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Despite the Twins taking the first game of the four-game series last night, the Yanks should be able to get themselves above .500 and stay there for the rest of the long 2012 ride.

We have to like CC boucning back tonight after a less than stellar, workman-like outing at Baltimore last time out.  Gardenhire is going to rest Morneau because his numbers are pretty morbid over the course of time vs. CC, so they'll not have the same punch they had last night.  Plus, the Twins will run Francisco Liriano (average at best) out there,which should have the Yankees lineup feeling pretty good about putting up enough runs to cover CC and the relief staff.

I like Kuroda putting a couple of good showings back to back when he matches up against Jason Marquis on Wednesday. 

Upon capping the win over Toronto last night, my feeling of joy and satisfaction in the Yankee win was quickly offset by an ugly punch to the gut feeling after Rafael Soriano got the last out of the game.

Among the many, many adjectives you could attach to the history of Yankees baseball, and the thousands of great players who have worn the pinstripes, one that is always foremost in my thinking is "class." 

When you think of pitchers who win and lose with class you take current ace CC Sabathia and closer extraordinaire Mariano Rivera. Go back through the last 15 years and you add Andy Pettitte, David Cone, and more.  Turn more history pages and you have Ron Guidry and further back the great Whitey Ford.  We can all add dozens and dozens to this kind of list.

People in Pinstripeland saw the sun come up after all on Tuesday morning, and thanks to CC Sabathia they felt a lot better by the time they went to sleep.

The Yanks have been in the doldrums lately, scoring just two runs in the last two games, having lost 5 of their last 8 and being 6-9 for August as they headed into last night's game vs. the Tigers. But Sabathia picked them up as he earned his AL leading 16th win, limiting Detroit to just 5 hits over 7 strong innings.

With Alex Rodriguez sitting out nursing a mild calf injury manager Joe Girardi shuffled the lineup. He moved No. 9 hitter Brett Gardner to lead-off, Derek Jeter slid down to his familiar old No. 2 slot, Robinson Cano filled in at clean-up, and Nick Swisher hit fifth.

Gardner responded

CC Sabathia settled down after a shaky second inning and gave the Yankees just what they needed, a strong mound performance, in topping Boston Saturday afternoon, 5-2.  While Alex Rodriguez was icing down a badly bruised left shin after taking a line drive off the bat of Lance Berkman in pre-game batting practice, Ramiro Pena stepped up as a last minute starting replacement with two big RBI and several strong throws from deep 3B.

With Andy Pettitte still out rehabbing a groin injury, the Yankee mound corps can look to Sabathia for a model as to how to battle.  The big southpaw got nicked for two runs in the second, a solo HR by former Cleveland battery-mate Victor Martinez, and back to back doubles by Adrian Beltre and Mike Lowell.  But, Sabathia put that in the rear-view

As special and magical was the opening game of the post-All Star break series with the Rays, it's critical for the Yankees to "keep grinding" today.

You could see that the Pinstripes weren't quite there in terms of executing like they had just prior to the brief summer break.  Just take a look at a battling, yet not terribly effective CC on the mound, and every other Yanee hitter except Swisher before Cano and Posada's back-to-backers in the sixth inning.  Was it the eerie atmosphere surrounding the stadium for the very classy and fitting tribute to The Boss and The Voice?  Was it the emotional strain added to the thick, humid, mid-summer night's air?

Regardless, the Yankees found a way to come back last night on a