Mini-Streak #3

The Yankees now have their third straight mini-streak going.  They lost following the first two (2 vs Minnesota and 1 each against Minnesota/L-Triple A).  This one bridges the gap between the Angels series and the second half opener in Tampa.  I have a pretty strong feeling, though, that after tomorrow we'll be able to call this one an actual winning streak.

I was only able to catch the end of tonight's game, but the boscore tells a pretty good story.  The Yankees managed to puut togethr double-digit hits, including at least one by all of the starters except Kahn-Yo.  The highlights, of course, were the Bombers three homeruns, including A-Roddasaurus's 31st and 87th RBI.  The reason I am most excited/interested in the homeruns is because it shows that the break didn't really interrupt the power rhythm the boys got into last weekend.  I had a bit of concern that the offense would disappear with 3 days off.  Thankfully, it didn't.  It's still around.  And despite the chance of sounding too confident, Tampa Bay is the team to start against to make sure it gets well re-established.

Speaking of offense, Bobby Abreu was tonight's main offensive star with 3 hits, 3 RBIs and his 6th homerun.  So far in July, Bobby is batting .483 with 2 homeruns.  If the Yankees are going to make a run (and I think they can), they need his bat to stay hot.  He was hot in early June, the Yankees were too.  He's hot in early July, the Yankees are too.  He's a huge piece of the puzzle.

I have to say that I'm a big fan of tonight's lineup.  It's dangerous top to bottom.  Even Andy Philips has a hot bat.  His average is sitting at .310 right now.  It's not the huge bat one might want from a first baseman, but it's a number that's tough to shake a stick at.  I like Abreu down in the lineup, and I like him following Posada.  If Abreu continues to hit, Posada will consistently see some decent pitches and will be able to keep up his impressive first half numbers.  And I like My Boy Melky! near the top.  If Damon continues to struggle, having Cabrera in the 2-slot might provide some backup table setting.  If Damon can't Melky can.  If Damon gets it done, maybe Melky can move him for Jeter (who can hit anywhere).  Melky is the leadoff man of the future, let's get him towards the top and leave him there.

Pettitte didn't have his best stuff tonight, but he had enough.  5 2/3 isn't great, but it's a step forward following his previous 2 starts.  One thing I noticed is that 2 of the Rays' 3 runs came from sac flies.  To me, that indicates that Andy wasn't allowing the big hit.  A sac fly is far superior to a single with a man on 3rd, most obviously because you record an out.  He only walked 1 and struck out 4, so pettitte's command was good, although he did give up 6 hits and wasn't very economical with his pitches.  Since I wasn't able to actually see him pitch I can't really give any other comments on his performance, but I'm pleased with the result. 

I'm definitely pleased with the result of the bullpen's performance, especially Mo's 2 strikeouts.  I was able to see what he had tonight and it was nothing short of typical Mariano Rivera.  Two shattered bats in a single at-bat, 2 strikeouts and a groundout.  A perfect inning.  Too bad it wasn't a save situation, but he's only going to improve with work and that was some work for him.  Vizcaino continued to perform well while under Mariano's tutelage, and even Farnsworth managed to put up a zero, despite allowing a leadoff walk and a single.  He came back strong and recorded a strikeout.

The Yankees moved ahead of Toronto tonight.  I was doing some thinking and decided that as long as the Yankees win this series, it's really a no-lose situation.  They will either jump ahead of Toronto (done) or gain ground on Boston.  Or both.  Both things need to happen eventually, why not now?  I think best case scenario (trying to be realistic) might be a Yankee sweep and a Toronto-Boston split.  They would gain 2 games on both. 

Whatever happens the rest of the weekend, Yankee fans can rest easy for tonight.  Good stuff happened: a win, moved into sole possession of second place, gained 1/2 game in the wild card.  A detroit victory would tighten that Wild Card race a little more.  I'll take it.