Bronx, N.Y., July 22, 2007 — A good friend and veteran fellow Box 622 alum stopped by my seats Saturday night as we celebrated the 17-5 drubbing of the Rays that capped the double header sweep. “They should have saved a few of those runs for Andy Pettitte,” she said, and I agreed that prior to some very recent struggles, the veteran lefty certainly deserved to have his team play one behind him like the one we had just watched. Andy is a favorite, and meager offensive support and some early bullpen meltdowns cost him several wins this year.

And wouldn’t you know that once Andy dispatched the Rays in Sunday’s first fame on two whiffs and a grounder, the Yanks appeared to squander a good chance to jump in front? Tampa righty James Shields stuggled to find the zone early, walking Melky Cabrera leading off before missing the zone on the first three pitches to Derek Jeter. But Shields snuck across a strike and Jeter’s hard liner to the right of dead center settled into B.J. Upton’s glove. A popup and grounder followed, and Shields shook free.

Carlos Pena took Andy to the upper deck in right on the first pitch of the second, and the Rays had a quick lead. I needn’t have worried, however, as Hideki Matsui equaled Pena in effect, if not quite in length, on the second pitch of the bottom half, a drive to the lower level in right. Matsui got the Yankee bats going with a home run Saturday and, as we were soon to learn, the Yankee left fielder’s long drive had “unleashed the hounds” yet again. Melky Cabrera drilled a one-out double in the third to ignite a two-run rally, but Tampa equalled matters on a two-run single from second baseman Josh Wilson.

Once again, there was no reason for concern, and Robbie Cano grounded the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth over the first base bag. It rolled into the corner and when a cautious Delmon Young waited for a carom that did not come, the Yankee second baseman had a standup triple. What followed was very good offense, but it was fortunate offense as well, and Andy Phillips broke the tie by singling past short on the next pitch. Following a wild pitch, DH Shelly Duncan, a flailing strike out victim the inning before, walked on six pitches. Cabrera’s bouncer to third produced a force at second but not the double dip that seemed possible off the bat. Following his hard shot last time up, Jeter lifted a soft liner to right this time for a single, and Bobby Abreu followed with a seeing-eye rbi single up the middle.

We didn’t know it yet, but the rout was on. A-Rod singled for another score, and Abreu scampered across when Tampa catcher Dioneer Navarro threw the ball into center when Bobby and A-Rod pulled off a double steal. Matsui followed with an rbi single that sent Shields to the showers in favor of veteran lefty Casey Fossum. The Yanks didn’t skip a beat though, and Jorge Posada and Cano delivered back-to-back, run-scoring, one-base hits before Fossum struck out Phillips swinging after an eight-pitch battle. Shelly Duncan started with a big swing and miss, but four pitches later a similar swing hit paydirt, Duncan had his second homer in three days, and the Yanks had stunned Tampa with a 10-run inning. It took 25 pitches each from Shields and Fossum to finally close the frame, as the crowd gave the offensive outburst a lusty cheer.

And the Yanks were not done, as Abreu homered to right in the fifth, and Duncan led off the sixth with a drive to right center that kept carrying until it hit the back wall in front of the bleachers for his third home run in two days. Miguel Cairo, in for Jeter, smacked a hard liner to Jonny Gomes, and it caromed off the left fielder and bounced to the wall for what was ruled to be a double. Abreu singled in Cairo, and Alex Rodriguez joined the party with a hard liner to the visiting bullpen, his 498th career home run. At 18-3, the home team had surprisingly surpassed the 17 runs they scored in game two the day before.

Andy Pettitte pitched well and he struck out eight Rays batters through six, surrendring eight hits and three runs. He had a particularly effective cutter this day, a pitch he hasn’t thrown this year as much as he did in his first Yankee stint that came to a close four years ago. Joe Torre kept the Rays off balance with a steady diet of lefties, as Sean Henn went two, and Mike Myers allowed an unearned run in closing Tampa out in the ninth. A-Rod and Abreu joined Jeter on the bench as Joe sent Johnny Damon out to right, moved Phillips over to third, shifted Ducan from DH to first base, and Henn actually came into the game batting cleanup in Alex’s spot. With all the bounces going the Yanks’ way we almost expected Sean to get a hit, but he struck out on four pitches leading off the home eighth.

But the Yanks were not done, and Matsui singled to right to give him a 5-for-6 day with that early home run. Cano then blasted a first-pitch bomb to right for his fourth hit. It was the sixth Yankee home run, and Robbie was just a double short of hitting for the cycle. Phillips and Duncan walked and Cabrera singled up the middle for the Bombers’ 21st and last run of the day, in a game that would end up 21-4.

The Yanks are on a roll, but much of their success has coincided with two home stands that took place on either side of the All Star break and a four-game trip to Tampa. They have been giving packed houses more to cheer about than not, their rotation and pen are settling in, and they’ve turned in some of their best work on offense and defense in the last few weeks. Tomorrow, they’re off to Kansas City for four straight night games against a Royals club that has played Boston and Detroit tough of late. As was the case today after all the Saturday night runs, they’ll have to find a way to bring some of this offense on the road with them.

Monday represents the 119th anniversary of the birth of mystery writer Raymond Chandler, famous for creating the character of private detective Philip Marlowe. A screenwriter too, one of Chandler’s more famous books is The Big Sleep. With the last three wins vs. Tampa Bay having produced 45 runs in games that lasted 10 hours and one minute among them, I’d say the end of this homestand can be aptly described by the title of yet another famous Chandler tome:

The Long Good-bye

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!