OK Joba, you want be a starter? Here you go. You want a shot to be the big game ace? Here it is complete with the silver platter: an August show down with the Red Sox. They’ve won all 8 showings so far but you Bronx boys are up 2.5 in the division. That was the spring and this is the summer. Time to grab sack and pitch like the beast you’ve resembled the past 3 weeks. Time to show your critics that the only time you belong in the bullpen is right before the anthem is sung. 

Chamberlain will take the mound tonight to start the 4 game series against the Red Sox. Girardi plucked him out of the line up Tuesday night, giving him an extra 2 days rest and the nod for tonight and why not? Joba is 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA since the all-star break. He has indubitably been the best starter for the Yankees since the break and his last victory came against the defending ALCS champs, allowing only three hits through 8 innings of shutout baseball.  He seems to be getting better as the season wears on and that shouldn’t change tonight.

The Yankees put together a real team effort last night to snag a victory from a tough Blue Jays team that had an early lead. It took 5 pitchers to get the win and none of those 5 guys were MO so he’ll be well rested for the Boston series.  Alfredo Aceves ended up with the victory Wednesday night improving his record to 7-1. It was a scrappy performance by each pitcher that helped the Yankees close out the game after the offence grabbed a lead in the 7^th. This collective effort victory, paired with a Boston loss, gives the Yankees a 2.5 game division lead and a little momentum heading back home to play host.

With Boston’s newly acquired Victor Martinez it looks as if these two teams will match up pretty evenly on the offensive side of the ball.  Both teams have players that perform in big situations, both teams have powerful run producers, and both teams have big name players that dabbled in some steroids. Both are plagued with scandal and hype and both will need to put on a show if they expect to win this weekend.

When looking at the probable starters for this series I see only one game where the Yankees don’t have the upper hand and that’s Friday’s game against Beckett. Josh Beckett is the essence of good production. He stands on the mound looks down at the batters, gets them out and moves on. Never intimidated, never panicked and always beating the Yankees. I said it. Josh Beckett beats the Yankees. He has since the 2003 World Series with the Marlins. Even when he gives up a lot of runs to the Yankees he wins (see earlier this spring). This time around he’ll be facing off against Burnett who despite an atrocious start his last time out, has looked very strong.

Then there’s Lester. Jon Lester has a career record of 3-0 with a 3.43 ERA in six starts against the Yankees. He REALLY never loses to the Yankees. But like a hitter due for hit in a slump this guy is due for a Yankee’s Spanking. He’ll close out the series against Pettitte who has played VERY strong as of late. Pettitte also has enough history with the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry to remember what it’s suppose to be like.

The truth of the matter is the Yankees have a better team. They should be in first and are in first. However, they haven’t played like the better team when playing the Red Sox. They need to get the monkey off their back and win tonight so that they can move forward and silence their critics. The Yankees want to win more than they lose this weekend and find themselves comfortably in first place come Sunday evening.  They should have no problems doing it but then again that’s why they play the games.

It’s been 5 long years since the world was turned upside down and Boston started winning. And in that 5 years the Yankees have looked hesitant when they should’ve looked confident.  They’ve seemed to have lost some of their strut and swagger and will need to find a way regain some of it during this 4 game series.  The Yankees are the strongest team in baseball, hopefully they’re strong enough to right the world and start beating the BoSox again.