tonight, I won't want to. Here's to a better outcome. Somebody place a call to Jobu.

"I ask Jobu to come, take fear from bats. I offer him cigar, rum. He will come." - Pedro Cerrano

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Watering A New Lawn Sucks

Missed the game yesterday. We're nearing the finishing line on moving into our new home and one of things we have to do is have the lawn seeded and then water it. Having it seeded was easy. The watering is the sucky part. I spent pretty much all day Sunday standing around outside moving sprinklers every 15-30 minutes. So much fun. I missed all of the game and didn't even get to check the score until almost 7pm. Not the result I was hoping for.

I hear CC was a little off, working into and out of jams all game. Didn't matter though. You can't win if you don't score. Not the best series offensively for the Yankees. Based on the lack of offense I'm happy they won 1 game and left 1 game up on the Rays for the division.

The Yanks are now back in the Bronx for a 3-game set with the Jays. Hopefully the Yankees bats will return.

I'm getting my new smartphone (Droid X) today. It's like Christmas. Can't wait to play with it and more importantly, tweet about the Yankees with it. Fun fun fun.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie