On cue

The Yankees win. Hooray.

There's been lots of talk about how the Yankees pitchers are better with anyone but Jorge Posada behind the plate. Some stats suggest this is the case, although Michael Kay pointed out Posada has caught Chien-Ming Wang four times this season, so, you know, lies, damn lies and statistics.

Posada puts a sign down and expects that pitch. He's gotten into little finger-flashing battles with Joba Chamberlain and AJ Burnett, who want to throw what they want to throw. For Joba, that lasts about four-plus innings per start. So, you see how well that's working for him.

Last night, CC Sabathia shook a sign with two on and threw a slider that Anderson Hernandez, a light-hitting second baseman dropped into the left field seats. My feeling is Posada wanted to go low and away again with a changeup, the pitch Hernandez swung at and missed immediately before the home run. The hit turned Sabathia's otherwise dominant performance upside down, although briefly, and gave me flashbacks to Randy Johnson, who seemed to hate pitching with leads. Or winning, or even looking as if he knew what he was doing.

There's no denying Fransisco Cervelli has given the Yankees a boost, and probably is outplaying his skill, at least at the plate, if not behind it, but Posada has four World Series rings and has caught Hall of Famers, would-be Hall of Famers and should-be Hall of Famers. He's obviously doing something right. And he's been doing it for a long time.

I understand pitchers are the guys who get the win or the loss, but, let's face it, sometimes pitchers are stupid, prideful and shortsighted. Throwing the wrong pitch in the wrong place to the wrong batter nearly cost the Yankees last night. It's cost them too often during the last near-decade.