The Yankees beat the Devil Rays 3-1 last night at Tropicana Field to keep their faint hopes of winning the East alive. Coupled with a Boston loss, New York’s win moved the team to within 2 of the division lead. Even on a night when six regulars sat, this team kept on winning.
Phil Hughes looked great in his final tune up for the postseason. The righty gave up just 1 run on 4 hits in 7 innings. He is peaking at the right time. Phil is very nice insurance to have with Roger Clemens’ status up in the air. In a way, his injuries might have been blessings in disguise. They did no serious damage to his arm, but they did force him to sit, limiting his innings. Now he is hitting his stride, while he might be hitting the wall from fatigue had he pitched an entire season.
Joba Chamberlain pitched a shutout inning in his second straight day of work. The Yankees are making a very risky move by letting him do this. They do need him, but they also need to think of the future. However, New York does seem dead set on using him on consecutive days. It is best for him to get his feet wet in meaningless games, opposed to throwing him directly into the fire.
It was a good night for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. Shelley Duncan, Bronson Sardinha, and Alberto Gonzalez all got hits. Jose Veras pitched a strong 9th to pick up the save. This came on top of a pair of veterans coming through. Johnny Damon had an RBI double, and Jose Molina’s 2 run single provided the winning margin.
The Yankees now head to Baltimore to close out the regular season. Mike Mussina will pitch the opener for New York. Moose has pretty much clinched a spot in the postseason rotation through his recent great work and the health issues of others. It still behooves him to stay on this roll. The Yankees do not want to go into October with any doubts about him.
