In the right direction ...

Four games above .500 and looking good ... but ...

Let's face it, the A's aren't great and the Astros are just awful. However, you have to beat the teams you're supposed to beat ... which for the Yankees is everybody.

There's some intriguing matchups with San Diego and Cincinnati after tonight's break. The Yanks will get Jake Peavy in Game 2, with hard-luck Darrell Rasner on the hill for the Yanks. Rasner has been good enough to win in his last few starts, but hasn't gotten run support. Peavy is the NL Cy Young winner from last year. He was on the DL for while with a bad elbow, but he's still 5-3 with an ERA around 2.50.

The Yanks will face phenom Edinson Volquez Friday night. Volquez is 9-2 on a mediocre Reds team ... he's got 11 quality starts this season.

These games are very winnable. The Yanks got to Roy Oswalt because they were patient - two runs were walked in (15 hits and eventually 13 runs). They'll have to do the same against Peavy. The other guys, Randy Wolf and some dude named Josh Banks, are a combined 7-4 (ERAs 3.83 and 1.29) but neither are unhittable.

Don't get too excited about the Yanks yet, but they appear to by healthy, except for Wanger, and things are going in the right direction.