Champagne Showers
After arguably their most tumultuous season in a decade, the New York Yankees clinched their 13th straight postseason berth last night, [clobbering the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 12-4] at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. This is what it was about. It was a lot of unselfishness, Manager Joe Torre said, as he guzzled champagne and tears flowed down his cheeks. There were a lot of guys who played through some injuries, played through some fatigue. And, of course, Alex – we sort of rallied around him.
Robinson Cano (pictured) drove in five runs, including a three-run line-drive homer that highlighted a seven-run fifth inning, and Chien-Ming Wang (19-7) became the first Yankee pitcher to win at least 19 games in consecutive seasons since Tommy John won 21 in 1979 and 22 in 1980. I'm elated, owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement following the game. After a tough first half of the season when everyone seemed to lose faith except for our players and our fans, the team has really stepped up and shown themselves to be the champions that they are. ...The fans and I look forward to the team accomplishing our ultimate goalbringing a world championship back to New York.
Old Georgie might be getting a little ahead of himself. The Yankees still [trail the Boston Red Sox] by three games in the AL East with just five games remaining, and subsequently are almost guaranteed to face the Cleveland Indians in the first round of the playoffs. The Indians top two starters, C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, have been the two best pitchers in the baseball since the All-Star Break in terms of both record and ERA. So while the Yankees made an incredible comeback this season, it might end all too quickly unless they bring their A game to Cleveland.