 On Deck (Game 56): Yankees at White Sox
Boston is headed in the opposite direction. They’ve lost five out of six games, their starting pitching has failed them, their bullpen has failed them, and they haven’t gotten the clutch hits and miracle comebacks which defined their early season. The Yankees have five straight winable games coming up, two more at Chicago, then a three-game set at the stadium against the Pirates. Boston has two more in Oakland, and then three in Arizona. At Arizona either Lowell, Youkilis or Ortiz is out of the lineup. This deficit could be manageable by next week. Chien-Ming Wang will square off against an old friend tonight. You remember Javier Vazquez, he’s the stiff that gave up the grand slam to Johnny Damon in the 2004 ALCS, the hit that basically ended that series. Let’s hope the Yanks can exact some revenge against Vazquez, yet another NL pitcher who couldn’t hack it in the Bronx. In a nutshell: Abreu and Cano are officially out of their slumps. When the calendar flipped to June, they both woke up. Cano seems to hit a line drive on any pitch he can reach. He’s spraying the ball all over the field. Abreu has regained his confidence, his patience, and managed to keep his nose on the ball. I wouldn’t want to be a right-handed pitcher facing the Yanks right now. Oh, and Mr. April is turning in a solid June thus far as well. Key to the game: Torture Javy. Sox blog-of-the-series: Tremendous Upside Potential 
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Four out of six is a nice little streak, all on the road. If the Yanks finish their season winning four out of every six games, they’ll wind up with a 95–67 record. Five out of seven, now that’s really nice. The Yanks need to keep this string of good play going 
Let's hope that the Wang doesn't get spanked tonight.
Hey Brian,
Off topic, but do you think the Yankees have an interest in Ichiro?
He'll be a free agent at season's end, and there's been speculation that he'll be traded before the deadline.
JJ,
I hope Ichiro doesn't get traded this year. The Mariners are only 1 game out of the wild card, and I hate to see salary-cutting moves when a team is in the playoff hunt. I think it's the ultimate slap in the face for the fans.
As for the Yanks, I don't think signing him at this point is a good move, unless you can get him to sign a 2-year, maybe 3-year deal. I love his bat, and obviously his defense is sick. He'd help the Yanks for two, maybe three years. Anything more than that and he's going to be overpaid albatross at the end of his contract.
I'd prefer the Yanks get younger with their bats, they've already started to get younger with their arms via trades and draft, in the last year.
Jack,
The Wang is going to spit all over the Sox.