Yanks 6, Rangers 2

How you know you pwn a team: it becomes old and hacky to say, “I wish we played them all 162 games.”

I only caught certain bits of the game so I think we’ll have to do this in bullet form. If anyone has anything else to add, please do so.

• Robinson Tejeda’s ERA climbed nearly a point (0.98 to be exact) last night. I was telling a buddy that Tejeda was experiencing a market correction, but after looking at the numbers, I’m not so sure about that. He’s walking a ton less this year, and is keeping his strikeouts at a 2:1 ratio (though that kind of ratio works better if you’re striking out closer to one per inning). Plus, he’s only 25, so it’s tough to gauge how he’ll develop. His stuff is pretty good, so maybe he can be a 3.80 to 4.30 pitcher.
• Wil Nieves got a hit! And I missed it. By far the most disappointing part of the season so far for me. I may never get to see one…
• Will there ever be a recap without something about the bullpen? I turned on the TV again in the seventh, just in time to see Proctor fan Nelson Cruz. Of course, I thought Proctor had pitched the entire seventh, with the logic being that he’ll serve his suspension soon and he’s decently rested, so let’s give him some innings. However, when I checked the box score, I was dismayed to see that he was the third pitcher of the inning. Looks like Joe’s quick hook got Bruney out of a four-run game in a hurry. It’s tough to disagree, because I didn’t see what was going on at the time. However, Wilkerson has been putting the ball on the ground at a tremendous rate this season (44.9%, though we have the small sample size caveat). Seriously, Mike Myers needs to come in to face this guy? You’d think Bruney had/has a longer leash than that.
• I’m totally on board with pitching Mo with a four-run lead tonight. Yeah, you might need him this afternoon, but the opposing pitcher (Brandon McCarthy), has an ERA near 8.00. One would hope the Yanks could tee off on his for a few runs. And then you get into the weekend, where the Yanks face just one guy with an ERA below 5.50 (Jarrod Washburn, whom we beat on Sunday). Gotta keep Mo sharp.
• We’re back at .500! Too bad the Red Sox are just as hot.

Wang vs. Brandon McCarthy today at 1:05. Please, I don’t want to be under .500 again.