Yankees Avoid Sweep

The Good

They call Andy Pettitte the stopper, since he's very good at giving the Yankees a phenomenal pitching performance after they've been losing a few games in a row. I for one don't feel like that credits him enough. The Yankees did have quite the losing streak, but the last game they won was pitched by, well, Andy Pettitte. So instead of calling him "the stopper", can we just call him "the sole reason the Yankees have any wins in the last week"? I feel it has a better ring to it. Pettitte pitched 7 innings and gave up no runs while striking out 5. He even had it perfect through the first few innings, until Jay Payton hit that cowardly infield single.

The offense stepped up with back to back doubles by A-Rod and Matsui scoring a pair of runs, and Johnny Damon cracking a monster 2-run homerun on his way to a 30 homerun season. Later on, Jeter put the game further out of reach with a bases loaded double.

Bruney and Mariano combined for two scoreless innings of relief.

The Bad

Chamberlain had his first really shaky appearance giving up a pair of hits before a rain delay took him out of the game. Bruney took over and recorded the three outs of the inning, but not before one of those runs scored. It is Chamberlain's first run of the season. Giambi continued his slide with an 0-3 night.

The Ugly

Andy Pettitte had Brian Roberts caught stealing when he threw to first, but Jason Giambi threw the ball into the outfield further proving that he cannot throw a ball to save his life. Jeter pretended to have caught the ball and put an imaginary tag on Roberts which may have kept him from going to third. Also, A-Rod came out of the game with a quad injury. He'll probably be out a few days, but luckily they have an off day tomorrow, and with his wife set to give birth soon, he was probably going to miss these games anyway.

Respect Jeter's Gangster is for the Children

The Respect Jeter's Gangster blog joined Johnny Damon's homerun club that raises money for the Children's Health Fund. We are pledged to donate $1.00 for every homerun the Yankees hit. Johnny Damon added to the cause with his 2nd homerun of the season:

Melky Cabrera 3hr = $3.00
Alex Rodriguez 4hr = $4.00
Hideki Matsui 3 hr = $3.00
Bobby Abreu 2hr = $2.00
Jorge Posada 1hr = $1.00
Jason Giambi 2hr = $2.00
Johnny Damon 2hr = $2.00
Morgan Ensberg 1hr = $1.00
Robinson Cano 1hr = $1.00
Chad Moeller 1hr = $1.00
Total = $20.00

If you are interested in Johnny Damon's Homerun Club or the Children's Health Fund you can find links to both at the top right hand corner of our page.