Last night's matchup between one of the best pitchers of the last 20 years against possibly one of the best for the next 20 years did not dissapoint. Mariners 19-year old rookie phenom Felix Hernandez was great, but 20th century legend Randy Johnson was not to be outdone as he gave up only three hits in 7 shutout innings en route to a 2-0 victory for the Yanks. Hernandez gave up only four hits in 8 innings himself, but two of those hits were home runs, one each to Robinson Cano and Gary Sheffield. Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera both gave us solid outings out of the bullpen, and Rivera recorded his 35th save this season in 39 chances.

With the win, the Yankees remain 2.5 games behind Boston and they are now a full game ahead in the wild card race over the Angels. The Indians' loss to the Tigers pushed them to 1.5 games behind the Yankees. Hey, don't look now, but the Yankees are actually just 5.5 games behind the White Sox for the best record in the American League and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Does anybody still want to talk about how the Yankees can't pitch? This game was the Yankees' 10th shutout victory this season, tying them with Oakland for the most in the American League. That's almost a shutout for every seven victories. Not a bad ratio at all. I really don't understand why people still use that "The Yankees don't have the pitching" argument. They've really been for the most part pretty solid for the last month or two. The only problems we've had have been a few guys who have struggled in middle relief. But I'd much rather be in this position than in the Red Sox' position when it comes to pitching.

The Yankees will finish up this series in Seattle this afternoon as they try to take 3 out of 4 before heading to Oakland for a big series with the A's. The pitching matchup will feature Jaret Wright for the Yanks against Joel Pineiro.