Weekend Full of Fireworks for Yanks

The Bronx Bombers finished the holiday weekend by taking the final two of three from Toronto, highlighted by some fireworks of their own with another walk-off win Saturday as America celebrated Independence Day with a Yankee victory.

July 4th was a special one for the Yankees. Before the game, they honored Lou Gehrig’s memory on the 70th anniversary of his famous “luckiest man alive” speech. Jorge Posada singled in the winning run in the 12th inning to lift New York to a 6-5 win, coming up with the clutch hit after a rough game behind the plate. It was Posada’s first game back after sitting out with a sore thumb Friday.

That was the biggest win of the weekend for the Bombers. They beat ace Roy Halladay and proved, once again, how tough they can be at home no matter who they're facing.

The celebrations wouldn’t end there for the Yankees. Sunday was equally impressive. After blowing an early 4-0 lead, the Yankees came back from an 8-4 deficit to win for the 10th time in their last 11 games. Derek Jeter was 4 for 5, hitting his 10th homer to give him 14 straight seasons with 10-plus homers.

It was New York’s fifth straight win over the Blue Jays, whose five-run fourth inning gave them an 8-4 lead. There were four homers hit at homer friendly Yankee Stadium, raising the total to 139 at the new ballpark midway through the season.

Yesterday, the Yankees almost pulled off the four-game sweep, falling 7-6 to the Jays. Toronto starter Ricky Romero was sharp, but the Bombers took advantage of the bullpen late, nearly capturing the win. But it wasn’t meant to be. The Yankees couldn’t push across that final run in the ninth as Toronto avoided the sweep.

Romero improved to 2-2 on the road and 4-0 in his last four starts. The young left-hander looks a lot like a young Johan Santana. He has allowed only five earned runs in his last 28 1/3 innings.

While the Blue Jay lefty was on point, the Yankees’ lefty was not. Andy Pettitte fell to 0-5 in eight home starts against the Jays since 2001.
That was about the only bad news for New York coming out of the weekend. They need to get Andy right at home.

That was the final homestand for New York before the All-Star break. They head to Minnesota tonight.