YANKEES CLINCH! DIVISION TITLE NEXT!

Today was pretty exciting. The game itself was slow going because James Shields was very very good today. In fact, he was dynamite. Finally, after the 7^th inning, things changed. The Yankees had 1 run until Eduardo Nunez cranked out a homer to tie it up.

Then , in the bottom of the ninth, Robinson Cano knocked a 2 run double to bring the Yankees ahead 4-2. But let me back up. If Brett Gardner didn’t slash that opposite field single to start off that inning and Derek Jeter didn’t work a walk, Robinson Cano's hit means nothing. That’s team work, that’s the Yankees offense, that’s a team hungry for the postseason.

Hector Noesi started the game for the Yankees today. He was a last minute add because Phil Hughes was scratched with back spasms. Noesi pitched 2.2 innings, allowed just 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 2. Like I’ve said in WHY THE YANKEES PEN IS THE BEST IN BASEBALL, Noesi is a team player and does what is asked of him. He did it again today, this time starting and you have to tip your hat to this kid, he handled it well. But that’s not all, the pen was incredible and they deserve much of the credit in keeping the Rays held to 2 runs the rest of the game. The combination of Raul Valdes, George Kontos, Aaron Laffey, Cory Wade, Boone Logan, Luis Ayala (who earned the win), and Mariano Rivera was brilliant for a day game before this night game. Girardi mixed up the pitchers, righty to lefty and kept the Rays off guard. Terrific job today.

1 heads up base running situation that I wanted to point out which took place today and I loved it because you know I love speed if you read Bleeding yankee Blue. Eduardo Nunez stole second and third in the same inning (I believe the 5th.) No, it didn't give us a run, though it's important because it shows agression and pure grit. Gotta love it.

Final Score: Yankees 4 –Rays 2

Congrats to the Yankees for making the postseason for the 16^th time in 17 years. That is incredible. But no celebration yet. The Yankees have a night game with the Rays and CC Sabathia is on the mound right now. After a win tonight, then let's talk about party time...one game at a time.

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WHY THE YANKEES PEN IS THE BEST IN BASEBALL

Yeah, it’s early, we haven’t even made the playoffs, yet, with all the home runs by Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira and with all the well pitched games by CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova, many forget a true part of the New York Yankees that make them hum… the bullpen.

I remember the 1998 Yankees team and that bullpen made up of guys like Mike Stanton, Jeff Nelson, Graeme Lloyd, Ramiro Mendoza and Mariano Rivera. Back then, that bridge clearly was the best in baseball, mowing them down every opportunity they had. The passion was clear. I remember Jeff Nelson getting super excited over a strikeout and the calmness of Mariano when he closed out the game was equally awesome. He's exactly the same today. It was that drive that was a huge asset in their World Championship in 1998. Now, years later… I feel like it’s happening again. While the names are different, the mission is the same.

Hector Noesi: Noesi does what he’s told to do and he does it well for a kid. He’s learning more from the Yankee pen than he ever would down in AAA. The experience and talent in the pen is diverse and being on the biggest stage of Yankee Stadium, it's allowed this kid to develop. Noesi gets some crappy assignments sometimes, mop up work or even coming in in blowouts, but his expression is always the same. He’s happy to be there and happy to contribute to this New York Yankees team.

Cory Wade: Wade’s been a surprise, a real good one. With all the worry about his arm getting blown out by Joe Torre when he was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wade is back and is proving that his injury is a thing of the past. Wade is a terrific addition to our club. This season he’s 6-1 with a 2.06 ERA. Not too shabby pal.

Luis Ayala: A gamer and another guy that has found his niche. Ayala is also a great surprise to me and I consider Wade and he a great mid-game combo. Mix in Boone Logan and you can easily go 5 to 6 innings if needed. I like this kid and I’m happy for him.

Scott Proctor: Proctor is a late addition this year, working his way back to the Yankees where he first started. Many don’t care for Proctor but this guy is tough. Proctor carries an arrogance about him that many pitchers don’t have on the Yankees. It’s almost considered not the "Yankee way." I say Proctor’s arrogance is actually confidence and I’d throw him out there against anyone in a 6^th inning situation. I’m glad Proctor’s back and I hope his contribution is huge down the stretch.

Boone Logan: Not perfect, and has good days and bad days. Lately though, he’s having more good than bad, and this is when we need that lefty most. It’s clear at this point that Brian Cashman is sticking with Boone Logan and we have to grin and bear it and maybe cross our fingers a bit when he comes out.

Rafael Soriano: Something's happened to Soriano when he came off the disabled list… reality happened. With David Robertson clearly taking over Rafael Soriano’s set up role, it was either do what Yankees needed him to do, or whine about it. Soriano choose to work and work he has bridging to Robertson and doing it beautifully and most important, without an attitude. I have seen a transformation in this angry guy that I love. He wants to be there to help his team and it doesn’t matter what the role is, he’s ready.

David Robertson: What can you say about this guy? Robertson is a BYB staple for sure, we love him here. He has proven to the world that he may just be the best 8^th inning guy, not only in baseball, but in history. I remember all the talk about Daniel Bard bridging to Jonathon Papelbon and how great that 1,2 punch was. Well, in the time it’s taken for the Red Sox to implode, the DRob, Mariano 1,2 punch has proven they are better. Look for DRob to continue his success now and in the future. I see this kid taking over for Mariano in 3 years and it’s about to get awesome.

Mariano Rivera: The King of Closing, Mariano Rivera is the best ever and it’s about to get better. How the hell do you compile 602 saves in a career? Longevity and talent. Mariano has both and you add heart in and there's no one better. Mariano Rivera has done something so great for not only the Yankees but for baseball, and it cannot and will not ever be denied.

The New York Yankees bullpen… better than the rest? Yes, without a doubt. While there were question marks early involving our Yankees bullpen, there is no question we now get a big pick me up from these guys, some young and some old, but ultimately, the perfect blend of youth and veteran grit. I’d pick these guys over any other bullpen in baseball…how about you?

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WHY YANKEE FANS NEED LEADERS NOT LOSERS

The Blue Jays played like champions tonight. The Yankees, well, that's another story. Yes, we started strong, but when you fold like a house of cards, there's really no excuse. I'm a broken record at this point, you can never, EVER lose to a division rival this close to the playoffs...but we did and now we have to move on and win tomorrow as well as the rest of this series without a doubt.
CC Sabathia is my guy, but one thing is happening right now, and this is just a hunch; too much rest for the big guy may not be a good thing. Look, this is simple for me to understand and I think I'm right. In the Yankees haste to make sure we have a 6 man rotation to give them time to figure out what pitchers are strong enough, we have left 1 very important pitcher's opinion out of the equation, and that's CC Sabathia. CC doesn't like a rest longer than normal and he's voiced his opinion. I found this nugget that I spoke about a week ago brought to you by the Bergen Record:

"Sabathia prefers to work on four days' rest, but manager Joe Girardi is mindful that his ace left-hander has thrown 239 pitches over his past two starts." Read the full piece HERE.

This may offer nothing to you, but it offers a lot to me. Joe, while trying to help CC may be hurting him. Yes, we need Sabathia strong for the playoffs, but if our ace is messed up with extra rest and he can't pitch effectively, hey, we'll be losing and won't be IN the playoffs. My suggestion? Joe needs to give CC what he wants and it's time to make a rotation decision so we can narrow it to 5. It's getting late early.

But enough about my educated guess, the Yankees lost tonight, and that does not make me happy. CC went 5.2 innings tonight. He allowed 10 hits, and 4 runs and struck out 8. Was he incredible? No, but he grinded hard, but again, you need to question his rest schedule. Sabathia left the game with the bases loaded in the 6th and Luis Ayala was able to get out of the inning. Thank God.(Photo: Getty)
Rafael Soriano pitched the 7th inning tonight and had 3 strikeouts. That, my friends was definitely the pitching highlight of the night for me.

Boone Logan got the loss tonight... what else is new? He left the game in the 9th inning after Adam Lind hit a double off of him. Adam Lind is a lefty. Boone Logan is a lefty. I'm just making a point here... this is ridiculous already. Anyway, Cory Wade came in. Jose Molina, the former Yankee was the guy who killed us all tonight. Molina drove in the winning run in the 9th off Wade, a heart breaker if you will.
(Photo: Getty)
Offensively, Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez did some great work tonight, but it wasn't enough. Swisher had a single and a double tonight with 2 RBIs. Chavez crushed a homer to center and had 2 RBIs.

Final Score: Blue Jays 5 - Yankees 4

I'm not happy, in fact, I'm aggravated. The Yankees need to win, especially against a 4th place team. Next up is Bartolo Colon and Lord knows, I am uneasy about him pitching. The last win Colon has is from July. That says a lot. I'm getting worried Ladies and Gentlemen, please soothe me.

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WHY THE YANKEES DE-THRONED KING FELIX

The Yankees needed this win, no doubt. They lost 2 of 3 in Anaheim to the Angels and they wanted to get off on the right foot against the Mariners in Seattle. But going into the game it looked like a tough task. King Felix Hernandez was going for the Mariners against Phil Hughes. So it was their ace against our number five guy. But, as John Sterling says; "You just can't predict baseball". He's right, as the Yankees were able to knock Felix around for the tune of six runs in six innings during the win.The Yankees were able to use a little small ball in the third inning to get their first run off Hernandez. A couple of singles by Brett Gardner and Chris Dickerson put runners at the corners and the Captain, Derek Jeter, drove in Gardner on a grounder after Dickerson stole second. The offense then exploded in the 5th as Mark Teixeira hit a solo shot--his 37th of the season--Chris Dickerson hit a mammoth two run homer, while Eric Chavez and Brett Gardner each had RBI hits. Also, catcher Austin Romine went 1 for 4 and picked up his first career big league hit. Good job Austin, hopefully that's just the first of many.
Phil Hughes was pretty good in this one. He went six innings, allowed one run on five hits and three walks while striking out three. It's now back to back good starts following his two sub-par outings against Oakland and Boston. Scott Proctor and Luis Ayala pitched the final three frames when the game was 9-1. Too bad they didn't have Andrew Brackman or Dellin Betances pitch in this one.

Final Score: Yankees 9 - Mariners 3

It's always good to win the first game of a three game series. The Yankees now have their biggest lead in the AL East this season, and it's at four games ahead of the free falling Boston Red Sox. The Yanks send out A.J Burnett (9-11, 5.27 ERA) to square off against Charlie Furbush (3-8, 4.84 ERA) tomorrow evening.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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WHY OUR YANKEES FELL SHORT

The Yankees only have 3 hits last night and 1 of them was a home run by Jesus Montero. We can celebrate Montero's talent since being called up all we want, but the reality is, it's not as sweet if the Yankees don't win. Last night the evil Red Sox lost and being on the West Coast, they knew about it by the time they started. More incentive to push harder.
Jered Weaver pitched well, striking out 11, walking only 2 and allowing only 3 hits. We knew the Yankees were going to have a tough time. But we also knew Weaver was beatable, in his last 5 outings he struggled a bit. It was the right time for New York. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. We needed the Yankee pitching to do the same and they did for the most part. Bartolo Colon was awesome last night, as I suggested he needed to be. He only allowed 1 earned run.David Robertson, who may be the greatest set up man in Yankees history, pitched a perfect 8th inning. In the ninth, Aaron Laffey gave up a single and quickly Girardi's Binder went into panic mode. Quickly Laffey was replaced by Luis Ayala. Vernon Wells singled and the runner advanced the third. Ayala then hit Peter Bourjos by a pitch and that loaded the bases. Maicer Izturis hit a deep fly that scored the runner from third and that's the ball game, Angels win.

My own observation after tonight. I love extra lefties in the bullpen but I feel like Aaron Laffey is a poor man's Boone Logan. It's time to try out Raul Valdes. I feel as though Laffey gets into trouble too much. But what do I know, I'm a blogger.

Final Score: Angels 2 - Yankees 1.

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WHY GOD MUST BE A YANKEE FAN

(Photo: Getty)

When the Yankees finally took the field today after an 89 minute rain delay, I just had a bad feeling. Not sure why or for what reason but it just felt like it was going to be a long day in the Bronx. And once the game got underway my gut feeling became a reality. Phil Hughes just didn't have it today. When Hughes is bad, he's really bad. There is no gray area with Mr. Hughes. More on his day in a minute...so Hughes is getting knocked around and the thought of the Yankees getting swept at home in late August by the A's got the best of me. So I did what any good Yankee fan would do, I prayed to the man upstairs for a rain out!



I know, it's very bush league of me to do that, but you know I just wanted this series washed away, pardon the pun. There is no way we can get swept at home knee deep in a pennant race by the A's. Well, I believe Garth Brooks said it best in one of his songs, "Some of God's greatest gifts, are unanswered prayers." Thank God, God didn't listen to this knucklehead!

Not only did the Yankees win today, they made history! The New York Yankees became the first team EVER to hit 3 grand slams in one game! It was a game where you had to see it to believe it!



Don't worry fans, if most of you were working or at school this will be an instant YES Classic, so stay tuned. We all know this team is built around the long ball and today, as they say, the proof was in the pudding. The Yanks 5 home runs accounted for 14 of the Yankees 22 runs. Behind these record setting grand slams and another outstanding performance by the bullpen, the Yankees came all the way back from a 7-1 deficit and beat, scratch that, destroyed the Oakland A's 22-9.



Robinson Cano hit the first grand salami in the bottom of the 5th which cut the Oakland lead to one run. Cano had another fantastic day at the plate going 2-4 with 5 RBI and extended his hitting streak to 16 games.

But, believe it or not, despite Cano knocking in 5 runs he was not the player of the game. That honor has to go to Russell Martin. Heading into the the bottom of the 6th the Yanks were down 7-6, until Martin knocked in 4 runs with one swing to give the Yankees a 10-7 lead and they never looked back. Martin had a career day today going 5-5, including that grand slam, a solo HR, and he knocked in 6 runs! The 5 hits and 6 RBI are both career highs. He also walked once so he was, literally, perfect today at the plate. Then it was onto the 8th inning where history was made. "The 2011 AL MVP", Curtis Granderson hit the 3rd grand slam of the day for the Yankees and the rest, as they say, is history!

And how about the Yankee bullpen? Probably the unsung heroes of today's game and really the 2011 season. Phil Hughes just struggled today. He just got flat out knocked around. Hughes only went 2.2 innings allowing 6 earned runs. But despite his awful day on the mound he did not get a loss. After today's game Hughes needs to buy a round of drinks, not only for the offense, but his buddies out of the bullpen. The bullpen kept the A's at bay...again, pardon the pun. They only allowed 3 runs for the rest of the game. The combination of Cory Wade, Hector Noesi, Boone Logan, and Luis Ayala all took the ball from Girardi and gave our offense the opportunity to begin the historic comeback. And what a comeback it was! In a game where the Yankees were actually trailing 7-1, the historic grand slams brought them all the way back, and then some.



Final Score: New York Yankees 22 - Oakland A's 9.

GAME NOTES:

• The Yankees came at bat an incredible 17 times with the bases loaded today.
• The "2011 AL MVP"'s grand slam now gives him 36 home runs and 103 RBI for the season.
• The Captain was the DH today and went 3-6, including his 4th triple of the year. Incredibly, Jeter has come all the way back and is now batting .299!
• Eduardo Nunez, who started for Jeter at SS also had three hits, going 3-5.
• ARod got his first hit and more today since coming off the DL. He went 2-4 and walked twice. He also had three runs scored.
• The Yankees batter around for 4 straight innings today (5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th)
• Boone Logan faced four batters today and struck out all four and he also got the win.
• Posada played 2nd base in the 9th inning. It was the first time in his MLB career he played 2nd. The last time was in the minors in 1991...low A ball! Nice!
  
  

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer

Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com

Twitter: @MikeyBlu23

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WHY IT'S TIME TO PULL AJ BURNETT

(Photo: Getty)

Well Yankee fans, what can you say that hasn't already been said about AJ Burnett? I mean, I guess I can spend the rest of the time writing this recap talking about how AJ is an embarrassment in pinstripes. Or how AJ couldn't hit the side of a barn even if he was standing three feet away. But I won't do that tonight. Why? Because he is not worth it. But, here is what I will say. I certainly do not know AJ Burnett "the man off the field". So I would never judge another man without having first walked a mile in his shoes and even then, who am I to judge? You will not find any of the BYB writers ever attacking another player on a personal level. That is not how we roll at BYB. But one thing I do know is AJ Burnett, the pitcher for the New York Yankees is just plain awful. And he has the nerve to show up his manager and his team when rightfully being yanked from the game? Are you kidding me? You know, when Joe Girardi was asked about what AJ said to him when he left the mound Joe took the high road. He played "dumb" saying AJ's anger wasn't directed at him. Look, we all know that AJ said something to Girardi and Girardi probably jacked him up when he followed him into the clubhouse tunnel, but what is he suppose to say? Girardi is the manager of the New York Yankees, he isn't going to sit there and sell out one of his players to the media. So I am not gonna get on him for the way he answered questions after the game. In fact, I give credit tonight to Girardi for showing class and leadership. Bottom line is this: AJ Burnett and the New York Yankees need to come up with a "mystery injury". This cannot go on any longer! It must end and it must end NOW!

So here's the recap; In the bottom of the 1st inning, AJ Burnett gets the leadoff hitter out, but then the Twins proceeded to hit back to back doubles and a wild pitch by Burnett gave the Twins and early 1-0 lead. After a sacrifice fly, AJ retires the side.

So after one inning, the Yanks were down 2-0, but it wasn't the end of the world. There was a glimmer of hope that maybe AJ settled down and found his groove. But, that was not the case...

After the Yanks went down again 1-2-3 in the top of the 2nd the Twins came up and by the end of the inning, this game was over. In fact, Burnett could not even make it out of the 2nd inning. And, to add insult to injury, when AJ reluctantly left the mound with the bases loaded the Twin fans gave him a standing ovation! How embarrassing is that? Pathetic. Here is AJ's final line for tonight:



1.2 IP - 5 Hits - 7 ER - 3 BB - 1 K - 2 Wild pitches -- 61 pitches thrown and now AJ's ERA for the season is 4.96!

Offensively, the Yankee bats were frozen against Francisco Liriano. To Liriano's credit, he was given a big lead and pitched accordingly. He went after the Yankee hitters and never let them string anything together. When Liriano is on, he is really on. Eduardo Nunez was the only Yankee with more than one hit going 2-4 with a run scored. The Yankees only had a total of 7 hits for the entire game and most of them came late, not against Liriano.



So tonight I ask the Yankees to do us all a favor and end this AJ nightmare. Please yank this guy from the starting rotation. We don't care how you do it, all we care is that you do it.

Some Other Game Notes:

• Andruw Jones smacked another home run tonight -- his 9th of the season.

• Curtis Granderson got his 97th RBI of the season. Incredible.
  
  

• Although newly acquired lefty Aaron Laffey gave up two runs tonight, credit needs to be given to him for "taken one on the chin" giving his new team 3 innings worth of work. Also, the bullpen combo of Ayala, Wade, and Noesi pitched 3.1 innings giving up just 3 hits and no runs. Bravo.
  
  

Final Score tonight: Minnesota Twins 9 -- New York Yankees 4



Can you tell I'm disgusted? Well, I am.

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer

Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com

Twitter: @MikeyBlu23







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WHY IVAN NOVA IS JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

(Photo: AP)

What a difference 24 hours can make in Yankeeland. The young, super talented righty for our Yankees, Ivan Nova, can teach the veteran AJ Burnett a thing or two about composure. Nova gets it. Nova keeps it together. It's no secret Ivan Nova is going to be a superstar in this game and thank God he is a Yankee!

I swear, the more I see Ivan Nova go out there and shut down opposing hitters and gain more and more confidence, the more he reminds me of a certain Yankee pitcher who recently retired... Andy Pettitte. When I think of Pettitte words like composure, heart, intelligence, confidence, and most important, winning come to my mind. I see many similarities between the 1995-1996 Andy Pettitte to the 2010-2011 Ivan Nova. I know that Nova can't hold a candle to the legacy of Pettitte yet, but he is on his way. I believe we are watching a true stud grow and mature right before our eyes. For sure he is the future ace of this Yankee staff and that title may come sooner than we think.

(Photo: Getty)

Tonight, Nova was sensational for 6 innings. He baffled Angel hitters and had total control of the strike zone. Granted he clearly ran out of steam in the 7th but the bullpen combo of Rafael Soriano and Luis Ayala shut down the Angels brief rally they had going. Even though Nova could not get an out in the 7th he still seemed composed. Unlike Burnett who just seems to completely collapse, Nova didn't sulk on the mound. He handed the ball to Girardi and lives to fight another day. I guess if I had to knit-pick Nova did not have any strikeouts, but he got the outs when he needed them nonetheless. The final line for Nova was 6 innings pitched, allowed 5 hits, 3 earned runs and 3 walks.(Photo: Getty)

The Grandyman is, simply put, on fire! Two more dingers to get him within one of Jose Bautista. Also, his 31st home run tonight is a new career best and he is leading in runs scored in the American League and it's not even close. Can anyone say AL MVP?(Photo: Getty)

Robinson Cano finished the evening one hit short of the cycle, and that one hit he needed was just a single. I was kind of praying the Yankees batted around in the 8th just so he could get a shot. Oh well, something tells me that won't be the last time in his career he'll be going for the cycle. Also Cano is closing in on .300. His 3 hits tonight give him a .299 average.



Rafael Soriano is doing damn good. Don't look now Yankee fans but Soriano is beginning to look great. He entered the 7th inning with no out and bases loaded and in just 4 pitches, he shuts down any chance the Angels had of coming back. Even though he only threw 4 pitches, I thought it was a good move for Girardi not to bring him out in the 8th. You might as well rest that arm.



Nick Swisher quietly had a nice game. He went 2-4 with an RBI and played a nice right field. Keep it Swish, we love ya pal!



Final Score tonight: Yankees 9 Angels 3 and the Yankees record right now is: 70-45

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer

Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com

Twitter: @MikeyBlu23

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THE YANKEES PITCHING DILEMMA

Some Yankee pitching moves have been made and some question have popped up as well. Some ideas have also popped up in my mind and I'd love to see if you all have a few ideas of your own. So this is more or less an open forum. Comment in this post, and make sure you vote in our poll on the homepage of Bleeding Yankee Blue. Thanks.

(In Photo: JC Romero)

First up, the Yankees have released JC Romero, the lefty the Yankees signed to a minor league deal. Romero was pitching pretty good considering coming off injury and being released recently by the Nationals. The story is HERE. Apparently he had a 2.92 ERA after 2 outings and he asked the Yankees to either call him up or release him. They released him which means 2 words... Manny Banuelos.

Yeah, I feel it. Manny Banuelos is definitely going to get a big time shot this season by the Yanks coming out of the bullpen as an extra lefty specialist. This can be a tremendous asset for New York or it could blow up in their faces, but to tell you the truth, I’d take that chance. My feeling is, you bring up Manny, you let him work out of the bullpen and see how he is in games and it’s the perfect ending for the season for Manny because it’s exactly how the Yankees started the spring, watching this kid mow them down. The difference is however, these games count.

And on the Hughes front, The Yankees announced that Phil will get the start this upcoming Saturday. The last time we saw Phil Hughes, he showed up in the 10th inning of that 3^rd game between Yankees and Red Sox and it was not a good outing. Yes, Mariano Rivera blew the save, but ultimately it falls on Hughes. It was a big test, and it didn’t work out too good, did it?

This upcoming start will be a big deal. It's against a division rival, the Rays and if he doesn't pitch well, what happens next? Look, I believe that Phil Hughes will help our Yankees, but the question is where? It is clear to me that Ivan Nova will take the starting role if Hughes isn't dominant this weekend and even with all the question marks suddenly surfacing around AJ Burnett, I highly doubt they'd ever move AJ out of the starting rotation for an unstable Hughes. Plus both Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia earned their spots so it is truly unfair to move them out as well.

So, the question is, if Hughes doesn't deliver Saturday, is Scranton the next stop for Hughes? I don't think so, that only leaves the bullpen. It's not my favorite choice either but look, if he can't hack it Saturday, that's really all we have.

If Hughes is great on Saturday, then we have bigger questions. Do we stick with a 6 man rotation? Can we skip AJ Burnett 1 turn in the rotation to get AJ right and utilize Hughes in that spot? Ultimately, a 6 man rotation is great because there are options, but stability is also key for these pitchers and you don't want to mess with their routines either.

What about making Phil Hughes the bullpen 5th inning guy, if for example, a starter can't make it through the 5th inning. Sounds ridiculous right? Hear me out. You can almost utilize him as a long man, but you build up his confidence and strength. You also wouldn't need to use him every day, but over time, you put in him in the game at key moments where he needs to deliver, unlike this past weekend in Boston where he clearly wasn't ready. Plus, if you do that, after him you'd have Luis Ayala, Cory Wade, Boone Logan, RaSo, DRob and Mariano Rivera.

So, what do you think? Should Phil Hughes stay in the rotation? Should Hughes be in the bullpen? Vote in our poll, we want to hear from you. Also, make sure you comment here and keep it clean.

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WHY THAT'S BASEBALL

(Photo: Getty)
If you told me that Mariano Rivera would blow a save against the Mets today after the streak the Yankees had been having, I would have laughed in your face. But that's exactly what happened, so you have to tip your cap to the Mets and just move on. The worst part of it all you ask? Freddy Garcia pitched a wonderful game...and it was wasted.(Photo: Star-Ledger)
Freddy Garcia was able to keep the Mets held down, pitching 7 innings, allowing 6 hits and just one run. To see him get that win today would have been nice for the veteran... it's a shame.

Both Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher, who's hitting like mad right now, both knocked in runs for the Yanks and it seemed as though that's all they would need, our bullpen had been working it's magic for weeks and we all know that when Mariano comes in, it's over. The guy's a machine and for crying out loud, I just wrote WHY MARIANO IS A MACHINE a few days ago saying he's so automatic, you just know the games over when he comes in. Guess what? The game wasn't over, the Yankees lost today.

With 2 out in the ninth, Mo gave up the tying run. At that point, it wasn't the Yankees day, plain and simple. Luis Ayala was hit with the loss today, because he put a guy on with a walk. When Boone Logan came in, he was able to strikeout Beltran, but Ramiro Pena had an error so that loaded the bases. The Next thing you know, Hector Noesi came in and Jason Bay got the game winning hit. Full story HERE.(Photo: New York Times)
The play of the game for me had to be Brett Gardner chucking the ball home to nail Lucus Duca at the plate after Pena let the ball go between his legs. His arm has been incredible so you need to give him props.

Final Score today: Mets 3 - Yankees 2. Tough loss today but tomorrow we come back swinging as we enter Cleveland to play the Indians. Jeter is scheduled to be there. Back to the American League boys, let's take that awesome streak against the National League and keep it going in the AL.

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