The Yankee bats finally busted out of their collective slump and hammered the Rangers, salvaging the final game of the 3-game series, and winning 18-7. We saw a few significant things tonight, for one, whatever trust the team had in Sidney Ponson is probably out the window. If he had done well in this game, Brian Cashman probably could have held off and allowed him to stay (you know, 5 ER would have been acceptable), but now its seems like his hand will be forced to get another solid starter, whether he’s from the minors or the trade market, because the team can’t score 18 every game. Also, Robinson Cano was 2-for-5 tonight and was really hitting well (even his outs were hard liners). He’s a career .354 hitter in July, so this is his month and he’s definitely working on his current line (4-for-12 this series).
OK, now some quick news on Matsui. It was believed that Hideki Matsui was getting better and could be ready for some BP this weekend. However, now it looks like Matsui could be out until after the AS break (there goes his DH spot). Tough loss for the Yanks, but they’ll have to cope. Betemit is swinging the bat well and with Gardner up, they certainly have some options to turn to.
