Yankees Do Enough To Beat Cleveland and Take First (Postgame Notes 29 May 2009)

The Yankees have waited more than two years to reclaim solo possession of first place.

So what was waiting another hour and a half rain delay?

Indeed, that is what the Yankees endured before they took the field for today's game, but it did not seem to matter.

The Yankees got to Indians' starter Cliff Lee early; while they didn't really do what they were supposed to do with lots of baserunners and break the game open, they did score three runs before Cleveland scored any, and though they scored without much fanfare, they do still count.

Jorge Posada appeared in his first game after coming off of the DL, and had a couple of the Yankees' best hits in the game. More good news is that instead of having to DFA Kevin Cash to make room for Posada, they were able to option him to AAA. While it's unlikely Cash will reappear with the big club this season, the Yankees do now have some extra insurance if something happens.


Andy Pettitte was far from sharp, but through five made the pitches he needed to make to get out of trouble. The problem was, however, that Andy left early with lower back stiffness. We don't really know more than that right now, but that Pettitte stayed on the bench at the end of the inning has to be an encouraging sign.


Alfredo "Mendoza" Aceves pitched three innings in relief; he allowed an inherited runner to score, but gave up nothing else and Mo pitched a nearly flawless ninth to break the starter-saver record combo (don't ask, baseball likes useless records.)


Anyway, the Yankees now sit eight games above .500 and a half game ahead of the Red Sox in the standings for first place; the first time since the end of 2006.


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As you may have noticed, I've sort of taken this week sort of off. Everything should be back to normal on Sunday.