Offense: The Yanks got to one of the league’s best pitchers (this year at least) in the opener, then dropped 11 runs on the Tribe in the second game. Another very strong offensive performance.

Studs:

Robinson Cano 6 for 12, 2B, RBI, R, BB
Alex Rodriguez 4 for 10, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, HBP
Derek Jeter 7 for 15, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
Hideki Matsui 5 for 12, RBI, 5 R, BB
Jose Molina 5 for 13, 2 2B, RBI, R
Jason Giambi 3 for 5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Duds:

Andy Phillips 1 for 7, RBI, R, BB, CS

Wilson Betemit went 0 for 2 with a sac bunt in the opener. Shelley Duncan did not come to bat in the series. Don’t look now, but Andy Phillips has become Doug Mientkiewicz.

Rotation: The Yankee pitching was outstanding over the weekend. The only concern is that the scuffling Cleveland offense might have been part of the reason. Phil Hughes dominated for six innings in the opener. Mike Mussina turned in his best start of the season on Saturday night, and Andy Pettitte cruised through the first six innings of the finale allowing just one run before being removed with one out in the eighth.

Bullpen: The pen only had to pitch six innings and go figure that Mariano Rivera would give up the only run (though Luis Vizcaino did allow an inherited runner to score in the finale).

The Good:

Joba Chamberlain was incredible in the opener, pitching two perfect innings and striking out four.

Mo, Vizcaino, and Ron Villone were the only other relievers who appeared in the series. Mo dominated in his first outing, but was shaky in his second. Neither Vizcaino, nor Villone was especially impressive, but neither did much damage either.

Conclusion: The Yankees have been catching a lot of teams at the right time, missing their ace starters, catching them during slides, etc. The good news is that they’ve taken advantage of every single one of them. Sweeping the season series against Cleveland is huge. Everyone had this series circled on their calendars at the All-Star break, and the Yankees made it look like they were playing another cupcake. In doing so, they knocked Cleveland back out of the AL Central lead and now hold a 1.5-game lead over them in the Wild Card race (though they’re still trailing Seattle by that pesky game in the loss column, but they play the M’s at home in three weeks–circle that one too). Perhaps best of all, they seem to have taken the sweep in stride, like it’s no big deal. This team is dangerous.