It's taken half the season, but the Yankee bats have finally come alive.

Andy Pettitte pitched terribly for the second start in a row, Robinson Cano was called out as he failed to touch third on his way home and the Yanks nearly blew a five run lead.  But, the Bombers banged out 19 hits and they outlasted the Halos, 14-9 on a Friday night in New York.  Every Yankee had at least one hit and one RBI and the victory pulls the Yanks to within one game of the elusive .500 mark.  It wasn't the prettiest game ever, but they don't give extra points for style.

The Good:

Alex Rodriguez.  So much for my suggestion that A-Rod sit out the final weekend of the first half.  A-Rod made some nifty plays in the field and continued to punish Angel pitching as he blasted his 53th career dinger off California/Anaheim/Los Angeles pitching.  It was also career homer 493 for A-Rod which ties him with Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for 22nd place all-time.  Oh, and his two-run home run on Friday night also extended the Yankee lead to 12-9 in the sixth.  A-Rod finished 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored, a walk and 2 RBIs.

Jorge Posada.  Posada gave the Yanks an early 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI double and then broke a 3-3 tie in the third with another two-bagger, this time it drove in two, to give the Yanks a 5-3 advantage.  Posada's rocky July has flown a bit under the radar (he was batting .176 heading into Friday's game), but it still can't ruin his overall numbers.  Jorgie is now batting .329 on the year after his 3 for 5 night.  He also scored two runs and drove in three.

Miguel Cairo.  Cairo got the start at first on Friday after Andy Phillips complained of neck pain (suck it up, Andy) and he made the most of it.  He made some snazzy plays in the field as he scooped up a throw from A-Rod in the third and made a diving stab on a grounder in the sixth.  Miggy also pulled off a beautiful suicide squeeze in the third.  Too bad Cano forgot to touch third on Cairo's triple in the fifth.  The play took a ribbie away from Cairo and turned his triple into a single.  Cano owes someone a dinner or something.  Anyway, the offensive numbers may not look impressive, but Cairo played a big part in Friday's win.  He finished 1 for 3 with 2 RBI.

The Bad:

Andy Pettitte.  Pettitte was awful for the second straight start.  This one was disappointing because the Yanks finally scored some runs for him.  Pettitte's last two starts have inflated his ERA to 4.25 on the season.  Andy's been better than that this year.  Maybe he just needs some rest to recharge his batteries.  Pettitte's scary totals for Friday: 5 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 1 BB, 5 K.

The Ugly:

Lost in Translation.  For some reason, someone thought it would be a good idea to put Hu Jiango in the YES booth during the third inning.  Who, you ask?  He's the chairman of the new Chinese Baseball Association, the organization poised to become the Yankees pipeline for baseball players in China.  That's all swell and dandy, but that doesn't translate to good TV.  Michael Kay did his best to communicate with Jiango, but all he got was dead air, garbled words and mumbled translations.  And worst of all, the Yanks were in the middle of a rally.  I understand this is a huge business move for the Yankees, but it was a terrible decision for television.

Saturday is Old Timers' Day at The Stadium and the Yanks will send the oldest pitcher in the league to the hill, The Rocket Roger Clemens.  Clemens is 29-9 in his career against the Angels and will go against John Lackey.  Lackey is 11-5 on the season and posts an impressive 3.04 ERA.  

A win on Saturday will pull the Yanks even on the season.

Again.

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