The dog days of August are here.

The Yanks belted only five homers on Wednesday night.

That was enough as the Yankees battered the ChiSox 8-1 on a hot, muggy night in the Bronx.  Andy Pettitte persevered for his seventh win of the season and the victory moves the Yankees to within 2 games of the Indians in the wild card race.

The Good:

Jorge Posada.  Posada continued with his career renaissance on Wednesday night.  Jorgie has always been a solid hitter, but he's almost unstoppable at the plate this year.  I doubt he'll top his power numbers from 2003 when he popped 30 bombs and drove in 101 runs, but he may be a better all-around hitter now.  Posada started the Yankee home run derby with a two-run blast in the second inning to give the Yanks a 2-1 lead and then capped the home run barrage with a solo shot in the eighth.  Posada finished 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs.

Andy Pettitte.  It wasn't a performance Pettitte would put in the time capsule, but it was good enough to earn a W.  Pettitte was down 1-0 in the second, but the Yankee bats quickly gave him a 3-1 advantage after two innings.  Andy would maneuver in and out of trouble through his night, but it was a solid effort.  The Yankee lefty also passed the "magical" 100 pitch count during the game and his arm didn't fall off or anything.  Amazing.  Pettitte even made a put out on a pop up in the fifth.  You don't see that every day.  Pettitte evened his record to 7-7 with this: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K.

Robinson Cano.  Robbie Cano -- don't cha know!  Cano continued his second half surge by ripping his 10th homer and 31st double of the year.  The Yankee second baseman finally reached the .300 mark in Tuesday night's contest and his two hits on Wednesday night pushed his average up to .303 on the season.  I don't think Robbie will dip below that level for the remainder of the year.  At least I hope he won't.  Cano finished 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and a run batted in.

The Bad:

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod didn't get career home run number 500 on Wednesday and also extended his hitless streak to 21 at-bats.  Still, I think people are going a bit overboard on this little slump.  The talk in the papers and on the airwaves has been really rough on Rodriguez.  "This proves he can't handle pressure."  "I still don't feel comfortable with A-Rod up in a big spot."  Please.  This is all nonsense.  Is he pressing?  Probably.  Should the team be concerned?  I don't think so.  A-Rod will pick up number 500 soon enough.  Then the media will have to think of something else to slam A-Rod on.

The Ugly:

Bean ball?  In the bottom of the eighth, Posada hit the Bombers fifth and final homer of the night and extended the Yankee lead to 8-1.  The next batter, Robinson Cano, was then hit by a pitch.  Intentional?  In theory, maybe, but Robbie was hit with a 71-m.p.h. knuckleball.  Well, home plate umpire Tom Hallion thought it was on purpose and he ejected Chicago righty Charlie Haeger.  Disgraceful.  People always talk about how players had better baseball instincts 20 or 30 years ago.  Well, umpires were better then, too.  There was a time when umps wouldn't try and get into players' heads.  They would have never tossed a knuckleball pitcher for hitting a batter.  Never.  

The Yanks will pull out the brooms and go for the sweep on Thursday afternoon.  Jon Garland makes the start for the White Sox and Roger Clemens takes the hill for the Yanks.  Garland is 8-7 on the year with a 4.12 ERA, but he's 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA against the Yanks this season.  The Rocket is 3-5 for 2007 with a 3.92 ERA, but has a sparkling 2.10 ERA at home this season.  He's also 20-11 with a 3.07 ERA against the Pale Hose in his career.

Something has to give on Thursday.