Sabath's the Way I Like It

Does that headline work? Is it corny? Well, I don't care because CC Sabathia showed us why we are paying him so much money to be our ace. After the Rays lost earlier today, and the Yankees coming off a loss yesterday, Sabathia went eight strong innings striking out four and allowing just two runs to help lead the Yankees to a 5-2 win, and pick up a game on the Rays and Sox.

After a shaky first two innings, which included a home run to Victor Martinez, Sabathia had to settle down to deliver a solid outing. It may not have been dominant CC, but it was efficient CC, and that was good enough to give the Yankees their major league-leading 68th win, and tying David Price for the AL lead in wins.

Curtis Granderson hit an RBI triple and Ramiro Pena, who was not scheduled to start, delivered two RBI's to provide the offensive boost for the team. Cano also added an RBI single.

Pena received the start after Alex Rodriguez was hit in the shin during batting practice by a line drive from Lance Berkman. X-rays were negative, and A-Rod is reportedly day-to-day. Although the Yankees may miss his bat, Pena filled in nicely today, so there is no need to rush him back if he's not ready. They are going to need him for the end stretch of the season and postseason.

Overall, good day for the Yankees (with the exception of the freak A-Rod injury) as they gain a game in the standings on both the teams they are chasing. Jim and I will be at the game tomorrow as we pray for the good A.J. Burnett to show up against Josh Beckett.

See Ya!

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Jorge Feeling Grand

HOU 5 8 1

NYY 9 9 1

WP: Hughes (9-1)

LP: Moehller (0-1)

Player/Play/Turning Point of the Game: Jorge Posada pulled off the trifecta and is awarded all three of these with just one swing of the bat. Posada hit a grand slam to put the Yankees up 7-1 in the sixth inning. It was his second grand slam in as many days after not hitting a grand slam since 2004. Despite a comeback from the Astros this hit really put them out of the game and had a long ways to get back into it.

Notes

• Chad Huffman must have enjoyed his debut. He singled, walked, and even reached base on a strikeout.
• Robinson Cano hit his 100th career home run which tied the game at 1-1 at the time.
• Ramiro Pena did a nice job filling in for A-Rod. He made a nice diving play and also hit a two-RBI bloop single to put them up 3-1.
• As I type this the Rays are losing in the ninth 6-1. If that score holds, the Yankees move into a first place tie with the Rays.

Tomorrow

OFF

See Ya!

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Game 24: Yankees vs White Sox

Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Johnson 1B
Mark Teixeira DH
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Marcus Thames LF
Brett Gardner CF
Ramiro Pena 3B

Phil Hughes

White Sox
Mark Kotsay RF
Gordon Beckham 2B
Andruw Jones CF
Paul Konerko 1B
Mark Teahen 3B
Carlos Quentin DH
A.J. Pierzynski C
Alexei Ramirez SS
Juan Pierre LF

Mark Buehrle

A Different Lineup: With Curtis Granderson on the 15-day DL and A-Rod getting the day off, the Yankees have a very different lineup from their first game with Thames and Pena in there. But please don't ask me why Swisher is batting cleanup over Cano.
Granderson Update: Just saw this on ESPN as I'm typing this up...Granderson expected to miss a month with a left groin strain.
Let's Make This Quick: Yesterday's game was nearly 4 hours long, but Mark Buehrle is one of the quickest pitchers in the league, so this should be a faster game...unless the Yankees get him out of there early.
Follow Jim: Jim is making his first trip to Yankee Stadium today and I'm sure he'll be tweeting his experience. So follow him @jgeant or you could follow me @jphealy but I've got papers and finals to be studying for so I don't know how many tweets I can get in for today's game.

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