Pitching staff a relief to fans

After the first homestand, and the first week, of the season, what have we learned about this Yankee pitching staff?

The answer: It's nowhere near as anemic as some have suggested it would be.

The experts who get paid to know these things insisted the 2008 Yankees were going to have to live and die with their offense as the arms -- some too old; others too young -- took their time to get into the groove of a six-month season. Well, guess what? Through the first six games, the Yankees managed a 3-3 record -- not stellar, but not 0-6, either -- without scoring more than four runs or getting more than nine hits in a game. And even in last night's offensive semi-explosion (six runs, 11 hits), the pitching staff combined to hold the very potent Rays offense to a single run.

The leader, of course, was Chien-Ming Wang, whose 2-0 record, 1.38 ERA, and 1.07 WHIP were the reasons the Yankees won 3-2 and 2-0 in Wang's two starts. Wang may get lit up in Fenway this weekend, but he has put to rest any idea that he would not bounce back from the playoff disaster last October.

Right behind Wang was the Joba-Mo (or do you want Mo-Joba?) combination. Chamberlain laid waste to Jays-Rays hitters, showing that he, too, has forgotten about the Cleveland debacle. And Mariano picked up three saves in three chances. Case closed on whether or not that contract the Yankees gave him was a good idea.

As for the rest of the starters, Phil Hughes did everything but pick up the win on Thursday (instead, it went to Chamberlain in relief). Andy Pettitte was competitive if not overwhelming, and Mike Mussina gave the team two quality starts, going 1-1 and provoking a big sigh of relief from Yankee fans. Only Ian Kennedy struggled mightily, but it was 40 degrees and he's 21 years old. It's along season, and he'll get better.

The relief staff was the rollercoaster, and to whose surprise? Aside from the two stars, Brian Bruney looked terrific, and Billy Traber did what he was called on to do. We all know the other side of the story: LaTroy Hawkins and Kyle Farnsworth. As bad as they were in their early outings, neither one broke anything in last night's series ender with the Rays.

Will it be a long, nail-biting season with many of these guys? Probably, but for now, that 4-3 record sits well with me. With the Yankee offense ranking 11th (in the American League) in batting average (.245), 13th in on-base percentage (.287), and tied for 10th in runs scored (23), there's every reason to believe that the record could be far worse. (*These statistics were tallied before last night's game.)

And as always... we could be Detroit.