The Start of Something?

Watching the bats come alive last night was both refreshing and encouraging. Sometimes a game like this can really get a team on a roll.

A few weeks ago, on June 12th, Matsui blasted a grandslam in a Yankee victory over the Oakland A's. This put the Yankees over the .500 mark at 34-33. This seemed to spark the team, as after that game they went 10-4 in the next 14 games.

Of course that didn't last, and the bats had seemed to go silent again during the last few days of June and the beginning of this month.

In last nights game, Giambi bashed a grand slam and had 6 RBI on the game. The rest of the Yankee offense also did their part.

The Yankees are entering a critical part of the year, so lets hope last nights offense performance carries over into the couple weeks.

He's. Getting. Worse.

Melky Cabrera:
last 28 games: .191 avg.
last 14 games: .170 avg.
last 7 games: .148 avg.

And of course like every other Yankee, his avg. with runners in scoring position is terrible, currently at .222.

I really don't like picking on Melky, especially a day after the whole team looked inept... However the majority of the team had been producing the previous 3 or 4 weeks, while Melky continues to slide closer to the Mendoza line.

Yankees should bounce back tonight.

In a Pretty Good Spot

The poor start seems to be behind the Yankees, and they now are in a fairly good spot to make a big move.

The Yankees are only 5-5 in their last 10, but over the last 3 weeks or so they have made up a good amount of ground.

They sit 5.5 out of first in the east and 5 out of the wildcard.

They also have a big month of July to look forward to. In July they play 18 games at home and only 7 on the road.

They'll host both Boston and Tampa Bay who are currently both ahead of the Yankees in the east.

They'll also host both Oakland and Minnesota, who are ahead of them in the wild card.

They are in a position to make up a lot of ground in the next 30 days or so.

The Sinking Ship That is Darrell Rasner

He helped keep the Yankees a float and pitched great when the offense was struggling, but teams have now figured him out.

It's not rare for this to happen really. Teams get video and send out advanced scouts, and they find something about a pitcher. After that it's up to the pitcher to adjust and figure out a new way to get hitters out. Rasner hasn't done that, and he's getting the tar knocked out of him.

Rasner is 1-4 in his last 5 starts, with a 7.00 ERA. In 27 innings he's given up 39 hits. Opposing teams are also hitting .313 off of him with men on base.

Rasner was spectacular for a few weeks but his time in the majors might be up. Ian Kennedy has started rehabbing and could be back in a few weeks. Jeff Karstens seemed to have a leg up on Rasner during spring training before he was hurt and just won pitcher of the week honors in AAA so he's another option.

It'll be interesting to see if he makes his next start or not.

This is the video of Pat Venditte that's floating around.

I'm sure everyone has seen it already, but it's still so incredibly entertaining.

Heres the link to it from River Ave.

Be sure to check it out.

Yankees Keep Rolling

Not much more to say right now.

The Yankees seem to be clicking on all cylinders lately.

They do face a hurdle tonight though, when they face Padre's ace Jake Peavy.

Peavy pitched for the first time since May 14th last Friday against the Dodgers and was outstanding. 6 innings, 3 hits, no runs, no walks and 4 strikeouts.

There are still some who feel the Yankees may have just been beating up on bad pitchers and bad teams the last couple weeks. How they play tonight will say a lot about the team when it has to face someone of Peavy's skill level.

Fanning the Flames

Brett Gardner was 2 for 4 with his 9th triple of the year last night. This raised his average to .297

Melky Cabrera is 1 for his last 18, dropping his average to .261, and also dropping his OBP to .312.


I'm just saying...