This is the Javy Vazquez we traded for

Yankees 3 8 0
A's 1 3 0

WP: Vazquez (7-7)
LP: Sheets (3-8)
S: Rivera (19)

Player of the Game: Javier Vazquez. Vazquez finally seems to have pulled himself together after being completely worthless in the first part of the season. I will sign up for 3 hits, 1 run and 7 innings every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Now if AJ decides to pitch like he did in April (3-0, 2.43 ERA) and not like he did in June (0-5, 11.35 ERA) the Yanks will wrap this thing up by the end of August.

Play of the Game: Mark Teixeira's homer in the 6th inning that gave Javy, Joba, and Mo some breathing room. Tex is another guy who started slow. Imagine where the Yankees would be right now if their #3 hitter wasn't hitting .243. He's gonna need a monster 2nd half to get the average anywhere near his .287 career average.

(Honorable mention to A-Rod's diving backhand catch and throw out of Kurt Suzuki. But, it was Kurt Suzuki [the same guy who hit into the triple play] so it wasn't really that impressive.)

Turning Point of the Game: The 2-run 2nd inning that gave Javy Vazquez all the run support he needed. When the 6-7-8 hitters in the lineup can put some hits together and score runs, things are good.

Notes:

• You knew this was going to come up, and the A's are trying to do what all the other crappy teams in the league do: make money off the Yankees. While most teams do it through revenue sharing and the increased ticket sales from people actually wanting to watch a good team, the A's are selling "Get off my Mound" T-Shirts. To Braden's credit, he's decided to (finally) shut up about it.
  
• I love the Avis rental car commercials. I'm sure everyone's seen the original one by now, but there's a new one: Way better than those stupid W.B. Mason commercials. And am I the only one who has never seen a mention of W.B. Mason besides the YES Network? Not that I'm complaining. There's enough crap on all the rest of the channels that I don't need the commercials to suck too.