Yanks Run Winning Streak To 3 With 10-8 Shootout Win Over Blue Jays

Today's post will be a quickie. I didn't have the time to blog after yesterday's game and I've got about 20 minutes to do it now while on a break at work. Here goes:

After the 1st inning yesterday I knew the Yankees were going to score a lot of runs. I just didn't know that they were going to give up as many. Joba was not on his game yesterday. I know things may have been different had Cody Ransom not committed that error, but Joba has to pick the team up right there. He did the exact opposite, allowing 5 runs to score on 3 successive hits. Joba's should be grateful that the offense picked him up. The offense should be grateful that the bullpen shut down the Jays. Alfredo Aceves is by far yesterday's hero. He was the man. He threw 4 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 git and whiffing 5. Ace has been the picture of consistency all season. He's a very valuable piece of the puzzle. They need him to go 4 innings? He can do it. They need him to face 2 batters? He can do it. And he can do it well. Ace is holding opponents to a .208 batting average. The Yankees bullpen, with Rivera, Hughes, Aceves, Coke, and Bruney (struggling but can still get it done) is very formidable. I'd put it up there with the tops in the league.

The offense did a much better job yesterday of hitting with RISP, going 6 for 12. Jeter and Posada had huge days, picking up 4 hits a-piece. Jeter is having a great year, both offensively and defensively. Last year, you could make a case that he didn't deserve to be on the all-star team. This year there is no question. His .316 average is the highest of all AL shortstops. He also has the highest OBP and SLG percentage. You can't eff with his speed either as he's swiped 17 bases this year, which is 6 more than last year. Defensively, he has the 2nd highest fielding percentage of all shortstops in MLB. His .990 FP is 2nd to Marco Scutaro (.995). The fans definitely got it right this year. Speaking of all-stars, Mark Teixeira may not deserve to be the starting first baseman for the AL, but I am so glad he beat out Kevin Youkilis. I knew that was going to happen. Teix had the advantage of playing at home when the voting ended. My vote would have gone to Justin Morneau.

OK, I'm late getting back to training so I have to cut this short. It's a day game today so I don't anticipate catching any of it. I'm not going to predict a sweep, but the Yanks are playing well so I feel good about their chances. Andy Pettitte is the wild card. He's fallen into a pattern of winning every other game. His last 7 starts have gone like this: win, loss, win, loss, win, no decision but got shelled, win. I hope he breaks that pattern.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie