2010 Season Record: 63-36

The Yankees opened up the week with a two game series against their long time nemesis,  the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  The Bombers got off on the right foot by scoring two runs in the first inning of the opener.  Nick Swisher belted a solo home run and Jorge Posada added a sacrifice fly.

However, that would not hold up against the Angels and their second year fill in starter Sean O’Sullivan.  The right-hander didn’t allow another hit through the 6th inning and got plenty of run support, including a two-run shot by Hideki Matsui, as the Angels beat the Yanks 10-2.

In Game 2, the Yankees’ sleeping bear offense awoke and scored 10 runs.  They would need it as the Angels clawed away against starter Javier Vazquez. With the Yankees holding a slim 6-5 lead in the 7th,  rookie Juan Miranda hit his 3rd homer of the season for a much needed insurance run.   But the Yankees youngsters weren’t done yet.

With two men aboard later in the inning, Brett  Gardner was ejected in the middle of his at-bat for arguing balls and strikes with the home plate umpire.  Suddenly, rookie Colin Curtis was up at the plate with an 0-2 count.  Curtis worked the count full against veteran Scot Shields and then lined a three-run home run into the right field seats.  It was Curtis’ first career home run and curtain call.  The Yankees went on to win the game by a 10-6 margin.

The Bombers then welcomed the lowly Kansas City Royals into town for a four game series.  The Yankees beat up on the Royals in Game 1, 10-4, as their dominant offense continued to click.

The first four batters in the Yankees lineup did most of the damage, going 10-20 (.500) with 2 HR and 8 RBI.  Alex Rodriguez’s bat stood out the most.  The All-Star third baseman went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI and hit his 599th career home run.

In Game 2 the Yankees great offensive play and individual milestones continued as the Yanks rolled to a 7-1 win.  The victory included Jorge Posada’s 1000th career RBI.  A.J. Burnett threw five innings of shutout ball before rain forced his removal from the game.  Robinson Cano also enjoyed a big night with a pair of hits and 3 RBI.

The Yankees couldn’t overcome a poor start by Sergio Mitre and dropped Saturday’s contest 7-4.   Mitre allowed five earned runs in 4.1 innings to offset any possible comeback by the Pinstripes. Red-hot Mark Teixeira slugged a pair of home runs and drove in three runs, but a late rally fell short.

The final game of the four game series was another offensive outburst for the Yankees and a measure of revenge against O’Sullivan.  The righty was acquired earlier in the week from the Halos and now faced the Yankees in a different uniform.

The Yankees knocked O’Sullivan around, then outlasted the Royals and a two hour-thirty seven minute rain delay for a 12-6 win.

Five Yankees collected two or more hits in the game, including Curtis Granderson who belted a pair of solo home runs.  A-Rod also had a great game even though he didn’t hit career HR number 600.  The slugger went 2-4 and drove in 3 runs to increase his RBI total to 81.  He also survived a scary moment in his final at-bat when Royals pitcher Blake Wood hit in the arm with a 95-mph fastball.  The slugger stayed down for several moments, but came away with just a contusion.

The Bombers’ offensive tear helped them stay in 1st place in the AL East as they prepare for a showdown with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Pinstriped Positives:

CC Sabathia continues to dominate the league and has put up great numbers so far this year.  In his last 10 games the Yankees ace is 8-1 with a 2.10 ERA.

Javier Vazquez has also continued to dominate hitters.  The one time struggling pitcher is 9-7 with a 4.54 ERA after going 6-2, 3.05 in his last 10 starts.

Mark Teixeira has been sizzling like the July temperatures. The one time struggling first baseman is hitting .289 in his last 10 games with 2 homers and 11 RBI.

Negatives:

Nick Swisher’s numbers have dipped a little as of late.  The first time All-Star is hitting .263 in his last 10 games, though he did hit a pair of home runs and drove in eight runs in the stretch.  He’s also been bothered by a sore heel.

Brett Gardner is really struggling; the speedy outfielder is hitting a measly .161 in his last 10 games and only has 2 stolen bases.

Robinson Cano who was once the league leader in batting average is hitting .243 in his last 10 games and has watched his batting average drop 7 points as a result (.329).

What’s Next:

The Yankees will now take their show and the league’s best record on the road as they face the Cleveland Indians for four games.  Then they will finish the week with a three game set against the second place Rays in Tampa.

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

The halfway point of the season reached, baseball took its annual pause for a three-day celebration of the sport known as the All-Star Game.  While a large number of players go out there, obviously many more have a short vacation in the midst of their grinding season.  Five Cardinals went to Anaheim, the rest, well, rested.  For all concerned, it seems to have extremely beneficial, as the Cardinal team that has come out of that break has born little resemblance to the frustrating, sputtering team that we saw from May to the first part of July.

The five Cardinal representatives did have something to say in the National League’s first All-Star win in 13 years.  Albert Pujols was the leading vote getter in the NL, but he was the first player replaced after going hitless in his two at-bats.  He did drive a ball in the first inning out to right field, but Ichiro Suzuki was able to run it down and turn it into a harmless fly ball.

Yadier Molina was the other St. Louis starter and he was able to stroke a base hit in his first time up.  However, when his next time in the box came up, there were two on and two out with the NL trying to break through.  With 13 years of fruitless searching for a win, it was not surprising that Molina was pulled back in favor of Brian McCann, who was not able to come through then, though he would play a part later.

Matt Holliday was a late substitution into the game and wound up batting after Scott Rolen.  After Rolen singled with one out, Holliday came up and drove a single up the middle, moving an alert Rolen to third.  Marlon Byrd worked a walk, then McCann had a three-run double to put the National League up.

With the NL clinging to their two run lead late and wanting desperately to preserve it, Charlie Manuel called on Adam Wainwright.  He quickly struck out Nick Swisher, but then John Buck drove a ball out to left field, where Holliday was stationed.  Holliday, though, apparently has problems with fielding in California with a national audience watching.  The ball glanced off of his glove and Buck wound up at second.  Wainwright then walked Ian Kinsler before coaxing what should have been a double play ball off the bat of Vernon Wells, but the defense was only able to get one.

Which meant that the story was lined up.  Wainwright was facing Torii Hunter, the face of the All-Star Game much like Pujols was the face of the one in St. Louis last year.  A long ball would put the AL back on top and make the NL wonder just how snakebit it was.  However, even though it was held close to it, this was not Hollywood.  Wainwright reached back and struck out Hunter, ending the inning and his night.

The last Cardinal representative was Chris Carpenter, who did not get into the game, being held in reserve for extra innings.  Which meant that he was tapped by Tony La Russa to open the second half of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a steamy, sweltering Busch Stadium.

When you looked at this game through the prism of the first half, there was a lot of reasons for concern.  Sure, Carpenter was going, but he had not exactly been the regularly dominating ace that Cardinal fans had gotten to use to, especially after taking the line drive off of his forearm in the game against Arizona a couple of weeks ago.  Also, he was being opposed by Clayton Kershaw, the talented young pitcher from the Dodgers who, as it happens, throws with his left hand.  All the signs were there for another frustrating loss.

It did not take long for that gloomy forecast to get turned on its head.  Carpenter went through the Dodger lineup in order in the top of the first, indicating that he was on his game.  Then, in the bottom of that inning, two walks and a single meant the Cards had the bases loaded with no outs.  While they did not break the game open then, they were able to get two runs off of ground outs.  In the first half, that would have wound up a single run when Holliday hit into a double play.  Small steps, but steps nonetheless.

Carpenter continued to deal, not giving up a hit until the top of the third and allowing his only run on a home run by Andre Ethier in the fourth.  He would wind up throwing eight innings of four-hit ball and looking more like the pitcher we have come to know and love.

If this was the first half, the two runs the Cardinals scored in the first would have been all Kershaw would have allowed.  And, indeed, it looked like that might be the case for a while.  However, after Ethier’s home run had cut the lead in half, the bats woke up yet again.  Yadier Molina, who had publicly stated that he was starting fresh with the second half, singled out to Manny Ramirez, who botched the play and allowed Molina to get to second.  Next up was Aaron Miles, who blooped a single in and, when Rafael Furcal threw wildly trying to get Molina at home, wound up at second.

There were flashes of the first half, like the whole flash sideways from this last season of LOST, as the two universes tried to coexist.  Chris Carpenter wound up popping up his sacrifice bunt and Brendan Ryan, after running the count to 3-0, swung at ball four and popped out to first.  This “new” universe then reasserted itself and Felipe Lopez doubled in Miles to make it 4-1.

Kershaw came out for the fifth, but quickly wished that he had not.  Pujols doubled and Holliday singled, putting runners on the corners for Allen Craig, who had his first major league RBI in the first.  This time Craig got a lot of the pitch and drove it deep into the outfield, scoring Pujols.  However, the Redbirds could not get anymore in the inning.

The Cardinals finished their scoring in the seventh, as they continued to pile on in a fashion very unlike the first half.  After a Pujols groundout, Holliday walked, then recent sensation Jon Jay continued his hitting streak by lacing a double to left, bringing in Holliday.  Molina followed with an RBI single and the score was 7-1, which is what it finished at.

It was easy to think that perhaps things were going to be different now, but part of what made the first half so frustrating was that the team would look to be going in the right direction, then immediately fade or not be able to continue with that momentum.  While the win against Kershaw was a significant step, the jury was still out on a sea change in St. Louis.

The second game of the series pitted Jaime Garcia against Chad Billingsley.  Garcia had a spectacular first half, but had struggled in some of his recent starts, not including his seven scoreless innings against Milwaukee.  Billingsley had been tough against the ‘Birds in the past, so Card fans probably were cautiously optimistic about this one.  It turned out to be justified, but not exactly the way that was expected.

Once again, the Cardinals jumped out early, and this time were able to do it with two outs.  Felipe Lopez led off the game with a fly out, then Colby Rasmus singled.  After Pujols grounded out moving Ramsus over, Holliday walked, bringing up Randy Winn.

There was some consternation before the game when Winn was on the lineup card instead of the hot-hitting Jay, but Winn had some good history against Billingsley and it panned out this time.  Winn roped a ball right down the line and when the dust settled, Rasmus and Holliday had scored and Winn was standing on third.  Yadier Molina followed with a single and the Redbirds were up 3-0.

Again, unlike the earlier part of the season, St. Louis was able to continue to add to their tallies.  In the second, Skip Schumaker opened with a single and Garcia sacrificed him to second.  After Tyler Greene flew out, Lopez came through again, driving in Schumaker with a single.

All the while, Jaime Garcia was dancing in and out of trouble.  The Dodgers got two on in the first inning but were unable to capitalize.  Jamie Carroll hit a two-out triple in the top of the second, but Billingsley was not able to get him in.  They were able to finally draw some blood in the third, when with two on and two out, Casey Blake and James Loney had back-to-back RBI singles, cutting the lead in half.

The Cardinals did not take that lying down, however.  Pujols, Holliday and Winn all singled to start the third, then Molina grounded out, driving in Pujols.  Schumaker and Garcia, though, were not able to plate the other two.  Still, it was another run, making it 5-2.

It began to look like St. Louis would need every one of those when Garcia opened the fourth inning allowing a single to Carroll and, after striking out Billingsley, a single to Furcal.  La Russa did not hesitate, as Garcia was already in the mid-80s on his pitch count, and brought in Kyle McClellan, who got out of the inning with no further damage.

Not willing to risk anything, the Cardinals put another on the board in the fourth when, after Greene and Lopez singled to put runners on first and third, Rasmus grounded into a double play, bringing in Greene.

The resurgence of Molina continued in the fifth.  After Matt Holliday walked, Billingsley was pulled from the game and George Sherrill inserted.  That was enough to counteract Winn’s  strong night, as he grounded out to force Holliday.  Molina, though, came up and put the ball into the bullpen, pushing the Cardinal lead out to 8-2.

Even in the first half, that was a fairly safe lead, unless the team was playing in Colorado.  However, Jason Motte did his best to make things very, very interesting in the eighth.  After a leadoff single by Loney, he was able to strike out Russell Martin, then walked Carroll.  Next up was Garret Anderson, who singled to load the bases.  With no margin for error, Motte erred, walking Furcal to force in one run and keep the bases loaded.  Matt Kemp hit a sacrifice fly to make it 8-4 with two runners still on.

That was all for Motte, who gave way to Dennys Reyes, who was able to get the final out of the inning.  He also pitched the ninth without incident save a leadoff double and the Cardinals were assured of a split of the series with two games left to play.

Not only did they have a split in hand, but they had a great chance for a series win the next day, because Adam Wainwright was pitching at home.  This season, Wainwright had not lost at home yet and his ERA was microscopic in Busch Stadium.

The Dodgers countered with Hiroki Kuroda, who had stymied the Cardinals earlier in the season.  While the Cards were proving that this was not the first half anymore, there was still some lingering traces.

It was a blistering hot afternoon for this one, as the 3:10 start time due to the Fox national telecast did not do wonders for the players.  Temperatures on the field approached 115 and it seemed the heat sapped the hitters’ bats as well.

The Cardinals looked like they were going to continue their offensive prowess when Felipe Lopez took the first pitch to left for a double.  However, Colby Rasmus, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday all expanded their zones against Kuroda’s offerings and all of them struck out.  It was especially egregious with Rasmus and Pujols, who were up in the count 3-1 but went fishing low and out of the zone.

Wainwright, though, was dealing.  The Dodgers got the first two batters on in the second, but he retired Casey Blake on a fly out and got Xavier Paul to hit into a double play.  A two-out single by Rafael Furcal in the third came to naught as well.  A two-out double by Blake DeWitt in the fourth netted the same for the Los Angeles squad.

The Cardinals were finally able to scrape together something in the fourth.  Holliday singled to lead off the inning, though was erased on Jon Jay’s groundout.  Jay, however, went to third when Yadier Molina singled behind him.  Skip Schumaker doubled, plating Jay and putting runners at second and third with one out.  However, both Wainwright and Tyler Greene struck out and the Cards couldn’t get any more.

One run with Waino on the mound at home is usually sufficient, however.  Due to the heat, he only went six innings in this outing, but still allowed no runs and lowered his home ERA to 1.31.

St. Louis was able to add some insurance in the eighth.  Albert Pujols led off with a walk and Holliday singled after him.  Aaron Miles pinch-hit for the pitcher and sacrificed the runners over.  With his resurgence, the Dodgers decided not to pitch to Yadier Molina, instead walking him to face Brendan Ryan with the bases loaded.  Ryan got the ball to the outfield and Pujols was able to score on his sacrifice fly.  Tag team work by Trever Miller and Ryan Franklin in the ninth and the Cardinals had their fourth straight victory, their second longest winning streak of the year.

With the series in hand and the heat continuing to buffet the St. Louis area, Tony La Russa continued one of his more traditional and sometimes infuriating practices, resting many starters instead of going hard for the sweep.  Sunday saw Pujols, Molina and Rasmus all start on the bench with Allen Craig, Jason LaRue and Randy Winn taking their places.

Jeff Suppan took to the hill and apparently had been drinking the same water the rest of the team had been.  He was as close to dominating as Jeff Suppan gets, allowing only five hits and one run in his six innings of work.  The one run came in the fifth when, with runners on the corner, opposing pitcher Vicente Padilla slapped a ball that bounced over the head of Felipe Lopez at third, scoring Xavier Paul.

However, the offense, with those big bats missing, went back into hibernation.  The closest they came to supporting Suppan was in the bottom of the sixth, when Rasmus struck out pinch hitting for Soup, Ryan walked, and Lopez grounded out moving Ryan over.  Jay and Craig then also walked, loading the bases with two outs for Holliday.  In a flashback to the earlier part of the season, Holliday couldn’t come through, hitting a fly ball for the third out.  It wasn’t the last time Holliday would have a chance to help the club, however.

Mitchell Boggs came in for the top of the seventh and immediately seemed to put the game out of reach.  To be fair, though, the defense let him down.  After a leadoff single and a fly ball for the first out, AJ Ellis hit a ground ball that should have at least produced one out, but instead both runners were safe on an error by Lopez.  Garret Anderson then doubled in a run and put runners at second and third.

After intentionally walking Rafael Furcal, Boggs then uncorked a wild pitch that moved everyone up.  He was then able to strike out Carroll and, with a base open, La Russa decided to walk Andre Ethier intentionally to set up a force at any base.  That backfired when Boggs could not find the plate and walked Matt Kemp afterwards, forcing in the fourth run of the day.  Reyes again came on to get someone out of a jam, getting the last out to finish off the inning.

If this had been the same team from the first half of the season, you could have turned off your television set then.  (You would have also spared yourself part of a KSDK broadcast, which is an endangered species now that the team has announced that all games will be on Fox Sports Midwest starting next season.)  However, the last two innings put the exclamation point on the idea that this is a brand new ball club.

Brendan Ryan, who had a perfect day at the plate, started the eighth inning off with a walk.  After a Lopez fly ball, Jon Jay walked as well.  That was enough to bring Jason Miller into the ball game to face Allen Craig, who was having his birthday on Sunday.  Craig gave himself a present by doubling in two runs, cutting the lead to two.

Wanting to take no chances, Joe Torre (also celebrating a birthday) went to his closer, Jonathan Broxton.  Instead of coming in and slamming the door, however, he more like gently closed it.  He got Holliday to fly out, but then Winn picked up his teammate with an RBI single.  When Schumaker walked, it was time for Pujols to pinch hit.  He worked the count to 3-2 before sharply grounding to shortstop.  A bullet dodged, LA still lead 4-3.

You do have to play nine, though, and the ninth proved to be the undoing of the team from the coast.  Yadier Molina, who came in when Pujols pinch-hit for LaRue, opened the ninth with a single.  Brendan Ryan bunted him over, but then Lopez flew out, putting the Cards just an out away from a tough loss.

Jay kept it alive by coaxing a walk, bringing up Allen Craig.  Broxton ran the count to 2-2, needing just one more strike, before Craig lined a ball back up the middle, scoring a Yadi Molina who ran as if his life depended on it, tying the game.

It stayed tied for four more pitches.  Holliday, up with two on and his failures not only in the first half but in this game with runners in scoring position on the minds of many watching, got behind 1-2.  Broxton, who had thrown over 40 pitches, couldn’t finish him off, though.  Holliday got a pitch up and drove it to the wall, a long single that easily scored Jay for the winning run in an improbable victory.

Four games, four wins.  Coupled with the win in Houston before the break, the Redbirds have won five in a row, tying their longest streak of the year.  They have done it with offense, they have done it with pitching, they have done it with heroics.  From the outside looking in, it certainly seems that something has changed for the better.

With the win, the Cardinals moved a half-game ahead of the Reds for the NL Central division lead.  Again, they are the first place St. Louis Cardinals.  They will test this new found resolve and momentum this week as the Phillies come into Busch for a four game set.

The Phillies are scuffling now, 5.5 behind Atlanta in the NL East and coming off losing three of four to Chicago in Wrigley Field.  St. Louis also misses Roy Halladay, who pitched on Sunday night.  It will still be a test for the squad, but there’s renewed hope that they can make a statement with these games.

The weekend is spent in Chicago renewing acquaintances with the third place Cubs, who have pulled to 9.5 games out of first place.  A strong week by St. Louis will have a lot of people fired up about this new team and this new half of the season.

The Yankees celebrated Steinbrenner’s accomplishments by doing a video montage of him. After the montage, the fans gave a heartfelt standing ovation. Mariano Rivera put roses in home plate to honor Steinbrenner, and Derek Jeter spoke about the bombastic Yankees owner and the soft-spoken public address announcer.

Steinbrenner would have been proud of the festivities, and he would have been proud of the way his team played in their 5-4 victory over the Rays. Steinbrenner always talked about how he is proud of his team when they don’t give up. That was the case of last night’s game. The Yankees trailed for the early part of the game, but they managed to cut the deficit, tie it, and win it in the end.

The Rays helped pave the way for the Yankees to make this comeback possible. The Rays could have put the game away if they did not strand runners at third several times during the middle innings. It proved to be costly in the end.

There was a feeling the Yankees were going to make Rays pay for not maximizing their opportunity, and it proved to be true. They tied the game at 3 in the sixth inning on solo home runs by Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada. After the Rays took a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning, the Yankees tied it at 4 when NIck Swisher homered off Rays setup man Joaquin Benoit in the eighth inning.

From there, the Yankees were not going to be denied. David Robertson and Mariano Rivera shut down the Rays hitters, and the Yankees celebrated with a victory on Swisher’s single in the ninth inning.

Here’s what the Rays or any baseball team must understand when they play the Yankees. When the opportunity is there to end the game, the Yankees opponent must finish off the Yankees. They are only asking for trouble by not getting it done. That was the case for the Rays last night.

Give CC Sabathia credit for pitching his team out of a jam several times, but championship teams know how to end it when the opportunity is there. As good as the Rays are,  they are not ready to be a championship team just yet. The Rays fail whenever it’s time to execute with runners in scoring position.

Too many times, the Rays tend to let the opposing pitcher off the hook whenever he is in a jam. Friday night’s game was a typical example of that. This may work against the bad teams, but against the Yankees and the Red Sox, it becomes an epic fail.

The Yankees are the opposite in this situation. Let’s say the Yankees took a 3-1 lead and they had a chance to end the game in the fifth inning with runners at second and third or with the bases loaded. Know what they would have done? They would make the pitcher pay for his mistakes, and end it right there.

That’s what the Yankees do. They find a way to win even if it looks like they are out of it or if a pitcher overpowers them with stuff. They are the only team that knows how to beat elite pitchers in baseball. It’s no wonder why they won a championship last year, and why they can do it again.

Talk about buying talent, but it takes a special team to come together and know how to win games. The Yankees have a knack of doing just that. They did that during the mid-to-late nineties, and they discovered that magic back last year.

Let’s tell it like it is. The Yankees outsmarted the Rays. They knew how to get the home runs, and they knew how to put the runners in a position to score.

This was a disappointing loss to say the least. When the Rays have their worst pitcher starting in this series and he pitched well until he lost it  in the sixth inning, this is one the Rays should not have let get away. It’s easy to go blame James Shields for giving up home runs to Cano and Posada in tying the game, but it’s not Shields’ fault that he had to pitch with no room for error in the sixth inning.

Maybe Shields go eight innings if this game was a 5-1 game. The Rays had an opportunity to pick Shields up when the game was tied at 3. They did, but they should have gotten more than one run in that seventh inning.

Whenever a team wins the first game of the series, they have a better chance of winning the series. Now, the Rays need to find a way to win today or else they could be in a position to get swept on Sunday. If the Rays get swept, the Yankees don’t have to pay attention to what the Rays are doing anymore with a nice cushion lead in the division.

The Yankees talk about how they respect the Rays publicly, but privately, they look at the Rays as a cute little team. That’s not meant to be a compliment. The Yankees don’t respect anyone. Why should they? Champions never pay attention to other teams. They are arrogant to think if they play their game, they are going to win.

The Yankees earned the right to act that way. When a team wins many championships, there’s no reason to fear the other team. Until teams figure out a way to beat the Yankees consistently, the Yankees will go use that approach.

It’s up to the Rays to change that perception. So far, they are 3-3 against the Bronx Bombers, but it’s not going to make the Yankees fear them. Even if the Rays went 6-0 against the Yankees so far this season, the Yankees will not change their approach.

For that to change, the Rays need to beat them more often than not. Last night was winnable. A message could have been sent that the Rays are a team the Yankees need to take seriously.

Just like that, the Yankees have a chance now to take the series or get a sweep. That team is finally healthy, and most of their players are peaking at the right time. The second half is where a team distance themselves from the competition in the division.

It’s up to the Rays to make it a race. They get two more cracks at it this weekend.

Here’s hoping the Rays know how to pad in some runs in case they have a lead. No lead is ever safe with the Yankees.

The Rays had an opportunity to show they can be in the Yankees’ level, but on this night, they showed the Yankees they have ways to go until they reach that level.

2010 Season record: 56-32

The Yankees dominant pitching returned this week and as a result the Bombers caught fire and went 6-1.  The Yankees were led by their starting rotation, which held their AL West opponents to two runs or less in all six of their wins.

The men in pinstripes started  the west coast road trip against the Oakland Athletics.  The 3rd place A’s were no competition for the Yankees, who outscored them 15-4 and as a result swept the 3-game series.

In the first game the Yankees beat the A’s 3-1 largely due to Javier Vazquez’s great pitching performance.  The Yankees starter allowed just three hits and one earned run in seven innings.

Game 2 was more of the same as the Yankees clicked on all cylinders in a 6-1 victory.  The Bombers’ All-Star ace, CC Sabathia, struck out 10 batters and allowed just one earned run in seven innings.  Sabathia won the game with the help of his All-Star teammate, Alex Rodriguez, who hit a pair of homers including his 21st career Grand Slam.

In the final game of the series, Nick Swisher’s exploded for a trio of  hits including a home run and finished the game a triple short of the cycle.  On the mound, Yankees starter AJ Burnett also shined by allowing only two earned runs in seven innings of work to earn the victory in the 6-2 win.

The Yankees then traveled to Seattle for a rematch of the prior week’s series against the Mariners.  The first game of the series turned out to be a pitchers duel between Andy Pettitte and Jason Vargas.  Pettitte pitched a brilliant game, striking out nine and allowing just one earned run over eight innings.

Vargas matched Pettitte inning for inning, but when the Mariners went to the bullpen the Bombers were like sharks seeinge blood in the water.  A-Rod hit a two run single off of Mariners closer David Aardsma to put the Bombers ahead for good and the Yankees won 3-1.

The Yankees were supposed to face Seattle ace Cliff Lee in the second game of the series.  However, after a trade to New York fell through, Lee was dealt to Texas just hours before game time. The Yankees struggled early with spot starter David Pauley, but then blew things open en route to a 6-1 win.  Mark Teixeira carried the big stick in the game by blasting two homers into the night.  While Teixeira brought the lumber, Phil Hughes brought his great stuff.   The first time All-Star limited the Mariners to just one earned run in seven innings and picked up his 11th victory.

The Yankees seven game winning streak came to an end in Game 3 of the series. Javier Vazquez threw no-hit ball for 5.2 innings and outpitched Felix Hernandez, but the bullpen couldn’t preserve the 1-0 lead Vazquez left with.  Joba Chamberlain blew the game by loading the bases and then quickly unloading them by serving up a grand slam to Jose Lopez.  A 9th inning rally fell short and the Mariners hung on for a 4-1 win.

In the final game of the series and of the first half the Yankees really poured it on against the M’s.  The Bomber’s bats exploded for eight runs thanks to Mark Teixeira’s four hits and two runs driven in by both Derek Jeter and Marcus Thames, who also homered.  And of course what would the last game of the first half be without another dominant pitching performance by CC Sabathia.  Sabathia allowed just one earned run over seven innings and led the Yanks to an impressive 8-2 victory.

The Yankees ended the first half of the season on fire, winning 9 of 11  The Bombers go into the All-Star break on top of the AL East with a 56-32 record and a two game lead over 2nd place Tampa Bay.

Pinstriped Positives:

Mark Teixeira has been on fire as of late. In his last 10 games, Teixeira hit .410 to raise his season average to .254 and produced 4 HR and 11 RBI.

Nick Swisher has also been hot of late, trying his best to prove he belongs in the All-Star game.  Swish hit .375 over his last 10 games leading into the break.

After  an extremely rough start to the season, Javier Vazquez has arguably been one of baseball’s best pitchers over the last month and a half.  In his last 10 starts Vazquez is 5-3 with a 2.78 ERA (which has allowed him to drop his season ERA to 4.45) and leveled his record out at 7-7.

Negatives:

Joba Chamberlain has really been a mess of late.  He has allowed nine earned runs and 13 hits over his last nine  innings of work, and has blown a couple of Yankees’ leads.  The Yankees really need him to go back to his old fist pumping, dominant self if they want to repeat as champs.

Robinson Cano had an amazing season, but ended the first half in a slump. The All-Star second baseman hit just .205 with one homer and 5 RBI in his past 10 games.  Cano saw his once league leading average drop to .336.

Mariano Rivera was forced to pull out of the All-Star game due to side and knee injuries.  If the Yankees are to make a serious run at back to back titles they’ll need their Hall of Fame closer to be as close to 100% as possible.

What’s Next:

The Yankees are now off until Friday when they play host to the 2nd place Tampa Bay Rays for a very important three game series.  It was going to be a tough series already, but the death of George Steinbrenner is sure to impact the emotions of the team.

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com

Then there’s Robinson Cano. He was announced as a participant on July 6, which led both Yankees manager Joe Girardi and hitting coach Kevin Long to express happy-but-not-really reactions. “I would prefer he’s not involved in it, but that’s not my decision,” Long said in the NY Daily News. “History suggests guys that do the home run hitting contest get fatigued and exhausted from the process.” Interestingly, just a day later, Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman said that a sore lower back would keep Cano out of the Derby — before they apparently let Cano himself know. (Does that mean Girardi, Cashman and Long have less concern over how fatigued Nick Swisher may get, since Swisher was in the Derby?)

Why all the reluctance to participate this year? There’s no doubt a player approaches hitting in the Home Run Derby differently than hitting in a regular game. “In the Home Run Derby, you have to be aggressive, because it’s a lot of pressure,” Cabrera said on MLB.com. “It’s different, because you don’t have the batting cage. You have more people see you. It’s like, ‘You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to do it.’”

So does that different approach affect a player’s performance in the second half of the season? Is there really a “Home Run Derby effect”?

To find out how things went during the second half for past participants, here’s a look at Home Run Derby contestants from 2009 back to 2005.

2009 – Busch Stadium, St. Louis

The numbers say: Pujols is obviously a dramatic example of post-Derby drop-off, as are Inge (even without hitting a homer) and Cruz. However, Howard and Fielder weren’t bothered at all.

2008 – Yankee Stadium, New York

* Hit 28 homers in 1st round
The numbers say: It certainly looks like the Derby had some kind of negative effect on everyone.

2007 – AT&T Park, San Francisco

The numbers say: Some declined (especially Morneau), some hit the same or just about, and Ryan Howard and Matt Holliday hit more homers in the second half than the first.

2006 – PNC Park, Pittsburgh

The numbers say: Other than Ryan Howard hitting two more homers in the second half compared to the first, everyone else had some kind of drop-off in the second half – especially David Wright.

2005 – Comerica Park, Detroit

* 17 in first round
The numbers say: After more than doubling the number of homers he’d hit so far in the season during the Derby, Bobby Abreu didn’t do so well homer-wise the rest of the season. He wasn’t alone in declining, although he was the most dramatic. And Pudge Rodriguez and David Ortiz actually improved.

Conclusions: Some years offer convincing evidence there indeed is a Home Run Derby effect, and perhaps enough so that many of this year’s All Stars declined participation. Only time will tell how this year’s Derby affects Miguel Cabrera, Corey Hart, Matt Holliday, David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Nick Swisher, Vernon Wells and Chris Young.

Christine Coleman covers the Cardinals for BaseballDigest.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries.  You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

2010 Season record: 43-27

The Yankees opened up the week against last year’s World Series opponents, the Philadelphia Phillies.  Unfortunately for Yankee fans, the Bombers didn’t fair too well in the rematch and lost two out of three.

The Yanks opened up the week with an 8-3 victory over the Phillies that showcased their abilities to out hit and shut down other teams.  The game was supposed to be a pitchers duel between CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay, but only Sabathia showed up.

Halladay surrendered home runs to Mark Teixiera, Curtis Granderson, and Nick Swisher after having allowed only three home runs all year.  Sabathia got tagged for three runs in the 4th inning, but settled down and didn’t allow another run in seven innings of work.

For the rest of the series against the Phillies the Yankees hitting and pitching struggled.  The Yankees lost Game 2 by a score of 6-3 to the crafty Jamie Moyer, who showed the Bombers just how much he still has at the tender age of 47.

Andy Pettitte went for the Yankees in Game 3 and pitched very well allowing two earned runs in seven innings pitched.  But the Yankees bullpen and offense struggled.  Joba Chamberlain gave up 3 earned runs without recording an out and as a result the Phillies won 7-1.

The Yankees then took on their cross town rival Mets and lost the first game which made it three straight losses for the Bombers.  However they quickly rebounded and won the last two games against the Mets and took the three game series.

The Mets won the opener 4-0 behind Hisanori Takahashi’s brilliant performance.  Takahashi pitched six innings of shutout ball and held the Yankees star studded lineup to just four hits.  To make matters worse for the Yankees they wasted another brilliant pitching performance.  Javier Vazquez allowed just one run in seven innings pitched.

In Game 2 the Yanks righted the ship and stopped their three game skid with the help of Phil Hughes’ strong performance.  Hughes won his 10^th game of the season by holding the Mets to three runs in seven innings.  The Yankees offense awoke from their slumber and got two-run homers from Teixeira and Granderson.  Chamberlain bounced back with a strong outing and the Yankees beat their rivals 5-3.

In the series finale the Yankees gained a split of the six interleague games with Mets with 4-0 victory.  CC Sabathia was dominant, limiting the Mets to four hits over eight innings.  All of the Yankees runs came off the bat of Mark Teixiera who hit a grand slam off of Johan Santana.  For the second time in a week Sabathia had beaten another team’s ace.

Despite the mini slump the Yankees still managed to take a one game lead over the struggling Rays in the AL East.

Pinstripe Positives:

After a slump in May, CC Sabathia has really turned up the heat in the month of June.  For the month, he is an amazing 4-0 with a 2.48 ERA.  On top of that Sabathia’s last two starts came against top tier teams.

In another pitching positive for the Bombers Javier Vazquez has continued to pitch very well.  In his past six starts Vazquez is 4-2 with a 2.76 ERA, and one of those losses includes his last start when he only allowed one run in seven innings.

Negatives:

The Yankees got their perennial all-star third baseman back this week which is a good thing.  However, Alex Rodriguez has continued the slump he was in before his injury sidelined him.  In his last 10 games A-Rod is hitting .167 with no homeruns and 2 RBI.

A.J. Burnett is having another A.J. Burnett type season, which means at times he looks great and then at times he looks like he’s throwing batting practice.  In his last four starts Burnett has given up 23 earned runs.  As a result, Burnett is 0-4 with a mind blowing 10.35 ERA.

The Captain has also been bit by the slump bug.  In Jeter’s last 10 games he is batting .175 with 2 homers and 5 RBI.  Jeter, who has a career average of .316, is currently hitting .280 with 8 homers and 39 RBI.

What’s Next:

The Yankees are going to take their show on the road as they travel to the west coast to take on the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers.

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

2010 Season record: 40-23

After a long pursuit the Yankees have pulled even with the Tampa Rays atop the AL East.  The Yanks turned up the heat, going 5-1 as they showcased their powerful bats and crafty pitching.  As a result, the Bombers outscored their opponents 41-24 and took two out of three from Baltimore before completing a three game sweep of the Houston Astros.

The Yankees opened the week with a 12-7 win over the lowly Orioles.  The Yankees offense exploded for three home runs – two-run shots by Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher and a grand slam by Granderson.  Phil Hughes continued to make a case for himself to be included on the AL All-Star roster with a six inning, three earned run performace.

Teixeira had two additional hits, a pair of RBI and two walks.  Swisher banged out three hits and drove in five runs.

The only negative part of the game was the bullpen, Chad Gaudin to be specific. The recently re-acquired right-hander gave up four runs over the final two innings of the game.

The rest of the Baltimore series were not high scoring affairs like the first game.  The Yankees won the second game 4-2 thanks to a great pitching performance by CC Sabathia who pitched seven strong innings, struck out eight and allowed just two runs.

The Yankees offense took the night off in the last game of the series.  The Orioles won 4-3 behind rookie pitcher Jake Arrieta’s first win. Making his major league debut, Arrieta held the Pinstripes to four hits and three runs over six innings.

Back home at Yankee Stadium, the Bombers came back to life against the Houston Astros.  In game 1 of the interleague series, Andy Pettitte continued his dominance, allowing two earned runs in 7 1/3 innings pitched.  It was the first time Pettitte had faced his former team since returning to the Bronx prior to the 2008 season.

The Yankees bats had a revival in the final two games of the series, putting a nine spot on the board in each contest. In Saturday’s game, Derek Jeter went 2 for 4 with two homers and four RBI.  The Captain’s performance wasn’t the only big offensive outburst. Jorge Posada went 2 for 3 and hit a grand slam in the Bombers 9-3 win.

The Yankees and especially Posada were not done yet.  In the last game of the series, Posada, who caught his first game since May 16, hit another grand slam.  The Yankees beat Houston 9-5 and helped Phil Hughes win his ninth game of the season despite a rough outing.

Pinstriped Positives:

Javier Vazquez is finally starting to pull himself together and show people why the Yankees gave him a second chance.  In his last three starts Vazquez has allowed six earned run in 21 innings (2.45 ERA).

Andy Pettitte continues to amaze people in the baseball world.  In his last 10 games the Yankees pitcher is 7-1 with a 2.77 ERA. The win over Houston was his 200^thas a Yankee.  If he keeps at this pace maybe a Cy Young award will be his next achievement.

Posada had struggled since his return from the DL, hitting just .194 in 11 games.  However, as all Yankee fans saw against the Astros his bat came alive with four hits in nine at-bats. That, of course, included the pair of grand slams. Posada became the first Yankees since Bill Dickey 1937 to hit slams in consecutive games.

Negatives:

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez had to leave the finale of the Orioles series in the first inning.  A-Rod was pulled due to tightness in his right groin, which was later diagnosed as hip flexor tendonitis.  It caused the slugger to miss the entire Houston series, but it should not cause a trip to the DL.  On the bright side, doctors determined the injury was not linked to last year’s serious hip injury and surgery.

AJ Burnett has been struggling as of late. Over his last three starts, Burnett went 1-2 with a 4.90 ERA and saw his season ERA jump from 3.28 to 3.86.  Hopefully for Yankee fans he pulls himself together in time for his next start which will be against the Phillies.

What’s Next:

The Yankees are now tied with the Tampa Rays for the lead in the AL East and will need to keep their hot streak going in order to pass them.  The Yankees have a very important six game home stretch against two former World Series opponents, the Philadelphia Phillies and the cross-town rival New York Mets.

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

Drew Sarver contributed to this report.

In the American League, in figures released Monday, the outfield race is led by Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle (1,231,950 votes), followed by Carl Crawford of Tampa Bay (1,123,132) and Nelson Cruz of Texas (1,093,099), narrowly ahead of teammate Josh Hamilton (1,006,364).  New York Yankees teammates Nick Swisher (808,871) and Curtis Granderson (766,088) and Torii Hunter (765,023) of the host Angels are among those remaining in contention.

The only other American League race in doubt is at first base, where Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins, with 1,402,496 votes, is holding off New York’s Mark Teixeira (1,221,457) and Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera (1,009,822) in a three-way race.

In the N.L., as announced by MLB today, outfield, catcher and shortstop are still up for grabs.  Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, the vote leader among N.L. outfielders last year, is again pacing the position (1,422,598).  Atlanta Braves rookie sensation Jason Heyward (1,419,753) is close behind, with Andre Ethier of Los Angeles holding the third spot (1,348,662).  Philadelphia Phillies teammates Jayson Werth (1,124,831) and Shane Victorino (1,029,700) as well as Matt Holliday (955,411) of the St. Louis Cardinals are still in contention.  Hanley Ramirez (1,190,685) of the Florida Marlins holds a small lead over Jimmy Rollins (992,887) of the Phillies at shortstop.

Placido Polanco

Placido Polanco of Philadelphia continues to pace the N.L. hot corner, with a lead of about 180,000 votes over David Wright of the Mets and 230,000 over Chipper Jones of Atlanta.

At N.L. catcher, Yadier Molina of the Cardinals has totaled 1,047,411 votes as he continues to hold off Braves catcher Brian McCann, who has collected a total of 959,033 votes.

Other starters whose leads seem secure include:

American League
C – Joe Mauer, Minnesota
2b – Robinson Cano, New York
ss – Derek Jeter, New York
3b – Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
dh – Vladimir Guerrero, Texas

National League
1b – Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2b – Chase Utley, Philadelphia

Immediately following the announcement of the A.L. and N.L. All-Star rosters on Sunday, July 4, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League’s 34-man roster via the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote.  Fans will cast their votes exclusively online at MLB.com from a list of five players from each League over a four-day period and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes on Thursday, July 8.

5/24–5/31 Record: 5-2

2010 Season record: 31-20

The Yankees were able to turn it around last week and stopped their May slump.  Timely hitting, clutch pitching and great defensive play were the keys to the Yankees success.    The Yanks outscored their opponents 43-30 for the week, with the pitching staff holding opponents to three or less runs in all five of the team’s wins.

The Yankees dominant pitching opened up the week by shutting out the underrated Twins offense in a game that was completed over the span of two days due to rain.  In the team’s first trip to the new Target Field, A.J. Burnett and four relievers limited the Twins to six hits and Derek Jeter provided the game’s lone run with a solo home run.  The Bombers followed that up by holding Minnesota to a pair of runs as Nick Swisher homered in the 9th for a 3-2 Yankees win.

After dropping the finale of the three game series to the AL Central leading Twins, the Bombers took on the Cleveland Indians in a four game Memorial Day Weekend series at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees’ bats exploded in the four game series out scoring the Tribe 37-20.   Red hot Robinson Cano belted a grand slam in the opener, an 8-2 win, to back an outstanding effort by Phil Hughes.

The Yankees poured more runs on the board on Saturday, but a shaky CC Sabathia and an even shakier bullpen led to a 13-11 loss.  The Yankees bounced back though to take the final two games of the series.

A.J. Burnett was outstanding and Mark Teixeira provided the late innings heroics as the Pinstripes rallied for a 7-3 win on Sunday.  Andy Pettitte followed that up on Monday with his seventh win as the Yankees rolled to an 11-2 victory.

Pinstriped Positives:

The week’s positives were not only limited to the win and loss columns.  The Yankees got a little healthier when they welcomed outfielder Curtis Granderson back into the lineup on May 28.  Granderson got back into the swing of things immediately and had a multi hit game in the series finale against Cleveland.

On another positive note, second baseman Robinson Cano continued to light the league up with his bat.  Cano collected six multi-hit games this week including two 3-hit games.  That helped raise his batting average to .366, trailing only Justin Morneau’s .374 mark.

The Captain also wielded a hot bat collecting six multi-hit games during the week.  As a result, Derek Jeter raised his batting average back over .300 for the season.

Out on the mound, Andy Pettitte continued his dominant season by only allowing three runs in two starts. That included a strong eight inning performance against the Twins in which he allowed only two runs.  Pettitte continues to have the season of his life, going 7-1 in 10 starts with an ERA of 2.48.

The Negatives:

Even though the Bombers looked great this week there were still some low points.  Javier Vazquez continued to be a sore spot for the Yanks.  After a great start against the Mets, Vazquez went back to his old, spotty self against the Twins and gave up 5 runs in 5.2 innings pitched.  Vazquez continued to show the Yankees that he is inconsistent at best.

Francisco Cervelli has come back down to Earth recently.  He hasn’t had more than one hit in a game in over a week.  Cervelli hit a measly .212 in his last 10 games and his season average has dropped to .311 as a result.

What’s Next:

The Yankees have a 3-game series against the lowly Baltimore Orioles and the up-and-coming Blue Jays this week and need to continue playing well if they want to keep gaining on the Rays.

The Big Bad Rays have a two game set against the Blue Jays and a 3-game series against the AL West leading Texas Rangers and are looking to stop their own slump.  The Rays are currently only 2.5 games ahead of the Yankees and things are beginning to get interesting, keep watching Yankee fans.

* * *
John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

Take tonight’s 3-1 Yankee win over the Baltimore Orioles. This had the making of a slugfest wit Brian Matursz taking on Javier Vazquez, two pitcher that would make Oliver Perez proud with a combined record of 5-10 and an ERA of over six.

But both starts throughout their records and played very good baseball, each giving up one earned run with Matursz going 6 2/3 and Vazquez the full seven.

So something needed to break here and the Yankees got it with two on and two out during the bottom of the seventh.

Alex Rodriguez’s long groundball to Miguel Tejada at third went for an era as Ty Wiggington couldn’t haul in the low throw. Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher scored as the ball trickled down the line.

“We are going to keep coming at ya,” Swisher said. “If we don’t score runs early we are going to keep coming at you. I don’t care how they score. A win is a win.”

Yet, this is more than just any ho-hum win. Another good outing by Vazquez, who just three weeks ago was on the Perez boat out of the rotation, but seemed to right the ship at Citi Field two Fridays ago.

“I feel good the last few starts,” Vazquez, who now improves to 4-5 on the season with a 6.06 ERA. “I think I am throwing better pitches. I have better command on my pitches and throwing strikes.”

Vazquez was sharp all night and was able to get out of trouble when he had to. In the seventh, with one out Matt Weiters was intentionally walked with one out to load the bases. But Vazquez was able to cap off his night with a strikeout to Adam Jones and Julio Lugo grounding out to finish off the inning.

That was the most trouble Vazquez had all night as he cruised through five and gave up a homer to Corey Patterson in the sixth. His balls looked sharp, on what may be his best outing of the season.

“He was great,” said manager Joe Girardi. “He attacked the zone all night. I thought he used his fastball very effectively. We got into a jam in the seventh. He was outstanding tonight. Everyone is going to run into bumps in the road, but we are very encouraged on how he threw the baseball.”

Also encouraging was Curtis Granderson, who hit another homer off a lefty to give the Yankees an early lead.

All of this made for a great night in the Bronx, one that could have been marred with the loss of Mark Teixeira. The first baseman left the game in the third inning after fouling a ball off his foot in the first. Girardi said the first baseman is day to day and may be in the lineup tomorrow.

“We will see how he feels.”

With the Yankees luck these days, it’s probably going to be pretty good, since they are playing well and getting the breaks.

Just after the season opener, a blockbuster trade saw Doc Halladay, CC Sabathia, and Joe Mauer changing teams. After a string of minor trades, another blockbuster fell on the table that saw Ryan Howard and Ichiro exchanged for Albert Pujols.  The trading block has been extremely active and everyone in the league has been receiving trade offers from league member Jobu on a daily basis.

Here our the league standing as of May 17, 2010

JerseyHitmen finds himself in first place by thirteen and a half  games and kicked my butt two weeks ago, 13-2.  He is up against the Ivie Leaguers this week and a great battle is about to begin.

The Waiver Wire Abyss has been very active as well. Unfortunately, the most memorable add/drop of this young 2010 season occurred due to my own bone headed decision to drop Dallas Braden for his start against the Rays. The rest, as they say, is history. To make matters worse,  my co-host of Gotham Baseball LIVE, Dan” Hawk” Drobnis, fished him out of the abyss and received all the applause and back slapping that go along with pitching a perfect game.

Other notable waiver wire acquisitions:

JerseyHitmen: Vernon Wells & CJ Wilson

Crimson Tide: Nick Swisher

Jobu: Casey McGehee & Buster Posley

Peter Gammons: Dallas Braden (Perfect Game)

MLB 10 The Show: Barry Zito

BronxBombers: Kelly Johnson (twice)

Ivie Leaguers: Scott Podsednik, Ike Davis, & Jamie Garcia

Donnie Baseball 23: Austin Jackson, Brett Gardner, & Aroldis Chapman

Of course,  among these vital moves are a few mistakes made by myself and others. I won’t name names because these lapses in trading judgment happen to the best of us.

A few household names have found themselves floating in the abyss and changing teams faster then a Scott Boris client. The list of unusual suspects include Ben Sheets, Scott Kazmir, Carlos Quentin, Rick Porcello, Edwin Jackson, and a bunch of underachieving offensive players.

Jay Ferraro is the Executive Producer of Baseball Digest LIVE and Gotham Baseball LIVE.  He is also the Fantasy Editor for Baseballdigest.com as well as a columnist for Baseball Digest Magazine and Assignment Editor for Gothambaseball.com. You can reach him at Jay_Ferraro@Juno.com , follow him on Twitter , add him on Facebook and check out his Official Website.

Joe Girardi and the Yankees fans got a good look at the future in players like Jesus Montero and Slade Heathcott and ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte in the unique intrasquad game.  The Yankees, whose lineup featured minor leaguers on both sides by the time the game concluded, topped their future (hey, at least they didn’t destroy their future) 9-6.

With the regular season starting Sunday night, that also means it was time for the Yankees to pare down the roster.  The 25-man roster to start the season looks like this:

Pitchers:

CC Sabathia
A.J. Burnett
Andy Pettitte
Javier Vazquez
Phil Hughes
Mariano Rivera
Joba Chamberlain
Sergio Mitre
Damaso Marte
Alfredo Aceves
David Robertson
Chan Ho Park

Catchers

Jorge Posada
Francisco Cervelli

Infielders

Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Robinson Cano
Mark Teixeira
Ramiro Pena
Nick Johnson

Outfielders

Curtis Granderson
Nick Swisher
Brett Gardner
Randy Winn
Marcus Thames

Manager Joe Girardi and GM Brian Cashman opted to go with Sergio Mitre as a long man in the pen rather than keep either Royce Ring or Boone Logan as a second left-hander in the bullpen.  Either could still be called up quicky if Damaso Marte’s cranky shoulder proves detrimental to the team as it did last season.

There was a big change in the team’s catching depth as well.  With Jorge Posada bothered by a stiff neck and Francisco Cervelli slowed by a sore hamstring, there was speculation that veteran catcher Mike Rivera might make the squad out of Tampa.

Not only didn’t Rivera make the team, he was on the verge of being released.  Rivera became expendable after former Yankee Chad Moeller was released by the Baltimore Orioles.  The Yankees quickly scooped him up as well former Diamondbacks catcher Robbie Hammock, and signed the pair to minor league deals.  Meanwhile Cervelli’s hamstring felt good enough for him to travel with the big squad.

* * *

Drew Sarver covers the Yankees for BaseballDigest.com and blogs at My Pinstripes.  He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and followed on Twitter.

That was on the surface—just looking at the numbers. But, beneath that, the White Sox believe they acquired a player who will help improve team chemistry.

Teahen is expected to be the exact opposite of clubhouse malcontents such as Nick Swisher or Orlando Cabrera. And, in turn, the Sox seem to expect him to add an unquantifiable dimension to the team.

In the three or so months since being dealt to the White Sox, he’s certainly proved to be an entertaining figure. His twitter, @ESPY_TEAHEN, is done through his dog and has provided a couple of gems:

*How come the Pro Bowl doesn’t decide who gets home field advantage for the Super Bowl?…. Probably because no all-star game should.

*Heard Ankiel is gonna be #24. I thought for sure 24 would be up there with 5, 10 & 20. What’s the deal KC?

*Enjoying a #Starbucks at #Soxfest. Just got told by a Sox fan I’m no longer Unrecognizable. Success! I’m really doin’ it!

*Figuring out there is one upside to being the older dog….my mom has someone smaller to put those damn outfits on http://twitpic.com/yacvz

*Marks Cheating on Boulevard Wheat with 312 in Chi. It tastes good but he feels terrible.

While I’m obviously rooting for everybody to succeed on the White Sox, I’ll be pulling a little bit more for Teahen to succeed. He obviously has a great sense of humor, and from all reports from SoxFest, he’s definitely a likable guy.

But to put even part of the burden of team camaraderie on Teahen is unreasonable. Why?

Because it’s far easier to build camaraderie through winning than it is through bringing in the “right mix” of players.

Teahen can get along well with everybody in the clubhouse, but that won’t necessarily lead to wins. On the other hand, winning usually leads to a team getting along well.

Take the Mariners, for instance. They brought in Milton Bradley, who’s renowned for being a “clubhouse cancer.” But he’s also a pretty darn good hitter, and in a low-pressure situation in Seattle in which he can DH, his numbers could be pretty good.

And if he hits well and the Mariners win a few games, chances are his teammates will respect him and he won’t be a “cancer.”

My point is this: Teahen’s great personality won’t matter if the White Sox aren’t winning. And that personality won’t directly breed winning.

Although, if the Sox do win, Teahen could become one of the city’s most likable athletes. That’s not really an opportunity he was afforded in Kansas City.

1992 Pinnacle #227 – Dan Pasqua

Once upon a time, there were a plethora of baseball card companies in existence. Each had many different releases. Sometimes the sets were so diverse, that one could not distinguish which cards came from which company without looking at the tiny print.

2009 is a much simpler time, in that respect. There are only so many places where cards come from today. By 2010, there will only be one card company that will be fully licensed to produce cards. That company would be Topps. As of next year, only Topps will be able to produce images of players with logos. Any other company will need to get creative.

Back in 1992, only card sets that came with baked goods and cereal had to airbrush logos out. Pinnacle has long since ceased production of baseball cards. Still, the memories of this age are fresh in my mind. It may have been the overproduction era, but there were so many choices.

Innovations in how cards were presented were born out of healthy competition between card companies. Where will the Dan Pasquas of today find a home? Today’s Dan Pasqua is someone like a Nick Swisher, with one difference. Dan Pasqua would not showboat or complain about where he ended up on the field. Dan Pasqua would play wherever the manager assigned him.

He did not fuss or cry foul if he wasn’t in the lineup. He came to the park ready to play and did his job to the best of his ability. There was no flash, yet Dan occasionally had a flair for the dramatic, when he would hit a mammoth home run. His numbers may not show it, but I felt confident every time that Dan came up against a right handed pitcher.

I, along with many other collectors, miss Pinnacle. I miss all of the other fallen brands too. There was a feeling I would get when I went to the card shop and had a smorgasbord of packs to choose from. Pinnacle always stood out when I was in a pinch. Dan Pasqua stood out to me when the Sox were in a pinch. Whenever I run across a Pinnacle card in my collection, I always think about this card of Pasqua and collecting as a teenager. Looking back, I wouldn’t trade either memory for the world.

Down 3-0, Alex Rodriguez, hitless to that point, got the Yankees on the board in the 4th when he lined a 2-run home run off a televsion camera near the right field corner.  Originally ruled as being in play, the umpires conferred and went to replay to confirm the call (Fox’s Joe Buck continued to call rhe replay inconclusive the rest of the night).

Pettitte helped out his own cause with a game tying single an inning later and Johnny Damon put the Yankees ahead for a good with a 2-run double in the same frame.

Nick Swisher, who snapped out of a 4-35 skid with a double, added a solo home run in the 6th and Hideki Matsui added some insurance with a pinch-hit solo shot in the 8th inning.

Pettitte started out shaky and the Phillies took advantage.  Jayson Werth hit the first of two home runs  in the 2nd inning and the Phillies added two more when Pettitte walked Jimmy Rollins with the bases loaded and Shane Victorino followed with a sac fly.

But Pettitte settled down through the middle innings.  He dominated the dangerous left-handed trio of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Raul Ibanez.  Howard, in fact, has gone 0-8 with seven strikeouts in the last two games.

Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte, of all people, retired all six batters they faced to build the bridge to the 9th.  Joe Girardi decided to go with Phil Hughes, but after retiring the first batter, Hughes gave up a solo shot to Carlos Ruiz to make it a 3-run deficit.  On came Mariano Rivera, who needed just five pitches to close the ball game out and give the Yankees their first series lead.

Series Notes

Pettitte’s RBI was the first game tying RBI by a Yankee pitcher since Jim Bouton during the 1964 series.  Pettitte, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera became the first trio to play in a World Series together 13 years apart.  Pretty cool.

Hideki Matsui’s home run was ironic in that it was the first one he hit to the opposite field all season.

People are still marveling over the performance by A.J. Burnett in Game 2.  Burnett has heard all the praise – plus fastball, wicked movement on breaking pitches, among the bestcurveballs in the game.  He’s also heard all the negative- no heart, empty head, bad attitude.  Burnett shook off the latter and a slow start and dominated thePhillies hitters for seven innings.  It was actually surprising that Girardi didn’t send him out for the 8th inning so that Rivera wouldn’t have to go for a six out save.

CC Sabathia faces Joe Blanton tonight in Game 4.  Sabathia will be working on three days rest for the second time in the post-season.  Burnett is scheduled to face Game 1 winner Cliff Lee in Monday night’s Game 5.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Cole Hamels looked silky smooth through the first three innings. However, a close call to Mark Teixeira on a 3-2 pitch in the top of the fourth inning was the first walk of the game given up by Cole Hamels, and then a controversial call on a homerun ball, (originally ruled a double), hit the opposite way by Alex Rodriguez, making it a 3-2 ballgame, (which was the first hit of the game for the Yanks), led to the unraveling of Hamels. Hamels got out of the fourth inning, but then in the fifth he was shaky again. Hamels gave up a double to Nick Swisher and then a base hit by the pitcher Andy Pettitte, who hit a first pitch curveball by Cole Hamels…why do you throw the pitcher a curve? Pound him with fastballs! Jayson Werth continued his good night as he hit a solo shot to leftfield to lead off the bottom of the 6th inning…he hit it off the Geico sign almost reaching the fans in the upper decks to make it 6-4 at the time. The Yankees bats proved to be too much though, and the bullpen of the Yankees out-dueled the Phillies bullpen.

Key Notes: Hamels came out of the game giving up five runs, and the bullpen couldn’t hold this tough Yankees lineup down, which was a big factor in the loss…Hero of the game for the Phils: Jayson Werth….Goat: Umpire crew. The rule is that it has to be conclusive video evidence to overturn a call, and I believe it was not. The ruling on the field was a double for Alex Rodriguez, and from every camera angle they showed, it looked like the ball was on the decline when it hit the camera, which was in the field of play hanging over the right-field wall. Meaning, the ball would not have cleared the fence if the camera was not there. That totally changed the game, and Cole Hamels seemed to lose his confidence, going away from his fastball, and throwing more curveballs after that. Nonetheless, it is 2-1 Yankees, and Joe Blanton and the Phillies will have a tall task tonight going up against C.C. Sabathia in game four to try to even up this series.

Hairston is 10-27 (.370) lifetime against tonight’s starter Pedro Martinez, but hasn’t faced him in five years. Meanwhile, as expected, Girardi stuck with Jose Molina behind the plate in an effort to placate Yankees starter A.J. Burnett.

Joe Saunders, who performed so well in Game 2, blanked the Yankees through three innings, but trailing 1-0 in the 4th, the Yankees broke through.  Robinson Cano drew a lead-off walk and Nick Swisher followed with a bust-out-of-a-slump single to left.  After Melky Cabrera successfully sacrificed the runners over, Saunders walked Derek Jeter to load the bases.  Johnny Damon got the Yankees off the schneid with runners in scoring position with a base hit to left field for a 2-1 lead.  After a single by Mark Teixeira loaded the bags again, Saunders walked Alex Rodriguez to force in the third run of the inning.  After that it was all up to Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera.

Pettitte allowed an RBI single to former teammate Bobby Abreu in the third, but was spotless the rest of the night. His biggest challenge came in the 6th when Torii Hunter reached on a two-out single and Vlad Guerrero followed with a double.  But Pettitte knocked down Kendry Morales’ comebacker and threw him out at first to escape the jam.

Pettitte received a standing ovation after he allowed a one-out single to Juan Rivera in the 7th and departed in favor of Chamberlain.  The right-hander bridged the gap to Rivera by retiring pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar to keep the game at 3-1.

The Sandman actually looked human in the 8th inning when he gave up a two out RBI single to Guerrero to cut the deficit to 3-2.  But the Angels, so sound fundamentally, gave the Yankees some breathing room in the home half of the inning.

After a walk to Cano, Nick Swisher laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.  Howie Kendrick dropped Scott Kazmir’s throw to first for an error and the Yankees were in business.  Cabrera followed with another sac bunt, which Kazmir “sky hooked” into right field for a run-scoring error.  Teixeira’s long sac fly to center gave the Yankees an insurmountable 5-2 lead.

In the 9th, Rivera retired Kendrick on a ground-out and Juan Rivera on a fly-out before striking out pinch-hitter Gary Matthews Jr. for the final  out.  Rivera strode off the mound, exchanged hugs with Jorge Posada, and the Yankees’ celebration was on.

Game Notes

Game 1 of the World Series is Wednesday night.  The Yankees will send the ALCS MVP, CC Sabathia, out against his former Indians teammate Cliff Lee.

Twice, Alex Rodriguez erased Minnesota leads with clutch hits, the last being a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to keep the Bombers alive.  Then, in the 11th inning, before anyone got a chance to realize that A-Rod was on deck, Teixiera won it with a home run of his own.

All in all, two eventful baseball games on the biggest stage in the world.  Not too shabby.

***

One of the more incredible things about postseason baseball in New York is the ability to find your way to Yankee Stadium, even if you have little idea of where you are going.

Sure, the throngs of people moving towards the Herald Square subway station is intimidating, but the sea of folks of all shapes, sizes, colors and languages all wearing some version of the interlocking “NY” is calming at the same time.

“Don’t worry,” they seem to say, “We’re all going the same way.”

Of course, that’s not the picture of Yankee fans that is perpetuated around the country (and in Flushing), and while their collective arrogance and sense of entitlement is matched by few, their demographic is as multi-layered as that of any team in all of baseball.

And a powerful tenth man as well.

***

Wednesday, Game One:  It was cold in the auxiliary press box above the right field stands in section 405.  Though a picture postcard sunset was breathtaking, and the view from our area was incredible (looking down at the ballgame with the frieze as a frame … are you kidding?), the wind whipping through Yankee Stadium made for a challenging assignment. (Yeah, I know, you could care less, but the wind was making my laptop close!).

The blustery conditions made for a less than effective beginning to the game for C.C. Sabathia, who seem to labor through the first few innings (and was certainly not helped by two passd balls by Jorge Posada).

Trailing 2-0in the third inning, Derek Jeter snapped the crowd out of their frozen state with a two-run blast, causing the capacity crowd to explode with a roar that officially christened the new cathedral inaugural postseason game.

Nick Swisher would rile everyone up again in the fourth, ripping an RBI double down the left field line to score Robinson Cano from first with the go-ahead run.   It was an important moment (despite the final score) and punctuated what has been a ongoing love affair between the Yankee fans and the fun-loving outfielder.

Though respectful (and appreciative) of the professional and reserved Yankees clubhouse of years past, Swisher has been a pleasure to interact with.

Swisher and Jeter weren’t the only offensive heroes on the night, as Alex Rodriguez rapped reliever Francisco Liriano’s first pitch into left field for an RBI single to ut the Yankees ahead 4-2, and Hideki Matsui delivered the death blow with a long two-run shot into the cutting wind.  The offensive explosion would not, however, be a theme for Game Two.

***

During the long train ride home on Wednesday, I appeared on the “The Scott Ferrall Show”, and was asked whether or not the move to bench Jorge Posada in favor of Jose Molina for A.J. Burnett’s Game 2 start was the right move.

I said then, and feel now, that any manager has to make difficult calls like that constantly in the postseason.  I am certainly not going to question Joe Girardi’s decision in this case, especially since, as a former catcher, he’s going to have a better grasp of the situation than any of us, be you media member or citizen.

In any event, the night was certainly milder, and it took 92 pitches before the Twins would score a run off of Burnett, a run-scoring triple off the wall in left center.

Then Aura and Mystique made their nightly appearance.

A-Rod had a pair of RBI singles and the New York Yankees spanked the Minnesota Twins, 7-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the best of five series. A-Rod wasn’t alone though in getting off to a good post-season start.

Derek Jeter reached safely in all four at-bats and belted the first playoff home run in the new Yankee Stadium. It tied the game at two apiece in the 3rd inning and fired up the home crowd that had been temporarily silenced when the Twins took a 2-0 lead.

Nick Swisher doubled in the 4th scored Robinson Cano all the way from first base to give the Yankees their first lead of the night. A-Rod’s RBI single off of rookie starter Brian Duensing an inning later put the Bombers ahead by two and the next hitter, Hideki Matsui, hit a long home run to straight away center field off lefty Francisco Liriano for a 6-2 Yankees lead.

CC Sabathia wasn’t spectacular, but was very good. He threw 113 pitches in 6 2-3 innings and allowed one earned run. The Twins put two runs on the board against him with two outs in the 3rd. Orlando Cabrera singled and Joe Mauer followed with a double to the gap in left-center. Michael Cuddyer’s single to right brought home one run and Mauer scored when Jorge Posada couldn’t handle Sabathia’s delivery for a passed ball.
Sabathia passed an immediate test in the 1st inning when Denard Span reached 3rd base with less than two outs. But the Yankees ace struck out Mauer and retired Cuddyer on a fly out to center. He exited with two on and two out in the 7th, but Phil Hughes stranded the runners when he struck out Cabrera.

Game Notes

Even with Hideki Matsui on deck, odd decision by Ron Gardnehire to pitch to Alex Rodriguez with Derek Jeter on 3rd base in the 7th. A-Rod delivered his second RBI single, this time off of Jon Rauch.

Admiral Eric Olson threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Derek Jeter’s home run was the 18th of his post-season career.

Mariano Rivera pitched the 9th inning, allowing a 2-out walk and a single before retiring Cabrera to end the game.

Jorge Posada had the dubious distinction of committing two passed balls.