Javier Vazquez threw a nice game and the Yankees shut out Kansas City for the second straight game. Derek Jeter was the offensive star for New York. I missed the game, but Emily had an off-day and was around the house. I knew that the Yankees had a three-run lead going into the eighth but when I got home last night I didn’t know the final score. After kissing Em hello, I asked her how the game went?

“Javey was really good. He was throwing a lot of balls and they weren’t swinging at them. Cecil Turtle [Tony Clark] hit a home run onto the grass by the water and it stayed there for the rest of the game. Giambi struck out a lot.”

“Did we win?”

“I don’t know. I got distracted cleaning my closet.”

“You don’t know who won?!?!?”

“Jeter had a good game.”

Right. We’ve been monitoring Jeter’s decline in on-base percentage for the past few months–Steven Goldman provides the numbers in his latest “Pinstriped Bible”; at the same time, Jeter has hit for more power than he has since his superstar 1999 campaign. Tyler Kepner notes in the Times:

With two doubles and a homer, Jeter has 62 extra-base hits, approaching his career high of 70 in 1999. He has 40 doubles, a career high, and 21 homers, 3 fewer than his best.

It’s been an interesting season for the Yankee captain. Oh, and just to follow up on a comment I made yesterday about how much Jeter enjoys himself, the headline for the Times piece today reads, “Jeter Is Having Fun When the Games Mean the Most.” Amen.

Boston won last night to remain four back (three in the loss column). The hype machine has already begun for the weekend series in New York. This rivalry feels more like the WWF than baseball at times. So there will be some inflammatory quotes on both sides over the next week and a half, and the fans will be plenty worked up. But the biggest story of the weekend could very well be the weather. Who knows how many games they’ll get in?

Well, no matter what happens, at least we all know it won’t be dull.