THAT YANKEE DESIRE IS BACK WITH JETER'S RETURN

I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't hear Empire State of Mind playing in my head today when Derek Jeter came out.  It was a great day.  Seeing the Captain back is symbolic for so many reasons.  Obviously he's missed, but it just shows that hope and desire to win when he's out there.  It's not the Yankees without him,  that's the bottom line.

Many cautioned to not get nuts when Jeter returns because he's got to take it slow.  We all get that. No one is rushing the guy. We just want him back...baby steps is fine, as long as there are steps forward and none back.

The Yankees won today.  Jeter started it off batting second and being the DH. He got a first inning hit, he appeared to run on the grass to first in every at bat.  I never noticed him do that before, but maybe he never has. Maybe he was doing it on purpose.  Maybe he's always done it.  Who knows, I know this, seeing him run to first base was great.  Seeing him score was better.

Andy Pettitte started today. He went 5.2 innings and he allowed 8 hits and 4 runs, 3 of them earned.  He only struck out 1.  While it wasn't vintage Pettitte, it was Pettitte and he always gives us a chance to win.

The hitting was great today.  11 hits, 8 runs and it went like this: Vernon Wells sacrificed Derek Jeter home in the 1st. In the 2nd, Austin Romine doubled in Eduardo Nunez.  Ichiro then singled in Romine.
Later on with the Yankees down 4-3, it was Lyle Overbay to knocked in 2 to put us ahead and that was followed by Zoilo Almonte and Eduardo Nunez each driving in a run. In the 6th, Jeet knocked in Luis Cruz on a ground out.

Final today: Yankees 8 - Royals 4.

Special Note: Jeet came out of the game in the eighth with a tight quad, read HERE.  He said that he hopes it's "no big deal".  Look, chalk this up as reality.  The guy may have been working to get back all this time, but he hasn't really played consistently until this week or so.  It's bound to happen, and let's hope this is nothing.

Welcome back DJ... you're a class act and the desire is back!

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