A Series Win! Against the Angels!

Series wins against the Angels are few and far between for the Yankees.  But they got one when they needed it the most.  Well, maybe not as much as they needed the two in the playoffs...but still pretty darn important.

New blogger Chien-Ming Wang proved once again why he's the Yankee ace, throwing 6 1/3 shutout innings with only half of a finger.  OK, that's an exaggeration of his finger problems.  But the truth is, he gritted through it (again) and gave us a quality outing (again).  He now has 9 wins on the season and could very well put together another 18 or 19 win season.  And all of the doubters thought it was a fluke.  I knew it was a fluke and Wang was here to stay.  The guy's awesome.  His ERA is back down to 3.36, very near where it was during his string of 5 consecutive quality starts before he and the rest of the team hiccupped on the road trip.  He's got 6 days off.  Hopefully the extra day or so of rest will help improve the state of his finger, although I fear it's a condition he's going to have to battle all season.

While the pitching from Wang and the bullpen was awesome, the real story was, of course, the offense.  The Yankees won 12-0.  They were (re)fueled by 3 3-run homeruns, including another Cano blast.  He's hit 3 homeruns in the last week.  Is Robinson Cano finding the power stroke we've always been told he would have?  If he is, then the Yankee lineup just got a lot tougher.  If he's not...well, I still like Robbie Cano and will be happy to have him in pinstripes.  Matsui hit a blast in the 1st.  And maybe it was my eyes playing tricks, but it looked like he was smiling as he rounded the bases.  I love to see baseball players smiling because it shows that they're having fun.  And one of the many lessons in Little Big League is that having fun is the key to winning baseball games.  At least when you're a 12 year old owner/manager. 

Let's not overlook Alex Rodriguez.  Although his awesomeness is becoming so commonplace that it's easy to ignore, today Alex got himself 4 more ice creams and another homerun and continues to lead the major leagues in both categories.  He is also now alone at 22nd all-time in homeruns and over the weekend joined Lou Gehrig and Joe D. as the only Yankees to have over 80 RBIs before the All-Star break.  If A-Rod is not in pinstripes next summer I think I might go into depression.  Michael Kay and John Flaherty today talked about Alex's place in history and where that place will be if he leaves New York.  It's not that you can't have a legacy if you're not a Yankee, but if he leaves the Yankees and spends 4 or 5 years somewhere else, what is he?  A Mariner?  A Ranger? A Yankee? A whatever?  I thought it was an interesting comment, because when you think about all of the great players, they may have played for more than 1 team, but they're attached only to one.  Roger Clemens may be an exception, but you can bet he won't be remembered as Blue Jay or an Astro.  I even have trouble thinking of Nolan Ryan as anything but a Houston Astro, although he had great years in other cities.  As a side note, did you know Nolan Ryan won 20 games only twice in his 26-year big league career?  Anyway, the Yankees need to make sure they hold onto Alex Rodriguez. 

So the 1st half ends on a positive note, taking 5 of 7 from Minnesota and L-Triple A.  At 1 game under .500, the Yankees aren't exactly where they'd like to be.  But look on the bright side, they could be Tampa Bay.  Since winning 2 of 3 against the Mets on June 17, the Yankees are 7-11.  Not a good record.  But during that time, they've lost just 1 1/2 games in the division standings.  Once again the Red Sox had the opportunity to really put the Yankees (and Blue Jays for that matter) away for good.  Instead they have floundered.  10 games is a huge lead, but it's not insurmountable.  The Red Sox have played right around .500 ball since June 1.  Their offense is struggling and their rotation is a bit of a question mark.  The Yankees CAN make a move and get back into the race.  Will they? I don't know. If it's going to happen, July is when it should.

After the break, the Yankees play 4 against Tampa Bay, 4 big ones against Toronto (in New York), 4 more against Tampa Bay, 4 against Kansas City, 3 against Baltimore, plus the suspended game, and close the month at home against the White Sox.  Barring rain, they've got 21 decision coming their way before August.  I see no reason why they can't win a minimum of 15 of those 21 games.  They already have a 2-run advantage in one of them.  During that same span, the Red Sox have 4 against Toronto, 3 against Kansas City, 4 against the White Sox, 4 against Cleveland, 3 against Tampa Bay, and 1 against Baltimore.  That's 19 decisions.  Playing like they have during the last month, let's say the Red Sox win 10 of them.  The Yankees would go into August just 6 games back with 2 months to go.  Can it be done?  Sure.  And it's not even asking for an insane hot streak...15-6.  And it's not asking for much from Boston either, just keep playing like you have...10-9.  And suddenly it's a race.  Or at least more of a race than we have right now.  I suppose I could be greedy...and expect the Red Sox to play those 19 like their last 19.  They'd go 9-10 and it's only a 5 game deficit.  With 7 Yankee-Red Sox games to go.

Here's to hoping....

GO YANKEES!