Going Streaking

A cold and rainy night in the Bronx signaled, it was time to go streaking, in a manor of speaking. The Yankees reached 7 games on their post all star break win streak. The win came at 12:50 am in the Bronx as the Yankees beat the Oakland As 6-3. The game was delayed by over 2 and a half hours thanks to showers. When the game finally started, it was CC Sabathia for the Yankees and NJ native Vin Mazarro for the As. Sabathia ran into trouble in the early innings, but as CC generally does, he settled down and managed to finish 7 strong innings of 3 run ball. Mazzaro was quite the opposite, he started off retiring the first 6 batters, 4 on strikeouts. He (fortunately for the Yankees) fell apart in the 4th when Damon led off with a single. Mazzaro then fell behind 3-0 to Teixeira, who was then given the green light and crushed the 3-0 pitch into the middle deck in right field. Arod followed with a walk, then stole second and was brought in by Posada on a double to the gap. Hinske singled Jorge home, and all of a sudden the Yankees were ahead 4-3. They scored 2 more in the 5th inning knocking out Mazzaro and claiming the 6-3 lead which would remain the same for the rest of the game.

CC seemed to get stronger as the game wore on and his pitches were hitting 95 even in the 7th when his pitch count was over 100. Hughes relieved CC and pitched a scoreless 8th and 9th for his first save. Once again it seemed like the Yankees did just enough to get the win and never really looked uncomfortable out there. Despite the game starting at 10 pm and the Yankees falling behind 3-0, the players seemed to know the comeback was inevitable.

"We expect to win every night." Mark Teixeira said.

The players seem to be playing with an extra confidence, realizing that they are capable of winning any game and every game. The Yankees have now won all 7 games since the all star break and managed to go from 3 behind the Red Sox for the division, to 2 1/2 games ahead for the division lead. As Teixeira said, the players take the field with a certain swagger, knowing the late scoring will come and the starting pitching and bull pen has been lights out.

"The starting pitching has been incredible." Teixeira added.

The Yankees look like the team from the 90's, having fun unafraid to score late, and relying on humble heroes like Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske, Melky Cabrera, Sergio Mitre, Phil Hughes, among others. These guys and others are contributing to the streak and may be flying under the radar. The Yankees play 3 more vs Oakland this weekend and Joba takes the mound tonight at 7 pm as the Yankees look to increase their lead on the division and win their 8th in a row.