After a bad call monday night, I was fuming.  So much that I really didnt feel like writing cause it would have been all bad.  What got me the most about monday’s game was that Matt DeSalvo pitched a good game, and say what you will, the umps handed the game to the Mariners. An absolutely horrible call by Jerry Davis. 

Last night was a good comeback win.  When I saw the matchup, I was confident going in that Andy Pettitte was going to have a good start and the Yankee bats would have his back and give him the run support that he needed.  Done and done.  Up and down the lineup, everyone contributed, even, to my surprise, Doug Mientkiewicz is getting the bat going in a BIG way.  He hit a double to the gap last night, and is providing some solid defense as well, his hallmark in the Majors.  Andy looked solid, even though his control wasnt the best and he did get into trouble over the first few innings.  he gave up a run in the third, but after that, its lights out.  Play of the night has to go to Bobby Abreu and Robinson Cano to peg Sammy Sosa on the foot at the plate.  A-Rod hits a 2 run dinger, and the Yanks wrap up Pettitte’s 2nd win on the season, but honestly he should be at 7-1 at this point.  And how about Jerry Hairston Jr’s gifts?  I mean thats some shoddy glove work.   The bullpen was enough to hold the win, and it brings us to 15-16.  Not where we want to be right now, but hey, we could be worse off.

Tonight, The Moose goes up against Robinson Tejeda.  Im looking for Moose to have another solid start, and for another beautiful day in the NYC to become a beautiful evening with another Yankee win!  Im also looking for a win tonight so I can see another sweep of the Rangers when I go to the Stadium tomorrow!  I had some tickets that I bought for Rhoderick’s birthday that I never used(he got tickets from his job for the same game), so Im going to exchange them for tomorrow afternoon’s game.  It should be a good one, as Brandon McCarthy goes up against Chien-Ming Wang. 

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

I AM BESIDE MYSELF!!!!!

Whoa, on top of the fact that the Yankees are up 4-0, a near rumble and Rasner gave us a good start, now Roger Clemens is back in the game!!!

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

PS-The Yanks go up 5-0!

Sorry for jinxing it, everyone, but hey, Ill take a win over a perfect game any day.  I decided to stay in and watch the game this afternoon, and Im glad I did.  Chien Ming Wang was a pitch short of perfection, going 8 strong and put on a performance that was a pleasure to watch.  It was good to see him fight back after he got behind some batters, and the only mistake he made was that tater to Ben Broussard.  MASTERFUL is the word that Ive used to describe a typical Wang outing, so Ill use it here.  Brian Bruney came in and closed the door, and Ol’ Blue Eyes is playing on the PA system.  What more can you ask for?

On the other side of the matchup, Jeff Weaver was AWFUL.  He had the Yanks on smash for a couple of innings, but in usual Jeff Weaver fashion, had a meltdown.  He lost the strike zone, and the patient Yankee lineup walked all day in The Bronx. Hideki Matsui brought home the Yankees’ second run in the sixth in
painful fashion, as he was hit in the right thigh with the bases loaded.  Ouch.  Jorgie hit  RBI single off the end of the bat, and Captain Clutch broke it open with a double to left field. 

The Bombers also flashed some leather this afternoon, as Hideki made an AWESOME play to preserve the perfect bid, and A-Rod made a couple of good plays as well. 

Onto tomorrow, as Jarrod Washburn takes on Darrell Razner.  Im wanting to see another strong performance out of a Yankee starter.  After the game, I have a doubleheader, as me and the MadDogs go up against the New York Renegades.  Im looking to help the team take 2 tomorrow night, as we swept the season series against these guys last season.  I swung the bat pretty well last saturday, and Im looking to keep the bat hot and help as much as I can. 

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

Facing the minimum through 7 does make one think. 

Hold on to your Yankee Fitted, this could be a historic one.

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

This is EXACTLY what the Bombers needed to break out of that miserable April and start the month of May off right.  Although these are the Rangers, they are a quality team up and down the lineup. After Phil Hughes goes down, the departure of Marty Miller as strength coach, The Bombers put away all the hype and took care of business, sweeping the doubleheader and the series altogether.  Andy Pettitte pitched a good game, but Luis Vizcaino was credited with a win as he gave up a dinger to Jerry Hairston, Jr. after retiring Gerald Laird.  Onto the 8th, as The Captain extended his hitting streak to 19 games as he hit a single.  The hit-and-run was on during Bobb-O’s at-bat, and DJ almost got picked off, but Mark Teixeira couldnt come up with the pick-off throw and was charged with an error.  Derek was also given a caught stealing.  Go Figure.  Hideki hits a double, and Jeter comes in to score, as Jason Giambi stutter-stepped around third and was thrown out at home.  At least we had the lead.  Giambi did post a shot to the right field porch, and did a good job at 1B, so I couldnt be too mad at him.  The Greatest That Ever Did It came in and shut the door.

After another rain delay, The YES Network gave us a compressed broadcast of the first game, and the second game began.  Mike Mussina was dealing, coming off the DL with that hammie. Dougie M came up and showed off the power stroke, dinging a 2 run shot to give us the lead.  DJ extended his streak to 20, and Hideki scored on a wild pitch by Frank Francisco.  Mo comes in and slams the door on a double-header and series sweep. 

After a long flight from Texas, The Bombers come home tonight and face the hapless Seattle Mariners as Kei Igawa goes up against Cha Seung Baek.  Baek replaces King Felix in the lineup as he is still on the DL.  Im expecting a good series, as Jeff Weaver pitches Saturday against Chien-Ming Wang.  Darrell Razner gets the call Sunday, and Matt DeSalvo, who impressed Joe in Spring Training, gets called up to make the start Monday night.  It feels good to sweep, as it moves us out of the cellar, and into a 3-way tie for 1st.  Great way to start the month, fellas!

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

A rainout that didnt occur on the eastern seaboard!  Oh well, better luck tomorrow in a doubleheader!

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

YANKEES WIN!!!

Feels like a while since Ive said that, so youll have to excuse my outburst. 

All in all, a good Bomber win.  I wasnt surprised at all with Phil Hughes’ performance.  I had a feeling that The Kid was going through jitters in his first start, and he showed and proved what he can do.  A no hitter through 6.1?  Unreal.  This kid is the truth.  What ***** is that he got hurt.  I am guessing that this is just a minor pull and all that he will miss is his next start.  Fingers crossed, of course.  The Bomber bats also did their thing, scoring two runs in the second
inning and four more runs in the third, the final two on a double by
Robinson Cano for a 6-0 lead. In the sixth, run-scoring doubles by
Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada extended the Yankees’ lead to 8-0.  At this point, I knew that the game was out of reach.  Mike Myers gives up 2 hits that accounted to the lone Rangers’ run(no pun intended, seriously.  Im not that corny on purpose). 

Im hoping that the injury to The Kid is nothing more than tightness in his hamstring.  He showed us good stuff, throwing that curve like it was going out of style, geting more than a few grounders on that pitch.  It was looking filthy at times, it broke that bad.  He complemented that with a overpowering fastball and a NASTY change-up.  Kameron Loe had NOTHING out there, and the Rangers defense didnt help, recording 3 errors.  The Rangers have not been playing their best ball, and Im happy to see the Yanks make the Rangers pay for it. 

Onto tomorrow, as Andy Pettitte goes up against Robinson Tejeda.  The Ranger lineup is slumping right now, and now would be a good time to start a winning streak.  Im looking for Andy to have better command than he had in his last outing, and for good starts to be contagious.  Looks like the guys are starting to get it together.

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

Is anyone happier than me that the month of April is over? 

this month was a true litmus test, to not only the Bombers, but as to fan patience and loyalty.   a 9-14 record, 6.5 games out of first, and whats worst, LAST PLACE IN THE STANDINGS.  And of course, The Boss isnt happy.  I agree with the vote of confidence, and I think that George is right.  Its put up or shut up time. 

"The season is still very young, but up to now the results are clearly
not acceptable to me or to Yankee fans. However, Brian Cashman our
general manager, Joe Torre our manager and our players all believe that
they will turn this around quickly. I believe in them. I am here to
support them in any way to help them accomplish this turnaround. It is
time to put excuses and talk away. It is time to see if people are
ready to step up and accept their responsibilities. It is time for all
of them to show me and the fans what they are made of. Let’s get going.
Let’s go out and win and bring a world championship back to New York.
That’s what I want."

You’re Gosh-darned right, George.  Everyone is going to have to step up, starting tomorrow out in Texas.  This is embarrassing.  Its embarrassing to see the Yanks play like this, its embarrassing to see them drop 2 of 3 to the Sox, and its embarrassing to see Red Sox fans parading their dirty hats all over the place, especially in the Fashion District.  Its bad for the morale of this city, and it just doesent feel right. 

Time to get it together, fellas. 

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

Tonight was one of those games that was hard to watch.  I mean, Phil Hughes gave it his all and pitched a good game(well,just about as good as we needed at this point), and the Yanks couldnt get into any offensive rhythm whatsoever.  It was excruciating to watch, and the Yanks have hit bottom this season.  I dont care where the Yanks end up this season, they need to win in the worst way this weekend.  ESPECIALLY against Boston. 

Like I mentioned up top, Phil Hughes pitched a good game tonight, or at least did his part to keep the Yanks in it.  He gave up 2 runs before he recorded 2 outs.  He placed his fastball well and kept them off balance with that nasty curve of his.  I felt that the ump was squeezing him a bit, and it wasnt something that was given to both sides a the ump was expanding the strike zone on AJ Burnett.  I mean, I know he is just a kid, but help him out a bit!  Or at least call a consistent game and call it for both sides, something that he didnt do.  Hughes went way up in the pitch count, and all Hughes could muster was 4.1.  I wasnt expecting a long outing from Hughes, and the bullpen once again didnt help matters much.   

Offensively, there wasnt much to talk about.  Jason Giambi hit one opposite field, and got tagged out trying to stretch it into a double.  He got the "Di-Di-Dee" award tonight for that one.  A-Rod hit a bomb that almost made it out, but Vernon Wells made it look easy. 

Onto the second series against Boston, as Andy Pettitte goes up against Daisuke Matsuzaka.  I felt that we got at Dice-K enough the last time we saw him, and although the Yanks have been under a current run of bad form, I think that we can give Boston a run for their money.  You can never count The Bombers out at any point of the season, and you cant count them out now. 

Stephanie was telling me on the ride home that if I was a fan during the 80′s, if I put up with the insults from all the bandwagon kids that became Mets fans, that I can put up with a losing streak like this and that I have to stay strong for the team, cause they need all the fans to be strong.  There is nothing better to me than being a fan of the Yankees.  I get to cheer for the Greatest Team, and I do so proudly because they represent my borough.  Us as Yankee fans need to rally around our team, and send all that good karma towards 161 and River.  And this too, shall pass.  Im not giving up on this team, and I dont think that anyone else should, either.  Right now is when all the bandwagoners will fall off and the real fans will show their true colors and wear them proudly.  Though we have hit bottom(when was the last time you saw the Yanks drop 6 in a row?), Im supremely confident that we can turn this around and get to where we gotta go.  Lets see where Toronto stands in October. 

Kei Igawa is going to be skipped on Saturday, giving us a Jeff Kartsens-Tim Wakefield matchup.  Maybe he can get into the bullpen and work on his control a bit, as he was all over the place in his last start.  People are expecting too much out of him too soon, and I think that he is going to need some time to adjust.  Jeff Kartsens pitched OK last Saturday, but Ive seen better out of him.

6 in a row.  Lets get it together, guys, you know youre better than this!

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!

BOSTON *****!!!!!!!!
BOSTON *****!!!!!!!!

Getting ready to head out to The BX and Im thinking to myself, "This kid better be the real deal, And Im sure that he is".  You’ll never know if the kid is ready till you give him a chance.

Good Luck, Phil, and welcome to The Bronx.

LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!
LETS GO YANKEES!!!!!