Wait. What was that sound? Cheers? At Yankee Stadium? For Javier Vazquez? You're kidding me, right?
Nope. Vazquez actually -- and deservedly -- got cheers from the Stadium crowd last night while working seven tremendous innings. In case you haven't noticed, Vazquez (4-5) has been pretty darn good since his disastrous April.
From Mark Feinsand of the Daily News.
After opening 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA in five starts, Vazquez is 3-2 with a 2.77 ERA in his last five outings, four of which were starts. He has allowed 18 hits and eight walks in 26 innings, striking out 23. He's posted solid games in three of his past four starts, putting that dreadful first month behind him.
"I’ve been feeling good the last few starts," Vazquez said. "April was just a tough month, but that’s in the past. I’m moving forward."
With Vazquez seemingly straightened out, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes pitching like All Stars and CC Sabathia bound to turn things around is there a better starting rotation in baseball?
Here are several more Yankee notes from around the Inter-Google this morning.
Posada set to return
"I'd be happy if (Wednesday) was (Tuesday); I need to play," Posada said. "I thought I was coming off the DL (Tuesday) and that I would be in there. They say no, so I can't do nothing about it. Just get ready for (Wednesday)."
Bombers Beat: Tex expects to be on the field
Mark Teixeira doesn't sound too worried about the bruise on his left foot, which he felt after fouling a pitch off himself in the first inning Tuesday:
"I fully expect to be in tomorrow," Teixeira said. "When you have bruises like that, bruises are usually OK. A lot of ice tonight and rest and I'll probably play tomorrow."
Swisher's season has been quietly great | SNY.tv: News
Nick Swisher's personality shouldn't overshadow the right fielder's offensive production.
The Yankees entered Tuesday first in the Majors with 289 runs scored, but they wouldn't have that many without Swisher. Cano got press for his blistering start. Rodriguez has gotten press for his mammoth grand slams, and Teixeira's hot and cold streaks receive plenty of analysis. But Swisher's .312/.394/.553 line has come with little fanfare. What does he have to do to get a little attention around here?
Joba has strong 8th inning after Sat. meltdown - NYPOST.com
Chamberlain said he put Saturday's meltdown behind him immediately. "The day's over," he said. "You learn from it and you get the opportunity to come back. That's the greatest thing about being in the bullpen. You have to have a short-term memory and understand what you have to do to be successful when you get back out there."
Scorching Jeter still ‘old’ reliable - NYPOST.com
There were two more hits from the captain in last night’s 3-1 victory over the Orioles at the Stadium in which Javier Vazquez and Joba Chamberlain made statements from the mound in the Yankees’ fourth win in their last five games and sixth in their last eight.
But the hits and a nifty play behind second base in the second inning on which Jeter ranged to his left to throw out Luke Scott from the outfield grass were further declarations that the captain is surely on his way back from wherever he’d been as late as May 19, when he was batting .266 with an alarming .312 on-base percentage.
Well, alarming to some and not alarming at all to Jeter, who scoffed at the thought when asked if, at any point, the numbers had begun to concern him.
"After 30 games? Concern after 30 games?" Jeter responded incredulously and rhetorically after his 2-for-3 lifted his average to .307 on the strength of a 19-for-38 spree over the last nine games. "I don’t care about looking up and seeing the .260’s; I’ve looked up at the scoreboard and seen .180 at the end of May.
"But that’s not it. I never focus on myself because when players start focusing on themselves, that’s when you have problems.
"If I’m hitting .180 or .480 and play a particular game, I have a chance to help the team win," Jeter told The Post after his sixth straight multi-hit game. "I don’t think about myself."