Redemption of a sort

Taking three of four in Bawstin is always a good thing, so The Monk is pleased with the Yankees' efforts this weekend. Better yet were the performances of three players who've had recent struggles, two against the RedSawx.

First, Alex Rodriguez who had 1 RBI in his previous games as a Yankee at Ratway. This weekend, three bombs -- the one that beat Schilling Thursday, the one that started the scoring in Saturday's win and the capper in Sunday's victory. This year, the Yanks have his back, as Sheffield said, and don't underestimate the importance of that. In 1998, before the Yanks had completely run away with the AL East, they faced the Orioles at the Stadium for a three-game set. In game 1, Armando Benitez threw at Tino (of all people), benches emptied, the Yanks went after Benitez, the O's only halfheartedly protected him and didn't defend him in the press that night. The O's were the defending AL East champs. They spiraled into the can from there and ended up 79-83. Last year, the A-Rod/Varitek shoutathon began and the Yanks failed to rise to the challenge. The Blosax did, overcoming a 9-2 deficit in that game, winning on a three-run bomb against Rivera and tearing the AL a new one for the rest of the year.

Second, Rivera who saved all three games, gave up only two cheap hits in three innings (one that got past a badly positioned Tino -- blame that on coaching; and a bloop), and blew the RedSawx to shreds Thursday night. Say what you will about previous failures (and I'll defend Mo on four of his 5 postseason honks), the man is absolutely deadly this year with an opponents' batting average only slightly better than .150.

Third, Al Leiter, whose struggles at Florida in a pitchers' park are a complete mystery to me. After all, he may have only had about six innings per start last year, but he had a 3.21 ERA and gave up only about 135 H in 173 IP. This weekend, he put out the best performance of any Yankee starter.

One-half game back after sucking wind for most of the year is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, the Yanks can continue to survive with a starting staff that includes the Aaron Smalls and retreads of the world.