Suh-weeeeeeeeeep

Andy Pettitte became the 2nd straight Yankees starter to pitch into the 8th, and A-Rod and Hideki Matsui continued to swing hot bats as the Yankees finished off a sweep of the Dbacks, 7-1. Less than 24 hours after Mike Mussina gave the Yankees 7 2-3 innings, Pettitte pitch 8 complete frames, allowing just 4 hits and a walk. In improving to 4-4, the Andyman struck out 4.

With Johnny Damon getting a day off, Melky Cabrera was penciled into the lead off spot and rewarded Joe Torre with a single to start the 1st. Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu each followed with singles as well to load the bases. Abreu's base hit extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Rather than give up a home run to Alex Rodriguez, Dback's starter Doug Davis walked him to force in a run. Davis struck out Jorge Posada, but Matsui's ground out brought home a 2nd run.

The heart of the order came through again in the 3rd. Abreu drew a walk, and A-Rod followed with a double into the corner. Abreu scored and A-Rod moved to 3rd as Scott Hairston misplayed the ball. Davis was again able to retired Posada, but Matsui doubled to right for a 4-1 lead.

Pettitte cruised through the middle innings, retiring 13 in a row at one point. Meantime the offense touched up the Dbacks pen for 3 more runs in the 7th. Posada and A-Rod singled off of Juan Cruz, setting up another RBI situation for Matsui. Godzilla took advantage, singling off reliever Doug Slaten. Posada scored and A-Rod joined him as Young's throw got away. Josh Phelps finished off the scoring with a single to center.

Scott Proctor pitched an uneventful 9th, striking out Mark Reynolds to seal the deal. Milwaukee was beating Detroit at the same time, moving the Yankees to within 3 1/2 of the Tigers in the wild card. And tonight, Colorado shellacked Boston again, 7-1, cutting the Yanks deficit in the AL East to 7 1/2.







Celebrate good times, c'mon!

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Yankees Win a Blast

The Yankees won their 8th straight game last night, pounding the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2. Mike Mussina had his longest outing in over a year and the Yankees got home runs from Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, and Hideki Matsui to move over .500 for the first time since early April.

Mussina threw a complete game against the Detroit Tigers on May 30, 2006, but hadn't gone more than 7 1-3 innings until last night. He was able to locate his pitches and threw 101 before being removed by Joe Torre. This time there was no anger in Mussina's post-game voice as there was after his last outing when he was removed after 79 pitches.

The Dbacks to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd on a double by Mark Reynolds and a sac fly by Chris Young. One wonders if Reynolds would have attempted to score if Melky Cabrera was playing centerfield. Johnny Damon made a rare start out there and his weak throw was well short and late to get Reynolds. The Yankees came right back though.

Jorge Posada drilled a Livan Hernandez pitch into the right field seats for his 8th HR of the season. One inning later Bobby Abreu singled to extend his hitting streak to 12 games and Alex Rodriguez followed with a deep shot that hit the facing of the upper deck. It was A-Rod's major league leading 25th HR and #489 for his career.

In the 4th, the Yankees finished off El-Duque's brother. A-Rod's RBI single pushed the lead to 4-1 and then Hideki Matsui capped off the inning with a 3-run HR, his 7th of the season. Then it was all up to Moose.

Mussina didn't issue a walk, struck out a season high 7 batters, and scattered 6 hits. He left to a standing ovation that including his family.

Brian Bruney decided to make things interesting though in the 9th. Joe Torre, reluctantly, had to get Mariano Rivera up as Bruney issued a lead off walk to Orlando Hudson and gave up an infield single to Chad Tracy. Bruney bounced back, striking out Reynolds, but Torre opted for Mike Myers with the left-handed hitting Stephen Drew due up. Myers did his job, striking out Drew, but fell behind 3-0 to the right-handed hitting Young. Mo was able to take the night off though as Young bounced out to A-Rod to end the game.

~~~

The Yankees moved to within 8.5 games of the Red Sox after the Rockies pounded Schitbag Schilling, 12-2. They also picked up a game on the Tigers in the wild card (4.5), who dropped a 3-2 decision to the Brewers.

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Tonight's Lineup (6/13)

L. Hernandez vs. Mussina; Posada DH's tonight with Melky getting the night off - until he comes in as a defensive replacement.

Diamondbacks

E. Byrnes lf
C. Jackson dh
O. Hudson 2b
C. Tracy 1b
M. Reynolds 3b
S. Drew ss
C. Young cf
M. Montero c
C. Quentin rf

Yankees

J. Damon cf
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
J. Posada dh
H. Matsui lf
R. Cano 2b
M. Cairo 1b
W. Nieves c

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I Could Walk 500 Miles

It only took 30 games, but the Yankees are finally back to the .500 mark with a 4-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks. They got there with another big performance from Chien-Ming Wang, shaky, but scoreless relief from Kyle Farnsworth and another save for Mariano Rivera. Most of the offense came in the 1st inning when Bobby Abreu ripped a 3-run HR off of starter and loser, Brandon Webb.

Wang was in trouble in the top of the 1st inning, allowing a pair of singles to put runners on the corners with 1 out. But the Yankee's iceman got Eric Byrnes to foul out to Jorge Posada, and retired Chad Tracy on a ground out to 2nd. The only run off of him on the night came courtesy of a 4th innings solo shot by Tracy.

Wang (6-4) threw 23 pitches in the 1st inning, but averaged only 12 an inning after that in a 7-inning stint. Since a blowout loss to Texas on May 10, the Taiwanese native has gone 5-1 with a 2.30 ERA, and has averaged over 7 innings a start.

After the 1st inning fireworks, Webb (6-4) was masterful, allowing only a pair of Hideki Matsui singles over the next 5 innings. But the Yankees added some insurance in the 7th when Matsui drew a lead off walk and Robinson Cano followed with a double to right. With the infield playing in, Dbacks 2nd Baseman Orlando Hudson made a beautiful stop of a Melky Cabrera grounder up the middle. Hudson threw to 1st as Matsui held his ground at 3rd. Cano, however, needs a copy of "Where's the play?" after breaking for 3rd despite Matsui holding. Former Yankee Tony Clark threw to 2nd to nail Cano retreating to the base, but Matsui raced home with that all important extra run.

Farnsworth nearly let the Dbacks back in the 8th when he gave up a double to Stephen Drew and issued a 2-out walk to Tracy. But he retired Clark on a line drive to right to bring a sigh of relief from anyone watching. Then it was over to Mo.

Mariano breezed through the 9th, retiring the side in order for his 8th save. He's now allowed just 1 run over his last 17 appearances (18 1-3 innings) and has a 10 2-3 innings scoreless streak. His ERA has lowered from 12.15 to 3.96 since being lit up by Boston on April 27th.

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Tonight's Lineups (6/12)

Brandon Webb vs. Chien-Ming Wang

DIAMONDBACKS

Chris Young CF
Stephen Drew SS
Orlando Hudson 2B
Eric Byrnes LF
Chad Tracy DH
Tony Clark 1B
Mark Reynolds 3B
Carlos Quentin RF
Chris Snyder C

YANKEES

Johnny Damon DH
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada C
Hideki Matsui LF
Robinson Cano 2B
Melky Cabrera CF
Miguel Cairo 1B

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Yankees vs. Diamondbacks Preview

It's kind of ironic that the Yankees are following up their series with the Pirates by playing the Diamondbacks. The two teams are intertwined in Yankees fans nightmares.

For anyone over the age of 50 seeing the Pittsburgh Pirates brings back painful memories of the 1960 World Series. For the rest of us, there is 2001. Both last at-bat losses in Game 7. There were many differences, but some painful similarities as well.

The Yankees offense was a juggernaut in the '60 series. They won games by scores of 16-3, 12-0, and 10-0. Each game the Pirates won was a close, tightly pitched contest. That all changed in Game 7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. You've probably seen the replay hundreds of times of Bill Virdon's bad hop hit Tony Kubek in the throat. It helped turn the game around as the Pirates scored 5 times in the bottom of the 8th to take a 9-7 lead.

The Yankees rallied for 2 runs in the 9th to tie it, but then there's the image of Yogi running back in left and watching Mazeroski's ball clear the left field wall. The HR made Maz's career and overrated his value as well. Sorry, but the guy doesn't belong in the Hall.

The Yankees were far from an offensive juggernaut in 2001. It was clear that the team was getting old and couldn't hit like it used to. As it turned out, Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosius would retire after the season, and Tino Martinez would sign as a free agent with the Cards as the Yankees preferred to bring in Jason Giambi.

If not for some magical moments in games 4 and 5, the series could have been over quickly. And then of course, it seemed like another championship was a lock. Alfonso Soriano had homered off of Schitbag to give the Yankees the lead and Mo was on the mound in the 9th. And the rest is misery. Just as many older Yankees fans turn their head and can't watch the end of the '60 series, I can't watch the end of 2001. With Luis Gonzalez's little bloop over the drawn in infield scoring the game winner against a suddenly human Mariano Rivera.

The Pirates last made it to a series in 1979. Neither they nor the Dbacks will going again any time soon. Sometimes you have to be punished for messing up Yankeeland!

Here are the pitching probables for the 3 game series with AZ.

Tuesday - Battle of the sinkers - Brandon Webb vs. Chien-Ming Wang
Wednesday - Livan Hernandez vs. Mike Mussina
Thursday - Doug Davis vs. Andy Pettitte

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