NEW YORK -- Great. Now "El Duque" is pitching gems. The words we were hearing to describe the Yankees -- "vulnerable" and "catchable" -- now seem incorrect. And while they may not be invincible, they are undeniably winners.
New York comes into this weekend's series a comfortable 8 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox in the American League East, after a 1-0 victory yesterday over Toronto on Ruben Sierra's walkoff home run and Orlando Hernandez's seven innings and 10 strikeouts.
There's no pressure this weekend on the Yankees. The only thing they'd like to avoid is a three-game sweep, as that would create the impression the Sox still have an outside shot at the division title.
"I really don't think of it as that big of a lead," said rejuvenated first baseman Tony Clark, whom the Red Sox probably would love to have back, two years after his most disastrous major league season. "I know the players over there. I know what they're capable of. I would never say they're out of it in July. You're never out of it this early."
Asked about the significance of this weekend, Yankees manager Joe Torre said, "It'll be the same [as always]. If we were fighting for fifth place it would the same."
Alex Rodriguez certainly pumped the July theme and downplayed the big lead, saying, "There are no conclusions in July."
A-Rod has not been very good against the Red Sox (.225), but no reason to fret. His teammates have been just fine, especially in that weekend sweep at the end of June when Derek Jeter was crashing into the stands and Nomar Garciaparra couldn't get off the bench. That series more than made up for the Yankees losing six of seven to Boston in April.
"I feel much more comfortable as a Yankee than I did back then," Rodriguez said. "The chemistry is a lot better. I just stunk in those games. Things are starting to improve. I'm starting to get closer to where I want to be at the plate. I just want to be consistent overall no matter who I'm playing against."
What frustrates Sox fans is that the Yankees have jumped out despite plenty of problems.
To start, Jason Giambi and Kevin Brown have both suffered from intestinal parasites, and Giambi has been seeing specialists the last two days, including getting a test for cancer yesterday. Jeter picked it up after a poor start, but a non-displaced fracture of his right hand sidelined him yesterday. Jeter may try to play this weekend.
There are other concerns: the gradual aging of Bernie Williams; Rodriguez's less-then-stellar offensive season, highlighted by a woeful .216 with runners in scoring position; a beat-up Jorge Posada; a less-than-stellar Mike Mussina (eligible to come off the disabled list today, but could be sidelined until August).
