Phew! I was getting nervous. I was certain Robinson Cano just preferred not to hit when a man was in scoring position. Hell, I was concerned Cano didn’t want to hit if a man was on base at all! But he put an end to that worry Wednesday afternoon with his walk-off single helping the Yankees to end their 7-game home stand with a 6-1 record.

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins nor was it the easiest. The Yankees got banged up bad sending A-Rod, Jeter and Posada on their cross continental flight bruised up and worn down, and not sending Mariano on the flight at all. However, Mo will be joining the team before their season high 11-day 10 game road trip starts Thursday Night in Seattle. He and Girardi have both claimed that his reason for not joining the team on their flight is a personal matter and not due to his sore arm (yes, that arm) that kept him out of Wednesday afternoon’s game. Girardi told the Daily News that Mo should be ready to pitch Thursday if he feels OK and that his soreness is nothing out of the ordinary.

Jeter and A-Rod both suffered minor injuries being hit by a pitch Wednesday: Jeter in the 1^st inning and A-Rod in the last. Jeter tried to play after being hit in the foot in the first inning but couldn’t make it beyond the third and was replaced by the recently called (back) up Ramiro Pena. Jeter should be good to go Thursday night as his X-rays came back negative.

A-Rod was scheduled to have Thursday night’s series opener off any way, but now the Yankees are hoping he won’t need another day off after being hit in his elbow during yesterday’s come-from-behind 11th. He stayed in the game eventually scoring the winning run. After the game his X-rays also came back negative.

AJ Burnett was coming off an electric win over the Red Sox and was a little wild making Posada hop around the plate all afternoon. Posada caught all 11 innings and was smacked and nicked by baseballs all day long. AJ threw 2 wild pitches that stemmed the argument of Wild Pitch or Passed Ball? Anything in the dirt should be blocked but some of those curveballs were ridiculous. Personally I’d give him 1 WP not 2. Posada will also most likely get the night off Thursday.

The babying has been taken to a whole new level as it was announced last night that Joba will be sitting out his next start and will not pitch until the Boston series. Normally this would send me into a rage of hostility toward the Yankee’s staff questioning why Brian CASH-man has so much say in how the pitchers are handled.   But this is normal now. Joba is going to spend the rest of the season making cameo appearances when mom and pop say it OK (I say Girardi is the mom here). With a comfortable lead over the Red Sox and the newly acquired Chad Gaudin, one can see where they’re coming from. I still say let the man pitch but I guess the boy’s gonna do what he’s told.

Looking at the next 5 games leaves me feeling a little unsettled. Not only is it an almost two week long road trip but the Yankees are feeling the heat and exhaustion of the dog days. Not to mention the Yankees will be throwing Sergio Mitre and Gaudin back-to-back. Neither of these two guys has a winning record nor an ERA below 5.04. Lets hope Gaudin’s less than average numbers were Padrefied.

This is a tougher Seattle team than the Yankees are most recently used to. There are mildly in the AL Wild Card race, they probably won’t come close to winning it but nothing would fire up a young Mariners team like beating the best team in baseball a few times. The Mariners are at home and didn’t just get off a jet-lagged flight from the east coast.

If what Girardi said last night holds true then the Yankees may be playing with out A-Rod or Posada (just the 4 and 5 hitters no biggie), and playing with a banged up Jeter and a sore MO. I realize the Yankees normally pounce on the Mariners but this is a little concerning. The Yankees are facing a long road-trip that includes a trip to Fenway and the Yankees need to get every win they “should” win, and games versus the Mariners are some of those “should” win games.

The Yankees have been the walk-off team of the season and have played very well in the clutch. But lets not forget that in Seattle the Yankees don’t get last licks and will possibly be relying on someone other than MO in the 9^th if his arm remains to sore to go. These next 5 games are going to be interesting and I predict Girardi having to get a little crafty with how he manages the ball club. They need to win more than they lose this road trip and maybe even a little more.