Nady to the Dl; Yanks win

The Yanks beat Tampa today 4-3. Andy Pettitte pitched 7 and a third, with 6 hits, 3 runs, and 4 K's. He threw 62 of 96 pitches for strikes. Brian Bruney came in and got two outs, both strikeouts. Derek Jeter hit an RBI single, scoring Cody Ransom, to give the Yanks a 4-3 lead before Mariano came in to close out the game. It's great to come back from that 15-5 loss, and then win the next two games against the Rays.

On a less cheery note, Xavier Nady will be put on the DL with elbow pain, and may require surgery, and may be out for the year, as I wrote earlier. Before anyone says we need to get a replacement, just remember that we have Nick Swisher to play right. And he's been doing so well that Conor has him up in the "6 pound 8 ounce" category of Gods right next to Joba. Nady's gone, but we'll have A-Rod in the lineup in 2 or 3 weeks it looks like, so his loss from the lineup won't be huge. The main issue is that now Girardi can't rest Damon, Tex, Swish, and Matsui as often as he has so far. Melky Cabrera now moves into the 4th outfielder role, up from the 5th outfielder role. Nady's roster spot could be used for a pinch hitter/power hitter type like Juan Miranda, or it might be used to bring up a long man, which the Yanks badly need, as we were reminded in Wang's start. Dan Giese is an Oakland A now, and the Yanks don't plan on using Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy as a long man, as it could hurt their development, so we may see Brett Tomko or Kei Igawa take on that long reliever role. Alfredo Aceves conceivably could become the long reliever, but he's still young at 26, and the Yanks might not want his development to slow either. Remember that the Yanks might just send down a reliever for a long man, and then bring up Miranda to take Nady's spot. Whatever happens, we should see someone from Scranton in the Bronx soon.