Cliff Lee Went To Philly, B.F.D.

Greetings everyone. Long time, no talk. I have no good reason to explain my absence. I've just been super-busy with work, life, and all that jazz. I've been meaning to blog an entry here and there but it's been hard to find the time. I told myself I would when the whole Cliff Lee drama resolved itself. So here I am.

I can sum up my feelings about Cliff Lee signing with the Phillies in 2 simple words: don't care. Would it have been nice if Cliff Lee signed with the Yankees? Abso-freaking-loutely. But is it the end of the world that he didn't? Not even close. Adding Lee to the Yankees rotation would have been a huge improvement to the team. No doubt about that. But they're still fine without him, as long as one thing happens, and that is Andy Pettitte returning to the Yankees.

Had Lee signed with the Yankees it would have made losing Pettitte not such a big deal. Lee would have been like a super-awesome insurance policy. The fact of the matter is that last year's Yankee rotation, which included a horrible A.J. Burnett and a revolving door of 5th SPs, won 95 games and made the playoffs. If Pettitte resigns, the rotation, is for all intents and purposes, the same as it was last year. Sure the 5th spot is open but let's face it, anybody could step into that spot and do as well as Vazquez, Moseley, Mitre & Nova. A rotation of Sabathia, Hughes, Pettitte, Burnett and Lee would have been awesome. A rotation of Sabathia, Hughes, Pettitte, Burnett, and ?? would still be pretty damn good. Again, that tandem won 95 games last year. They'd be formidable enough to win that many again. Right now, Pettitte is the key to that happening. If he retires, then we have a problem.

It seems pretty clear to me that Lee never wanted to be a Yankee. If anybody out there is blaming Brian Cashman for messing things up, and there are people saying he did, they need to stop. Silly irrational fans. There isn't anything he could have done, except for mortgaging the entire future of the franchise, to sign Lee. He was never coming here. I can understand why he went to Philly. I think it gives him the best chance to win. The NL East pales in comparison to the AL East. The Phillies should pretty much roll over that division with ease. Their rotation is pretty sick and is arguably the best in MLB. I'd give that nod to the Giants. They did after all beat Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels and Lee in last year's playoffs. If Lee comes out and says he chose Philly because it gives him the best chance to win, I can kind of respect that. But, it's kind of a wuss move. The AL East is without question the toughest division in baseball. Maybe Cliff was afraid of a little tough competition? Everybody knows NL pitchers have better numbers. I can't blame him for not wanting to face the teams in the AL East 19 times each per season. That's my slightly-irrational view on that. I can admit it.

I also get that Lee loves the city of Philly. I know he has a child with cancer and the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, aka the CHOP, is one of, if not the, best cancer center for children in the country. Makes sense that he'd want to be close to that. Signing with Philly was a good move for Lee. Even at what could be $40-50 million less in guaranteed money.

And those are my thoughts on Lee. Again, not a big deal to me. Assuming of course that Andy Pettitte comes back. I'm inclined to think he will but who knows. The Yankees have been down this road with him before. He'll be back. I hope.

Tomorrow, I'll have up a post about the Red Sox and their fans' misguided confidence about next season. I'm going to write it now and have it come up about this time tomorrow. I also hope to blog more regularly but I make no promises.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Comeback And Pull Off An Improbable Game 1 Win

Like the Goonies, the New York Yankees never say die. What an incredible Yankees victory! Unbelievable. I'm still kind of shocked that they pulled it out. If you told me before the game that CC Sabathia was going to get pulled after 4 innings I'd have thought that the Yankees would have been blown out. I'd have to think that tonight's come-from-behind victory took all of the wind out of the Rangers' sails. I wouldn't be surprised if the Yankees sweep this series now. CC Sabathia was terrible. C.J. Wilson was awesome. Yankees have a 5-run 8th inning and win 6-5. Sorry Texas. You guys are done. You can't beat up CC like that and lose the game. Again, you're done.

Play of the game had to be Brett Gardner's leadoff single in the 8th inning. That was a great heads up, or should I say heads down play. They always say that diving into first base is not as fast as running through the bag. If GGBG doesn't dive there he's probably out. If that had happened this would be a totally different blog.

The 8th inning was a great inning. After Jeter doubled Gardner home I said to myself that if Cano made it to the plate that the Yankees would win this game. I would have tweeted that but I had my hands full. Literally. Stay tuned for the story. The back-to-back walks by Swisher and Teixeira were almost as huge as Gardner's single. Those were two great ABs. I loved seeing the Yankees hammer one Texas RP after another. A-Rod sees 1 pitch and knocks in a run. Cano sees 1 pitch and knocks in another. When Robbie was up I said to myself, "C'mon Robbie. One pitch, one out. I mean one pitch one hit." Thank God I corrected myself. Cano had a monster game. M-V-P! M-V-P! Robbie is quickly becoming my favorite Yankee. I hope he's a Yankee-for-life.

There were a lot of huge contributors in tonight's win. The bullpen came up big. Joba, despite looking like he's packed on a few pounds, looked good. Dustin Moseley, of all people, looked phenomenal. He had a huge 2 innings. Kerry Wood had a HUGE pickoff of Ian Kinsler to wipe out a leadoff walk. For shame Ian. Talk about a boneheaded mistake. You can't be doing that at this level and in the ALCS. But thanks for doing it. I think I speak for Yankee fans everywhere when I say, thanks! And as we've seen so many times before in October, the Almighty Mo picks up the save. Mo is a God and I worship him. I think that statement violates one of the 10 Commandments. I think God would agree with me though. Mo is God.

The worst part of this great Yankee victory was CC's performance. He looked downright awful. It could have very well been his worst start of the season. Had the Yankees lost it definitely would have been. Let's chalk this one up to rust and inactivity. Everyone knows pitchers are creatures of habit and pitching every 5 days is what they're used to. It's been 10 days since his last start. I won't worry too much about it. But if his next start isn't vintage CC, I'll begin to worry.

The real hero of this great Yankees win is my little 2 year old daughter. I originally put her to bed at about 10pm. She woke up at around 10:35 or so. My wife wasn't home so I was on a solo mission with her. I went up to get her and brought her back downstairs to get her back to sleep. I brought her down right before Brett Gardner's 8th inning leadoff single. I stood there in our dark living room, holding her and rocking her back-and-forth. Jeter doubles. Swisher walks. Teixeira walks. A-Rod singles. Cano singles. Thames singles and the Yankees are winning. It was during that rally that I dubbed my daughter "The Rally Baby." Being a baseball nut I'm very superstitious. I stood in my living room, holding and rocking her until Mo got the final out. There was no chance I was putting her down. My arm was killing me when all was said and done. But no pain no gain, right? LOL.

Phil Hughes gets the start tomorrow, err, I mean later today. I'm expecting big things tomorrow. The Yankees have all of the momentum right now and the Rangers have to feel defeated. I'm confident the Yankees will be leaving Texas up 2-0. 4 down, 7 to go.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Announce ALDS Roster & Rotation, No Real Surprises

A little behind on this as the update came down earlier this morning, but better late than never, right. I really wish I could post things right after they happen. Sucks to have real things to do. The Yankees really should rule all things in the universe.

No major shocks to me on the ALDS roster. A little surprised Javy Vazquez got left off and by little I mean very little. But really, what role would he fill. I'm also a little surprised Dustin Moseley made the roster over Ivan Nova but I can see that going either way. Not at all surprised and I'm rather thankful that Chad Gaudin isn't on the roster. I'd be happy if he didn't throw in another game this year. Sergio Mitre on the roster. Like Gaudin, I hope he doesn't pitch either. You could make a case for keeping Nova on the roster over Mitre and I'd think prefer that but whatever.

Offensively, no big shocks. I probably would have kept Eduardo Nunez over Greg Golson but again, I could go either way on that. Outside of that, I'm cool.

The only real area where I would consider making a change is with the rotation. And like with the roster, I can live with and understand behind doing it how they're doing it. The only thing I'd do differently, and I've mentioned this in my last few blogs, is I'd flip-flop Phil Hughes and Andy Pettitte. As I wrote the other day Phil's #s are much better on the road then they are at home. I think it's also better to pitch the 2 LHPs in back-to-back games in Yankee Stadium. But on the flip-side, we are talking about Andy Pettitte, one of the best postseason pitchers there is. I'd prefer Andy on the mound in a game 5 (if necessary) than Phil Hughes. I thought yesterday that the game 2 SP would be starting game 5 on short rest but I was wrong. I have a problem counting to 5 I guess. I'm also skeptical on Andy being 100%. All things considered I'd like to see Hughes in games 2 and 5 but again, no problem with the decision to go with Andy.

It also appears the Yankees are going with a 3-man rotation for the ALDS. I'm a big fan of that. The only SP that could possibly go on short rest is CC (games 1 and 4) and let's face it, if there is any guy that can go on short rest, it's CC Sabathia. That makes A.J. Burnett the odd man out. I think Yankee fans everywhere are rejoicing over that one. I only saw them using A.J. in game 4 if they had a 2 games to 1 lead. As I think more about it, what would be the point when CC is the horse that he is. I like A.J. being in the pen rather than being left off the roster altogether. He does have some value, albeit it's not a lot.

To sum up all that drivel, I have no major problems with how the Yankees are going after the Twins. I might have done a thing or two differently, but I can totally see why the roster and rotation are the way they are. To me, it's all good.

Less than 24 hours til first pitch. Excitement is building!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Fall Back To 2nd Place After Losing To Rays

Well that just sucked. I thought for sure as soon as Granderson went yard to put the Yankees up 3-2 that the game was in the bag. It was as if the Baseball Gods were smiling down upon them after allowing Jeter to reach base on a phantom HBP. Note to Red Sox fans: don't even try to talk trash about that. Victor Martinez did the same thing a few weeks back. It's part of the game. You do what you do to win. So shut up and don't even go there.

Anyway, I was so disappointed when Phil Hughes gave the lead right back on Johnson's 2-run HR. Sure Girardi have pulled him at the start if the inning? Maybe. I have no problem leaving PH in. I can see it both ways. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Outside of the 2 mistakes Phil pitched a pretty good ballgame. Unfortunately it only takes one mistake to do a pitcher in and that's exactly what happened. Sorry Phil. No Hughes call tonight. We're still stuck on 16.

The Yankees offense came up short tonight. Only 2-9 with RISP. Not good. I think Girardi made a big mistake by pinch-hitting Marcus Thames for Lance Berkman. The smarter move in my opinion would have been to save Thames for Kearns or Curtis. Girardi messed that one up. Not a good couple of games for Girardi these last few days. He can't make the right decision to save his life. I think the same thing happened for a stretch last year. I don't think though it came at such a crucial point of the season. Hopefully his string of bad moves will change.

Still not in panic mode. Despite the slump the Yankees are playing pretty decent baseball. Six of their last seven games have been decided by 1 run and a lot could have gone either way. The lead in the wild card race is still a comfortable 6 games. A playoff berth is by no means a guarantee but there's no way this team continues to falter like they're currently doing. Their not exactly throwing out their A-team right now. Swisher, Pettitte, Gardner, and Teixeira are all hurt. A-Rod and Jeter are both less than 100%. You won't see guys like Mitre, Gaudin, and to a lesser extent Vazquez and Moseley put into close games in the postseason. The current make-up of this ball club is not what we'll see come October. The trick is weathering the storm and getting to October. Swisher and Gardner should be back Friday. Pettitte should be back soon. This team won't continue to lose. Knock on wood.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

A Couple Of Questions After A Yankees Loss

Great game between the Yankees and Rays tonight. Unfortunately for us it didn't go the Yankees way. Lots of people on the hook for this one. Girardi, Mitre, the Yankees offense. Pick one. The one person not on the hook is CC Sabathia. What a performance. He deserved better.

1) Where oh where has the Yankees offense gone? Oh where oh where can it be? It's been a terrible last 2 games for the offense. Granted, they faced David Price and Cliff Lee but still: 1 run on 6 hits in 2 games. They're better than that.

2)Not sure who made this call but why in the world did Brett Gardner attempt to steal 3rd when he was already in scoring position and needs a base hit to score either way? If Joe Girardi and crew made that call then somebody needs to get canned because that was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. If Gardner did it on his own than he needs a serious time-out (sorry, got 3 kids). Gardner is one of the fastest runners in the league. He likely scores from 2nd on a base hit. Stupid move.

3)What is up with using Chad Gaudin in these close situations? I couldn't believe that Giradri went to him again in a tie game when he had several other (and better) RPs available. Props to Gaudin for getting out of it by the skin of his teeth.

4)Sergio Mitre. See question 3. What's up with not using other RPs? Albaladejo? Robertson? Joba? Hughes? Four fairly decent choices and Girardi opts for his 2 worst choices in Gaudin and Mitre. WTF?

Is it time to panic? Not yet, but it's getting close. They didn't exactly roll out their top flight SPs in the Texas series. No Pettitte. No Hughes. No CC. You think Dustin Moseley or Javy Vazquez will be making postseason starts? Nope. Same goes for the bullpen. They've been pretty damn good of late. No way Gaudin or Mitre pitches in this game if it were the playoffs. CC was off the freaking hook tonight. The offense failed him. But again, David Price, like CC and Cliff Lee, is no joke.

The Yankees have now lost 4 in a row and are 1-7 over their last 8. They're lucky they have such a big lead for the wild card. What I thought would be an impossible collapse is starting to happen. Lucky for them both the Red Sox and White Sox aren't hot right now. If the Red Sox hold on and win tonight they'll be 7 back in the loss column with 18 to play. It's still a pretty comfortable lead. But as we all know, you can't predict baseball. The magic # to clinch a playoff spot sits at 12. Until it gets to zero you never know what will happen. Right, Mets fans?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Run Season High Win Streak To 8 With 7-5 Win Over Jays

Let the good times roll, right? The Yankees have won 8 straight and are rapidly moving toward officially clinching a playoff spot. With the win today and the Red Sox loss (nice!) the magic number to clinch is 18. Running that down to zero is just a formality. The Red Sox are 9 back in the loss column with 26 to play (could possibly be 10 back by end of night). If the Yankees slump and play .500 the rest of the way (13-13) the Red Sox would have to go 23-4. Excuse me a moment. I have to call 911 because I think I just busted my gut. No chance the Red Sox go 23-4 the rest of the way. I think at best the Red Sox could go 18-9 and that's being very generous. Assuming they do, the wheels would totally have to fall off and the Yankees would have to finish 9-17. Sorry, need another moment. This time I think I split my side. Ouch.

The last 2 Yankee wins have been pretty similar. Mainly because neither starter could make it through 5 (both lasted 4.2) and the bullpen had to step up to lock the win down. And boy did they step it up. Friday the pen combined to pitch 4.1 hitless/scoreless innings. Logan to Robertson to Wood to Rivera. Game over. Today the pen pitched 4.1 IP, allowing 2 inherited runners to score on 3 total hits. Moseley to Logan to Chamberlain to Wood to Rivera. Game over. The runs allowed today could have been avoided if Joe Girardi didn't mishandle the last out of the 5th. With the lefty Lyle Overbay up the correct move would have been to go to Boone Logan as opposed to Dustin Moseley. What made the move even more puzzling is that Girardi used Logan immediately after Moseley. Logan should have been in to face Overbay. Joe's lucky the team picked him up.

The Kerry Wood trade looks like a winner, eh? He's now appeared in 14 games as a Yankee. He's thrown 16 innings, allowing only 1 run on 10 hits. The run he allowed came in his 2nd appearance. Since then he's been lights out. Except for the walks. Girardi has used him as the 8th inning guy two games in a row in games that featured both Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson. Pretty obvious that Wood is the chosen one for the 8th inning. I've got no problem with that choice.

I didn't get to see any of Friday's game. I tried to listen to it on the radio while at work but it didn't go so well. I didn't catch much of Nova's start. I saw all of Vazquez's outing and it wasn't hard to tell that he didn't have anything. It's amazing he lasted as long as he did. I'll give him credit for battling through it and only giving up 3 runs. The big question with Javy is what's up with his velocity, or better yet, lack thereof? He was topping out just below 90 and was averaging around 87. That'll work if you can locate your pitches and have good control and offspeed stuff, a la Mike Mussina. But when you don't, like Javy, you're treading water. I read that he's staying in the rotation so hopefully they can figure out what's wrong before his next turn comes up.

Marcus Thames had the big hit today with what turned out to be a 2-run game winning HR. MT's average has dipped a little but he's got a nice power stroke. He's gone deep in 6 of his last 10 games. He's been quite the surprise this year. Didn't expect him to step up the way he has. Another thing I didn't expect was Brett Gardner to play so well. Honestly, I never saw Gardner as more than a 4th OF. Same as Melky Cabrera. I think I need to re-think that position. I'm most impressed by BG's ability to get on base. He was rocking a .390 OBP coming into today's game and reached another 3 times. He tied a Yankees record by picking up a walk in his 9th straight game (tying Jason Giambi). OBP + speed = a dangerous combination.

Both the Rays and Sox are currently losing their games. Tonight could be a good good night.

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

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

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

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

Yankees Finish Off The Indians With 11-4 Win, Bring On The Rays

I'd like to thank the Yankees for waiting until I turned the game on tonight to score all of their runs. Last night I missed it all. Tonight I saw it all. Scratch that. I did miss seeing them score their first run. But I did hear that on the radio while I was driving between houses. The 7th inning was a lot of fun to watch. I dig the longball but I like a hit parade a lot better.

Game ball goes to Dustin Moseley. He looked pretty good tonight. I'm nowhere near ready to anoint him the new 5th starter but it was definitely an outing that will earn him some consideration. I will say after seeing this one start I will take Moseley over Sergio Mitre any day of the week. I liked what I saw from him. More please.

Lots of offense tonight. The Yankees sent 12 different hitters to the plate and 10 of them picked up hits. The 2 that didn't were Mark Teixeira and Marcus Thames. I'll give Teixeira a pass because he walked 3 times. The team could have been a little more efficient though. You should score more than 12 runs when you have 12 hits and 12 walks. On the surface the #s with RISP tonight look pretty good. They were 7 for 21. But they started 0-9, maybe 0-10. Not a bad finish.

Nick Swisher should be embarrassed. Striking out against Andy Marte is inexcusable. It was also pretty funny. Marte looked pretty good. Gotta give him credit. Maybe the Yankees should swing a deadline deal for him. Kidding of course.

The A-Rod 600 watch will go on for at least another game. I couldn't help but crack up after every A-Rod AB. I loved when YES would cut to all of the fans pouring out of the left field landing after his AB. Not sure why I found that so funny but I did. I'd like to see Alex hit the HR just to get it over with. If not hitting the HR means 3 RBI, I'd much prefer that.

How ugly/funny was the end of the game? I was all set to write a blurb how the Yankees allowed 7 runs in the 4 game series. Then Joe Girardi and his managing got in the way. I don't really have a problem with the moves Girardi made. They did after all have a 10-run lead entering the 9th. If Joe learns anything from tonight's game I hope it's this: don't let Chan Ho Park pitch unless the Yankees have at least a 10-run lead. Dude is awful. You're up by 10 runs. Throw strikes! Second lesson to learn: don't ever let Marcus Thames play 3rd base again. Something tells me he never will. MT made a pretty sweet stop but totally butchered the throw. Funny stuff.

These last 2 games are a nice way to head to Tampa for a set with the Rays. The team is playing some good baseball. This series with Tampa Bay has the potential to be huge. Here's a chance to put a little distance between them in the standings. A sweep would be nice but is improbable. but hey, you never know. They've got all of the tools to do it. Hughes, Sabathia and Burnett will each get a turn and I like that trio. Hughes gets the ball in the opener and I'm looking for him to be the pace-setter. Again, not expecting a sweep, but 2 of 3 would be nice.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie