Oh What A Night: Yankees 1 Red Sox 0

It was a great game to watch and Joba really stepped up as he went 7 innings, 3 hits and 103 pitches, the longest of his short pro career. He out dueled a tough Josh Beckett and brought the Bombers to two games in the lose column of the Sox.

It was a very intense Yankee/Sox game as Joba came in on Kevin Youkulis and hit his bat and the team after that. Kyle Forsworth got into a jam which brought in Rivera and he got a 5 out save.

The team is on a roll winning 7 in a row, they're 12 over ;500 and even in low scroing games they look confident something they did not look early in the year.

Durring the game it was announced that the Yankees and Pittsburgh reached adeal to get lefty Damaso Marte and outfielder Xaver Nady, fill 2 team needs. The team really needs a left arm out of the bull pen and a coner outfielder who is hitting .330 and is a very good outfielder. In the move the team does not lose any of their top prospects except for Jose Taba, one of the top outfield prospects in baseball. But that is just what he is...a prospect. This is a great move and it looks like a great move to make Joba a starter who now really moved up on the debt chart tonight big win.

Home Sweet Home

The Yankees look like they are putting it into gear as they won their 10th straight home game as they beat the Twins 5 to 1.

Mike Mussina, who got screwed out of the All Star game, got his 13th win as they head into a weekend showdown with the Red Sox in Beantown. The team is now a year high 11 games over and just 3 1/2 out of first. The starters look good, the offense is clicking and the bullpen is doing great.

"Don't fix what ain't broke"... but on Thursday, the team's day off, the brass will meet in Tampa to talk about how the team can get better with the deadline in about a week. They still need a left hander in the pen and a corner outfielder. But unlike about a week ago, the team is in good shape and maybe Brian Cashman would have to give up a king's ransom to get what the team needs to go to post-season.

Yanks 7 Oakland 1

The rest did some good for the Yanks as they took the first game after the break.What the team did last night is kind of what they need to do in the second half to have postseason baseball in the Bronx. Cano had 3 hits Mike Mussina pitched well and bullpen looked good.

Here's a list of things the team needs to do in the second half .

* Robinson Cano needs to hit and lift the team

* Jeter and Posada to have big second halfs

* Mussina to do what he did in the first half.

* Get another starter by the trade deadline

* Get a left handed reliever by the trade deadline.

* Get a right handed coner outfield by the trade dead line.

* Johnny Damon needs to get back by next weekend when they play the Bosox.

* To not score 14 runs and one run the next day.

There are a few more things I can list but this is just to give you an idea. Brain Cashman, who got Richie Sexton for next to nothing, will have to dip into the farm system to get what the team needs most in the above paragraph.

Bobby Ray Murcer

On Sat afternoon when I herd the news on the death of Bobby Murcer it was hard to take. Bobby lost his dramatic battle with cancer. When I heard I was shocked because I thought he was stable and holding his own. And when a hero of you youth passes it is very hard.

When I went to my first Yankee game in June of 1970 the Bombers were bad and Bobby Murcer was the best we had. For the next few years in the last years at old Yankee Stadium from '70 to '73 Murcer was the Yankees best player. He made the All Star team and gave us something to cheer about. After 1974 Bobby was shipped to San Francisco for Bobby Bonds.

After all those dog days of Yankees baseball in 1976 the team was good again and captured the AL flag. In '77 and '78 they won back-to-back World Championships. Who would ever think Murcer would come back. But as the Yanks started bad in '79 in the early spring it was a real shocker to me when the Yankees re-acquired Bobby Murcer from the Cubs. I thought it was great. I did not know how long it would last but after the death of Thurman Munson and later that day he had the winning runs after delivering Thurman's eulogy Bobby M was a Yankee for life.

He did a great job in the booth as he found a new home. I had the privilege to meet him at a Yankee fan fest back in the 90s and true to form he was a nice guy. On Sunday I took my daughter to the MLB Fan fest in NYC and before we went I looked for my old Bobby Murcer Yankee shirtf rom 1980. I found it but it did not fit me. So I let my daughter wear it and it looked good on her. She got a lot of compliments. As I and other Yankee and baseball fans remembered our all time favorite Yankee.

4-2=0

It is almost the All Start break. The game is at Yankee Stadium and only three Yankees are going.

Maybe that's all that should go this 2008 team wins 4 straight then loses 2 in a row. But if you watch this team everyday it is how they lose. Last night they ran into one of the best pitchers in baseball and got only 2 hits but the night before, against a Pittsburgh team they should run all over. The Yankees scored only 2 runs against Pittsburgh's Pat Malohand, not exactly a Cy Young candidate.

It is very tough to figure this lineup; they can explode at any time or just go flat for days at a time. After the All Star game if this team keeps going like this then they should make some moves.

I Don't Get It.

It' s a problem in the last 5 games: the Yankees Starters are 0 and 3 with a 8.03 ERA.After a bad day all around Friday in which Darren Rasner gave away a 3 run lead to the Sox and fell to 4 and 7 he could be on the way out of the rotation.

What I don't understand is when I read the papers and see that GM Braian Cashman says the team has no interest in trading for CC Sabathia before the July 31 trade deadline. Maybe its just a ploy or maybe its just he feels the minor league talent is so great that he can't part with any. So far most of the pitchers we saw come up have not been the real deal so far but who knows.

Maybe its the 4 Million plus attendance that they get and feel this is a throw away year and are not putting a lot of focus on wining this year. Its hard to call. This Yankee fan wants to see some moves soon.

Here Come The Red Sox And Rays

After losing another home stand against Texas its time to get on track. The Red Sox and Rays meet the Yanks in the next week and losing these two series could make or break the season.

After the Yanks could not score 3 runs over two games, they got 16 plus in the one game. That is the Yankees season in a nut shell up and down. Now as the two teams in front meet the Yanks before the break if they are going to make a run at first now is the time.

Who would of thought that Tampa would be up by 8 games over the Yanks? But give them credit...they are a young physical team that plays great station- to - station baseball with good young pitching. They look like they are here to stay around all year. So now the Yanks have to make their move; it starts Thursday night at the Stadium against the BOSOX.