What would the Yankee record look like if Randy had pitched like he did tonight all year? His fastball was consistently 94-97 mph, and his slider was nasty. He had to pitch that good because the teenage rookie for Seattle was terrific. He threw in the high nineties and pounded the Yanks into ground ball after ground ball.
"Rod" Cano jacked a homer and a single and Sheffield hit a monster shot for all the scoring the Yanks would need. Cano is the perfect number two hitter in this lineup if he gets back on track. I know Joe would love to hit him there. Matsui is much more effective batting in the five hole.
A-Rod is playing amazing defense now and by next year he will be the premier third baseman in the league and quite possibly the game. He's the first Yankee right handed hitter since DiMaggio to stroke forty home runs in a season, although Joe had to face death valley. I always wondered how many Hr's he and Mantle would have hit if they played some place else. Mantle always said that he lost twenty bombs a year because of the stadium and I believe him.
With Cleveland losing the Yanks picked up another game on them in the wild card. The A's lost so their race with the Angels is a hair closer now. Tampa keeps giving up leads and rolled over to Boston for the second straight game.
Filed under: