Look who's in second

[Barnaby Graves]

The Yankees just beat the Rays and will be a half-game back. With their pitching?

They seem to do this every year.

[OFFNY]

The Yankees just beat the Rays and will be a half-game back. With their pitching?

They seem to do this every year.

Yeah, but this year, they have to deal with the Orioles.

[crowmst3k!]

The Yankees were my preseason pick to win the division. They're a very good ballclub.

The O's need to get healthy, the Yankees are starting to hit their midsummer stride.

[Hallas]

The Yankees just beat the Rays and will be a half-game back. With their pitching?

They seem to do this every year.

Well when you can pull a zombie-Pettite out of the hat when the excrement hits the fan, and he Ks 10, it sure makes things easier.

[Don Quixote]

They seem to do this every year.

Inspire my all-consuming hatred? Yes, they seem to do this every year.

[GoldGlove21]

The Yankees were my preseason pick to win the division. They're a very good ballclub.

The O's need to get healthy, the Yankees are starting to hit their midsummer stride.

The Yankees and Red Sox can rake on offense. It is their starting pitching that has killed them. If either of those clubs got the starting pitching under control than the offense would carry those two squads. I still think that the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays are 3 of the top 6 or 7 teams in baseball, but I think that the Orioles are one of the top-15 teams in the game and that should mean that we continue to give them fits.

The AL East Standing (Head-to-Head) Break Down:

Orioles 17-14

Yankees 11-9

Rays 17-14

Blue Jays 11-14

Red Sox 10-15

The O's being 3 games over .500 against the AL East through 31 games is huge as they are only 5 games away from the half way mark of games played against AL East counterparts. The sample size is getting to the point where it is not a fluke, but injuries have a way of making good teams look bad and decent teams looking horrible.

[Frobby]

The Yankees just beat the Rays and will be a half-game back. With their pitching?

They seem to do this every year.

They don't seem to do this every year, they do do it every year. 15 playoff appearances in 16 years. Did you not expect the Yankees to be right there?