CC and A-Rod step up, just in the nick of time

In case you haven't heard (and judging by the attendance at the NYS, you have) the Yankees have been awful lately. I mean, everything has been going wrong. We are down to our minor league catcher, Francisco Cervelli, after both Jorge Posada and Jose Molina went on the DL. Damaso Marte is on the DL. Our bullpen has been atrocious: Albaladejo, Veras, and Melancon all have ERAs over 5.40, and Aceves and Ramirez have ERAs over 4.15. Even Mariano gave up back-to-back HRs for the first time in his career....and was taken out mid-inning (!) to complete an epic fail. (For those keeping score at home, Rivera has equaled his HR total from last year, with 4 so far.)

Oh, it gets better. Joba struck out 12 Red Sox in 17 batters....after he gave up 4 runs on 5 hits before retiring a batter in the top of the first. The Yanks came back to tie the game twice against the Rays...only to fall behind a third time in the 9th. And the Yankees had not led a ballgame since last Saturday, for a total of more than 41 innings...

...until tonight. CC Sabathia, the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history, did what the Yankees paid him to do. He threw a complete game shutout, striking out 8, walking 1, and giving up only 4 hits. After losing 5 in a row, the Yanks needed a stopper, and CC -- for the first time in his Yankee career -- came through. Finally. And he did it in style, retiring 16 straight at one point, and finishing off the O's by striking out the side in the bottom of the 9th.

You also might have heard that a certain third baseman returned to the lineup tonight. Alex Rodriguez announced his presence with authority (H/T Dan Patrick) by crushing a 3-run HR on the first pitch he saw in the top of the first inning. Yes, you read that correctly. A-Rod homered on the first pitch he saw in the 2009 MLB regular season. Welcome back!!

For the record, Andrew and I talked on Tuesday about how A-Rod might perform after rejoining the team. We agreed that it was possible he could suck. He'd blame it on Selena Roberts' book, nagging hip pain, and maybe even on lingering steroid trash talk due to Manny's suspension. The fans would get on him and the cycle of popup-boo-strikeout would begin.

But we concluded that A-Rod would come back and do his best T-1000 impersonation: destroy every pitcher in sight. Now that his performance has been questioned -- can he slug without the drugs? -- he will make every sportswriter, hater, and Red Sox fan eat their words. He is a man on a mission. He will pile up numbers until everyone is forced to concede that he is a superhuman talent, whether or not he's taking a still-unspecified PED. Tonight was a great start. If Andrew and I are correct, he will start piling up some huge numbers to silence his critics. Especially now that he's healthy, and more importantly, now that the Yankees need him desperately.