Wet and Wild Win

The Yankees scored 19 runs on a rainy Friday night in Boston. It was another game with a lot of young faces, some doing well and others not so well. Cody Ransom went 3 for 3 with 2 home runs and a walk. I like this kid at the plate. Brett Gardner went 2 for 6 and Juan Miranda 1 for 1.

Robinson Cano had another big night and it seems he’s been a superstar ever since his benching. I’ve been very critical of Cano all year but all of a sudden he seems to have found his game again. I don’t like players who can’t be relied on for consistent performance and wonder if his recent output will enhance his trade value.

Pitching wasn’t a pretty sight. Aceves struggled and has work to do before he’s ready for the majors on a permanent basis. Coke and Britton gave up too many hits in too short of a time period but Robinson looked solid.

I’m glad these guys are getting a chance to play at the end. Watching them in real big league games under pressure against a good team can help with next year’s scouting. There is going to be a big debate over how much home grown youth to have on the roster and how many overpriced, over the hill veterans to bring in. This years attempt at a youth movement was a resounding failure, but unfortunately many of the vets didn’t do much better.

Phil Hughes Lasts 4 Innings

Taking the mound at Yankee stadium again for the first time in a long while, Phil Hughes looked a little different than the struggling pitcher I'd seen before. He seemed to have a little better command of some of his pitches and was aggressive going after guys right out of the gate. This didn't last too long and White Sox hitters started working Hughes over a bit by going deep into counts. In the end, Hughes only allowed one earned run, but only pitched four innings. Four innings isn't good enough in the majors. It's his first game back but Phil needs to turn things around in a hurry. My opinion is that he's a bust and this is the best we'll ever see from him, but he'll get plenty of chances to prove me wrong.

Robbinson Cano went 3 for 3 last night and I'm hoping he can finish out the season in stellar fashion to give himself some trade value. Phil Coke looked strong in two innings of work but I continue to be amazed at Brian Bruney. Another shutout inning for the guy who was told he'd need season ending surgery on his foot. Hopefully he'll stay healthy and can come back to be a big time bullpen contributor next year.

With Tampa's win over Boston, the Yanks remain ten games back and are still tied with Toronto. Boston is now two games back and really looks to be struggling against the Rays. At this point I think that the Rays are actually going to pull it off and take home the AL East title. I'm not sure that Boston has enough grit to pull out a playoff win either so I'm thinking it will come down to Tampa and LA of the AL title.

Yanks Eek Out Win

The Yankees managed to maintain their composure and put together some late inning heroics to get a win against Baltimore last night, thanks to some awesome hitting by Bobby Abreu who went 5 for 5.

Mussina was not on target, giving up 4 runs over 6 innings, but in the end it was enough. Damaso Marte actually managed to get two batters out without giving up a hit or a run. Rivera was sharp at the end, getting the final 4 outs with relative ease.

It's been pointed out that Pavano is starting today, and several bloggers have asked "why?' The only one benefitting from this is Carl Pavano, who gets a chance to showcase his talents for any team that might be interested in signing him via free agency next year. The Yankees would be better served by giving Phil Hughes some more experience on the mound in the majors.

It's an interesting perspective and one with a lot of merit. The reason I see for putting Pavano out there instead of Hughes, is to get Phil more time in the minors to really work through his injuries and work on his delivery a bit, taking time to make sure when you do come back, you're throwing the best pitches of your life. An early comeback with another rocky outing could shake a young pitcher's confidence.

Over on the LoHud blog, Pete Abraham had some scathing criticism of Robinson Cano, which I largely agree with. What really bothered me was the implied fact that several of Cano's teammates think he's dogging it at times and not putting forth a good effort. That's a recipe for disaster. Once your teammates lose faith in you, it's over. Unfortunately, Joe Girardi has shown zero capability of getting people motivated and it wouldn't surprise me to see this type of behavior continue.

TYanks Win Big, Boss Says Trade Prospects

The Yankees had a timely win last night to bring them within 3.5 games of the league leading Tampa Bay Rays. Darrel Rasner was decent, throwing 5.2 innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 runs, although the Bombers were down 2-1. It wasn't until Rasner left that the offense took off and the new wunderkind David Robertson, facing only one batter, got the win.

Rasner got the job done and did what the Yankees needed him to do, and was pitching better than  he had in some prior outings, which is a good sign. The relief crew was outstanding. Jose Veras and Kyle "automatic" Farnsworth allowed no hits and no runs. Professor Farnsworth walked 1 but struck out 3. Dan Giese came on in the ninth and allowed a hit but no runs.

Robinson Cano. Wow. The guy has a .522 batting average over the last 7 games and has an OPS of 1.391. Talk about turning your game around. It's too bad he couldn't have found his swing earlier in the season. Bobby Abreu hit a long overdue homer.

The Yankees didn't get any production from the back end of the lineup, with Melky, Moeller, and Gardner being helpless at the plate (except for Brett's walk). This is an area that needs to be addressed.

SI.com had an interesting blurb in its Truth and Rumors section stating that Hank Steinbrenner has given the OK for Cashman to trade away any of its prospects. The league would have to approve of any deal involving Hughes who is on the DL and Melancon is rumored to be the only untouchable out there.  With the team playing well and only 3.5 games out, it certainly wouldn't surprise me to see the Yanks do some big time shopping soon. The idea of trading prospects doesn't really bother me all that much because no one has particularly impressed me stats-wise (I haven't had a chance to go and scout any of these guys in person).

There have been quite a few rumors about Jarod Washburn, a lefty from Seattle. This one seems to be getting the most traction right now. The Dodgers' Derek Lowe has popped up on the radar as well. Brian Fuentes has too many suitors at the moment and the asking price is likely to be too high.

Expect to see a move soon.

Winning Continues

The Yankees managed a 12-4 win over the Minnesota twins last night, continuing the win streak of recently acquired Sidney Ponson. Ponson certainly didn't look all that sharp, but when he pitches, the offense shows up. Sidney lasted 5.2 innings before being relieved by Edwar Ramirez. In the seventh inning, Robertson came in and retired the side in order. Honestly, who saw this guy being on the roster and making a contribution. So far in the appearances he's made, he's been extremely efficient. LaTroy Hawkins came in to pitch the last two innings and held onto the lead.

Alex Rodriguez racked up 3 RBIs, 2 hits and a home run. Robinson Cano continues to show us he's got his swing back, hitting a homer of his own and adding 2 RBIs.

Fellow Yankee Blogger Mark Serio over at the Baseball Hot Corner points out the odd luck of baseball. Beleaguered pitcher Sidney Ponson has a remarkable record with the Yankees despite some not-so-stellar performances. Joba Chamberlain, the Yankee Wunderkind, can't seem to buy a supporting run. I'm still getting over Chien Ming Wang's 1-0 loss much earlier in the season when the Wanger pitched a beauty but the offense couldn't score.

For the most part this season, the key word has been consistency. The team just doesn't have it. The offense is the worse offender, but pitching has fallen prey as well. If the team could figure out how it is doing things when they are playing well and could repeat those performances, they'd be World Series bound but for now with the inconsistent play, even a wild card looks iffy.

The Yanks win is their fourth in a row. With Boston and Tampa winning, they didn't pick up any ground, but they didn't fall any further behind and they kept the momentum going. Maybe, just maybe they'll start to gain a little of that consistency that's been lacking.

The Joba Plan Continues

Joba pitched 2 innings and threw 40 pitches in an effort to get stretched out and ready for the rotation. Chamberlain wanted to come in for a third inning but Joe Girardi held him back and sent in Farnsworth instead. I'm a bit surprised that Joe didn't march him out to face at least one more batter, but I guess this is going to be a slow process, gradually increasing the pitch count.

Mike Mussina barely held on to a lead and ended up getting the win. The Farns had another off day, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits including a home run. It's really hard having a guy like Kyle on the team. He can pitch very well and can throw hard, but it seems a lot of hitters just plain have his stuff figured out.  When he's pitching well, he can be dominating, when he's not, he'll give up a lot of runs quickly. The unfortunate heart of the matter is that you cannot count on Kyle to deliver. You can put him in and hope he's having a good day, but there is little day-to-day consistency. There have been rumors that Farnsworth would take over as a setup man when Chamberlain went into the rotation, but I think that would be a horrible role for Kyle. He's more of a "use him whenever you think you can safely get away with it" type of pitcher than a setup man who you expect to be reliable.

Even though he's been iffy lately, I'd rather see a guy like Ohlendorf in the setup role. Veras is doing nicely and could do the job also.

On the other side, Yankee hitters have been coming to life, especially the struggling Cano and Giambi. If they continue to play at their current level for the rest of the season, they will both have respectable numbers. So I ask this: If Giambi and Cano have late season turnarounds and post decent numbers for the season, do you want them back? Giambi's contract is up at the end of the season, I'd still let him go personally. The free agent market for first basemen is looking very tempting with guys like Teixeira coming available.  Robbie Cano seems to make a habit of slow starts and I don't particularly like his fielding, but I'm not sure the Yankees really have any better options coming up through free agency. I would like to see Alberto Gonzalez get a lot more playing time, however and think he could turn out to be an everyday type of player.

Yanks Grit Out 2-1 Win

Mike Mussina pitched 6.1 innings giving up only 1 run on 5 hits and the Pinstripers had just enough runs to carry the day. The only run credited to Mussina came from a walk in the seventh inning which later scored after Ross Ohlendorf gave up two consecutive base hits.

Glass Half Full: Mussina looked good on the mound. Chamberlain and Rivera were locked on in their appearances. Joba struck out 3 batters and walked 1. Despite getting himself in a tight spot, Ohlendorf managed to get out of a jam with a double play.

Robinson Cano went 4 for 4 and brought his average up over .200 for the first time this year.

Glass Half Empty: Moose doesn't seem to be able to last a full seven innings, which would be ideal. Still, six innings is very good for the aging veteran.

Ohlendorf gave up 2 hits in 3 batters faced, allowing an inherited runner to score. I don't necessarily like the way baseball credits runs and earned runs and I think there needs to be another stat for runners who score while you're on the mound.

The Yankees only scored 2 runs. Without such a good pitching performance the Yanks would have been in trouble. This team needs to score more runs consistently. They won't always have good pitching to fall back on and even when they do (like with Wang yesterday) they still need to tack on a few more.

Overall: A win is a win. Moose's pitching was encouraging. The Yankee bats were disappointing, but they were good enough to get the job done.

Other Stuff: Joe Girardi's locker room closed-door meeting before the game inspired the Yankees to get the job done, but did'nt do much for their sleeping bats.

The Rays signed Kazmir to another contract, locking him up for a while. There had been talk about possibly trading Kazmir or another starting pitcher, but looks like he's going to stick around for a while.

Jeff Karstens threw five innings in extended spring training and should be available before long. He won't be a superstar but hopefully will be an option if someone gets injured or as a long reliever now that Rasner is in the rotation.