Rivera bats, then almost chokes. Yanks prevail 6-5 in 10

When Mariano Rivera batted last year, he faced Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) of the Mets and drew a bases loaded walk for his only RBI of his career. Last night, with the Yankees up 6-5 in the top of the 10th, Joe Girardi pulled pinch hitter Ramiro Pena to let Rivera bat again. This time, he grounded out with an insurance run on third base. He could have used it too. In the bottom of the inning, Rivera gave up a single and then a quick double to Justin Upton. In a moment eerily reminiscent of the last innning of Game 7 of the 2001 world series, Rivera intentionally walked Montero to load the bases. But this time, Rivera prevailed. He got Chris Young to pop out to catcher, then Adam LaRoche to pop out to the third, and then Mark Reynolds struck out to end the game.

Some Quick Notes: MARK TEIXEIRA went 1-3 to raise his average to his season high of .229!!! Wow, thats high. Hopefully he picks it up from here. On a brighter note, if he raises his average to his usualy high 200s low 300s than it means he'd bat over .350 the rest of the season. If that happens, than the Yankees will win easily more than 100 games. BRETT GARDNER stole his 24th base last night and is in the top 5 league leaders this season.

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Yankees win 9-2 : Tex and A-Rod light it up

For the first time in a week, the Yankees put up more than 5 runs, and for the first time since June 9th, Mark Teixeira had a multi-hit game. It has been a long season for Teixeira, he's only batting .228 and has never had a batting average higher than .229 all season. Frankly, he has been awful! His power numbers are still ok though, but Tex has always been known to be a contact hitter, so his significant drop off in average has been discouraging to many Yankee fans. Either way, he looked pretty good last night, and perhaps he will finally break out of his slump.

On that note as well, A-Rod hasn't preformed too well either. His batting average is relatively high at .289, but his power numbers are way down with only 9 HR. Ironically though, he is on pace for the same amount of extra base hits as he was last year. His RBI count is high though and he is on pace for well over 100 RBI. Last night he crushed a HR in the first and then tacked on another RBI in the 3rd with a single. Had the Yankees not blown it open on the 8th, then his RBIs would have single handedly won the game for the Yanks.

Lastly, Andy Pettitte was on fire last night. He pitched a very strong 7 innings, and his only mistake was a 2nd inning single to opposing pitcher Dan Haren. Go figure. In his first appearance in Arizona in a Yankee uniform since his collapse in the 2001 World Series, Pettitte had 7 Ks but pitched in and out of trouble for most of the night. In a way, it shows that he's still got it. Despite baserunners reaching base in nearly every inning, Andy was able to keep the hitters at bay and record 6 out of 7 shut-out innings. Keep up the good work Andy-Boy!!

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Whats up with AJ

After nearly 2 months of futility from A.J. Burnett, it might be time to start panicking. Despite Javier Vazquez's horrific start, he has now surpassed Burnett (at least in statistics) in the Yankee rotation. Burnett has not won since May 30th and is only 3-6 since the start of May. If that wasn't bad enough, his ERA over that span is well over 7.00.

So now the question arrises, what do with Burnett. He is to important to the Yankee rotation to send him down to the minors for some "confidence-booster starts" and he has too much veteran presence and pride for that to happen anyways. So what about skipping him in the rotation? After the Yankee scratched Vazquez for a start, he rebounded and has pitched well since. Pettite was also skipped once and he has been on fire since then too. Well, that would work, but due to the know Hughes-Rules, the Yankees are skipping him this friday, which prevents them from giving Burnett a couple of extra days off.

I say, give him one more start. I believe he is slotted to go again on Saturday against the Dodgers. If he can perform well, against a very good team (a potential World Series opponent) the maybe he has found his way. But if he implodes like he did last night then skip him for one start and give Gaudin a turn. One potential loss isn't going to really hurt the Yankees in the long run, and if it can return Burnett to his all-start form, than it makes it all the more worthwhile.

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To hate or love Francisco Cervelli??

I've always been a fan of Francisco Cervelli. Ever since he came up last year to relieve an ailing Jorge Posada, he has been a fire that has lit up the Yankees. However, in recent weeks he has developed a bit of reputation as a hot-head, and someone who does not carry the traditional "Yankee-way" of subtle enthusiasm and cool, calm, and collected celebration.

I've watched Rivera and Jeter all my life, and grew up watching all the rest of the Yankees of championship of late 90s. Guess what, when they were young they acted the same way. Cervelli has been in the league for barely a year now. Give him a little time, he will calm down and show the same poise and calm consistency that the great Yankee teams have done in the past. And if he does not, then it might be time to criticize. But for now, let the kid do a little celebration. Lets see how he reacts when he gets the starting job.

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Its been a while

Sorry, everyone. It has been a while since I last posted, I'm gonna get the blog going again soon so get ready to start reading!! Looking forward to your emails and future readership.

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