Well, that was exciting. Chien-Ming Wang pitched a perfect game for 7 and one third innings, before giving up a home run to Ben Broussard to snap the perfecto, no-no, and whitewash on one swing of the bat. He gave up one more hit, and the Yankees won, 8-1. For now, we have 2nd place all to ourselves. The BoSox are 6 games up (!). Chien picked up his first win of the year, and Jeff Weaver went to 0 and FIVE. That’s a rude awakening from being a playoff ace for the World Championship team. The Yanks have won 4 out of the last 5, and we’ve still got a losing record, but I have faith. I have a question or two for you all reading this post: Do you think the Yanks should bring back Bernie Williams? Should Guidry be in hot water? Do you think the Yankees should try to bring back Rocket soon? Tell me what you think.

So, a 5 run first isn’t enough? We should have beat the Mariners with those 5 runs, but nooo-o, they beat us 15-11. Yeah, we swept Texas, but I think a four game win streak is within our capacity. At least, I hope so. Just imagine what kind of great things A-Rod could do against the Yanks’ pitching. I’m glad that Moose came back in fine fashion, and Andy tossed a good game in our doubleheader vs. Tex, but Colter Bean’s performance yesterday was really unacceptable. Kei Igawa didn’t exactly give a dandy performance, but 4 runs coming into the fifth with no one out, and having 4 runs already scored that inning? He threw 21 pitches, and 17 of them went for balls. The 8 run 5th by the M’s was the big blow, Bean got the loss. Johnny Damon limped off the field in the 9th, the second injury since the Yankees strength coach was fired. Will somebody please explain to Roger Clemens why we really really really really need him?

You know what? I’m glad the Yankees didn’t play today. With our luck, Andy Pettitte would’ve slipped of the mound and broken his ankle. We now have had three fifths of our rotation miss time, and two of our subs. Chien-Ming Wang, who is now back, hurt himself in spring training. Mike Mussina hurt his hamstring in a game against the Twins, while Carl Pavano hurt something either the next day or the day before. Jeff Karstens broke his leg on the first pitch of a game against the Red Sox. Phil Hughes strained his hamstring with a no-hitter going in the 7th yesterday, and is supposed to be out 6 weeks. And to top the staggering list off, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Bobby Abreu, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter have all hurt themselves at some time this year. I’ve got two words for the Yankees: ROGER CLEMENS. We need a Rocket in the rotation right now, and who but a former Yankee champ fits it? He might also be lured having his buddy Pettitte on the team. We really really really really really really really really really need him right now. The injury bug has the team in a stranglehold, and Clemens is famous for not getting hurt. What do you think the Yankees should do? Also, how do you think Steinbrenner will react to this April? Tell me what you think about anything Yanks in general.

Joshua Morgan Hancock was born on April 11, 1978. He died in a car crash on April 29, 2007, 18 days after celebrating his 29th birthday. The former Cardinal right-hander was going home after pitching 3 innings in the Cardinals’ loss to the Cubs. He died on the scene at about 12:30 AM. His vehicle reportedly hit a tow truck, possibly a result of fatigue. I really don’t know what to say besides what everyone knows. He was a friend to many in the Cards’ clubhouse, known for his easygoing nature. The Cards-Cubs game was canceled, as it was when the same teams were going to play and it was announced that Cards thrower Darryl Kile was found dead in his hotel room. Rest In Peace, Josh. You were only 29 years old, so we will look forward to seeing your youthful soul in your next life. Enjoy it.

After the Yankees dropped their fourth straight game to the Red Sox, seventh overall, we finally won. Jorge juiced one, and Kei Igawa pitched brilliantly in six plus innings. The dark side: Jeff Karstens fractured something that I can’t remember the name of on the first pitch in the game. This thing he broke is somewhere in the knee area, so I hope he’ll be okay. But, most importantly, we finally WON! 3-1 was the final score, Farnsworth gave up the run. Whoops. I really have to go. More later!

Phil Hughes didn’t pitch badly in his Major League debut, going 4 1/3 and giving up 4 earned runs, which would have probably been 3 had he pitched longer. He struck out 5 Blue Jays, and gave up only one walk. But Burnett was money for the Jays, shutting out the Yankees. Round 2 of the Yankees-Sox series starts today, Matsuzaka vs. Pettitte.

Guess what I was greeted with when I sat down to listen to a Yankee game? Those three horrible letters… PPD. Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! I really didn’t have a purpose for the rest of the night, so I went to the gym and had a cheese sandwich as a late dinner. But… at the gym, I saw quite the Rangers-Cleveland game, and I listened to the 9th in the car, but by then I was eager to get in bed, so I turned it off after the 9th and had my sandwich, brushed my teeth, and slept. But I have 5 words for you about the game: Kenny Lofton is still aspeedster (Yes, I did put two words together to be right about my word count). I watched him steal second and third for the Rangers in the 8th, and saw the revealing stat about his basestealing abilities (I hope basestealing is a word, because I know "aspeedster" isn’t): He has only been caught stealing once this year. So the ol’ eye to watch the pitcher’s foot is still working fine. Never mind. I’m not supposed to be talking about Kenny Lofton, or a Rangers-Cleveland game. So, back to Yankee news: Andy Pettitte’s start has not been pushed back to today, I think he’ll be starting the first game of the Yankees-Red Sox series at the Stadium, and I’m thankful for that. Because Phil Hughes is starting today, and if his start had been pushed back, he would’ve been thrown into the Yanks-Sox series for his ML debut, and he’d probably crack under the pressure. So, he’ll start today, against A.J. Burnett, whose start was pushed back. We could really, really, REALLY use a win kid. Good luck, Phil Hughes, please don’t give up a bazillion runs! Meanwhile…
LET’S GO YANKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I saw on MLB.com today, “Crawford leads Rays to sweep of Yankees”. Yeah right! Two games is not a sweep! 3 game series are made to truly get a feeling of which team did better, 2 game sets mean almost nothing. Bear with me here. Let’s say there is a Dodgers and Brewers series. The first game, the Dodgers trot out their No.4 starter, Brad Penny, while the Brew Crew gives the ball to their overpowering ace, Ben Sheets. Sheets will probably overmatch Penny. Let’s say he does. So the Brewers win the first game of the series. The next game, Chris Capuano, the Brewers No.2 starter, faces Hong Chi-Kuo, the only lowish quality starter in the Dodgers rotation. Capuano probably beats Kuo, right? Let’s say he does, and the Brewers walk away with a “sweep”. Is it really a sweep? The Brew Crew didn’t have to worry about Dodgers ace Derek Lowe facing their No. 3, Jeff Suppan, did they? They didn’t have to deal with Jason Schmidt against Claudio Vargas or David Bush to begin the series either. So, in my mind, it really is not a sweep at all. The three game sets are really an a lot better way to figure it out, because if a team did have the bad enough luck to start their No. 4 guy against the other team’s ace, you still have a chance of not getting swept, because your ace will be starting against the other team’s No.3 guy. If you really understand, go ahead and stop reading and give me a comment on whether you think it’s a sweep or not, and why (Devil Rays fans’ comments will be discounted). I need your input! If you are even a little bit foggy on this, keep reading. Hypothetical situations coming up… You start the series with your number 5 guy against the other team’s ace.
Game 1: No.5 vs. No.1
Game 2: No.1 vs. No.2
Game 3: No. 2 vs.No.3
Now a two game series:
Game 1: No.5 vs. No.1
Game 2: No.1 vs. No.2
So let’s say you’re the Reds and you’re facing the Tigers. First game you have Matt Belisle against Jeremy Bonderman. Bonderman wins, predictably. Then you have Aaron Harang against Nate Robertson. Harang is only a little bit better than Robertson, so let’s say Robertson wins in a minor upset. In a two game series, that’s a sweep. In a three-game, you still have Bronson Arroyo against Justin Verlander, a pretty even matchup. If Arroyo wins, you avoid the sweep. If Verlander wins, it’s a true sweep, and you can honestly say, “The Tigers did better than the Reds that series.”. You see what I’m getting at here? If you don’t, I can’t help you. But most likely you do, so please post a comment with your input.
LET’S GO YANKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I was browsing through the New York Times website, and guess what I find? “Yanks in LAST PLACE they expected”. Ha. Ha. Ha. Well, Chien-Ming Wang was good in his return to the Yanks’ rotation, scattering 9 hits and 4 runs over 6 1/3 (would’ve been 3 runs had the Yankees let him pitch 7. A-Rod didn’t homer, and Godzilla did, a monster shot, too. The Yanks moved into last with an 0-5 road trip. But, here comes the bright side: Andy Pettitte is starting, 1, and it’s at Yankee Stadium, 2. His start is against A.J. Burnett, who is having a bad year. That is good. Let’s just hope there isn’t another Mike Myers grand slam, and let’s hope Doug Mjldlsifdslfkdz starts being less of a pain to have in the lineup. Phil Hughes makes his ML debut tommorow, way before expected. He does have big-league stuff, though, so maybe he’ll get some outs. Keep your fingers crossed. GO YANKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. If you haven’t seen “The Pursuit of Happyness”, do. I watched it last night, and it was GREAT.

We’re going into the 9th, and it’s 6-4 Rays. Let’s hope we can do it! We will be sending up Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, and Doug Mientkiewicz. This HAS to turn out well, or else it will have been one bad road trip.

Al Reyes comes in

Top of the 9th: Cano takes ball 1. Swings at strike 1. Strike 2. Strike 3. Ouch.

Top of the 9th: Melky’s up. Strike 1. Foul back to the screen. 0-2. Low, ball 1. Groundout to 1st sacker Carlos Pena. This is bad.

Top of the 9th. Mjfskfjljalfjfksl’s up. Strike 1. Strike 2. AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! Time called for a second. Foul at home plate. Still 0-2. Mkjlalsfjdi walks out of the box. Strike 3. What a horrific road trip.