Dunedin, FL., March 28 — Gulfcoast Florida breathed a collective sigh of relief this morning as the recent streak of hot and steamy weather broke, and we awoke beneath windy but dry skies and temperatures in the seventies. And this afternoon Yankee fans can officially relax a bit too. Bernie Williams played six innings in centerfield, and looked fine in postgame drills.

The Yankees pounded young Jays righty David Bush for three homers and seven quick runs in an 8-3 spanking that flew by in 2:15. Bush retired Bernie and Jeter leading off the game on four tosses, then yielded an A-Rod single, a six-pitch walk to Sheffield, and Ruben Sierra’s no-doubt-about-it blast to left center. Coming off Sierra’s game-winner yesterday, it was his second home run in as many at bats.

But the quick offense and the good news on Bernie notwithstanding, today’s biggest story may have been the introduction of an entirely different pitcher to the Yankee rotation. Eight years ago, I referred to him as “Bad Jaret,” and the Jays may have thought they were getting that guy when Jaret Wright plunked Reed Johnson with his fifth pitch, the first of his two hit-by-pitches on the day. But the real Wright showed two pitches later when Orlando Hudson bounced into a 6-6-3 and the first two of Jaret’s 12 ground-ball outs on the day.

We’ve been assured over the postseason that Wright has matured, realizing the way to pitch consistent winning baseball is not necessarily to overpower every batter in the opposition lineup. But I never would have expected the performance I saw today. Wright walked one and did not strike out anyone, facing only seven Blue Jays the whole day with two strikes on them. He poured in 14 of 23 first-pitch strikes while yielding two hits and a run each in the second and third, the only four safeties he allowed over six largely dominant frames. But perhaps the most telling stat is this. When he coaxed a swing and a miss by Cory Koskie (responsible for two of the hits, one rbi, and one run) on a 1-1 pitch with one down in the sixth, it was the only swinging strike Wright achieved all game. His 49-to-25 strikes-balls ratio was excellent, and he hit bats with 32 of the 49 strikes.

But the day belonged to the awesome Yankee offense before Wright established his game. With the quick 3-0 lead, Jorge Posada homered to right leading off the second on a 1-0 pitch, and Tony Womack quickly paid the price as Bush struck his leg with an 0-1 pitch. (When Jays second sacker Orlando Hudson was hit in his next at bat in the third, it seemed clear that Wright was saying, “a second baseman for a second baseman.”) With Womack limping to first, Joe Torre immediately replaced him with Caonabo Cosme, and the youngster sprinted to third when Bernie dumped a single into short right. Williams busted it to second as Jeter forced him on a roller to second with Cosme scoring, and Jeter scampered to second on an A-Rod bouncer. Then Gary Sheffield settled matters with a shot to left that had upper deck facade in Yankee Stadium written all over it, and the Yankee lead was 7-0.

Essentially that was the game. Young Bush settled down and set down 10 of 12 Yanks through five. Veteran righty Kerry Ligtenburg replaced him, and allowed a Cosme double down the left-field line with two down in the sixth. Then Bernie Williams crowned his day with a long triple to right center, looking in midseason form as he turned on the afterburners rounding second and sped to third with a classic popup slide. In retrospect, Bernie looked a bit wobbly in the field, although no flies were hit to him; he had a momentary bobble recovering Koskie’s double to left center in the third. But the two-for-four at the plate and the hard baserunning bespoke a player ready to take his place in Yankee centerfield.

In other highlights, Mariano Rivera responded to his back-to-back games test like the champion he is, notching two more K’s and one seeing-eye base hit in the seventh, and Steve Karsay pitched a dominant eighth (10 pitches, one-two-three, one strike-out). But the hard (make that HARD)-throwing Felix Rodriguez pitched to middling results, again having trouble with the strike zone in the ninth, and allowing a Shea Hillenbrand home run to close the scoring when he found the zone.

In the battle for spot no. 25, Damian Rolls lined out to left in his only at bat after taking over for Matsui, and Russ Johnson did the same but to center after subbing for A-Rod. But both Bubba Crosby and Colin Porter continued to impress. Crosby ran for Bernie after his sixth-inning triple, and made a nice catch at the wall to close the game. He flied deep to right in his only at bat. Porter took over right for Shef and took charge yet again on a shot falling into no-man’s land in short-right center to close the eighth, and he doubled to the gap in right center in his only at bat.

It was a fine day, and fun to root the team on after the early explosion. And the play of Bernie Williams was a sight for sore eyes. But on what would have been Vic Raschi’s 85th birthday, the most impressive performance was Jaret Wright’s. The no strikes outs was very un-Raschi-like, as Vic was known as the Springfield Rifle because he could throw so hard. But Yankee fans and brass would be delighted if Jaret can post anything like the numbers Raschi posted over eight years in Pinstripes: 120-50, on six World Series teams, all winners!

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!