Sox earn split with Yanks

The Yanks fell 2-1 to the Sox on Monday to split their four-game set, but they are still in first place and own the best record in baseball. While it was a loss, there was some good to come out of it.

Shit I did like:

• Hughes, who has allowed three runs or less in five of his last six starts, threw 57 pitches (two runs, five hits) over the first two innings and 57 pitches (zero runs, one hit) over his final four.
• Jeter tied Mel Ott for 38th place on the all-time hits list (2,876).
• Lance Berkman was 2-for-22 in his first six games with the Yanks, and is now 3-for-5 over the last two.
• Swisher’s sliding catch in the second inning.
• Kearns’ sliding catch in the seventh inning.
• With a solo bomb in the eighth inning, Tex now has six homers in his last nine games and 26 on the year.

Shit I did not like:

• Jacoby Ellsbury snapped an 0-for-16 streak (since coming off the DL) with a single just over Jeter’s head in the second inning. He also set a career high and tied a Red Sox record (Jerry Remy) with four steals on Monday. The last player to steal four bases in a game against the Yanks was Brady Anderson on July 5, 1998 (that season played out just fine, so I’m not worried).
• Lester was 0-4 with a 4.39 ERA and .292 BAA over his last four starts (longest losing streak of his career). He went 6 1/3 innings and gave up just four hits with six strikeouts to three walks on Monday.
• On the heels of a near two-run home run by Marcus Thames in the seventh, the Yanks had the bases loaded with no outs. However, Grandy struck out on four pitches before Jeter and Swish whiffed on three pitches each. It was the third time this season that the Yanks had the bases loaded with no outs and failed to score. The last time was on July 2 against Brett Cecil.
• Grandy went 0-for-4 and now has three hits over last nine games (3-for-28).
• The Yanks were 0-for-9 with RISP and left 11 men on base.
• Opponents are 49-for-59 (6-for-6 Monday) in stolen base attempts when Posada is behind the plate.

AJ (back spasms) will be making the start tomorrow against CJ Wilson in Texas in the opener of a two-game set. After that they’ll head to KC for a four-game series with the Royals.

LET’S GO YANKS!!!!!