King of New York

Well, not so much a king as a Duke – with every start he makes, the Yankees’ Orlando Hernandez makes the gamble the organisation took in signing him whilst he was recovering from injury look like an inspired one. Last night he came up big for the Yankees in a tight pitchers’ duel – he battled Toronto’s Ted Lilly, throwing seven shutout innings and striking out ten batters, which was enough to keep his team in the game until Ruben Sierra’s walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth. I haven’t checked the stats, but the Bronx Bombers can’t have had that many 1-0 wins this year. In a game where their big bats were pretty much silent all night, El Duque’s performance was just what the doctor ordered.

After a two-game series against the Blue Jays, the Yankees now turn their attention once again to arch-rivals Boston. The Red Sox have been erratic at best over recent games (they’re 4-6 over their last 10 games) , and they need a couple of wins over the Yankees, not only to gain some precious ground in the standings, but to prove to their fans – and maybe even to themselves – that their wins earlier this season against the Yankees were no fluke. A series loss this weekend would not necessarily mean the end of their season (they’re 8 ½ games behind the Yankees in the AL East but still lead the Wild Card race), but it would make it that much tougher for them to keep striving forward.