New York Yankees Win Third Straight Game on Game-Winning HR by Melky Cabrera

The New York Yankees are finally looking like the championship team they were supposed to be after their big acquisitions in the off-season. The Yankees (9-6) have now won three in a row after a 6-6 start. Those three consecutive wins came against Cleveland and Oakland twice. The Yankees latest win came in the bottom of the 14th inning when Melky Cabrera hit his second homerun of the day, this one being a walk-off blast. There was no question about this homer. It was gone from the second it was hit. With Melky's performance, he will be getting more playing time. The Yankees have scored 21 runs in their last 3 games and could be on pace for 1000+ runs this season.

The only downfall for the Yankees currently is their pitching. Chien-Ming Wang has been beat up for 23 earned runs in 3 starts and has a 34.50 ERA. His longest outing has been 3-2/3 innings and his last two starts were 1 inning and 1-1/3 innings. Wang will next have a minor league start, meaning he will miss his next major league start. Wang was supposed to pitch against Boston this weekend, but will be replaced by Joba Chamberlain. C.C. Sabathia has been inconsistent so far this season. He has shown brilliance in his two starts against Kansas City and Cleveland, giving up 1 earned run in 13+ innings. On the other hand, Sabathia has given up 12 earned runs in his other two starts.

The bright spots for the Yankees so far this season have been Nick Swisher, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettite and A.J. Burnett. Swisher was only supposed to be a backup position player but once he got playing time, he did the most with it. Swisher leads the team with 4 homeruns and 12 RBI's. Rivera is proving he is still one of the best relief pitchers, with 4 saves already and has not given up a single run in seven relief appearances. Pettite almost retired before signing a 1-year, 5.5 million dollar contract with the Yankees. Pettite is 2-0 in 3 starts with a 2.53 ERA. Burnett was one of the major acquisitions made in the off-season and so far has been paying dividends. Like Pettite, Burnett is 2-0 in 3 starts and has a slightly worse ERA at 3.20. Pettite and Burnett have been the most reliable pitchers for the Yankees this season.

Next up for the Yankees is a three-game series against their archrival Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox are currently on a 7 game winning streak themselves and playing their best baseball this season. Both the Yankees and the Red Sox are 9-6. The surprise team in first place currently are the Toronto Blue Jays with a record of 11-5. The defending, American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays are in last place but the season is still very early.

Sources:

Yahoo! Sports - sports.yahoo.com