Yanks Roll On

About the worst thing that can be said about tonight's game is the spot starter Chad Gaudin failed to make it through four innings of work. That's a short outing even when taking the Canadian exchange rate into account. Still, that's not a whole lot to complain about, and even with the Red Sox beating the Rays tonight, the Yankees didn't lose even a metric game off their AL East lead and reduced their magic number to 22.

Pretty much everything else was gravy for the Yankees tonight. They had a 4-0 lead before a Blue Jay even picked up a bat. When the Jays cut the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth, the Yankees responded with two more in the top of the fifth. When the Jays pulled within two again later on, the Yanks answered with their second ninth inning rally in as many nights, putting things out of reach and making the continued unavailability of Mariano Rivera much easier to stomach.

Jorge Posada was the offensive star of the night, going 4 for 5 with a double, a homer, and four RBI. The longball was his 20th of the year, making him the seventh Yankee to reach that mark this season. Too bad the pitchers all hate throwing to him.

Alex Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera had two hits apiece, with A-Rod adding a homer of his own and a sexual assault on an unsuspecting Toronto police officer. Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui both drew a pair of free passes, and Damon, Mark Teixeira, A-Rod, and Matsui all scored twice.

Gaudin allowed four hits, three walks, two hit batsmen, and three runs in 3.2 innings of work, leaving the bullpen to throw 5.1 innings with Joba Chamberlain and Sergio Mitre pitching two of the next three games, followed by a day-night double dip on Monday. For tonight at least though, the pen was up to the task, allowing just four baserunners and two runs - only one earned - on the night, while whiffing eight Jays.

Both runs were charged to Alfredo Aceves, who recorded three of his seven outs via the K. David Robertson's only baserunner allowed came on an HBP and he added two more Ks to his already impressive total. Brian Bruney worked a perfect eighth inning before walking the leadoff man in the ninth, and Damaso Marte continued his impressive post-DL run by sitting down three in a row - two by strikeout - to finish it out.

It was another satisfying night in Yankeeland. They'll look to keep it going tomorrow night with Joba Chamberlain on the mound. We'll see you in the morning to take you through to the final holiday weekend of the summer.

(Photos)

A-Rod Cops A Feel

I can't take credit for the headline, because that goes to Marc Carig from the Newark Star-Ledger on Twitter. I did get this screen grab, however...

Easy there Alex... that's not why they call them "Mounties".

Game 134: Small Axe

Tonight, the Yanks begin another series against a bird-named division rival. The four game set with the Blue Jays will cap off their 7 game road trip and the Yanks need only to take one game for it to be a winning one after sweeping the O's. When the Yanks return home they will see both of these teams again, closing out their season series against them during a 10 game homestand in the Bronx.

After leading the division as late as May 23rd and being 8 games over .500, the Blue Jays have faded 14 games under and 25 1/2 back. They are currently twice as close in the standings to the Orioles than the Rays... and that's never a good thing. Even our optimistically-named pal eyebleaf is having a hard time stomaching the downward spiral and it's tough to blame him.

Roy Halladay wasn't traded, which should have made most Jays fans happy, but due to his poor performance since the deadline and the erosion of the time left on his contract, his value is steadily decreasing for what is looking more and more like an inevitable trade this offseason. Alex Rios is gone and in return, the club got salary relief which theoretically could be used in the future, but the fans got a heaping helping of nothing for now. We don't even need to talk about Vernon Wells.

However, tonight's starter for the Jays, Ricky Romero has been one of the remaining bright spots on the team. The 24 year old rookie lefty has pitched 136.2 innings, struck out 104, is averaging 6 innings per start, has a 3.95 ERA and a 11-6 record, behind only Halladay in those categories. The Yanks have seen him twice this year and he's earned a win and a no-decision by pitching 6 & 6 1/3 innings and giving up 3 runs each time.

Chad Gaudin will be making his second start as a Yankee today. He had a rather odd start his other time out, facing another one of his former teams, the A's. Gaudin gave up no runs, and onyl one hit in 4 1/3 innings, but walked 5 and saw his pitch count quickly escalate, finishing with 90. Gaudin didn't get the win, but the Yankees did. It's hard to expect a whole lot out of Gaudin today and logic dictates that his pitch count will be limited once again. But the bullpen is deep with call ups and waiting to back him up.

Gaudin was one of the minor moves Brian Cashman executed this season and I discussed earlier today; just a small solution to a seemingly big problem.

So if you are the big tree,
We are the small axe,
Ready to cut you down (well sharp),
Sharpened to cut you down.