State of the Yankees

It's been a busy week in Yankee land, here's a rundown of what's going on.

• First of all, Phil Hughes picked up his 6th win of the season by holding the Indians to 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 8 in 7 innings. Robinson Cano hit cleanup for the first time in his career and made the most of it by going 3-4 with a grand slam in an 8-2 win.
  
• Tonight also marked the return of Curtis Granderson to the lineup. He slid right into the 2-hole and went 1-3 with a walk and a run scored. Hopefully he can help solidify the lineup a little and get it going.
  
• In the corresponding move to bring Granderson back, Randy Winn was Designated for Assignment. (I'm sure John is extremely happy about this. I don't think he's hated a Yankee this much since... yeah I can't even come up with something to compare it to.) This means Kevin Russo is going to get the opportunity to play off the bench as an outfielder.
  
• Mark Teixeira is slowly starting to turn it around. He is 7 for his last 19, but hasn't had an RBI since May 17 and his last homer was May 15. Alex Rodriguez has been suffering from a power outage lately as well with no homers or RBI since May 19. Considering the 3-4 hitters only have a combined 13 homers and 62 RBI's through almost 50 games and the Yankees are still 9 games over .500 and only 3.5 games out of first place the division, I'd say the Yanks are sitting in a pretty good position right now.
  
• After a tough stretch of games against Boston (x2) Detroit, Minnesota (x2), and Tampa Bay, the Yanks get a little bit of break with 15 upcoming games against the Indians, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Astros.
  
• A quick injury update, as Jorge Posada is out of his boot and is starting to resume baseball activities. At some point, he'll go down to the Minors for a rehab assignment. I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping that he goes to Trenton so I could possibly make my way over there.
  

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Perfect Pettitte

Yankees 7 14 0

Image via Wikipedia

Angels 1 7 0

WP: Pettitte (3-0)
LP: Pineiro (2-2)

Player of the Game: Andy Pettitte was brilliant on the mound today. One run and six hits over eight innings will stop any team in any division.

Play/Turning Point of the Game: Francisco Cervelli continues to come up with key hits including today's 2-run single to give Pettitte a 3-0 lead.

• Today's win prevents the Yankees first back-to-back losses of the season, and keeps the hopes of winning a sixth straight series alive.
• After today's win, Pettitte leads the team in wins and ERA. Not bad for a 37-year old who considered retirement in the offseason.
  

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We're going back to NY

This game is too depressing to write too much about, so I'm going to keep it short, and in the always easy-to-read bullet form.

Bad:

• Yankees lost 7-6(duh).
• AJ Burnett gave up four runs in the first innings, but he did pitch better until he ran out of gas in the seventh.
• The offense couldn't do anything until the seventh, and couldn't get a hit with RISP in the ninth.
• Joba, Marte, and Hughes did not have it today.

Good:

• The offense scored 6 runs in the 7th inning to take the lead.
• Burnett pitched well from the second inning through the 6th inning
• We still have a 3-2 lead. We would need to lose two games at home in order to lose the series.
  
• We have CC Sabathia going in Game 7, if necessary.
• We have CC Sabathia going in Game 7, if necessary.
• We have CC Sabathia going in Game 7, if necessary.

SEE YA!

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Don't stop believing: Yanks win in dramatic fashion

Twins 3 12 1
Yankees 4 7 0

WP: Robertson
LP: Mijares

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. The two combined for four of the team's seven hits, and all four of the RBI's. Both homered, with A-Rod tying it in the 9th, and Teix winning it in the 11th.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Teixeira's game-winning walk-off home run in the 11th. 'Nuff said.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: After A-Rod's RBI single in the 6th, and this John and I exchanged text messages (no, not Teix Messages) saying, John: I like this A-Rod better. Me: Where was this for the past 6 years?

GAME NOTES:

• For the second game in a row, the Twins take the lead, and the Yanks come right back and tie it in the next inning. That is huge, as it doesn't let the other team get comfortable, and the Yanks are never out of it.
• The bullpen was not sharp tonight, there were 2 runs allowed, but also 9 hits and 2 walks.
  
• AJ was okay tonight, except for the 5 walks. If he eliminates the walks, his pitch count goes way down, and he throws another 2-3 innings, limiting the use for the bullpen.
• THIS TEAM WILL NOT LOSE!! This is the kind of stuff we saw in the 90's. Roberston, one of the lesser guys out of the pen, gets out of a bases loaded nobody-out jam, and the Yanks pull out a game where they were down 2 in the bottom of the ninth. Great things are coming.
  

NEXT GAME:
ALDS Game 3
Yankees at Twins
Pettitte vs Carl (The American Idle) Pavano

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