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It was bold, gutsy and daring. When Joe Girardi decided to use Raul Ibanez as a pinch-hitter for Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning on Wednesday night, it was one of the more delicate decisions he has made as a manager. It was also one of the smartest decisions he has made.

Even before Ibanez drilled a game-tying homer off Jim Johnson and a game-winning homer off Brian Matusz in the 12^th inning, inserting Ibanez for Rodriguez was the proper move. Even if Ibanez had made an out and the Yankees had lost to the Orioles, I believe Girardi did the right thing. The manager’s job is to give his team the best chance to win. That’s what Girardi did.

Because Ibanez had a dream of a postseason game, the Yankees defeated the Orioles, 3-2, in Game 3 of the American League Division

There was a time when Ichiro Suzuki was one of the best five players in baseball, someone who was a delight to watch at the plate, on the bases and in the outfield. There aren't many singles hitters who force you to watch every move they make, but Ichiro was that kind of must-see player.

While Ichiro isn't a top-five type player anymore, he can still be a very effective player for the Yankees as they refine their roster and push toward the post-season. By acquiring Ichiro from the Mariners for right-handers D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar, the Yankees didn't surrender any premier prospects and improved their outfield. In addition, the Yankees will only pay Ichiro $2.25 million for the rest of the season. They believe Ichiro is still worth watching and, of course,

The curious case of Brett Gardner continues to be a head scratcher. What initially was supposed to be a 15-day stint on the disabled list, has now turned into months and months of guessing what is wrong with him.

After four at-bats yesterday in a simulated game, Gardner is sore today and had to be shut down once again.

"He came up a little sore today, so he's not playing today," Girardi said before Monday night's game. "We'll see how he feels tomorrow and we'll go from there."

This is something that continues to happen to Gardner and is quite puzzling.

"It's a concern because it's happened before," Girardi said. "Hopefully he can just get through this and he'll continue to play, but we'll have to wait and see."

Girardi went on to say, "The doctors have all come up with the same diagnosis,

The Yankees starting rotation is finally living up to the high expectations placed on them in Spring Training, all while ace CC Sabathia is not having his best stretch.

As a team in June, the Yankees are a Major League best 13-2. Their bullpen has been tremendous all year and continues to be a rock, even without Mariano Rivera. However, the rotation is finally matching the rest of the staff's high quality of play. In June, the starters are 11-1 with a 1.97 ERA, striking out 104 in 105.1 innings pitched, walking only 26 and opponents are hitting just .224 against them. It's no coincidence that this has all happened while the Yankees are going through their nine-game winning streak. In fact, the pitching staff as a whole has only allowed 18 earned runs for a 1.88 ERA over the nine-game stretch.

As the Yankees played sluggishly in April and most of May, Brian Cashman waited. Baseball is a long season. Since Cashman is in his 15^th season as the general manager, he could easily recite seasons in which very good Yankee teams sputtered or performed unevenly. That happens.

Even as the starting rotation fizzled and even as the Yankees failed to produce with runners in scoring position, Cashman was patient. He was confident in these Yankees, a message he emphasized during a team meeting on May 22. Cashman told the players he didn’t meet with them because he was panicking, but to remind them that the solutions to the team’s problems were already in the clubhouse.

While Cashman has declined to discuss the meeting, the Yankees have been much better since Cashman and Manager

Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner was on the right road to recovery and was expected to come back to the Yankees as early as today. In two starts with the Triple-A Yankees, Gardner was 3-for-5 with a triple and a run scored. However, after he came out of the game on Wednesday night, he had a setback in his recovery process.

“After the game last night he came out and he was sore, so as we speak, I believe he's having another MRI," Girardi said. “I can't tell you when he's going to be available to us, but I can tell you it won't be today.”

Girardi delineated a little more on the circumstance saying, “When he came out of the game he had a little swelling in there. I talked to (Yankees trainer) Stevie (Donahue) about it, and they brought him back and decided to have

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”…

There is a reason that Mariano Rivera has been my favorite Yankee for a very long time.  I know that Derek Jeter is a quality guy and a favorite of many, but for me, Mariano Rivera has always been the premier player in my opinion.  It doesn’t mean that I feel Jeter’s not a great player…he is.  He is most likely a first ballot Hall of Famer and will go down as the greatest shortstop in Yankees history (with no disrespect to Phil Rizzuto).  But Rivera has always handled himself with dignity and class, and he’s always been accountable when things have gone wrong.  He has never disrespected another player or team, nor has he placed blame anywhere but with himself.  He

The Yankees confirmed after the game that Brian Cashman has made the decision to send Andy Pettitte to Tampa to make his next start with the Class-A Tampa Yankees on Monday. He was schedule to pitch with the Double-A Trenton Thunder on the road against the Portland Sea Dogs, but weather concerns have derailed that plan.

Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi hinted that this was a possibility noting the conditions of Pettitte's last start in Trenton.

"He pitched in some pretty raw conditions the other day, as well," Girardi said before Saturday's game. "Because of that we might change where he throws. He might pitch in Tampa on Monday depending on talking about some conditions."

Pettitte most likely will not be pitching with the Major League club until early- to mid-May, making