Phil Hughes

Alex Rodriguez broke out of his World Series slump with a two-run home run, and Andy Pettitte picked up his 17th career playoff win as the Yankees won Game Three in Philadelphia. 

An in-his-prime Cy Young Award winning pitcher was making the start in Game One of the World Series on the hill at Yankee Stadium (one of the few stadiums left that does not receive money for naming rights). He completely dominates the Bronx Bombers power laden lineup, and out dueled the Yankees ace left handed pitcher.

Phil Hughes hasn't been his dominant self this postseason, as has been very well documented. So far, his line reads:

4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 K.

That works out to a .557 BABIP, but it's not like he's been giving up weakly hit balls. Thirty-five percent of the batted balls against him have been line drives. Usually, I wouldn't be worried over a few bad innings. I mean, it happens to everyone.

In the minutes preceding the Yankees' miraculous, positively 2001-esque, one-run rally in the ninth inning last night against the Phillies, my friends and I attempted to glean any positive developments from a disheartening evening.

The conversation went something like this:

Dan: Um, CC battled through without his best stuff.

Howie: Yeah, definitely. 

(Awkward silence)

Howie: Marte did his job.

Dan: Oh yeah.

(Extended pause of sorrow)

Alex Rodriguez is having a career-altering postseason.

Nick Swisher? Not so much.

No matter whether he's hitting left-handed or right-handed, whether he's swinging at fastballs or breaking balls, whether the pitch is a foot outside or right over the middle of the plate and thigh high, he is the surest out in the Yankee lineup right now.

So, at the beginning of this season I wrote that the Yanks had a shot. All the Bawston guys were yelling through their keyboards at me. Hmmm.

Turns out I was right. Turns out that having Texieria, Posada, Swisher, and Cabrera—all switch hitters—in one lineup is pretty annoying for opposing teams. The main hitters in this fall roundup are:

A-Rod: .455

Jeter: .400

Posada: .364

As a Mets fan, this has been a long, terrible season, and yet, for me personally, it all came together with one blast off the bat of Alex Rodriguez.

I went to see the Mets on opening day, the first time all of the rivals came to Citi Field, and I was fortunate enough to see the team finish the season with a 10-7 record at my games.

Welcome to the latest edition of Bombers Banter, the New York Yankees round table.  As the Bombers battle Boston for the division lead and the best record in the AL, we look ahead to interleague play and discuss the Yanks' abundance of starting pitching, as well as the new Stadium.

If you would like to take part in future Bombers Banter discussions, post your e-mail address on my bulletin board.

The Yankees turned in one of their most complete performances of the season on Memorial Day as they destroyed the first-place Texas Rangers by a score of 11-1.

With Chien-Ming Wang's return on the horizon, Phil Hughes made a strong case to remain the rotation by shutting out the hot-hitting Rangers through eight innings, while Alex Rodriguez led the offensive explosion with a five-hit day.

Here are the grades from Sunday's victory in Arlington.