Baseball’s Savior

Even when it doesn’t matter, the Yankees play like they’re supposed to.  With home field advantage on the line, the Yankees are one game ahead of the Twins and Tigers.  I know they have the tie break over the Tigers but I’m not sure about the Twins.  Regardless, the Yankees will probably need two wins over the Blue Jays this weekend to clinch home field through out the playoffs.

Cory Lidle did a nice job on Tuesday.  He held the Orioles to three runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings of work.  Robinson Cano hit homerun number 14 and Bobby Abreu went yard with his sixth in the 5-4 win.

Wednesday’s game was a blowout.  Sixteen runs on eighteen hits was the final tally and Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada led the way with four RBIs.  Giambi, Posada, Abreu, Damon and Cano all homered in the 16-5 win.  Chien Ming Wang tied Johan Santana with his nineteenth win.  He gave up four runs on ten hits in six innings of work. Next up is four against Tampa Bay. Hopefully the guys don’t enjoy Florida too much. Those playoffs start in a little over a week. Individual game tickets go on sale shortly, but at a premium as you can well imagine. Payday loans are available online if you need to go that route but remember that scalpers will be on Jerome Ave in force so there may be bargains to be had.

Yesterday was the lone loss of the series.  Daniel Cabrera took a no hitter into the ninth inning and all the Yankees managed was one unearned run.  Darrell Rasner was shelled in less then three innings of work and Robinson Cano had the only hit of the game in the 7-1 loss.

The Yanks finish things up against the Jays.  if things started today, we’ve play the Twins, but there’s still a chance the Tigers could be our first round opponent.  Things might be more clear as early as tonight.

Alright, the home town fans get a show this week.  I know the Yankees won’t be playing all of their regulars as they tune up for the playoffs, but that still should give Yankees fan a chance to come out and cheer for their team as they roll into another post season.

Chien Ming Wang picked up win number 18 on Friday.  He was pretty impressive and gave up only one run on six hits with four strikeouts over seven innings.  Gary Sheffield made his return and he went zero for three and Robinson Cano and Aaron Guiel both went yard in the 4-1 win.

Saturday’s game wasn’t encouraging because Randy Johnson got knocked around.  He gave up five runs in six innings in an 8-0 shutout loss.  The Yanks were held to four hits.

Sunday’s game was scary.  Not because the Yankees got bounced but because Mike Mussina took a comebacker on the hand. He’s okay and he’ll be ready to pitch but we need every arm we can keep.  Robinson Cano hit homerun number 13 and Mussina dropped to 14-7 in the 11-4 loss.

The Yankees made up for those two losses yesterday when they ran up 16 runs on the Devil Rays.  Bobby Abreu was a one man wrecking crew.  He went four for four with a homerun, three runs, and four RBIs.  Hideki Matsui went yard as well and he drove in four runs.  Jaret Wright was solid through six innings of work and he’s now 11-7.

Randy Johnson will miss his next start because of back spasms.  Get better Randy.  We need you.

Next up is three at home against the Orioles.

The last time the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs where the season was actually finished was 1993.  That’s a long time ago.  And it’s the ninth straight time the Yankees have done it by winning the AL East.  With the Braves finally falling short in their division, the Yankees now become the standard bearer for regular season success.

The Yankees did it by winning their series over the Blue Jays.  Monday’s game was the first win, but it wasn’t without it’s drama.  The Yankees scored three runs to give them a 7-3 lead in the ninth but the Blue Jays touched up Ron Villone and Octavio Dotel for three runs to make it a one run game.  Jose Veras buckled down and got that final out though so the Yankees left with a win.  Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter both hit two run homeruns in the 7-6 win.

Jeff Karstens threw a solid game on Tuesday.  He gave up three runs on ten hits and three walks with one strikeout in 6 1/3 innings.  Kyle Farnsworth pitched a perfect ninth to pick up the save.  Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu and Hideki Matsui all homered in the 6-3 win.

Sean Henn was bounced in the fourth inning yesterday in the lone Yankees loss of the series.  The good news out of this one is the pen pitched really well.  They pitched 4 1/3 innings of four hit shutout ball to close out the game.  Unfortunately the Yankees couldn’t stage a comeback.  Bernie Williams hit a solo shot in the 3-2 loss.

Next up is four against Tampa Bay.  Hopefully the guys don’t enjoy Florida too much.  Those playoffs start in a little over a week.

The magic number is now four and the Yankees should wrap up another division title here this week.  All this despite losing three of four to their so called rival, the Red Sox.

Friday’s game was rained out so the two teams had to play a pair of doubleheaders this weekend.  In game one on Saturday, the Yankees got a two run homerun from Robinson Cano, but that was it.  Chien Ming Wang was mediocre and he dropped to 17-6 in the 5-2 loss.

Game two was their lone win of the series.  Randy Johnson threw a pretty poor game but the bullpen and the offense picked him up.  Bernie Williams drove in two runs and Jorge Posada had three hits, two runs and an RBI in the 7-5 win.

Yesterday wasn’t pretty.  The Red Sox doubled up the Yankees in game one 6-3 and the Red Sox came from behind to beat the Yankees 5-4 in game two.

So we’re done with the Red Sox until 2007.  Good riddance.  Next up is three against the Blue Jays.

What didn’t seem like a certainty to many back in July is now happening.  The Yankees are headed to the playoffs for the eleventh straight time and the hope is that they win their fifth World Series in those 11 years.  Our first round opponent is still in limbo though.

Bobby Abreu got it done on Tuesday.  He drove in seven runs in a 12-4 blowout.  He also hit his third homerun since joining the Yankees.  Derek Jeter scored three times and drove in one without needing a single hit and Hideki Matsui made his return and only went four for four with two runs and an RBI.  On the pitching side, Mike Mussina threw 6 1/3 shutout innings and the Devil Rays didn’t score their runs until the ninth off of Octavio Dotel.

The Yankees only doubled up the Devil Rays on Wednesday.  Robinson Cano homered and drove in five runs and while Cory Lidle was roughed up in only four innings of work, the pen got the job done. 

It was hardly close, but yesterday’s game was the closest of the three.  Cano drove in three more runs and Matsui went yard for his first homerun since coming off the DL.  Rookie Jeff Karstens didn’t get a decision but Darrell Rasner was awesome in four innings of relief.  He improved to 2-0 on the season.

If the Yankees sweep the Red Sox, they lock up on the division Sunday.  I like how ESPN was hyping it as the last “regular season” matchup in 2006.  What a joke. 

While it’s nice having the Red Sox on the schedule for sheer excitement, it’s also nice having the Orioles and Devil Rays on there just to make the schedule a little easier.  Maybe one day, the Orioles will be able to find their way back to the glory years in the 1970s but I’m not holding my breath.

The Orioles actually took the opener on Friday.  Cory Lidle was shelled early and didn’t even last six innings.  From there though, the pitchers did just enough to win.  Nice solid series.

The Yankees will probably clinch sometime early next week.  They have Tampa starting tomorrow then the Red Sox come to town.  Normally it’d be a huge series.  This year, it’s more like the Red Sox funeral.

It’d be nice to clinch things up sooner rather then later.  At this point, I can see the Yankees having the AL East in hand sometime near the end of next week.  And I’m giving the Red Sox some credit here.

The Yankees scored ten runs in the eighth inning on Monday.  Oddly, the Yankees struck out 12 times despite racking up twelve runs on seventeen hits.  I know there’s always 27 outs to make and any of them can be strikeouts, but I found it odd.  Bobby Abreu drove in four runs and Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano both drive in three runs in the 12-5 win.

I’m not sure what happened on Tuesday.  Jorge De La Rosa and Todd Wellemeyer combined for a nine hit shutout and the Royals knocked around Mike Mussina in his return.  It wasn’t a horrible start for Moose, but it wasn’t anything spectacular.  Maybe he was just rusty.

The Yankees wrapped up the series behind Randy Johnson’s 16 wins.  As rough of a season as he had, it’s hard to believe he’s still got a shot to win 20.  Johnson threw seven shutout innings and he struck out eight.  Jorge Posada had a monster game.  He homered twice and drove in six runs in the 8-3 win.

Next up is four against the Orioles.  Double yawn.

The Twins are effectively the fifth best team in the American League.  Which makes them the sixth best team in all of baseball.  While they would make formidable opponents in the playoffs, the Yankees rolled over the Twins this weekend.

Alex Rodriguez is getting ready for a nice playoff run.  He homered twice on Friday to bring his season total up to 29 and he drove in three runs in the 8-1 win.  Bobby Abreu continued to rake and he had three hits, two RBIs and a run.  Derek Jeter had three hits and he scored twice.  Cory Lidle coasted to an easy win.  He pitchted six shutout innings and he improved to 3-2 since coming to the Yankees.

It wasn’t a sweep because of Saturday.  Scott Baker of all people held the Yankees to a single run on two hits through five innings of work.  In the meantime, rookie Jeff Karstens was solid but Ron Villone was knocked around for four runs as the Yankees were on the receiving end of a beat down.  The only run cameo on Derek Jeter’s RBI double in the third inning.

All good teams bounce back though, and that’s what the Yankees did today.  They ran up the score on rookie Matt Garza and knocked him out in the fifth inning.  The Twins pen didn’t do much better because the Yankees scored ten runs.  A-Rod homered twice more and he’s now at 31.  He drove in five runs for the Yankees and Derek Jeter scored twice more in the 10-1 win.  Darrell Rasner made only his second career start and first as a Yankee.  He gave up one run on four hits through six innings of work.

Doesn’t matter what they Red Sox did.  They’re long buried.  And we have a nice relaxing week.  Three against the Twins then three against the Orioles.  There’s even a day off in there.