The Red Sox Catch A Boogie Down Beatdown

I don't know about you guys but I slept extremely well last night. It could have been from the lack of sleep I've gotten recently. It could have been because the Yankees swept the Red Sox. I'll go with the latter. I was asked several times at work today how my weekend. My response was always along the lines of "it was the best weekend ever." When asked what made it so great I'd reply that the Yankees swept the Red Sox. They would chuckle and say, "I should have known." I don't want to say I'm the office's biggest Yankee fan, wait, yes I do. I can't remember the last time I went to work when I wasn't rocking a Yankee shirt. My wardrobe is chock full of Yankees clothes. Some say I have a problem. Those people can suck on eggs thank you very much.

I don't think the "Boogie Down Beatdown" (or Bronx Beatdown, you pick) could have gone any better. I would have been very happy had the Yankees won last night's game 1-nothing but I like the fact that the Sox, and their fans, had their joy from V-Mart's HR yanked away from them 10 minutes later. I love that the Sox had a glimmer of hope and had it snatched away moments later. I take great joy in that. When the Yankees were down 2-1, I tweeted (you can follow me if you want, click here) that the greatest ending to the series would be if the Yanks won on a walkoff and beat that ass clown Papelbon. Damon and Teixiera going back-to-back (and belly-to-belly) off Daniel Bard will have to do. Different Sox reliever. Same result, sans walkfoff.

The Yankees pitching was absolutely dominant. CC kicked some serious tailfeathers on Saturday. Andy Pettitte, not to be outdone by CC or A.J., pitched a gem of his own. It's too bad last night's win went to Phil Coke. I can't stand when a guy comes in and gives up the lead only to pick up the win because the offense picks them up. Brian Bruney got a win like that on June 30th. I feel bad that Andy didn't get the win. He definitely deserved it. I know a lot of people were hammering Girardi for not bringing in Phil Hughes. I understand why he didn't as it would have been Phil's 4th outing in 5 days. But, I still would have gone to him. He pitched to 2 batters in 3 days, throwing only 9 pitches. I'm pretty sure Phil had a few pitches in him. I would have gone to him, but again, can understand and respect why they didn't.

The Yankee pitching staff held the Sox scoreless for 31.2 innings (if you count the final out of Thursday's game). If not for Anthony Claggett, a pitcher who had 1.2 major league innings under his belt, it would have been longer. Feel proud Sox fans. Your offense is absolutely terrible. The Sox offense is pretty potent though. They've scored the 5th most runs in the AL. For my money, and I'm not saying this because I'm a Yankee fan, all of the credit goes to the Yankee pitching staff. They kicked some major ass. I think it's safe to say that both CC and A.J. were well worth the money. Just like.......

Mark Teixeira. Despite going 0-6 on Friday, Teix had a great series, going 6-17 with 2 2B and 2 HR. His HR last night was just the icing on the cake. Suck on that John Henry. I've also got to give it up to A-Rod. He's been pretty clutch this year. Pete Abe blogged this yesterday and it bears repeating: Alex Rodriguez has 20 home runs this season. Eleven of them have tied the game or given the Yankees the lead. Of his 62 RBI, 33 have tied the game or given the Yankees the lead. Add another HR and RBI to that total. Despite the low average, Alex is having a pretty solid year. Not quite the MVP-type of year Teixeira is having, but he's getting there.

It's a good time to be a Yankee fan right now. The team has won 7 straight and have the best record in all of MLB (2.5 games better than the Dodgers). The lead in the AL East has grown to 6.5 games. The Red Sox are plummeting and their fans must be miserable. The Rays are 8 games back. The pitching staff is kicking butt. David Ortiz was outed as being on "the list" (release it already). Life is good. Life is sho nuff good.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie