The Magic Carpet

By Matthew Storey

Summer in the City...temperatures have been milder than normal, making for 80 degree days in the Sun that can't be beat and the Yankees have been taking care of business.

Through 91 games - 54-37

Game 92 Win versus Baltimore Orioles 2-1
Game 93 Win versus Baltimore Orioles 6-4
Game 94 Win versus Baltimore Orioles 6-4 (win series 3-0, lead season series 11-4)
Game 95 Win versus Oakland A's 6-3
Game 96 Win versus Oakland A's 8-3
Game 97 Loss versus Oakland A's 6-4
Game 98 Win versus Oakland A's 7-5

Games 92-98 - 6-1

Overall through 98 Games - 60-38 (Ist Place AL East by 2.5 Games)

Since Alex Rodriguez came off the DL after hip surgery on May 8 and hit a 3-run HR on the first pitch he saw, the Yankees are 47-23 for a cool .671 Winning Percentage. They've lost their regular RF and their #3 Starter to season-ending injuries, but Alex is stable, Posada is Posada, Mo is Mo, and even Brian Bruney seems to finally be rounding into form. They lost 4th OF/speedster, Brett Gardner, to a broken thumb this weekend, but he will be back in a month for the stretch drive and they have added Hinske (and perhaps Shelley Duncan from Triple A, where he has put up 25 HR/75 RBI in 2/3 of a season?) so they have plenty of depth in the OF (they may choose to bring up Ramiro Pena for pinch-running/backup IF and use Cody Ransom in OF).

The key to the surge has been the pitching. Yankees came into the season with a strong bullpen on paper and that bullpen fell apart early, with Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras and Jonathan Albaladejo walking the ballpark and serving up HR's when they had to throw middle-of-the-plate strikes. Set-up stalwarts Damaso Marte and Brian Bruney both went on the DL...and Yankees were losing game after game in the bullpen.

Brian Cashman brought up former starter Alfredo Aceves and Joe Girardi gave a larger role to former starter, Phil Coke, then when Chien-Ming Wang went back into the starting rotation, they placed starter Phil Hughes in the bullpen.

Aceves has given them 26 appearances, 46.2 Innings, 39 K's and only NINE walks to the tune of 6-1, 2.89 (coming off his worst effort as a Yankee to blow the game Saturday and actually inflate that ERA). Overall, Aceves has a 2.70 ERA in 76.2 Innings.

Coke has now pitched in 59 games as a Yankee, over 57.1 Innings to a 2.98 ERA with 48 K's and only 16 BB's while surrendering only 37 hits.

Hughes, of course, gave up a 2 run HR to Kevin Youkilis in his 2nd relief inning and now has thrown 23.1 scoreless innings and has an overall 0.70 ERA as a reliever, with 31K, 6 BB and only 13 hits in 25.2 Innings.

Add to the bullpen's sterling work with the consistent length the Yankees have received from CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett and post All-Star Break work of Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte and you have the guts of a prolonged winning streak. Chien-Ming Wang is out, he needs surgery, and Sergio Mitre is simply a 'filler' at the #5 slot, either Aceves or Hughes could slot into a rotation slot with success, but the stability they've brought to the Bullpen can't be messed with in-season, which makes it likely we'll see the Yankees make a minor move for a #5 Starter along the lines of the Late Cory Lidle's pickup at Deadline day back in '07.

In the lineup, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira have been consistently excellent. Jeter, hitting .321 with 11 HR and 18 SB out of the leadoff slot leads the AL in Batting Average against LH pitching (.441) and has played sterling SS (4 errors in 363 chances). Cano is at .309/14/52, hitting .326 against LH, mirror numbers at home and on the road and a Gold Glove 2B with his rocket arm, unparalleled range (3 errors in 462 chances). Teixeira is a magician with the glove has a strong, accurate throwing arm that has cut off runners at 2B, 3B and home from every angle and in critical situations. He has 25 HR/72 RBI, hits for average from RH side (.314) and power from the LH (20 HR) and has 1 error all season.

Outside of those three, the Yankees have been streaky. Nick Swisher (14/50), Hideki Matsui (15/44) and Johnny Damon (16/55) all have put up representative power numbers to go along with Jorge Posada's strong return season (.287/13/45/.525 Slugging). Alex is not 100%, running at about 2/3 speed and not as versatile offensively, but his Defense has been there and the power is a given (19/55 despite missing 31 games). Melky rounds out the everyday lineup at .287/8/37 from both sides of the plate, slugging a healthy .434. Molina is back at backup C, providing effective defense, as does Ransom in the Infield. Eric Hinske has been on a power surge (4 HR) in limited time since joining the Pinstripes three weeks ago.

In the just completed homestand, to begin the 2nd Half, the Yankees got 10 successive solid starts from their rotation through two turns, with AJ Burnett, CC Sabathia, Joba Chamberlain, Andy Pettitte and Sergio Mitre all giving the team a chance to win.

Now it is on to Tampa Bay for the Rays who have put on their own surge with comeback win after comeback win and trail the Yankees by seven games in the Loss column. The Rays need a bump from this series and will counter AJ, CC and Joba with Shields. Kazmir and Garza. It should be exciting baseball and we'll catch you back here when it is completed.