A-Rod and the Yankees beat Seattle again, and cook up a storm

Yankee games are getting to be predictable - in a good way! Last night, the Yankees won their seventh win in a row, and A-Rod homered for the second night in a row to give the Yanks the lead.

While it looks like Alex Rodriguez's decade-long streak of being a starter at the All-Star Game is about to end - he's currently seventh in the balloting, and the Yanks are not leading a campaign to get him on the team - a case can be made that he is the Yankees' Most Valuable Player this year, for better or for worse.

He is - dare I say it? - the straw that stirs the drink for the Yanks!

Look at the numbers - this team just does not win many games when A-Rod is either injured or slumping. Remember, the Bombers were 13-15 without A-Rod this season. Their season didn't start to turn around until May 8, Alex's first game of the year. After Alex came back, the Yanks won nine in a row.

But when A-Rod started slumping after playing so many games in a row without a break - he went 39 games without a rest - the Yankees slumped as well. They lost 9 of 13 games (and would have lost 10 of 13 if it weren't for Luis Castillo dropping A-Rod's popup!) in a timeframe when Alex only got 4 hits.

Not long after getting a little time off in Miami, Alex started hitting again. In the past seven games, he has gone 10 for 23 with 4 homers and 13 RBI. He has also walked 10 times.

The Yanks, for better or for worse, are driven by A-Rod's hitting - or lack thereof. He is the biggest chef on the team. Let's hope he continues to serve up gourmet cuisine, instead of salmonella-ridden fare!

Oh, and that photo above? It's of A-Rod, Cody Ransom, and Brian Cashman serving as Chefs for a Day yesterday for kids at El Nuevo Caridad Restaurant in Washington Heights. Thanks to the Yanks for the pic.

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A few other notes on last night's game:

• Eric Hinske is now a Yankee - his Pittsburgh flight finally arrived yesterday morning. My main memory of Hinske is in September 2007, when he knocked out Jorge Posada on a hard slide to home in a Yankees-Red Sox game. So that makes two current Yanks - him and Mark Teixeira - who have had home plate collisions with Posada!
• Good news that Andy Pettitte - for once - pitched a good game at home, only giving up two runs in seven innings. And he only gave up one homer - to Ken Griffey Jr.
• Did anybody get to meet Alfredo Aceves, Phil Hughes, or Joba Chamberlain when they greeted fans outside the Great Hall yesterday? If so, tell us about it!

What do you think? Tell us about it!