This blog will combine Friday and Saturday’s games as, well, it was the weekend.  I don’t have the time or ability to post on Friday nights. Here’s an example of why that would be a terrible idea:

“Friday….Pettttittee throwin the ditty diapers strikezone control off the world. Swisher the mans an amazins man…………………..”

See, that’s just no professional.

So, with a clear head, let’s take a quick look at the wins on Friday and Saturday.

If the Yankees would have put up anything less than four runs against Ponson I would have been upset.  Sidney Ponson (a Yankee Legend of course, see first post from last year) is a pitcher who pounds the zone, and the Yankees put out a lineup that had six straight lefties batting right in the heart of it.  And they got the job done.  Ponson battled, he gave the Royals six innings after the Yanks had him on the ropes a few times, but the Yankees, behind Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher, were able to get enough runs for Andy Pettitte, who did not need many on  Friday night.

Pettitte was simply awesome.  Him and Posada immediately got in a groove, all his pitches were working, and he kept the weak Royals offense off-balance all game.  As I stated in my rotation preview, I wasn’t sure if Pettitte’s struggles last year were due to health issues or was the case of an older pitcher with diminished stuff, but against the Royals (who are not scoring runs this season. And this was before Jose Guillen got hurt) he looked healthy and dominant.  And, don’t forget, he’s the fourth starter on this team.  Which brings me to the ace…

CC Sabathia followed Pettitte’s Friday dominance with some Saturday dominance of his own.  Completely the polar opposite of his Opening Day start, be it less pressure (debatable) or the minor mechanical fix Dave Eiland had him make in his bullpen session, he had every pitch working, especially his fastball, which was hitting the mid-90s right away.  Again, this wasn’t much of an offense, but CC dominated and went deep into the game (I loved that he wanted to stay out there in the eighth.  I know the pitch-count worries, but someone, I think it was Tom Seaver, has brought up the fact that an easy 100-plus pitch outing can feel like a breeze compared to an 80-pitch outing where a ptichers is struggling in and out of jams all day.  CC was breezing, so I’m not concerned with him pitching deep into a game with a six-run lead).  He earned his first win as a Yankee, and now should expect a warm reception at Thursday’s home opener.

The other star of the game was, again, Nick Swisher…who’s honestly been a featured player in his three starts this season.  I still want Xavier Nady as the starting right fielder (he did have two hits Saturday) as Swisher can play all three outfield positions, first, and DH, but, as long as this hot streak continues, Swisher better (and I’m sure, will) be in the starting lineup.

So, after the first two poor starts, this team (Outside of Cody Ransom. Again, he’s a Triple-A player keeping third warm for A-Rod, but he’s had one hit, a few fielding gaffs, and somehow got stranded off second on a grounder hit to short to get picked off. I’m not at all worried because he’s not expected to be around long-term, but he’s looking like a career Minor Leaguer) is in fine form.  I will be missing today’s (well, likely most of it) debut of Joba Joba Joba, but hopefully they can get the winning streak to four with a sweep of Gil Meche and the Royals.