The Yanks continued their feasting on the bottom of the AL and now find themselves a half game back in the wild card race.

Baseball -- it's fantastic!!

Mike Mussina won his third straight game, Melky and Matsui both went deep and the Bombers moved to a season high 11 games over .500 with a 8-5 win over the hapless Royals in New York.

I was in and out of this contest (dinner at Ma's house) so my roundup won't be very thorough, but I'm going to forge ahead anyway.

The Good:

Mike Mussina.  The Moose showed on Sunday that he still has something left in the tank and that's great news for the Yanks.  Mussina has pitched into the sixth inning in six of his last seven starts and evened his record to 7-7 on the season.  Vinny in Kearny informed me that John Sterling said that Mussina's performance on Sunday was his best of the season.  Was Sterling right?  I don't know, but if the Moose continues to pitch into the sixth and keeps the Yanks in the game, I'd stack up the Yankee rotation against any in the AL.  Mussina's winning line: 6+ IP, 9 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.

Melky Cabrera.  Melky was in the leadoff spot on Sunday and drove in the first Yankee run with an RBI single in the second inning.  The Royals cut the Yankee lead to 6-2 in the top of the sixth, but Melky belted a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to give the Yanks a run back.  It's really amazing how important the Melk Man has become to this team.  The Yankee bench has gotten a lot deeper in the last few weeks and will gain another bat soon in Jason Giambi, but it shouldn't affect Melky's playing time.  It better not.  Melky extended his hitting streak to 11 games and finished 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI.

Hideki Matsui.  Godzilla blasted another thrilla on Sunday afternoon.  Matsui's home run in the sixth was his 100th as a Yank and the 432nd of his professional career.  It was Matsui's first homer in August, but it was his 14th since July 1.  His average is also starting to creep toward .300 on the season.  Matsui finished 1 for 3 with a run scored and 2 runs batted in.

The Bad:

Mike Myers.  The Yankee lefty came into the game in the seventh with 2 on and 2 out and the Yanks up 8-2 and quickly made it a ballgame .  He gave up an RBI single to Mark Teahen in the seventh and an RBI single to Joey Gathright in the eighth.  That's bad enough, but the worst part was that both batters hit from the left side.  For some reason Myers has been unable to get lefties out this season.  Lefties are batting .301 against the southpaw while righties are hitting .184.  How is this possible?  Myers also forced Torre to bring in Mariano Rivera in the eighth.  In the end, it didn't hurt the Yanks (Rivera threw only 11 pitches and picked up his 17th save of the year), but Myers has to do better than this.  Myers' vitals: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB.

The Ugly:

3-27.  That's Kansas City's record in the Bronx since 2000.  Hey, I'm not complaining, but it's really mind-boggling if you think about it.  There was a time when I dreaded when the Yanks played the Royals.  Kansas City would roll into town with those powder blue unis with the likes of George Brett, Frank White, Willie Wilson, Bret Saberhagen, Mark Gubicza, Bo Jackson, etc. and it was a great rivalry.  That time now seems like a dream.  Call me crazy, but I miss the rivalry.  Or maybe it's just the powder blue unis.

The Yanks now head out for a mini six-game road trip with a day off sandwiched in between the two series.  First stop will be Toronto and a matchup between Andy Pettitte and Jesse Litsche.  The Yankees lit up Litsche earlier in the season for 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning.  Andy Pettitte is coming off a rough July (2-2, 6.96 ERA), but pitched well in his last start against the ChiSox.

It's feeding time.