Hank, Joba, and Pettite

Score:

Yankees- 7
Orioles- 1

Andy Pettitte pitched a great game for the Yankees to help avoid the sweep. he was perfect until he gave up a hit in the 5th inning. Ultimately, he went 7 innings, gave up no runs, struck out 5, and walked none. In the 8th Joba came in and struggled. He gave up two hits before their was a rain delay. After the delay Bruney came in and got out of the inning giving up only one run (giving Joba an infinite ERA for the game and destroying my fantasy team). Rivera then ended it in the 9th. The offense also played well. Jeter especially had a great day with 3 RBI's. Damon also drove in two runs and Matsui drove in one. However, A-Rod came out of the game after getting a hit. He has a strained quad and luckily shouldn't miss much time.

Hank Steinbrenner also made an interesting statement today. He basically stated he wanted Joba in the rotation and he wanted it now. He was also unhappy with Joba's being in the bullpen in the first place and the setup of the rotation in general. I guess this is good news in that Joba will probably be going to the rotation soon. I think the best way to do it is to have him pitch every 5 days and slowly increase his workload. For example, have him go three innings on the day that Mussina pitches, then four innings his next turn, then five, and then he can join the rotation replacing whoever is doing worst at the time. However, its also bad news for those who want Cashman to stay. If he`s publicly saying he`s unhappy with Cashman's move`s then why should he stay?