Dandy Andy

I know the title could use some work but Pettitte was brilliant today and he needed to be in order to beat Justin Duchscherer who continued his dominating season. Pettitte has always been a great second half pitcher and like Mussina and Joba before him the Yankees are going to need quality outing from all of these guys to make sure their playing October baseball again.

The win puts the Yanks a mere 4 1/2 games out of first place and with the Rays losing eight of their last 10 things are getting a lot tighter in the AL East. This could be one of the more exciting summers of baseball if all three of these teams stay within five games of each other the rest of the way.

All the signs are there that usually show that the Yankees are about to bust out. The first sign is Cano is getting hot. He already has eight hits in his first three games after the break and he is starting to hit everything with authority, so even when he makes an out it is a loud one. The second sign is they are starting to get a little bit of that mystique and aura they have lacked. Now I know it is only one game, but they had never before come back against Huston Street. Also, plays like that Bobby Abreu bumble in the ninth inning today usually don't work out that well for you unless you have a little luck.

The most important sign though, has to be the work of the bullpen. It isn't just Reliable Rivera anymore, there are other guys Girardi can give the ball to and actually expect to get outs. Scariest of all is that Kyle Farnsworth is now one of those guys. So far Krazy Kyle has yet to allow a run over his previous eight innings. Things must really be going your way when you can count on Kyle Farnsworth to be a rock in your bullpen. Add in Dave Robertson and Edwar Ramirez and the Yankees seem to have found a group that can make you swing and miss at the most inopportune times. And that is a big key to the success of a bullpen, not to mention that is new back end of the game is going to be a key to the Yankees success. At least until they figure out how to make those bats work on back to back days.