As most of you well know by now, the New York Yankees closed their gap on capturing an American League East title by two games yesterday after beating the Toronto Blue Jays 7-6 and benefiting from the Boston Red Sox losing 4-3 to the Tampa Bay Rays. Their magic number to capture the AL East is eight and to clinch a playoff berth is five.
Mariano Rivera tied Trevor Hoffman with 601 saves yesterday to finish off the afternoon game north of the border. Rivera's next save will place him at the top of the list with career saves and will likely solidify him as the greatest closer of all-time in any statistical category. It's quite amazing to think about how fortunate the Yankees and their fans have been because of this man's ability to make games shorter. Admire it while you can, because he won't be around for much longer.
Other than that predictable news, there's not a whole lot left to discuss...
To build off of Kuri's ideas the other day, I'll bring up the starting rotation concerns once again. Fangraphs raises a good point. Who in the world is the number two starter behind CC Sabathia? Bartolo Colon and Ivan Nova appear to be the front-runners for that spot, and who would have thought that way back in February? What I find most frustrating is that every pitcher has shown spectacular stuff at times, and absolutely horrible stuff during other times. CC Sabathia is the only pitcher that seems reliable day-in and day-out to me. What are your thoughts?
Alex Rodriguez finally returned after a sprained finger in grand style, clobbering a three-run bomb to help the Yankees on their way to a 7-6 win. While he won't hit 30 homers and 100 RBI for the first time in 14 years, he's going to be a key piece of the Yankees as they attempt to take the East and make a run to world championship #28.
Questions of the day:
1) What's your optimal playoff lineup vs. righties? vs. lefties?
2) Who is your #2 starter in the playoffs? In other words, who pitches game two and game five of the ALDS?
3) Do you believe that the Yankees have the strongest bullpen in baseball? Why or why not?
4) Will Rivera break the saves record today or in New York?
Today's game is at 1:07 PM and Brandon will have your game thread posted around then. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks.
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