DO IT, DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!

Whenever one of my kids wants to push my buttons, they'll ask for a drink or a snack and once I say, "One minute please", they'll sarcastically smirk at me and chant, "Do it, do it, do it, do it!" If I did that when I was a kid, I would have got the ring hand to the mouth.  But I'm a dad who happens to be a ball buster with my kids... and they are to me as well.  It's a give and take of comedy... sometimes there's a line.  That dialog is usually a big joke in my house and unless I'm in a pretty bad mood, that's the only dialog that can cross it.

I'll tell you what isn't a joke though... the Yankees winning now in this homestand more than ever.  They play the Orioles, no slouches and that is clear.  Buck Showalter is a God... I think we all know that at this point, coming from an organization like the Yankees and moving on to now a division rival of the Yankees.  The Orioles are believers.  They believe in themselves and it's mostly because of Buck.  Lucky them.

We HAVE to believe too now though. We must believe.  We must win... we, the mighty New York Yankees, have to beat the Orioles and everyone else in their path right now if they want a shot at making the playoffs.  Now comes the chant, but it's not sarcastic this time... it's dead serious... Do it, do it, do it, do it!  Tonight ladies and gentlemen, the Yankees started to do it... it was a big win and I'm proud of my club tonight.

CC Sabathia went 5.2 innings tonight.  He was NOT outstanding, but we've seen this all year from the big guy.  He was having trouble and we almost lost the game because the Orioles just keep on coming. But CC is the master at figuring it out and while it almost slipped away... it didn't slip away.  CC gave up 7 hits and 5 runs, striking out 4.  Shawn Kelley, Boone Logan, DRob and Mariano Rivera followed. Only Kelley and Robertson each gave up 1 hit after CC.  In other words, our pen did a damn good job holding down a tough Baltimore club. No easy task.

The Orioles only scored 5.  I say only because the Yankees did much better... it went down like this:

In the 4th inning, Alfonso Soriano cranked out his 29th homer of the season. It was a 2 run homer and Cano scored. But it was the 5th inning that really broke things opened for New York because the Yankees were down at that point.  Mark Reynolds doubled, knocking in Curtis Granderson.  After that, Ichiro Suzuki knocked a 2 run home run. Later, Robinson Cano singled knocking in 2 more.  In the bottom of the 7th, Alex Rodriguez singled and knocked in Cano.  I felt like Cano was in every play tonight, I swear.  And the irony of the "love of Alex Rodriguez" is laughable.  Every Yankee fan hated the guy, but he gets a hit and RBI and we are instantly in love with him again.

(In Photo: ARod stretching in the pre-game workout tonight in the Bronx)
My friend Jenny raised that question on Twitter tonight and it rings true.... if you hate the guy, hate him.  Don't contradict yourself and love him when he's producing.  Hey look, it's an interesting take, and this is a recap, NOT an analysis piece on ARod, but hey, it makes sense. Think about it.

Whatever the case, it was that ARod RBI that really provided alittle insurance against a tough Orioles team.  I'm glad for that and I'm thrilled that the Yankees were able to hold the Orioles and work together, pitching AND hitting at the same time.... that's baseball.

You know what else is baseball? Winning streaks. Confidence. Momentum and most of all... Championships.  Yes, the Yankees have a long way to go now, but one thing you need to do as a Yankee club is remember the wins, and do it again, one game at a time and hold onto the moments... that's not only a baseball lesson, that's a life lesson...

Do it, do it, do it, do it!

Final: Yankees 8 - Orioles 5

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