Boo Berry

5 home runs and 10 RBIs in 4 games. The Breakfast of Champions.

Elias reports that A-Rod became the first right-handed batter to have four multiple-homer games at Yankee Stadium in one season. Though he's struggled off and on with the Yankees, consider that he has one MVP in three seasons, set the record for most home runs by a right handed Yankee last season, and just made a mark in the Yankee record book with this accomplishment. Say what you will, boo if you want, but this guy will have a lot of historians busy at work with the pinstriped record books before it's all said and done.

Here are the vitals in the Minny series....sorry couldn't resist that bad pun.

Yankees Bats
.313/.400/.521 for a .921 OPS
8 doubles and 4 home runs (all Alex)
1/1 in stolen bases

Twins Bats
.202/.257/.309 for a .566 OPS
1 double and 3 home runs
no stolen bases

Yankees Starters
19 IP
1.42 ERA
0.79 WHIP
3 walks, 7 strikeouts

Twins Starters
13.2 IP
5.93 ERA
1.98 WHIP
9 walks, 10 strikeouts

Yankees Pen
10 IP
4.50 ERA (all Villone)
1.100 WHIP
4 walks, 4 strikeouts

Twins Pen
9.2 IP
6.52 ERA
1.86 WHIP
6 walks, 5 strikeouts

Lucky we didn't see Santana, Liriano, or Nathan in this series. The Twins' pitching was hideous for the most part. The lone bright spot was Scott Baker, who 2 hit the Yankees over 5 innings in the 2nd game. On the flip side, the Yankees tag-along starters were stellar. Karstens, Lidle, and Rasner posted a 1.42 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP! I'm a big believer in Rasner as our secret weapon 5th starter in 2007. I don't think he's a long term Yankee, but he is better than most people realize and should cost next to nothing. The other thing I like about him is that he chose #61, which has significance in Yankee Stadium. I don't know if it was intentional, but it's brilliant. If you're going to choose that mandatory minor league big number, 61 seems to be the one to pick.

Royals up next. I said yesterday that the Yankees needed to go at least 8-3 over 11 games to consider themselves successful. They got one out of the way and can coast into the Red Sox series at 7-3 to meet their minimum COH requirement for passing. Beating the Twins makes me feel like changing it to 8-2 in their next 10, but I'll stick with 7-3 to avoid being greedy. See you tomorrow for The King of New York. Worms wear your helmets! Go Yanks.