Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Taking Care of Business

After a slight hiccup on Monday night against the Blue Jays, the Yankees came back in dramatic style to down Toronto for the eighth time this season. The Yanks are 8-3 against the Jays and aside from when Sergio Mitre gets the ball, every game feels like a game the Yanks are going to win.

Even with Mitre in the rotation the bats have been on fire of late and with the new stadium playing like a launching pad, they are always in the game.

Heading to the mound today is A.J. Burnett, who is coming off of what could be considered his best start as a Yankee. Sure he has had a couple where he struck out more and had shut outs for just as long, but this start was the most important in his young tenure as a Bomber. He shut down the Red Sox for 7.2 innings during that 15 inning marathon game, matching Josh Beckett zero for zero.

With a 5.5 game lead over the Red Sox the Yankees need to keep the pressure on them and even on the Rays who continue to slide back of both the division and wild card races. Right now the Yankees have a commanding lead on the division but they cannot relent yet.

These final home games become more important when you look at the imposing schedule that the Yankees have over the last two months of the season. The schedule looks daunting. It seems ludacris that someone making the baseball schedule would have the Yankees making three trips to the West coast, including one in the middle of September, but it is what it is and it makes their home games all the more important.

After today's game the Yankees embark on their second of the three trips to Cali before they return to the east for yet another series versus the Sox.

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