Yanks keep rolling

The Yanks moved to 4-0 in series this season (for the first time since 1926) following Saturday’s 7-3 drubbing of the Rangers. The Bombers also improved their overall record to 8-3 and took sole possession of first place in the AL East (though the Rays could tie them as they’ll finish they won the completion of yesterday’s game, 3-1 in 12 innings, and will play another tonight at Fenway).

The score made it seem a lot closer than it actually was, as AJ shut down the Rangers. He went seven scoreless innings, giving up six hits while fanning seven and walking just two.

"I felt strong. I felt like my fastball had a little giddyup to it, we stuck with it more than not; I think I had only one strikeout on the curveball. I was putting it where I wanted to for the most part and when you have on offense like that it only helps."

“I was putting it where I wanted to for the most part”  I’ll take things Ben Roethlisberger often says for $500, Alex. Just kidding…kind of.

Ace came in and kind of shit the bed, giving up a three-run jack to Nelson Cruz, who has been killing the ball all season. However, it was too little, too late as Marte came in to get out of the inning and Joba took care of business in the ninth with a pair of punchouts. Posada on the pitching staff:

"When you pitch the way we have a lot of things happen. We have been able to establish strike zones and all these pitches. AJ and the rest of the team is pitching well right now."

Brett Gardner went 3-for-4 with an RBI and scored twice. Did I mention all three of his hits were infield hits? Because they were. He became the first Yankee with three infield base knocks since Don Mattingly did it against the A’s in August of 1992.

"I’d like to be hitting line drives, that’s what I work on and try to do. Definitely, for me, it’s definitely more of a positive when I put it on the ground as opposed to popping it up or hitting it in the air."

Jeter continued his torrid start to the season, going 3-for-4 with a two-run tater and is now hitting .380/.404/.600. He kept up his streak and has now hit safely in each of the team’s first 11 games. Although his partner in crime, Robinson Cano, went 0-for-4 and failed to record a hit for the first time this season…like a bitch.

Thanks to some sage advice from his old man, Georgie Posada recorded his 1,500th career hit to join Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey and Thurman Munson as the only catchers to reach that plateau. Not bad company at all. Unfortunately for him, after the team retrieved the ball the bat boy tossed it into a bucket of balls instead of keeping it aside. I wonder if that kid will have a job tomorrow. Probably not.

Alex Rodriguez popped his cherry and went yard for his first homer of the season, and in the process passed Mark McGwire for sole possession of eighth place (584) on the all-time home run list.

"It feels good…to  keep moving up the line. I think they’ll be a time and a place for reflection and that’ll be many years after I’m done playing."

Not to be outdone, Tex clubbed a bases-loaded RBI infield single to up his average to .100 on the season. His OBP is .280 and his SLG is .125, so he’s still got some a lot of work to do.

I wonder how much blow Ron Washington went through during this game. My guess is probably an eight ball or two.

My take: This team simply cannot be stopped. They have shitting all over the competition (pretty good competition mind you) on offense and defense. Today they went 5-for-9 with RISP AND left seven men on base, and their pitching was incredible. I can’t wait until Tex heats up, Vazquez snaps out of his early-season funk and they start playing bush league teams. They will be rolling (even more than they are right now). As I’ve said before, this team could rival the ’98 Yanks for most wins. The 2010 Yankees are better than the ’09 model, I know it’s a small sample size but I truly believe that. I LOVE THIS TEAM, LET’S GO YANKS!!!!!!!

Other news: Today, April 17, marks the 59th anniversary of Mickey Mantle’s first Big League game as well as the first game Bob Sheppard announced…The triumph was Joe Girardi’s 200th managerial win in pinstripes…Taylor Teagarden went 0-for-2 and is 0-for-18 with 13 Ks on the season…Scott Feldman went 2 1/3 frames (matching the shortest outing of his career) and was touched for four runs on seven hits.