The Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night in a display that most closely resembled a “how to play and win in the big leagues” instructional video. For the 10^th time since the all-star break the Yankees exemplified solid pitching and confidant hitting barreling through the first game of their mini-road trip.

AJ Burnett surrendered 0 earned runs and only 2 hits through 7 innings of work, walking away with his 10^th win of the season. Albaladejo, and Robertson came in and dirtied his win a little bit but were beyond proficient in closing out the game. This was Burnett’s 3^rd victory in 4 starts (He had a no decision that Hughes picked up the W for three starts ago) and he has really been playing up to his paycheck and expectations.

Yankee fans should feel good about Burnett’s performance not just because of his numbers, but because of the hitters he managed to shut down through 7 innings. The Tampa Bay Rays have a stacked offensive line-up including the likes of Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, BJ Upton, and a surprisingly effective Ben Zobrist, to name a few. These are men that can hit, hit well and hit far.

Yet against AJ Burnett Monday night they only managed two singles between them. Burnett had great movement on his fastball, which may not have been as fast as normal but was just as effective, and was able to pull the string on his breaking ball and off-speed pitches all while working both sides of the plate.

The man’s crisp. He has, because of All-Star break days, taken over the number one spot in the rotation. This means that in situations like this one, where Burnett starts the first game of the series, the opposing side has no time to take a break or relax because Sabathia and Chamberlain, both whom have been hot lately, are following him up back to back. Opposing teams are screwed. They are facing two present day aces and one future ace in back-to-back-to-back days.

This holds true for the rest of the Yankees as well. It’s seems as if each player in the batting order can hurt you. This was proven Monday night when, Damon, Cano and Swisher (twice), went deep and everyone in the line-up got a hit. This is something Yankee fans have grown accustom to seeing this season, night in and night out; smart and timely hitting from 1 thru 9, each person able to hit a long ball if needed.

The Yankees are the hottest team in baseball right now. They’re the best team in the American League and are only one game behind the MLB leading Dodgers. They are equipped with one of the best starting rotations in baseball (and that’s with Sergio Mitre) and can back it up with a solid bullpen and THE BEST closer in baseball. Pitching wins ball games and at the moment the Yankees have it, hence their 10 wins in 11 chances since the All-Star break.

As one could probably tell the confidence level in the Bronx is high these day and because of that things are finally beginning to feel a little more…normal. They’re on the top, ahead of everyone in the America League and it feels good to watch them play. Next week should be fun…HI BOSTON ( I know, I know 0-8 this season thus far but why is it I can smell their fear already?)!

Wednesday night the Yankees will face the Rays once again and will have CC Sabathia taking the hill. He’s going to have his worked cut out for him because of the strong offensive line-up that I mentioned before but also because he’s facing off against Scott Kazmir.

I realize Kazmir has a losing record and an ERA above 6.50 but I can’t help but think of the fact that Kazmir is 5-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 13 games (12 starts) for his career against the Yankees. He was one of their aces last season and helped the Rays get to their first ever World Series. He has the stuff, it’s just a matter of him finding it but it’s rumored that something could be wrong with his throwing arm, he’s felt stiffness in his forearm his past two starts. So despite my initial hesitation I have to give the advantage to Sabathia.

CC has won three in a row and has seemed to hit his stride that everyone knew he eventually would. He should keep his win streak alive tonight even though he’s facing a tough line-up on the road. He’ll be looking for, and finding, his 11^th win of the Tuesday night.

The Yankees are rolling and they aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. If one guy is having an off night, another guy will pick him up. If the pitchers are wild the offense will smack the ball around for them, and if the hitters can’t seem to find their swing, then the pitchers seem to bail them out. It’s a team effort and it’s powerful. The dog days are just getting started and the Yankees are showing that they are more than ready–the question is, are the rest of ‘em?