Yankees Sweep Twins Out of Town for Final Time

Well, the Yankees did exactly what they needed to do against the Twins, with a few lucky bounces going their way. The Twins made costly errors and when the pitcher made a mistake with a pitch, the Yankees made them pay for it.

-Robbie Cano has been awesome since the start of the second half. If he keeps up this hitting, he can really help the team out down the stretch. The rest of the offense is finally clicking, too, but the bottom of the lineup still worries me. Jose Molina? Melky Cabrera?
-The bullpen has been solid, combining for a 1.60 ERA over the last few weeks. Hey, even Farnsworth has thrown nine consecutive hitless and scoreless innings! Way to go. He gets a gold star.
-The starting pitching has been solid as well, thanks to Moose leading the way. He threw 8 shutout innings today with 7 k's. There's been talk about a possible trade for Jarrod Washburn which doesn't seem like too bad of an idea, but what would we have to give up to get him?

The Yankees have won 10 straight at the Stadium and are 6-0 since the start of the second half. They outscored the Twins 25-7 in the series (13-5 against the A's). Up next is a 3-game series against Boston at Fenway Park. I'm of course nervous for this series. The Yankees offense is finally clicking, but I hope they don't get shut down by the likes of Beckett, Wakefield, and Lester. After traveling to Fenway they'll be back at home to face the Orioles and then the Angels, which will be a very tough series.

7/25-7/27 @ Boston:

RHP Joba Chamberlain (2-3, 2.52) vs. RHP Josh Beckett (9-6, 3.98) 7:05 ET - This will be a very interesting matchup. Joba will be in Boston, with their rowdy fans, pitching as a starter for the first time there. So far he has had trouble keeping his pitch count down and I don't think the Red Sox lineup will be any help. David Ortiz is predicted to return on Friday, which is not good news for the Yankees. Manny, however, might sit out with an injured knee. If the Yankees can get to Josh Beckett and give Joba a lead to work with, there's potential for a win here. The Yankees have not given Joba much run support at all which needs to change and hopefully with two sweeps behind them, they'll have much more confidence offensively.

LHP Andy Pettite (11-7, 3.86) vs. RHP Tim Wakefield (6-7, 3.69) 3:55 ET - If Andy pitched as well as he did last start, the Yankees should be all set. But once again it comes down to the offense. Often Wakefield makes batters look foolish with his knuckleball, Yankees included. If they can work the count against him and make him make the mistake of leaving one up, the Yankees can get something going against him and give Andy some support. Andy's a grinder, let's hope he gets through the intimidating Red Sox lineup.

RHP Sidney Ponson (6-1, 4.37) vs. LHP Jon Lester (8-3, 3.20) 8:05 ET - If my memory serves me correctly (and damn that memory) Jon Lester pitched a complete game shutout against the Yankees in the last series. Sidney Ponson has been notorious for giving up a ton of hits, but escaping with limited damage. I'm most nervous for this game. If he keeps giving up hits, the Red Sox will make him pay. Generally, however, the Yankees have given Ponson a ton of run support. We'll have to see how this game turns out.

Keys to the Series:
-Offense, offense, offense yankees!
-Get to the Red Sox bullpen early - they've lately blown the lead (aka: the angels series). And will be more likely to give up runs rather than the strong starting pitchers the Red Sox have.
-Strong starting pitching will hopefully get the offense going, rather than playing catch-up the entire game.

7/28 - 7/30 vs. Orioles ; Home
7/31 - 8/3 vs. Angels ; Home