CC Cruises in Return to Cleveland

The Yankee bats staked CC to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second on long balls from Posada and Swisher, then exploded for five more in the top of the fourth using 4 hits and a couple of walks. They tacked on three more runs en route to, well, the route.

The Yanks continued their romp to the top of the A.L. East, pushing 1.5 games ahead of both the Blue Jays and the Sox. Interesting fact from the broadcast tonight, today was the first day a team managed by Joe Girardi has spent alone in first place. The good news is that he'll have at least a couple more.

I have to say, it feels pretty darn good to have a guy like Sabathia in the rotation. I was thinking about it during the game, and I really feel like the Yanks haven't had an ace since David Cone in 97-99. You could say Roger Clemens fit the bill, but I never had the same feeling heading into his starts as I do with CC. I feel like you can bank on a minimum of 7 effective, if not flat out dominant, innings. As soon as the Yanks scored those two early runs, you knew this one was over. It's a good feeling to have.

This was the Yanks 16th consecutive errorless game, one shy of the all-time record held by the 2006 Boston Red Sox. The odd thing about this streak is that the Yanks don't really strike me as a solid defensive team. Ironically, the Yanks' defensive shortcomings are probably helping keep this streak alive. A-Rod's range appears to have been cut down by the hip surgery, but he still have good hands. Jeter's hands have never been the problem, it's been his ability to go to his left. So you have the left side of the infield populated by guys who make the easy plays, and don't get to most of the balls that would be difficult plays. That's a nice recipe for an error-free streak. Honestly, though, the guy you should really credit for this streak is Mark Teixeira. After a rocky start at first, Teixeira has been scooping just about everything. He's probably saved a handful of throwing errors in the past 16 games.

Player of The Game: CC
Team Record: 29-20
Up Next: Joba will take on Carl Pavano tomorrow. I don't need to get into my hatred for Pavano, so I'll just give you one stat. Pavano has won 5 games this month for the Indians. He won 9 games in 4 seasons for the Yanks. I geniunely hope he gets his tits ripped tomorrow.