Entering this weekend’s series against the Cincinnati Reds, it looked as if the Yankees were salvaging a mediocre season. Things weren’t looking bad. But the loss of Chien-Ming Wang seemed to boding ill-fate for the Yanks. The only consolation to going down the first two games was a resurgent win on the third.

Game one was their first loss after a 7 game winning streak. It came, in part, from a controversial call by Joe Girardi. He told Mike Mussina to intentionally walk Jay Bruce. This was followed up by a Jolbert Cabrera’s double down the left field, setting the pace for a three-run inning for the Reds which culminated in a 4-2 loss.

Game two provided opportunities for the Yankees that never came to fruition, with the Reds again handing them a loss 6-0. The New York Post quotes Johnny Damon who managed to walk three times without scoring:

“It’s just a shame because we had so many opportunities to score runs and we didn’t. We didn’t find a way to put any pressure on them.”

Game three’s win owes a lot to Andy Pettitte. His time on the mound ended in the 6th inning with a rain delay. But it ended 19 straight innings without allowing a run. Additionally, he’s only allowed one run in his last three starts, all of which ended in Yankee victory.

Let’s hope that the rest of the New York Yankees season looks more like game 3, rather than game 1 and 2.