Now that's more like it

It took the lowly Kansas City Royals and Brian Bannister to get the Yankees back on track, but I'll take any series win at this point in the season.

The Yankees scored 15 runs on 17 hits, four of which left the park. 10 of those runs were charged to Bannister who only recorded three outs.

It wasn't pretty for the Yankees in the top of the first inning. Mike Mussina gave up three runs and four hits and didn't look to remain in the game long enough to even think about earning his 16th victory of the season. Things changed for the better in the bottom half of the frame, as the Yankees scored six runs and were off. They would go on to score five more runs in the next two innings while Mussina retired the final 15 batters he faced after a single in the second inning.

In total, Mussina (16-7) gave up three runs over six innings (a quality start!), striking out five and walking none. Billy Traber and Chris Britton gave up three runs, but that's why they're pitching in blowouts and not close games.

Don't look now, but Derek Jeter is approaching the .300 mark. His 4-for-4 afternoon puts him at .295 on the season. Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-3 with a three-run home run and 5 RBI. Jason Giambi hit a second-inning grand slam, and Xavier Nady and even Cody Ransom hit long balls.

After an off day tomorrow, the Yankees will begin a three-game series in Toronto on Tuesday.

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Kennedy optioned

The Yankees have optioned Ian Kennedy to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and have called up LHP Billy Traber, according to Peter Abraham.

Kennedy was sent down with instructions to work on his pitching, not work on throwing seven shutout innings. He has proven he can win in the International League. He need to work on specific things now like his two-seamer and curveball.

Kennedy looked lost on Friday night, so this is the right move no matter who they called up.

It really makes you wonder what they're teaching these "prospects" in the minor leagues. Hopefully they've realized what's wrong with Kennedy and can fix him because with each bad start, he is looking like a AAAA pitcher.

Traber down

Updating the previous story, Billy Traber was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when Justin Christian was called up, according to Ed Price.

Despite Christian not being on the 40-man roster, the Yankees did not need to make a move, as Steven White was taken off the roster on Friday.

Traber recalled

With Chien-Ming Wang being placed on the disabled list, the Yankees recalled left-handed reliever Billy Traber to take Wang's roster spot, according to Peter Abraham.

Traber appeared in 11 games for the Yankees in April, giving up four earned runs in eight innings pitched. He struck out six and walked five.

Since then, he's been in Triple-A and has amassed a 4.07 ERA in 22 appearances (11 earned runs in 24 1/3 innings). He has also struck out 25 batters while walking eight.

It is likely that Dan Giese will start in Wang's place on Saturday.

Back from Maine

I just got back from Maine, and boy are my legs tired.

The Yankees have lost two games (three-straight overall) and some moves have been made. I was unable to watch the games, so I don't have the right to comment. Here are the moves that have gone down:

Before today's game, Shelley Duncan was called up, as lefty reliever Billy Traber was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Lefties had been hitting .375 against Traber, so he isn't serving much of a purpose if he can't get lefties out. Loyal readers of the blog already know my stance on lefty relievers, so it's not a big deal if the bullpen doesn't have a lefty reliever for the sake of having a lefty reliever.

Before last night's game, it was learned that Brian Bruney has a torn ligament in his foot and will be out for the season. Chad Moeller was also designated for assignment. This resulted in Chris Britton and Jonathan Albaladejo being called up to give the bullpen some extra arms.

Apparently Joba Chamberlain tweaked his hamstring the other day and is receiving treatment. The Yankees are being quiet about the injury, so I'll pass along any information I can get when it becomes available.

After losing three-straight, the Yankees are one game below .500. As evidenced by the record, the team has been very up and down so far. The Yankees have been on two three-game winning streaks and have followed both with a three-game losing streak. Hopefully Chien-Ming Wang can be the stopper tomorrow afternoon. If they can pull out a victory tomorrow, they'll have a chance to split the series Monday night.

Woodward released, Henn DL'd

Chris Woodward was released after today's game, cutting the total number of players left in camp to 42, according to Peter Abraham.

This leaves the Yankees with Wilson Betemit as the only utility infielder on the Major League roster, which is a rather scary thought.

Sean Henn was also put on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis. He is out of options and Billy Traber has pretty much won the left-handed specialist job, so it'll be interesting to see what happens with Henn when he recovers. If Traber is successful, I would guess that the Yankees would put Henn through waivers.

The game has finally been called

Today's game was finally called in the middle of the sixth inning with the Yankees leading 2-0.

Billy Traber followed Kei Igawa, striking out the side in his one inning of work. Igawa threw 18 pitches for 13 strikes.

The Toronto Blue Jays did not have a base runner through their five innings.

Shelley Duncan and Melky Cabrera had the two RBI for the Yankees this afternoon.

The Yankees return to Tampa tomorrow to take on the Minnesota Twins. The game can be seen on YES and ESPN at 1:15 p.m. Ian Kennedy will take on Kevin Slowey.