After a terrible loss last night, it was good to see the team bounce back, and especially good to see Chein-Ming Wang revert to 2006 form (eight innings, two runs).
The most-surprising thing tonight was not a fully productive outfield (Johnny Damon homer and triple, Melky Cabrera triple, Bobby Abreu multi-hit game) but that the team knocked Jeremy Bonderman around the diamond without a hit from Derek Jeter or Jorge Posada. They went 0-for-10, the worst combined performance the two have had this season.
From the beginning of the season until June 24 (72 games), in no game did Jeter and Posada both go hitless. Through Aug. 5, they had done so only four times in 111 games. Since then, however, they have combined in futility six times in 18 games, including three times in four days (Aug. 14,15 and 17).
What does this mean? Maybe nothing other than a natural, slight cooling off for two players who have hit extremely well all year. Jeter has hit .284/.363/.358 this month, continuing a trend toward being a great singles hitter, though he's getting on base more in recent years. Posada, however, has hit .311/.425/.607 this month, meaning he's making up for these 0-fers.
If you need yet another reason that Posada is having a blessed year, look at his BA with balls hit in play splits: by month, .351/.443/.343/.431/.357. That's some luck, but I have to think it's also because every time I see him bat, he smokes the ball.
Here are some more Jeter stats. He's hitting .255/.336/.321 with only five extra base hits since July 26. Also, he's grounded into six double plays in his last 16 games.