The brooms were out in full force yesterday in the Bronx as the Yankees completed their 3-game sweep of the first place Red Sox. They now stand 5 games out of first. Not too bad considering they were coming off a 2-5 road trip and dropped 4 games to the Sox in the standings before the series. Now as the calendar turns to September, the race for October gets a lil more tense.Yesterday's 5-0 win for the Yanks also put them ahead of the Seattle Mariners (who lost last night) in the wild card standings.

Pitching for the Yanks dominated in this series. Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Chien Ming Wang all delivered quality starts. Via Bill Madden NY Daily News

"We got outpitched three days in a row," said Curt Schilling. "Outpitched and outplayed."

Clemens and Wang both held Boston hitless through the first 5 innings. Mariano Rivera came in and got 2 saves, Joba Chamberlain made 2 appearances and left the Yankee Stadium crowd wanting more. Joba added some juice to the next Yanks-Sox series Sept 14-16 by "throwing" at Kevin Youkillis, that according to home plate umpire Angel Hernandez, who ejected the rookie pitcher in the 9th inning. Derek Jeter went 7 for 11 in the series.

"We need every game, I'd tell you the same thing if we beat a high school team three games in a row. We need victories, no matter who we play."

Robinson Cano hit a pair of HR's off of Schilling Thursday, the first lefty to do it since Barry Bonds did it in 2001.. Via Bryan Hoch, MLB.com

"Nothing's over until your last out," Cano said. "We've got a month left. We've got to keep playing hard and win games."

Even Jason Giambi did his best Tino Martinez impression in the series by playing an ourstanding first base. Johnny Damon hit a go ahead 2-run HR on Tuesday night against Boston, the way he used to hit them when he was on the other side of this rivalry. The Yankees made their pitches, got their hits, and made their plays when they needed them the most. The end result... picking up 3 games in the standings, leading the wild card, and Boston leaving town shaking their heads.

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Tags: Barry Bonds, Chien Ming Wang, Derek Jeter, Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Damon, Mariano Rivera, Robinson Cano, Roger Clemens, Yankees

Yankees-Red Sox. A rivalry like no other in sports. The two teams begin a crucial 3 game series at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night.Andy Pettitte (11-7, 3.69) faces Daisuke Matsuzaka (13-10, 3.76) in the series opener. The Red Sox are coming into the Stadium fresh off a 4 game sweep of the Chicago White Sox , the Yanks, come off a 16-0 debacle at the hands of the Detriot Tigers in the finale of a 4 game series, which saw the Bombers lose 3 of 4 and lose 3 games in the standings to Boston.

Roger Clemens (5-5, 4.34) takes on Boston ace Josh Beckett (16-5, 3.21) on Wednesday night 7:05pm.The Rocket takes on his former team for the first time since rejoining the Yankees.

Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang (15-6, 3.95) faces Curt Schilling, RHP (8-5, 4.11) in Thursday 1:05pm matinee. He is 2-1 in three starts against the Red Sox this season.



The two teams play again for their final series of the year Sept 14-16 at Fenway Park.With the Yanks looking up in the standings they are in a must win situation on a nightly basis, and the need for a series sweep this week against the Red Sox is a big one if they look to gain ground in order to overtake Boston for the divison lead.

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Tags: Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Chien Ming Wang, Roger Clemens, Yankees

The Yankees won again on Sunday. Like you should be surprised. They're 23-8 since the All-Star break and have won eight of their last nine games. They stand only four games out of first place and are tied for the lead in the wild card.

This weekend marked a stretch of games - excluding their series against Baltimore this week (Mon-Wed) - that will make or break their season. They face the Tigers (8 games), the Angels (3 games) and the Red Sox (3 games) before the month is over. All three teams are playoff contenders. They just completed a three game sweep of the Cleveland Indians, who at the start of the series, sat ahead of the Bombers in the standings.

Via ESPN.com

"I feel like we're the team...We've come full circle," said Andy Pettitte. "We were just struggling in all aspects of the game a few months ago. It was no fun losing. There's not a whole lot to complain about right now."

Those are the standings as we speak. With a month and a half left to go, can the Yanks maintain their hot streak and make it into October? It's a thought no one had in mind earlier in the season when they were 14 and a half back in May. Everyone is contributing from Cano to Caberera to Hughes to Chamberlain to Vizcaino. That doesnt include the All-Stars that are suppose to contribute. It's been a hot summer for most of the American League, but in the Bronx, it's been on fire.

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Tags: Andy Pettitte, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Joba Chamberlain, Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, Robinson Cano, Yankees

By now we have all seen the video, we have all read the papers and we all know Barry Bonds is your new All-Time HR leader. How does that sound? Not too good to most people.

Last night we saw the greatest record in sports broken in San Francisco. Bonds finally hit HR No. 756. Say what you want about him, but it was an event we will all remember. In an era of the "homerun", this was something that caught everyone's attention, whether you're a sports fan or not. Everything that came out of the chase for HR 756 would be good enough to put on the silver screen. It had drama, suspense, controversy, betrayal, loyalty, love, compassion, determination and it had its big star, Barry Bonds.

Steroids or not, what Bonds accomplished was nothing short of spectacular and last night demonstrated just that. Several Major Leaguers have been suspended for using illegal performance enhancing drugs and still haven't accomplished anything near what Barry did. It still takes skill to hit a ball over the fence. Did Barry have a little help? All the evidence leads you to believe yes. But what evidence are we talking about? His physical appearance? He allegedly began using steroids in 1998, and since then, his appearance has bulked up, to the point where he's stronger and his bat speed is quicker than it was back in his 20's. He is under investigation for perjury by a federal grand jury regarding his testimony in the BALCO case, but he has not been indicted. His trainer Greg Anderson has been in and out of jail solely because he won't talk on the issue of what he knows about Bonds and steroids. In 2003 Anderson was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and charged with supplying anabolic steroids to athletes. In March, 2006 the book Game of Shadows, written by Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, was released and stated that Bonds used stanozolol and a host of other steroids. That's more than enough evidence for most people.

We may never know what exactly was said during the BALCO trial and what was found during the BALCO investigation but until we get some official facts, I believe we should lay off Bonds. We have all at some point or another taken the easy way out or "cheated" to get ahead, so for us to reduce Bonds is ridiculous. The fact remains that the HR record of all-time was broken and it now belongs to Barry Lamar Bonds. In a society where we live by "innocent until proven guilty" we should all wait until we get the official facts. Until then, we should accept Bonds as the new all-time HR king and take it for what it is: a great accomplishment by a great athlete. Besides, a guy named Alex Rodriguez is on pace to one day break the record himself. Now that the chase is finally over, we can all get back to our everyday lives... and watch A-Rod's chase of Bonds and his all-time HR record*.

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Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Baseball

Alex Rodriguez finally did it. On Saturday afternoon Rodriguez became just the 22nd player in Major League history to hit 500 HR's. He also became the youngest to reach that milestone at 32 years and 8 days old. He is the 3rd Yankee ever to hit 500 HR.

One pitch is all it took from Kansas City starter Kyle Davies and A-Rod put his name in the history books. Once the ball left the bat, A-Rod stood at home plate and watched history fly into the left field seats. The show of emotion from Alex as he rounded the bases was all you needed to see to know how much he wanted to get this historic homerun out of the way.

Via ESPN.com

"I acted like a goofball running around the bases, but you only hit 500 once" said Rodriguez "I didn't know if it was going to be fair or foul. I was so relieved it stayed fair," Rodriguez said. "I hadn't hit one in so long."

Since hitting No.499 against these same Kansas City Royals 10 days earlier the rest of the team have gone on a homerun tear themselves, hitting 19 HR's. A-Rod finally joined the party yesterday. In a season filled with up's and down's both on the field and off the field, yesterday's milestone overshadowed all the low points of the season, for him and his team. Derek Jeter was the first one to greet Rodriguez at home plate as he concluded his trip around the bases, along with Bobby Abreu who also scored on the homerun. The rest of the Yankees, players,coaches and manager came out of the dugout to share their joy with Rodriguez on his lastest accomplishment. "I was a little embarrassed. I felt like we were in high school. All the guys coming out to shake my hand in the first inning." Once Alex reached the dugout, the Yankee Stadium crowd demanded he come out for a curtain call.

Via Filip Bondy, NY Daily News

"The energy of the fans put it in perspective," Rodriguez said. "It seemed they cared more about it than I did."

In attendance Saturday, A-Rod's wife, Cynthia Rodriguez and his agent Scott Boras. Everyone had a seat for this moment, unless you were late for the game. 500 HR's isn't what it once was, but it's still a special feat. At the age of 32 Rodriguez still has plenty of pop left in him. If he can stay healthy he can break the all-time homerun record. What the record will be at the time A-Rod starts flirting wit history again will be left to Barry Bonds, who also hit a historic HR yesterday, No. 755, tied for the most all-time.

Currently, A-Rod is four years and eight months younger than Bonds was when he hit No. 500. A chance for 800 career homeruns? Certainly. As we've seen the last two weeks, Rodriguez and Bonds both have glamourized for being on the verge of hitting historic homeruns. Every move, every at-bat, every game analyzed. Both went into prolonged slumps trying to get thier milestones out of the way and both finally hit them Saturday. For the Yanks, it was another magical afternoon in the Bronx, for A-Rod it was a trip into the record books and maybe even into the hearts of Yankee fans everywhere.

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Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Baseball, Yankees

If you didn't already know, the New York Yankees are worth alot of money. What you probably don't know, YES, the cable network that carries the Yankees is worth even more. According to Fortune Magazine the Yankees are looking to sell the YES Network. The estimated worth of the network is 3 billion or more. The estimated worth is based on cash flow and on how other regional networks have been worth.

The YES Network (Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network) made its debut on March 19, 2002. It has claimed to be the number sports regional network in the country. It is home to the Yanks and to the NBA's New Jersey Nets. Ownership of the network belongs to Yankee Global Enterprises, the team's parent company, which owns 35 percent of the network. The remainder is controlled by the Goldman Sachs Group and Providence Equity Partners, and an investment group headed by former New Jersey Nets owner Ray Chambers.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner's ailing health has become the major factor in all of this. One of other the reasons given for the sale is for estate tax reasons. Yankee brass have not given an indication of a possible sale,"The YES Network is not for sale," Yankees president Randy Levine said, although did give insight on perhaps having interest on the issue saying there was some "testing of the market."

Via ESPN.com

"We've owned the network for the past six years. All we're doing is getting a current view from the marketplace on the network's value," Goldman Sachs spokesman Peter Rose was quoted Thursday by The Associated Press. "From Goldman Sachs' perspective, we have made no decision to sell. If we got an offer that in our view reflected the premium value of the network, we would consider it." .

Fortune Magazine first broke the story on their website early Thursday morning. ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio and ESPN 2 were the first to break the story to the public via media. It is also reported that if the Yankees do in fact sell the YES Network, then the team itself will be the next to go on the bidding block. The team is believed to be estimated at 1.5 billion. The sale of the network can be completed as early as the end of the summer. It is not known if the sale of the network would directly influence the everyday production of television programming, Yankees telecasts, Nets telecasts, YES Network personnel or to the Yankees themselves.

More on this story as it becomes available.

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Tags: Baseball, Basketball, Nets, Yankees, YES Network