From S.I.Com.
There is some major-league teeth-gnashing going on this week, all the way from Seattle to Boston. You can hear it. You can feel it. There are curses being muttered, too. Disgust drips from the lips of baseball fans in Kansas City and Oakland and Tampa Bay.
Yeah. You probably saw it coming.
The Yankees are back ... again. Dammit.
This is not good news for underdogs. This is not good news for small revenue, high-hope franchises. This is not good news for anyone who would like to see any team but the Yankees win the American League East again.
But it's happening. The high-paid hitters are starting to hit. The pitchers are warming up. The Yankees, saints preserve us, are on a roll. Lock the doors. Hide the women and children. The best team that $183 million can buy is on a rampage.
"I just like the way we feel right now," manager Joe Torre told reporters Sunday after the Yankees won their sixth straight game.
It was only last week, remember, when the New York papers were giddily ripping the Yankees. The New York fans were booing the team's captain, steady Derek Jeter. The Yanks had just been swept by the -- egads! -- Red Sox. Peeking in the dugout, anyone could tell this was one messed-up team.
Then came an improbable inning and an unlikely sweep of the A's and their three stud starters. And then came three straight wins over the Royals, a team many picked to win the AL Central.
The Yankees began last week hitting .217, 29th in the league. After the six-game sweep of the A's and Royals, they're batting .239. That's still 29th, but it's a heck of a lot better than .217.
Everything started to turn for the Yanks last Tuesday, in the eighth inning of the first game with the A's. Down 8-4 and looking more like $1.83 than $183 million, center fielder Bernie Williams led off with a hard single to right off reliever Jim Mecir. Then Alex Rodriguez dribbled one through the hole on the left side of the infield. Jason Giambi walked. Gary Sheffield reached on an infield single. Jorge Posada shot one through the infield. Hideki Matsui walked.
See where this is going?
A couple of batters later, pinch hitter Ruben Sierra smacked a double off reliever Ricardo Rincon, scattering chalk everywhere on the left-field line. The Yanks scored six runs, brought in closer Mariano Rivera to slam things shut and walked out with a 10-8 win. They've been a terror ever since.
"From the eighth inning on of that Oakland game," pitcher Mike Mussina told reporters, "is what we expect of this team."
In their first 19 games (during which they went 8-11), the Yanks had averaged a little more than four runs a game. In the past six games, not only did they hit better (.310, averaging 10 hits a game), they scored better (7.1 runs a game). And they pitched better (3.33 ERA, while holding opponents to a .240 average). Yankees hurlers have walked only six batters in their past six games.
What's more, they have closed the gap in the AL East. The Rangers completed a sweep of the Red Sox on Sunday, helping the Yanks climb within two games of the AL East lead.
Sigh.
Even as we heaped dirt on them last week, everybody probably knew that the Yankees would rise again. They're just too talented. Too rich. Too everything. Even when they're playing badly, they're often good enough.
Jeter had three hits Sunday, but he's still hitting under .200. Mussina won Sunday -- only his second win of the season and only his first in his past four starts -- but he still has an ERA near 6.00. Williams still is batting under .200. Rodriguez is coming around -- he had a 12-game hitting streak halted Sunday by the Royals -- but he's still not close to what he should be.
Yet the Yankees are back. It can't be denied. They can't be ignored.
As much as we might like to do both.
Article be Sports Illustrated.com's John Donavan.
There is some major-league teeth-gnashing going on this week, all the way from Seattle to Boston. You can hear it. You can feel it. There are curses being muttered, too. Disgust drips from the lips of baseball fans in Kansas City and Oakland and Tampa Bay.
Yeah. You probably saw it coming.
The Yankees are back ... again. Dammit.
This is not good news for underdogs. This is not good news for small revenue, high-hope franchises. This is not good news for anyone who would like to see any team but the Yankees win the American League East again.
But it's happening. The high-paid hitters are starting to hit. The pitchers are warming up. The Yankees, saints preserve us, are on a roll. Lock the doors. Hide the women and children. The best team that $183 million can buy is on a rampage.
"I just like the way we feel right now," manager Joe Torre told reporters Sunday after the Yankees won their sixth straight game.
It was only last week, remember, when the New York papers were giddily ripping the Yankees. The New York fans were booing the team's captain, steady Derek Jeter. The Yanks had just been swept by the -- egads! -- Red Sox. Peeking in the dugout, anyone could tell this was one messed-up team.
Then came an improbable inning and an unlikely sweep of the A's and their three stud starters. And then came three straight wins over the Royals, a team many picked to win the AL Central.
The Yankees began last week hitting .217, 29th in the league. After the six-game sweep of the A's and Royals, they're batting .239. That's still 29th, but it's a heck of a lot better than .217.
Everything started to turn for the Yanks last Tuesday, in the eighth inning of the first game with the A's. Down 8-4 and looking more like $1.83 than $183 million, center fielder Bernie Williams led off with a hard single to right off reliever Jim Mecir. Then Alex Rodriguez dribbled one through the hole on the left side of the infield. Jason Giambi walked. Gary Sheffield reached on an infield single. Jorge Posada shot one through the infield. Hideki Matsui walked.
See where this is going?
A couple of batters later, pinch hitter Ruben Sierra smacked a double off reliever Ricardo Rincon, scattering chalk everywhere on the left-field line. The Yanks scored six runs, brought in closer Mariano Rivera to slam things shut and walked out with a 10-8 win. They've been a terror ever since.
"From the eighth inning on of that Oakland game," pitcher Mike Mussina told reporters, "is what we expect of this team."
In their first 19 games (during which they went 8-11), the Yanks had averaged a little more than four runs a game. In the past six games, not only did they hit better (.310, averaging 10 hits a game), they scored better (7.1 runs a game). And they pitched better (3.33 ERA, while holding opponents to a .240 average). Yankees hurlers have walked only six batters in their past six games.
What's more, they have closed the gap in the AL East. The Rangers completed a sweep of the Red Sox on Sunday, helping the Yanks climb within two games of the AL East lead.
Sigh.
Even as we heaped dirt on them last week, everybody probably knew that the Yankees would rise again. They're just too talented. Too rich. Too everything. Even when they're playing badly, they're often good enough.
Jeter had three hits Sunday, but he's still hitting under .200. Mussina won Sunday -- only his second win of the season and only his first in his past four starts -- but he still has an ERA near 6.00. Williams still is batting under .200. Rodriguez is coming around -- he had a 12-game hitting streak halted Sunday by the Royals -- but he's still not close to what he should be.
Yet the Yankees are back. It can't be denied. They can't be ignored.
As much as we might like to do both.
Article be Sports Illustrated.com's John Donavan.
