There’s not much more to say than the Yankees were beat by a better team. The Yankees didn’t pitch well and they didn’t hit well. When you don’t do those things better than your opponents, you lose. It’s simple. The team that executes wins and the Rangers executed better than the Yankees in all facets of the game.

It’s going to be an interesting off-season for the Yankees. They have some in-house decisions to make and I’m confident that they will do the right thing when it comes to Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Joe Girardi.

Some other things I’d like to see is Kerry Wood to return in the setup role, free agent Javier Vazquez not come back, and Andy Pettitte to return for one more year. Obviously, it would be nice if the Yankees can get their hands on either Cliff Lee or Carl Crawford, two of top free agents.

The Yankees will come back strong in 2011 and they will be a contender for the World Series.

Sabathia got behind hitters often in Game 1 and didn’t have great command. He didn’t walk a batter in this start. Although his hit total was high, he worked out of trouble and didn’t allow the big hits with runners on base.

After the game ended, I heard Nick Swisher yell “two more” to his teammates. If the Yankees keep hitting like they did today and pitching like they did today, Swisher’s words could become a reality. But those both could be gigantic ifs. Phil Hughes, who got knocked around in Game 2, goes for the Yankees in Game 6. He, like Sabathia, can make up for his poor first start with a big performance in another elimination game. The Yankees are also going to have to keep their bats going because if they score seven runs in Game 6, they will have a great chance at sending this series to a Game 7. I’ll worry about Cliff Lee in Game 7 when that game comes. The Yankees are going to have to get there first.

Down 5-0, Robinson Cano hit a solo home run in the 7th to get the Yankees on the board. In the 8th, the Yankees scored five runs, all with no outs, and took a one run lead into the bottom of the 8th. Kerry Wood pitched the 8th and Mariano Rivera closed the door on the Rangers in the 9th.

Yankees’ starter CC Sabathia looked rusty and pitched out of the strike zone all day. His command wasn’t there and Ranger hitters took advantage. The two big blows were Josh Hamilton’s three-run homer in the 1st inning and Michael Young’s two-run double in the 4th inning.

Rangers’ starter CJ Wilson stymied the Yankees, but after he was relieved in the 8th, the Rangers’ bullpen couldn’t hold the lead he handed them. The Yankees’ rally started with a hustle play by Brett Gardner, which was followed by a Derek Jeter double that knocked Wilson out of the game.

This has to be such a disheartening loss for the Rangers. If this carries into Game 2, the Yankees could be heading home with a 2-0 series lead.

This article wasn’t supposed to be about starting pitching. It was supposed to be about how the Yankees are getting offensive contributions from different and sometimes unexpected guys each night. Going on a tangent about starting pitching shows you just how important it is. Yankee fans don’t need to be reminded of that, however, because they learned the importance of starting pitching throughout the years and saw it at it’s peak in the playoffs last year.

The Yankees’ bullpen hasn’t pitched very well, but the offense has given the bullpen a nice cushion in most games to work with. The source of offense has been a story for the Yankees thus far. With Nick Johnson and Mark Teixeira, the number two and three hitters in the lineup, batting under .200, and Teixeira and A-Rod hitting two home runs each so far, you would think the Yankees were having problems offensively. There is a reason they are still winning games at a high rate. They have actually gotten contributions from unusual sources and strong contributions from one man named Cano. 

Cano has been red-hot and for a few games he was hitting every single ball on the nose and driving them to right field. His nine home runs and 21 RBI can’t go overlooked as a reason they keep winning. It has also been another typical, strong season for the Captain. He is actually second on the team with 20 RBI.

The unusual contributions have come when Randy Winn hit a big three-run home run while replacing the injured Granderson, Cervelli having a big all around game against the Orioles, Thames batting over .400 and taking advantage of his playing time, and Gardner batting over .340 and heating up the base paths. Getting contributions from these guys while some of the big guns are struggling tells you a lot about a team. Somebody has been there to pick up the slack. They’ve been a great “team”. 

Granderson’s hurt, Vazquez is struggling, Posada’s banged up, Mo is stiff, Johnson’s not hitting, Tex is just waking up and A-Rod is having a power outage. This team should be hovering around .500. Instead, other guys are doing their jobs plus a little more, and the incredible starting pitching is allowing the Yankees to score four or five runs and win games. A few years ago they had to score seven or eight runs to win games. That’s no longer the case with the pitching staff the Yankees have today.

But the good vibes were quelled quickly on Tuesday as the bats fell silent and the bullpen couldn’t piggyback on a gutsy outing by Phil Hughes, as the Yankees aided the Orioles in attaining their first home win of the season.

Concern spread across the Empire that the teams quick start may be grinding to a halt and that their bullpen, an incredible advantage in 2009, was showing signs of being very human. But that all changed in less than twenty-four hours. The Yankees teed off on Oriole’s starter Jeremy Gthrie. What was most impressive was that, of the eight runs scored, the 3-4 combo of Teixeira and Rodriguez accounted for only one of them, a sac-fly by A-rod.

On the hill, CC Sabathia showed why he is an ace by holding the Orioles to 3 runs in 7.2 innings. And just like that, the Yankees were back to their winning ways. That momentum carried over into Thursday night as AJ Burnett hurled a gem shutting out the Orioles with 8 innings of 3 hit ball before Rivera came on in the 9th to pitch in a non-save situation.

The offense, while quieter than Wednesday, was led by Robinson Cano, the American League’s leading hitter. His two home run performance left him batting a torrid .407. It is Cano who is carrying both the power and run production of the big bats in the middle of the Yankees line up. He his as much responsible for their strong start out of the gate as is the starting staff.

With Texeira’s typically slow start and A-Rod not quite finding his power swing yet. It is Cano who is making opposing pitchers pay. It is unlikey that he will hit .400 for year, but when Teixeira & A-Rod do turn it on. It will be an impressive display of power in the heart of the Yankees lineup.

The pitching staff also seemed to have found it’s grove after it suffered a hiccup out west. Despite the no-Decision, Phil Hughes was brilliant on a night when it appeared he didn’t have his best stuff. CC and AJ followed suit with dominating performances. So, the Yankees head home after the 9 game trip in just about the same shape they left, firing on almost all cylinders.

The Yankees needed everyone to win the championship. Not everyone had Hideki Matsui numbers in the World Series but it took a complete team effort to get to October and get through the ALDS and ALCS. Phil Hughes had a tough postseason but was a big reason why the Yankees had such a strong regular season. Robinson Cano didn’t have many hits in the postseason but batted .320 in the regular season.Then there’s Damaso Marte who had an injury plagued regular season and became Girardi’s go-to-guy with outstanding pitching in the postseason.

There’s also the guys that are consistent; The “Core Four”. Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Pettitte were good all season and their postseason experience shined in 2009. Rivera was the only closer in the postseason not to blow a save. Pettitte was the starter in each of the Yankees three series clinching games. Posada came back from an injury riddled 2008 season and led the pitching staff and clubhouse. Jeter was Jeter. What else can be said about the Yankees captain.

On to the newcomers. Sabathia, Burnett, Teixeira, Swisher. The Yankees don’t make it to the World Series without acquiring these guys. Sabathia was incredible in the postseason. He went 3-1 in five starts with a 1.98 ERA in the postseason. Teixeira led the AL in home runs during the regular season with 39. He also had two big postseason home runs. Remember back to the first month of the season and Nick Swisher kept the Yankees going when A-Rod was out with injury and the bats were as cold as the April and May weather.

Finally, A-Rod. He was clutch. Nobody can say he chokes in October anymore. He put his critics to rest. He batted over .360 in the postseason with six home runs and 18 RBI. A-Rod was a big reason why the Yankees won number 27.

The Yankees broke in the original Yankee Stadium with a World Series championship in 1923. In 2009, the Yankees broke in the new Yankee Stadium with a World Series championship.