I knew the Yankees had it in them. Four games against the Rangers, and they walked away with four wins. Three of them were close games with one blow out. Now all we need is those pesky Red Sox to drop some games, and we’ll be all set.
Thursday was weird. No two ways about it. The Yanks go up 6-2 after five and 8-4 after six only to give up four in the seventh. Then they get a single run in the bottom of the seventh to win it. Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter all went yard and Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera combined for two shutout innings to finish the game.
Friday’s game was just as close, with all eleven runs being scored in the second, third, and fourth innings. Al Leiter had another shaky start, but he improved to 3-3. Jeter homered again, and Bernie Williams got in on the action with his eighth homer.
Yesterday was close game number three. The Yankees jumped out to a 5-1 lead only to see the Rangers score two in both the eighth and the ninth. Mariano Rivera blew his first save since the Civil War. Fortunately Bernie Williams hit a two run walk off homer in the eleventh to secure the win. Bernie, Gary Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez all homered and drove in two runs. Aaron Small actually threw an inning of relief to improve to 4-0.
Todays game was the blow out. A-Rod and Godzilla both hit homers and drove in three runs. Shawn Chacon threw a good enough game and the pen did their job. Not too shabby of a way to end a weekend series.
After all that, we’re still 4 1/2 games back of the Red Sox. We’ve won four in a row while they’ve won six in a row. The Wild Card gives us a little better answer as we’re two back of Oakland in the loss column. The Yanks go to Tampa for a three game series so hopefully we’ll be able to beat up on them before heading to Chicago.
