New York Yankees

New York Yankees' starter Phil Hughes is closing in on his pitching limit, which seems to be around 200 innings.

Hughes, 24, has currently pitched 140 and 2/3 innings this year.

At this rate, he would have to miss one start before the start of the playoffs if New York makes it (which they probably will).

He is currently 15-5 with an ERA of 3.90, great stats in preparation for October. 

Now the question is will Hughes be starting in October?

Here's your River & Sunset question of the day: Is Mark Teixeira having a good season?

Many of his statistics would say absolutely. He ranks top five in the American League in home runs (28), runs scored (94), RBI (91) and walks (73). He's on pace for 36 homers, 117 RBIs, and a career-high 121 runs, all while playing a Gold Glove-level first base.

Everyone knows what it means: your team is flush with money and run by talentless slobs, who can make up for an inability to develop high quality talent within the farm system by simply buying other team's high quality talent.  

You are the evil empire, pricing every other team in baseball out of the market for the best players in the game.  

After losing the first game, the New York Yankees demolished the Blue Jays at home in Toronto on Tuesday night.

Marcus Thames, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson, and Mark Teixeira all homered in the affair.

Wednesday night’s game determines the series; both teams want to win but are on very different paths.

The Blue Jays have a chip on their shoulder. My guess is because Toronto resides in the AL East, which diminishes any hopes at a playoff berth.

With his retirement now as a player and manager complete, Lou Pinella will wait for a call from Cooperstown as one of this generation's most successful managers having won 1,835 games with five major league clubs.

A World Series-winning manager with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990, Pinella won six divisional championships in 23 seasons including a record 116 games versus just 46 losses with a Seattle team that included future Hall of Famers Alex Rodriguez and Randy Johnson in 2001.

Now on the docket - Roger the Rocket. Except the grand jury felt he should instead be wearing Roger Staubach's nickname.

The indictment cites 15 instances of Clemens obstructing Congress. "Hell, only 15?" Clemens asks, "I've struck out more batters than that in one game."

The indictment drips in strangeness.

Our theory is that Clemens, back in February of 2008, embarked on a strategy of denial, thinking that even if he is indicted of obstruction his buddy, George W., would pardon him.

The Yankees were impressed enough with Ivan Nova's start Monday night in Toronto that he will replace Javier Vazquez next Sunday at Chicago.

Vazquez, who has an ERA above five, will move to the bullpen and will be available starting Monday. Joe Girardi did not comment about using Nova for more than one more start, and did not say he is prepared to use a six-man rotation.

After losing the first game 3-2, the New York Yankees need to win Tuesday night against the Blue Jays at Rogers Center.

The Tampa Bay Rays have caught up to tie in the standings, and the Boston Red Sox are still very much alive.

Translation...inter-division games can kill a team’s chances for playoff berth, so the Yankees cannot lose this series for starters.

The Yankees have just lost the first game of a three-game set to the Blue Jays, 3-2. Here are my thoughts:

Granderson’s AB

One of the turning points in the game was a questionable strikeout call on Curtis Granderson in the top of the ninth inning. The graph shows it wasn’t that close, it was way out of the strike-zone.

NOTE: team and player statistics updated through Monday morning, August 23 11:00 AM CT
 
1. New York Yankees (77-47)
As every week goes by, I’m believing more and more that the Yankees are going to be the ones to take the AL East once again. And with C.C. Sabathia holding a strong 17-5 record with a 3.02 ERA and 151 strikeouts to this point, I say we have a new favorite for the AL Cy Young Award.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (76-48)