Last few days

They haven't necessarily looked pretty the last few days, but the Yankees have gotten the job done the last couple days. Sunday, they won behind ace Chien Ming Wang's brilliant performance, Joba (with a little help from lady luck) and Mo's performance, and Hideki Matsui's home run. Once again, the Yankees couldn't score any runs and leaned on their starter/bullpen for support. And boy, was the pitching awesome in this one. Unfortunately, my Little League Yankees had practice so I didn't get to watch, but from the highlights I've seen and what I've read, Wang was in control from the beginning. He was throwing his offspeed stuff for strikes, giving him a very unWang like 6 strikeouts. Joba was Joba, escaping the first and third, no out jam Wang left him with - with the help of a gorgeous play by Cano to turn a soft liner into a DP - and pitching a clean 8th. Mo was nearly as awesome, striking out 2 in a perfect 9th.

If Wang keeps throwing his offspeed stuff for strikes, the rest of league will need to look out. Wang's groundball tendencies + strikeouts = an end to the "is he an ace" debate.

In yesterday's 6-1 win, Moose, to the surprise of everyone, Moose had an excellent start. In 6 innings, he gave up just 1 run, on Johnny Gomes homer, and struck out 3 while walking 1. The offense, led by Bobby Abreu's 3-3, 2 RBI day, finally showed some signs of life. Brian Bruney and Kyle Farnsworth continued to show off their improved control, as each threw an inning without walking a batter. Fun fact of the morning - through 7 combined innings, Bruney and Farnsworth have 0 walks between them. Last year, they'd have probably walked about 6 guys apiece by now. Additionally, Farnsworth has showed off a nasty two-seamer that sits around 91 mph.

Unfortunately, yesterday was not all good news. Derek Jeter, while grounding into a fielder's choice in the first, strained his left quad. Right now, it doesn't look like it will cost him too much time, but that could change as he is further examined. The Yankees have a few options at short - if it's just for a few they could play Wilson Betemit, as they did last night, or they could move A-Rod over for a few games and play Ensberg/Betemit at third. If he's out for an extended period of time, they'll probably go with one of the above options and call up someone like Nick Green to take the utility role. Hopefully, Jeter will return quickly.

On top of Jeter's injury, LaTroy Hawkins continued to look terrible. Though he made it through without giving up a run, he was shaky from the start. His command was erratic - he walked 1 and threw a wild pitch - and looked a bit lost. He did end the night with a strikeout, so hopefully that helps him get into some kind of a groove. He probably won't be great this year, but he also won't have a 21 ERA.

Tonight, the Yankees start their 200 day road trip in Kansas City. Blog namesake Phil Hughes takes on Brian Bannister in the opener. As good as Hughes' first start was, Bannister's 7 inning, 0 run performance was even better. Let's hope Hughes can keep it going and that the Yankees can touch up Bannister. Time for the offense to wake up.