AL East

Andy Pettitte threw a simulated game, three innings, this morning and came through feeling great.

The Yankees have whittled their magic number down to 20 as they go for their eighth win in a row this afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here are some notes:

The Yankees game was threatened because of Hurricane Earl, but they managed to get the game in as the Yankees won 7-3 over the Toronto Blue Jays for their seventh consecutive victory.

Here are some highlights:

About a week into the 2010 season, Curtis Granderson looked like a terrific addition to the Yankees.

He homered in his first at-bat as a Yankee and then hit a game-winning home run against Boston two days later. He put up a .357/.419/.607 triple slash line with two homers, five RBI's, and three stolen bases in his first week in pinstripes.

Yankee fans everywhere celebrated. They had their first true center fielder since Bernie Williams' heyday.

As the title says, my question is, is it possible for Yankee fans to hate CC Sabathia?

One of the more annoying aspects of 21st century baseball fandom has come by way of the dreaded stat geek.

You probably think I'm going down the route of "The RBI is the only stat that matters", "VORP is only for loners and dudes who really hate the Discovery Channel", or some other get-off-my-lawn type rant, but you'd be mistaken.

The 2010 MLB season has not disappointed, as competition is fierce but so is disappointment.

For playoff staples, like the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals, things could not have gone any worse. As they say, "When it rains, it pours" and both the above two ball clubs will be noticeably absent. The presence of the Red Sox and Cardinals will be deeply missed, a true heartbreak for all fans of baseball.

So, which American League teams are in contention?

Nothing infuriates a fan base more than watching a young player—formerly a prospect within their team’s system—blossom into stardom in another uniform.

One would tend to think that when rooting for a team like the New York Yankees, this mindset would apply much less frequently—as they often demand a prospect fire sale to bring in the latest available superstar on the market.

It may be all over except for the crying.

With eight innings of one-hit ball on Thursday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics, C.C. Sabathia has become the front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, and he may have even clinched it.

Why?

Well, I'll tell ya.  C.C. Sabathia will be the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner because . . . 

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The Yankees, winners of five straight, are about to embark on a rarity in baseball scheduling: five consecutive day games.

Luckily for the Yankees, they have thrived this season in day games, going 31-16.

The teams collectively hits better during the day, with a team batting average of .283 in day games compared to a .262 clip at night.

Here are some individual player statistics of those who fare better during the day than at night: