It's a Walk Off

3 games. 3 Heroes. 3 consecutive walk off victories. The Yankees have done in the Twins in the most thrilling of fashions for 3 consecutive games. Tonight, they look to sweep the 4 game series with Andy Pettitte on the mound. First it was Melky, then it was A-Rod, followed by Johnny Damon. Who will be the hero tonight?

This Yankees Walk Off Party is Brought to you by Zoolander

A Successful Road Trip

After a brutal homestand that saw the Yankees lose 5 in a row including 2 to Red Sox and 2 to the Rays, the Yankees couldn’t have asked for much better returning home with a 4-2 road trip. The Toronto series couldn’t have started off any worse, but to be fair the Yankees really had no shot against Roy Halladay, who was 15-5 in his career against they Yankees coming into that start. After the series opening loss the Yankees came back to win the next two capped off by a 3-2 win last night.

CC Sabathia is finally looking like CC Sabathia. His last two outings have been brilliant (2ER in 17IP). It was also nice to see Hideki Matsui back in the lineup and contributing. Next up for the Yankees is their longest homestand of 2009. They will play 4 against Minnesota, 3 against Baltimore, and 3 against Philadelphia.

The Yankees need to take the positive momentum they have built over the past 6 games and carry it over to this homestand. In order to call it a success they need to win at least 6 out of the 10 contests. It all starts tonight as Phil Hughes looks to right himself against Francisco Liriano.

Damon Home Run Diverts Disaster

The weekend series with the O’s couldn’t have started any better. Alex Rodriguez made a triumphant and dramatic return to the field with a home run in his first time up at bat. Even better was CC Sabathia’s complete game shutout performance to give the Yankees a much-needed 4-0 victory. Coming off of such a high, Saturday’s game turned out to be a complete letdown. Phil Hughes had a disastrous start and the Yankees lost 12-5.

On Sunday they were on the verge of dropping 2 of 3 to the Orioles. Joba pitched well for the most part but had another first inning hiccup. The Yankees found themselves down 3-2 in the 7th, and after two men reached on consecutive infield singles Johnny Damon continued his amazing start to the season and belted a monumental 3 run home run. It was his 6th home run in his last 9 games. The Yankees went on to win the game 5-3.

Had it not been for Damon’s heroics the Yankees would have limped into Toronto to face the first place Jays after today’s off day. Instead, they are flying high and should go into Toronto and take 2 out of 3. Toronto, despite countless injuries in their starting rotation have rushed out of the gates to a 21-12 record. However, they have yet to face AL East opponents New York, Boston, and Tampa Bay. The pitching match ups for the series look like this:

Tuesday: RHP A.J. Burnett (2-0, 5.26) vs. RHP Roy Halladay (6-1, 3.29)
Wednesday: LHP Andy Pettitte (2-0, 5.26) vs. RHP Scott Richmond (4-1, 3.29)
Thursday: LHP CC Sabathia (2-3, 3.94) vs. LHP Brian Tallet (2-1, 4.95)

First game. First at-bat. First pitch.

Manny Steroids Bombshell!

Breaking News:

From ESPN.com

"Major League Baseball is expected to announce Thursday that Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and will be suspended for 50 games, The Los Angeles Times is reporting."

[My Take: There have been whispers about this before. Jose Canseco took what looked like a shot in the dark and proclaimed that he was "90% sure that Manny Ramirez was on the juice."

As much as you hate the guy for blowing the whistle on the steroids era, more often than not, Jose Canseco is on the mark when it comes to who's using steriods and who is not.]

Down Goes Posada

Just when you thought the injuries could not get any worse for this ball club, this happens. Jorge Posada, who was off to a fine start to the season left last night's game after aggravating a prior hamstring injury. He is to have an MRI today and will probably spend some time on the DL.

You can add Posada's name to a disabled list that already includes Damaso Marte, Cody Ransom, Brian Bruney, Chien-Ming Wang and Xavier Nady. Alex Rodriguez, may return from the DL this weekend, which would lighten the blow of Posada being out a bit. However, we all remember how much the Yankees were hurting when Jose Molina was forced into everyday action last season while Posada was out. Get well soon Jorge!

Bring on the Bo Sox

I know that it is still early in the season but this 2 game mini series with the Red Sox is a big one for the Yanks. After the 3 game sweep at Fenway last week, the Yankees should be looking for a measure of revenge in this series. The Red Sox are reeling a bit after dropping 3 of 4 over the weekend against Tampa. It will certainly help to have Nick Swisher back in the lineup. He was sorely missed in Saturday’s loss against the Angels.

Series Pitching Matchups:
Phil “The Thrill” Hughes will take the ball for the Yankees. He will be countered by Jon Lester.
Game 2 on Tuesday will see Joba Chamberlain against Josh Beckett.

Alfredo Aceves was called up from Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

Walk Off Winner!

This team shows no quit and has a late 90's Yankees feel to it. It sure looked bleak after the Angels went up 9-4 after 7 innings but guys like Melky Cabrera and Ramiro Pena continue to step up day after day with big hits. And after scoring 4 in the 8th the Yankees capped off the comeback in the 9th without making an out. They loaded up the bases on a walk by Teixeira, a hit by Matsui, and a hit by Cano, who extended his hitting streak to an amazing 18 games. Jorge Posada ran the count full against Angel's closer Brian Fuentes and hit the pay-off pitch into the left center field gap for a game winning hit. 

This team definitely has a never say die attitude that all championship clubs should have. CC Sabathia is on the mound tomorrow and after his last couple of starts he looks like he should be rounding into form. Yankee fans hope he turns in a solid performance tomorrow to extend their winning streak to a season best 5 games. Also, lets keep our fingers crossed on the condition of St. Nick Swisher, who left the game after being hit by a Jared Weaver pitch. It didn't look serious and hopefully we'll see Nick back in the lineup tomorrow.

BOX