Month: July 2008 (Page 8 of 39)

The New York Yankees have yet to lose since the All-Star Break.

Yes – those New York Yankees. The one’s many pundits have forgotten about because they were consumed by the sexier first-half story of the Tampa Bay Rays.

I don’t know if I qualify as a pundit, but I certainly forgot about the Yankees when they dropped more than six games back in the AL East pre-All-Star Game. It’s exciting to talk about clubs not named the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, and it’s great that new teams like the Rays are competitive this year.

But after eight straight wins – the latest coming in a 10-3 rout of the Red Sox in Boston on Saturday – it’s time to start paying attention to the Bronx Bombers again. Everyone knows about the All-Star lineup, but now the pitching is finally starting to come together. Vets Mike Mussina (13-6) and Andy Pettite (12-7) have both bounced back from brutal 2007 campaigns, plus youngster Joba Chamberlain (2.30 ERA) is starting to flash his immense talent. And is Sidney Ponson really 6-1?

Pitching is the key to the Yankees success this year. Pitching is the key to the Yankees’ success every year. After adding yet another quality bat in Xavier Nady (.327 BA) and more bullpen help in Damaso Marte thanks to a recent trade with the Pirates, the Bombers have once again put themselves in a tremendous position to make a second half run.

Comment fodder: Will the Yankees’ pitching hold up? How much will Nady and Marte add to the club? Or if you can’t stand the Yankees, can the Rays and Red Sox keep the Evil Empire from reaching the postseason?

Can somebody get Rich Harden some help? His Chicago Cubs teammates certainly won’t.

Since he was acquired from the Oakland A’s just under a month ago, Harden has struck out a total of 30 batters in just three starts. And yet he has zero wins to show for his effort because the Cubs have blown opportunities in a variety of ways.

In his Cubs debut on July 12, he struck out 10 Giants batters and exited in the six inning with a 7-0 lead. San Fran rallied for seven runs over the final two innings to hand Harden a no-decision. In his second outing, Harden limited the Diamondbacks to one run on one hit over seven innings while striking out another 10 batters. He took the loss as Arizona shutout Chicago 2-0. And in his latest start Saturday, Harden struck out 10 Marlins in rout to another no-decision as the Cubs lost 3-2 in 12 innings.

This is a Cubs team mind you, that has scored 538 runs this season – best in the Nation League, second best in all of MLB. And yet, they continue to leave Harden out to dry. It’s nice when a trade works out like Harden has for Chicago, but the Cubs have failed to capitalized on the acquisition and continue to be one of the worst second half teams thus far at 3-9.