Two out of three ain't bad.

The Yankees jumped on Curt Schilling early and Andy Pettitte continued to shine in his second tour of duty in New York as the Bombers blasted the Red Sox, 8-3, on a beautiful Wednesday night at The Stadium.

The Good:

Andy Pettitte.  Pettitte continues to pitch like the ace of the staff.  His style may have changed since his first stint in the Bronx, but he's still getting the job done.  Pettitte doesn't throw cutter after cutter anymore.  Instead, he's become more of an off-speed pitcher that spots his fastball to get ahead of hitters.  The Yanks finally spotted Pettitte an early lead and he made it stand up.  Pettitte evened his record at 3-3 on the year with this solid effort: 7 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K.

Hideki Matsui.  I was thinking today that Matsui should be dropped to 5th or 6th in the Yankee lineup.  That's not a slight on Matsui; I just think it would give the order more depth.  Well, Matsui's two-run bomb batting in the number 3 spot gave the Yanks an early 3-0 first inning lead.  Matsui raised his average to .291 as he finished 2 for 4 with the tater, a run scored and three RBI.

Derek Jeter.  Jeter got the Yanks on the board in the first with an RBI single to right which also extended Jeter's hitting streak to 18 games. Jeter later passed Joe DiMaggio for fifth place on the all-time Yankee hit list with hit number 2,215.  Jeter is on his way to becoming the first Yankee to collect 3,000 hits in a career.  He finished 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in.

The Bad:

Kyle Farnsworth.  Farnsworth is pitching himself right out of New York.  He came into the game in the eighth with the Yanks leading 7-1 and promptly gave up a homer to Coco Crisp.  He then walked David Ortiz and after getting Manny Ramirez to fly out he balked Ortiz to second.  A base hit later and the Yankee lead was sliced to 7-3.  It's just a matter of time before Farnsworth becomes a former Yank.

Bobby Abreu.  Abreu picked up a base hit on Wednesday night, but was then picked off first.  He also lost a ball in the lights for an error in the fifth inning.  Looks like his hitting slump is starting to affect his overall game.  Will Abreu ever break out of this funk?

The Ugly:

The Jason Giambi fiasco.  Giambi met with people from the commissioner's office on Wednesday to discuss his statements about steroids. It was also reported that Giambi had tested positive for amphetamines during the past year.  Giambi is no angel, but it looks like MLB is looking to make an example out of him.  Isn't it strange that the story about Giambi and "greenies" came out only a few days after his steroid comments?

The Carl Pavano signing. Looks like Pavano is headed for Tommy John surgery which will effectively end his Yankee "career."  This will put to bed the worst free agent signing in the history of sports.  What did the Yankees get for signing Pavano to a four-year deal worth $39.95 million?  A 5-7 record in 19 starts with a 4.77 ERA.  Worst.  Signing.  Ever.

Thursday is an off-day for the Yanks.  They will host the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of the United States of America on Friday night for the start of a three game set.  Rookie Tyler Clippard will make his second career start and first start at Yankee Stadium on Friday. The Angels will go with Jered Weaver.

The Yanks looked like they recaptured their swagger during this series with Boston.  Let's see if they can keep the positive vibes going against an Angels team that always plays them hard.