MySportsRumors.com is dedicated to talking news and rumors about all sports, all teams. But being a New Yorks Yankees fan, there will be plenty of articles dedicated to what dominates my life from April to October. With that being said, I’ll be doing a recap of every Yankees series this year. In those I’ll talk about the plus and minuses for them and also the teams they played. No worries this won’t be a pro-Yankees hype them up article, if they stink up the joint I’ll admit it. So let’s start.

The Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays played three pretty entertaining games over the last few days, if you had a chance to watch this series you’d agreed. In the end, the Yankees took 2 out of 3 games but the Blue Jays with a bounce here and there could of easily won 2-1 or even have swept. It was that close of a series and might just be a glimpse as to whats to come in the American League East this season (a hard fought battle down to the wire).

Game breakdown
Game 1 - Yankees win 3-2. Winner - Chien-Ming Wang, Loser - Roy Halladay, Save - Mariano Rivera. Homeruns - Melky Cabrera
Game 2 - Blue Jays win 5-2. Winner - AJ Burnett, Loser - Mike Mussina, Save - Jeremy Accardo. Homeruns - Vernon Wells and Alex Rodriguez.
Game 3 - Yankees win 3-2. Winner - Joba Chamberlain, Loser - Brian Wolfe, Save - Mariano Rivera (2).

Overall, it was a pitching dominated series. Minus Mike Mussina, all of the starting pitching on both teams were pretty impressive. Overall, I think Moose even was fairly effective too but he’s going to hang some balls up there. With his age, he doesn’t have the extra mph to sometimes get away with it, so he will give up a few more runs then others on the team. But 4 runs in 5 and 2/3 innings is pretty much what he’ll give all year long, not bad, not good.

The other starters, Wang and Halladay both were down right nasty in game one. Both showed why they’re aces and perennial Cy Young candidates. Burnett in game 2 was pretty impressive as well. His strike out total may not show it, but he baffled Yankees hitters for most of the game. Philip Hughes, albeit just his first start this year, showed why Brian Cashman has so much trust and wouldn’t include him in a Johan Santana trade. He basically used two pitches the entire game, his fastball and curveball, with both confusing Jays hitters. A 90+ mph fastball and switching to a 70 mph curve will do that. Frank Thomas jumping like a little girl in the box can show you that. Dustin McGowan was just as effective as Hughes, his first 5 innings the Yankees could not touch the kid. Only reason, they got to him in the 6th inning was because fatigue set in and he just couldn’t find the strike zone anymore.

Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera. It looks like the Yankees could be turning back the clock to 1996. Turning close games in to a 7 inning game. Remember Rivera and John Wetteland, it was a big reason the Yankees won that year. It’s only 2 out of 3 games, but if this keeps up fans are going to enjoy another playoff berth.

The scores didn’t show that either team was effective at the plate but there were bright spots for both. The Yankees only scored 8 total runs but the key players showed some signs of life. A-Rod with a big homerun in game 2, although with the team down 5-0 at the point. Bobby Abreu had maybe the best all around series for the Yanks, batting .500 with only 1 rbi and a couple walks. He set the table like he should a couple times but the rest of the team just couldn’t get him across. Jeter was well Jeter , batting .300 and Melky hit the big game-winning homerun in the first game. The surprise to me was Robinson Cano he was amazing in spring training putting every ball in play and batting .400+. A slump was inevitable unfortunately for him it started with the regular season. The lineup missed Jorge Posada’s presence but he should return for the Tampa Bay series.

The Blue Jays were in the same boat as the Yankees, didn’t score much but had some moments where the true potential of their lineup showed. Alex Rios had his typically good series against the Bombers by extending his hitting streak to 24 games against them. He went 4 for 9, with 3 homers and 3 walks, even stealing 2 bases. Vernon Wells started his season at a .333 clip with a big homerun in game 2 of Mike Mussina. If the middle part of that lineup can stay healthy they’ve got some big number potential.

Whats up next for these teams. Toronto makes their home debut against the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees continue at home with the Tampa Bay Rays visiting.

Final thoughts:
The Blue Jays showed they are a team to be reckoned with this year in the American League East. If they continue with their strong play against the Red Sox, both of the divisions big guns will have to worry. If they won 2 out of 3 in that series, they’ll be 3-3 against 2 of the game’s best teams and that would be a huge statement to start.

The Yankees with minimal hitting this series found a way to remain competitive. If they are able to continue and get pitching like they did this team will do a lot better then many think. Hughes will hit some rough patches, its his first full season so it will be expected.

The American League is going to be fun to watch this year, even for April these games were compelling and had late September/October previews all over them.


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