It was the smart move.  Torre was always smarter.

Actually, it was a move Yankee fans have been demanding for some time, but I watched a bit of The Godfather recently and just felt like working in that line.  Mike Mussina was bumped from the rotation to make way for rookie Ian Kennedy on Saturday afternoon and it payed off.  The kid pitched great and A-Rod looks like he's going to make it a September to remember as the Yanks dropped the Devil Rays 9-6 on a gorgeous day in the Bronx.

The win moves the Yanks two games ahead of the reeling Mariners and positions them 4.5 games behind the BoSox (as of this writing) in the AL East.

The Good:

Ian Kennedy.  The latest Baby Bomber was terrific in his pinstriped debut.  He doesn't have over-powering stuff, but he changes speeds and throws strikes.  Some scouting reports labeled Kennedy as a young Mussina and while it's still too early for that, he does have the same exaggerated bend when he goes to the stretch.  Weird.  Anyway, the Yanks gave Kennedy a quick 2-0 lead after one inning, but the rookie fell into trouble in the top of the second and it wasn't all his doing.  A-Rod dropped a pop up for an error.  Instead of two outs and a runner on first, it remained one out with a runner on first.  Kennedy, perhaps rattled, gave up a base hit on the extended at-bat.  He gave up two runs in the inning and threw a ton of pitches, but he didn't let it get him down.  Kennedy settled in and gave up only two more hits the rest of the way.  If Mussina was upset at missing one start in the rotation, I wonder how he's going to feel when the kid takes another one away from him.  Kennedy's first win looked like this: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R (1 earned), 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR.

Alex Rodriguez.  I guess Rodriguez didn't notice that the calendar flipped to September because he continued to smoke the baseball.  A-Rod crushed home run number 45 in the first to give Kennedy and the Yanks a 2-0 lead.  Rodriguez has had an up and down season (in terms of monthly production), but he collected three hits on Saturday and starts the new month batting at .750 (yeah, just felt like showing off my math skills).  He wasn't even flustered when the umps took away his bat in the third inning (more on that later).  There was a scary moment though when he jammed his left shoulder advancing to second on a wild pitch.  Let's hope it was nothing.  A-Rod finished 3 for 4 with a run scored and 4 RBI.

The Bad:

Luis Vizcaino.  Vizcaino came into the game in the eighth with the Bombers up 9-3 and quickly turned it into a ballgame.  He was hit hard, gave up three runs and forced Torre to bring in Rivera for a four-out save.  It was a hiccup for The Viz so I was a bit surprised that the fans turned on him as he left the mound.  It was a poor outing, but the guy has pitched well since June.  Use your heads Yankee fans.  Vizcaino's numbers: .2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K.

The Ugly:

Bats in the belfry.  Baseball can be a diabolical game of checkers.  Case in point: With runners on first and second and two outs and Tampa third baseman Akinori Iwamura facing a 2-2 count, Joe Torre emerged from the dugout and walked toward the home plate umpire.  After an umpire team huddle, the boys in blue confiscated Iwamura's bat.  The reason?  The Yanks questioned the "flatness" of the bat.  A-ha.  The maneuver worked as Kennedy struck out Iwamura and ended the Devil Ray rally.  Not to be outdone, D-Ray manager Joe Madden popped out of the dugout in the third inning and, with Alex Rodriguez at the plate, asked the umps to take A-Rod's bat.  Ah, touche.  However, the move didn't have the same effect on Rodriguez as he laced a single to left during a two-run inning for the Yanks.  It was great to see managers trying to mess with players' heads, but I wanted to see more outrage.  I wanted to see Iwamura flip out and charge after Joe Torre.  I wanted to see A-Rod point and yell at Madden and then fling the bat toward the dugout.  Maybe it was the clip YES showed of George Brett during the pine tar game that got me fired up.  Ah, well.

Andy Pettitte will try and give the Yanks the series on Sunday afternoon. He'll go against Jason Hammel.  Pettitte went 6-0 during August with a 2.36 ERA and picked up three victories following Yankee losses.  I hope he hasn't forgotten how to pitch following a Yankee victory.  Hammel was thrust into the starting rotation against the Yanks on July 21 and didn't fair well (4 IP, 3 R [2 earned], 3 BB, 1 HR) in a no decision.  He hasn't pitched well in August either, going 0-3 with a 9.72 ERA.

Looks like the Yanks won't need any special bats to score runs on Sunday.