The Yankees had a 9 game homestand where I feel that they needed to win at least 6. Did they do that? NO. But they did manage to get swept by the Tiger, then they swept the Mariners and then they lost 2 of 3 to the Cleveland Indians. This trend has to stop if the Yankees want to make it to the post season. I know the pitching is starting to come around but they have to continue to be consistent. I am not so much worried about the offense because when A-ROD and Jorge Posada are back then the offense will be complete. I think our key is pitching because as long as the offense does their part then the pitching staff will have to do the same because we are falling into another deep hole in the AL East. I know it is still early but we can’t have a repeat of last year or we will not make it deep into the playoffs.

The Yankees began a road trip in Detroit splitting the 1st 2 games and the 3rd was rained out. The Yankees need to have a good showing in Tampa against the RED HOT Rays who are coming off a sweep against the Angels. We need to win this series before we head home and open up interleague play against the cross-town Mets.

Okay, so its 3 weeks into the season, and your Yanks are only at .500.  It could be worse, and it certainly could be alot better.  They have two more series on the road, in Chicago against the White Sox for a three-game set and in Cleveland for four.  There is reason to be optimistic!!!  The Bombers were 12-4 against these teams last year, including 7-3 on the road (6-0 vs. the Tribe overall).  Mike Mussina has 2 starts, and Kennedy and Hughes have 1 apiece before this road trip is up.  Let’s hope they can make George’s boy Hank bite his tongue a little when they put some solid starts and wins in the left-hand column.  By the way, Joba belongs in the bullpen…don’t forget that Mariano Rivera is 38 (39 after the season), and making $15 million this season.  Joba Chamberlain, on the other hand, is only 22 and making $390,000 in 2008.  Sounds like a bargain!  A young power pitcher that can continue to make his mark for the winningest team ever, and then have the closer’s job when it becomes available, and then you pay him the big bucks?  Keep him in the pen and save that arm.  As it is, Darrell Rasner is 3-0 with an ERA at 0.72 for AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre.  Use the farm system, but don’t freak out, it is still only April. 

Chien-Ming Wang was on his game last night as the greatest rivalry in all sports resumed in the ballpark of the World Champion Red Sox, but the Yankees continued to show them who their “daddy” is.

Wang only allowed 2 hits including a fifth inning HR to improve to 3-0 on this early season. I feel that Wang has something to prove after not winning the CY Young award and failing the Yankees in the playoffs. This is the best start that he could have had, showing that he is most definitely their ace. Wang got help with a Giambi HR and an RBI double by Jose Molina. The offense is getting started again after they laid an egg in Kansas City losing 2 of 3 to the Royals.

Mike Mussina will take the hill this afternoon and will oppose Josh Beckett. This will be a big game for the Moose as he looks for his 2nd The Red Sox enter this game in last place in the AL East. I know it’s early, but the Sox are in the place they should be and if the Yanks win today and Baltimore loses, the Yanks will be all alone in 1st place. The Yankees are pretty much off to the same start as last year, but they really have something to prove this season as they are in search for Championship #27 in their last season in the “House that Ruth Built.” consecutive good start.

Yanks take it to the Sox and show them that even if they bury a Red Sox shirt under the visitors clubhouse, they still own them and they will NEVER have a drought like the Sox had before they won the World Series in 2004. GO YANKS!

Even though the Yankees had to wait an extra day to get the season started, and were outscored 9-8, manager Joe Girardi has to be happy with a 2-1 start. The offense hasn’t kicked into gear yet but A-Rod has gone yard for the first time this season, and the bullpen showed what they are capable of in these three games.

The Yanks had to come from behind in their book end wins in the opening series of the season but this is quite possibly the most potent line-up in all of baseball, except maybe for the Detroit Tigers and that is why this team is NEVER out of a game until the 27th out is recorded. This line-up has weapons from 1-9 and even on the bench, so they keep everyone guessing and on the edge of our seats for 9 innings.

The only concern I have at this point is Mike Mussina. He doesn’t seem sharp anymore and he is not fooling hitters the way he has in the past. He gave up all the runs in the middle game of the series, and if I am Girardi I would move him down in the rotation once Pettitte comes back from the DL. All in all it was a good series, and the Yanks are showing signs of coming alive and beginning the season better than last year.

Up next for the Bombers was a weekend series with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays….I mean Rays. Do you really think changing their name is going to help? Not this year but watch out for this team with young pitching and hitting this team may start to come to life in the next few seasons. If they can get some relief help and some starters for the back end of the rotation they can contend.

Ok, so I thought the Yankees would probably take 3 of 4. Boy was I wrong. They split with the Tampa Bay Rays, being outscored 19-7 in the first two games. They were embarrassed to say the least. I know it is still April but these are the games you should win, especially at home. Starting pitching was an issue in both of the losses and then final 2 games the starting pitching was a big reason why this team took the last 2 games outscoring the Rays 8-2. In the finally the Yankees had several season highs with 6 runs and 11 hits. The offense is showing signs of life but we have a long way to go. The question remains, can the Yankees score 1000 runs. Let us know what you think and stay connected with the Yankees right here and tell all your family and friends about Yankeescast.com!

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