Posted on 06/15/2007 9:23:30 AM PDT by John Cena
NEW YORK (AP) -- Joe Torre found his new lucky spot in the dugout, then watched Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte and the rest of the team go to work.
Yep, things are falling into place nicely for the New York Yankees.
Rodriguez drove in two more runs, Pettitte breezed for eight innings and the Yankees won their ninth straight game, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 Thursday.
"It's fun right now to come to the ballpark and do this," Pettitte said.
Playing with a fresh bounce in their step, the Yankees finished off another sweep -- they brushed aside Pittsburgh last weekend -- and extended their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2005. Next up, the New York Mets visit for the Subway Series.
Torre certainly enjoyed the view, standing in front of the steps that lead up to the field, rather than taking his usual seat on the padded blue bench. Before the game, the manager indicated it was a bit of superstition to help his team score runs.
"I have a system," Torre said. "I'll let you in on it sometime down the road. It's not very complicated."
He's not the only one with a little routine. After the national anthem, Hideki Matsui gave a playful kick to Melky Cabrera's leg and Robinson Cano tapped his glove on Derek Jeter's shoulder as they prepared to take their positions. Matsui then went out and drove in three runs.
"You start feeling good about yourself and things start going your way," Torre said.
At 33-31, the Yankees matched their high point this season. A modest mark, certainly, but a vast improvement for a club that was eight games under .500 and 14 1/2 games behind Boston barely two weeks ago.
After the Red Sox lost 7-1 to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night, the Yankees were within 7½ games of first place.
"We played bad, but that didn't mean we were a bad team," Jeter said.
Arizona was 10 games over .500 when it came to Yankee Stadium, but dropped three in a row. The debunked D-backs made three costly errors and lost for the sixth time in seven games.
"Obviously, we caught this team at the wrong time," manager Bob Melvin said. "We didn't play well enough to win today. We didn't pitch well enough, we didn't swing the bats well enough. It ended up being a bad game for us."
"We don't usually kick it around as much," he said.
The Diamondbacks also saw second baseman Orlando Hudson hobble off the field after jamming his left ankle running out a single. It's been a recurring injury, and he was listed as day to day.
Pitching a day before his 35th birthday, Pettitte (4-4) gave up a run and four hits. He retired 10 straight batters in the middle innings and kept out of trouble -- Arizona was hitless in its only two at-bats with runners in scoring position and 0-for-13 in the series.
Pettitte also beat a team that had caused him problems in the past. He lost twice to the Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series, and had been 1-5 against them in the regular season.
Rodriguez drew a bases-loaded walk in the first inning, doubled home a run in the third and added two singles. He has 21 RBIs in his last nine games and a major league-leading 68 RBIs overall.
"I was as proud of my walk as any other at-bat," Rodriguez said. "Take what they give you."
Doug Davis (4-8) began the afternoon with a curious record against the Yankees -- 3-1 despite a 6.08 ERA in five starts.
The lefty ran into immediate danger when Cabrera, Jeter and Bobby Abreu opened the New York first with singles, loading the bases with no outs for Rodriguez. A walk and Matsui's RBI grounder made it 2-0.
Rodriguez and Matsui hit RBI doubles in the third. Matsui singled home a run in the seventh, and another run scored on the play when center fielder Chris Young's throw to third skipped into the seats. Young later missed a sliding catch on Josh Phelps' RBI single.
Mark Reynolds doubled in the second and scored Arizona's run on a groundout by Scott Hairston.
The question may come to pass:
“Where were you in the summer of 1978?”
Bucky Dent....please answer the white courtesy phone.
“Where were you in the summer of 1978?”
In my crib wearing diapers
I wonder if there will be a catchphrase in October: “Hideki f____ing Matsui”.
Doesn’t have the same ring as “Bucky f___ing Dent” though.
It's the ebb and flow of a 162-game season. I never thought that the Bosox would go 140-22.
Sox will pick it back up, and the Yanks will take a dive here and there - in the end Boston wins the Division by four games.
This is just in line with the Sox’s historical pattern. Lead the league until around July 4th and then, inexorably, shite the bed.
They're now 3.5 back.
But Yanks don't need to think WC -- they'll win their 10th straight division title.
What is that that the Red Sox are hearing behind them?
If the Yankees continue to cut the lead at the same pace, they will pass the Red Sox on July 4.
As a Tiger fan I can only say that a winning streak can become a losing streak in a big hurry and it ain’t over till it’s over.
In any case, Good luck Yankee fans.
Mo Rivera is getting back to his usual (virtually unhittable) form, but the rest of the relief corp is shaky at best. The Boss will sign some help before the trading deadline, of that we can be sure.
They’ll likely buy Linebrink from the Padres or Fuentes from the Rockies, depending on when those two teams start floundering.
I’m a big Yankee fan, but I don’t think the Sox will fold, their pitching is too solid. The Yanks have a good WC shot, however, especially with Hughes and Giambi coming back from injury. With a healthy front rotation, the strain on the pen will be reduced. Go Yanks!
Last year, the Sox were something like 6 and a half games up at the All-Star break and wound up finishing 11 games behind the Yankees and missing the playoffs all together. I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen this year. But it’s certainly not out of the question.
FYI, as if you didn’t know this already.
So I guess getting swept by the Angels kind awoke them up?
Mo ain't no kid, his early problems were related to not having opportunities to close, if the Yankee starting pitches falters middle relief will come in Not good for Mo or the Yanks. How fitting their other relievers suck so bad and one of them is named Procter.
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