Phil was Philthy as he went seven innings and gave up just four hits with six punch outs to one walk. He threw 99 pitches with 67 going for strikes. Yankee pitchers, yet again, held the Twins in check with the Minnesota lineup going 2-for-8 with RISP and leaving seven men on base.

The bats exploded for six runs on 12 hits. Swish Dog and Thames went yard (Marcus’ first ever postseason homer), and every starter had at least one hit except for Gardy.

The club will face either the Rangers or the Rays in the American League Championship Series. Tampa Bay pulled within 2-1 in that ALDS with a win on Saturday. This begs the question: who would you rather the Yankees play in the ALCS?

Fun Facts: (more…)

The Good:

On the ninth anniversary of Mike Mussina’s near perfect game against Boston, CC (19-5) went eight innings and gave up just one hit with five strikeouts to three walks. The A’s failed to hit a ball out of the infield from the second inning until Coco Crisp’s fly ball to right in the eighth inning. CC did it all on just 95 pitches, with 58 going for strikes.

With the win, CC tied Whitey Ford’s record for consecutive home starts without a loss (21) and is 16-0 over that span. Over his previous 20 home starts coming in (since ’09 All-Star Break), CC was 15-0 with a 2.17 ERA. Wow.

Grandy, who went 2-for-3 with two homers and three RBI on Thursday, has 31 hits vs. lefties this season (after missing a month), he had 33 against LHP all of last season. He is now 10-for-24 against LHP since working with Kevin Long. It was his six career multi-homer game and second this season.

A-Rod tested out his injured calf by fielding ground balls and taking batting practice, and Pettitte is on schedule to make his simulated start on Saturday.

As I predicted the other day, Javy will start over Moseley on Saturday.

Dallas Braden left the game in the sixth inning with cramps…I’ll leave it up to you to insert the proper joke.

The Bad: (more…)

The story of the game was Ivan Nova, who earned his first major league win in just his second career start. SuperNova went 5 2/3 innings and gave up one run on five hits with seven strikeouts to just one walk. Nova, who hit 97 mph on the radar gun, became the first rookie pitcher for the Yanks to record seven strikeouts within his first four games since Ian Kennedy did it in his third start (September 13, 2007).

Good News: “He’s going to make another start, I can tell you that.” Girardi on Ivan Nova.

Bad News: AJ will also make his next start, (most likely) spoiling what will be my bid to go 6-0 at Yankee Stadium this year.

Fun Facts and News: (more…)

Girardi said Marky Mark is day-to-day and Swish Dog will play first tomorrow if Tex can’t go. The last thing this team needs is another injury. Michael Kay, who has been doing a bang-up job of annoying the hell out of me the past few games, said x-rays were not necessary.

Shit I liked: (more…)

That game was an instant classic. Overall they struck out 17 times on Wednesday. Only seven times in MLB history has a team has a team fanned 17 times, scored seven runs and won. They overcame a dominant start by Cliff Lee to rip that win from the grubby mitts of the Rangers. Words can’t do that game justice. Wow. Just wow.

Marcus Thames came up huge — 3-for-5 with a homer, two RBI and scored twice. Everyone else had a hit except for Posada and Swish Dog. Sergio Mitre and Kerry Wood will not get proper credit for their great performances. And I’ve got a feeling that Nolan Ryan is going to put Neftali Feliz in a Robin Venturaesque headlock after the game.

Mo showed why he is the greatest of all time, as He gave up a leadoff triple in the ninth but found His composure to retire the next three batters. Oh and if that game wasn’t enough, K-Rod was arrested for assaulting his father-in-law after the Mets game. Life is good.

With the win (arguably the best all season) the Yanks now lead the Rays by 1 1/2 games in the division. Now it’s off to KC for a four-game set with the Royals.

LET’S GO YANKS!!!!!

I apologize for such a lackluster recap after such a phenomenal triumph, but it’s after midnight and I have to be up early tomorrow. Expect more on it tomorrow.

It’s been great, we’ve been playing good baseball. When I hit (600th home run) nothing’s going to change; we’re in the middle of a pennant race and we’re just trying to play good baseball…I feel good about the way I’m swinging the bat.

The big story of the night though was Dustin F’ing Moseley, who pitched like a champ in place of an injured Pettitte. After a shaky first inning — in which he threw 31 pitches and gave up a run but got out of a big jam — he settled like a bastard and used just 11 pitches in the second, nine in the third, 12 in the fourth, eight in the fifth and 14 in the sixth. I’ve got a feeling he’s going to get another shot to start — a well deserved chance to start.

I just relaxed a little bit. I felt like I made some decent pitches in the first inning, then I just relaxed, attacked the zone a little bit more and just go right after them. I was pressing a little bit early, maybe trying to do too much, then I got to sit on the bench a little bit and just kind of go throught the process. I went back out in those next innings and attacked the zone. I was excited, I felt strong at the end.

Fun Facts: (more…)