AL East

The New York Yankees have the second best record in baseball as of today. The only team with a better one is the Tampa Bay Rays.

The two American League East teams start a big two-game series tonight at Yankee Stadium.

How can a two-game series be such a big deal? Well, maybe not so much for the Rays, but it is a big series for the Yankees. Entering the series tonight, the Yankees sit three games behind the Rays in the division.

Melky Cabrera was a homegrown, high spirited player, with knack for big hits late in games so it is only natural that fans be upset when he left. Many fans even held it against Javier Vazquez during the offseason and into the season swearing that the Yankees would regret the deal.

With the news coming in from all over that Nick Johnson will need wrist surgery and will be out until at least July, the Yankees have found themselves without an everyday designated hitter.

Johnson, who was batting an abysmal .167 to begin with, now needs a replacement in the lineup.

Since his departure, the Yankees have been shuffling a bunch of players around and giving their opponents different looks on almost a gamely basis.

The Yankees may not need to go out and get a DH, if they are able to win with the current mix of players they have right now.

Only 3 games back of the red hot Rays

Thursday's matchup is definitely a good one featuring Andy Pettitte and James Shields .

Another hard winner to pick because Pettitte has been so good and Shields has greatly improved since the last time he faced this Yankees lineup.

In 2009, the Yankees won a total of 15 games in walk-off hit fashion.

In the 2010 season, the Yankees got their first of the season in a much needed way against their oldest rival.

Monday night pitted the Yankees and Red Sox in the first of two games at Yankee Stadium.

Early on, the Yankees got a 5-0 lead in the first inning off Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, who just looked awful against the Yankees.

Yankees starter Phil Hughes wasn't as sharp as he has been all season, entering Monday's game 5-0.

The Yankees second round draft pick last season, J.R. Murphy left extended spring training and played tonight for the Low A Charleston RiverDogs.

The RiverDogs were playing in Rome, GA against the Low A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

The 6'0", 190 lb Murphy was the designated hitter and ended up 1-3, with a double, RBI and struck out twice.

While drafted as a catcher, and currently part of the long pecking order of highly-rated Yankees catching prospects, I feel Murphy's greatest value to the team is likely as a rightfielder.

Lyle Overbay is pressing.

If you feel inclined to add a pithy, "Yeah, DE-pressing" to the above, feel free and may the gods of '90's sitcoms be with you. But the fact remains: Overbay is looking for love in all the wrong places.

Take a look at what's going on with the Jays and it might explain his troubles. 

Alex Gonzalez and John Buck, picked up for their defense and handling of pitchers respectively, have torn the cover off the ball. No one could have predicted this without the aid of witchcraft.

Facing another series sweep in the Bronx, the Twins pulled off some magic usually reserved for the Yankees.

Jason Kubel’s two-out, eighth-inning grand slam off Mariano Rivera powered Minnesota to a 6-3 win over New York Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

With the win, Minnesota ended a 12-game losing streak in New York. The Twins had not won a game at Yankee Stadium since July 4, 2007.

Baseball is a 162-game season, but not 40 games in David Ortiz appeared to be a lost cause. Despite hitting near the Mendoza Line, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona remained confident in his aging slugger, not ready to bench the player that had carried the team for so many years.