Welcome to today’s enormous and jampacked edition of The Squad! Today I’ll be discussing the last two games, the importance of the 25-25 .500 record to the Yanks, and I’ll just break down the recent hot streak for the Bronx Bombers. Once again, welcome to The Squad.

Saturday’s Beatdown

For the second game in a row, the Yankees bombed the Mariners’ pitching. The Yanks struck first, scoring 4 runs in the 2nd inning off of Silva. The four-run rally was fueled by Jason Giambi’s 3-run blast into left-center. Although the M’s scored 4 more the next half-inning off our Moose, we came back with a run of our own in the bottom of the 3rd, and… we would never look back from there. Michael Kay had another “See Ya!” oppurtunity as Bobby Abreu had a 2-run homer to left field, and we once again had a blowout against the struggling Seattle Mariners, 12-6.

Today’s Comeback

Today, Sunday the 25th, was not a laugher like the previous two. Chien-Ming Wang pitched on an extra day’s rest and did not have his good sinking fastball, surrendering 5 earned runs in 6.1 innings. Jose Vidro had a big 2-run single for Seattle in the top of the 7th, and at the time it seemed like that was it for the Pinstripers. But that was not the case. Bottom of the 8th, we score 4 runs off JJ Putz, the Mariners closer, fueled by Matsui’s infield single/throwing error by Putz. Jose Molina had an RBI double to give us the lead, Mariano came in the 9th, and it was all over. Raul Ibanez chased one up and in and just like that, it was over. We finally got a comeback victory in late innings.

The Importance of .500 for the New York Yankees

Well, .500 doesn’t seem all that good. All it means is you’re a mediocre team, right? Not exactly.

The Yankees were 20-25 before this recent 5-game winning streak and if you can add, that means, yes, we are 25-25, and we are .500. This is important; the Yankees were slumping badly. The baseball world had seen us in a pretty negative light, thinking this was going to be our bad season. But this 5-game winning streak has turned some heads. All of a sudden, we’ve become a decent team, and us Yankee fans know this squad has the potential to be way more than decent. With the Mets slumping notably and facing all sorts of controversy and injury problems, we’ve all of a sudden become the team to watch in New York. I might be overthinking this part a bit, but still.

Another thing: this is a huge morale booster for the club. We were, of course, undergoing well-documented struggles. With Alex back and the lefties swinging the bat well, everybody is smiling, from the fans, to the players, to the front office. If you feel optimistic and positive, it’s like almost everything goes your way. If these Yanks can avoid further injuries, when Posada comes back, this is going to be an incredibly formidable team. This is a team that has a good chance of making it to the playoffs. The Indians, the Mariners and the Tigers, who were widespread thought of as contenders in their respective leagues, have struggled and underachieved these first few months. If the Bombers can continue their hot streak, they’ll have the consideration for the playoffs.

The Hot Streak

Speaking of that hot streak for the Yanks, what’s helping us win games? Well, it’s pretty simple.

First off, we spoke about the attitude. If the Yankees win, let’s say, 2 wins in a row, the momentum starts to build. The optimism starts to grow. And all that positive attitude, as I said earlier, helps get wins because everything starts to go your way. If you’ve ever watched The Secret, you know what I’m talking ’bout.

Now, let’s talk more baseball. As the YES Network broke down in the preview just before the game, Michael Kay and Ken Singleton discussed how the lefty hitters are really starting to swing the stick well. Most of this is because of A-Rod’s return; not only does it bring a more positive attitude, it also separates the left-handed hitters in the lineup, and now we have an imposing hitter so the hitters around him get better pitches to hit. Our offense has been redhot as of late.

Finally, the bullpen’s been better. Particularly Edwar Ramirez. The stick and his changeup have been solid. He has yet to give up an earned run this season, and he got the win today, pitching 1 2/3. Mo’s always been solid, Veras has been pretty good, Joba’s been great in his stints(of curse he’s becoming a starter), and Hawkins hasn’t been all bad of late. People said our bullpen was going to stink, and save some times, it hasn’t been all bad.

Final Thoughts

Keep cheering, Yankee fans! Things have been looking up as of late. Pray that the offense can continue and that the pitching will be solid.

But most importantly, pray Jeter starts to hit more.

Sincerely, huge Yanks fan,

-EJ/Kid From New York