Randy Dazzles

Johnson's officially on a roll: 5 wins in his last 6 starts. He allowed only 1 hit through 7 innings! (No, it wasn't as good as Anibal Sanchez tonight who threw a no-no, but still... (is Boston regretting trading him?)) Randy's fastball ranged from 93-96 with good control, and he barely hung a single slider. He k'ed 8 Royals, 5 on fastballs, 3 on sliders. It's good to see this heading into the home stretch. The only hit was a leadoff triple by David DeJesus, who was then picked off by Posada.

Jorge was a monster too, with 6 rbi on the day and a pickoff, while calling a great game. The Yanks put it away 5-0 when Jorge jumped on a first pitch fastball down the middle after Arod had just been walked.

Cano is a funny player defensively. He'll make a difficult play look easy, then bobble an easy transfer. He non-chalants balls too often. He's extremely talented, but he's got to stay focused in the field. Perhaps the bobble tonight was coerced by the speedy Gathright - maybe the fastest player in baseball; but again, it was hit hard, he picked it, then dropped the transfer. A clean play would have nailed Gathright in my opinion...

It was nice to see Andy Cannizaro make his first big league play tonight, and it was a peculiar one at that. A sharp grounder deflected off Nick Green's foot (who replaced Arod at 3rd) right to Andy at short. He caught it and threw out the runner at first. A play he'll never forget I'm sure.

8-3 Yanks

3*: Randy, 7 ip, 1 h, 0 r, 2 bb, 8 k
3: Jorge, 2-3, 2 HR, 3 r, 6 rbi, bb, picked runner off 3rd base
2: Arod, 0-1, 2 r, 3 bb
1: Melky, 1-3, rbi, bb
1: Jeter, 2-4, rbi

Phil Hughes went tonight in the first game of the AA playoffs. They let him go past his normal limit of 5 innings: 6 ip, 5 h, 1 er, 1 bb, 13 k. Yes, that's 13 strikeouts! The 1 run was scored on a single, sac bunt and single. And none of the hits he allowed were for extra bases. It'll be exciting to follow him in Columbus next year.