Leaving town in just over a week and looks like my desert plans are developing. I should probably take a moment and consider the epic dust situation that has early reports and reporters all flamed high. Oh well... It's been dusty and hot before and it will be dusty and hot again; maybe even in the coming weeks. Dust mask you say? Yeah. I'll get on that.

So, starting around this time next week, this blog will be on hia-dust for a fortnight or so. In past years that has meant being totally out of the loop as to what goes on with the Yankees during that stretch. But more recently, my volunteering efforts out on the playa have garnered me some nice perks; perhaps the least of which is internet access, but it does have its valid purposes: mostly to check in with cat-sitters as leaving the gray, furry beast is a hard part of the trip.

That said: I have started to check the standings and important news a couple times during the time frame, but I sure as dust won't be blogging from the Black Rock Desert. I have used the games from the two-week period surrounding the event as a winter life-preserver: I know that there will be about a dozen games I know I didn't watch and they warm my stove during come snow and sleet time.

The Yankees took the second of a 4-game series from the AL-West leading team, The Texas Rangers last night in impressive fashion. The night after Phelps and newly acquired Derek Lowe held the strong-hitting Rangers to two runs in an 8-2 Bomber win, Hiroki Kuroda laid what may have been the best Yankee start this season Texas.

Kuroda took a no-hitter into the 7th; that's the point I told a friend in NY to "tune in now..." I guess he did just in time to see Nix try and fail to get Andrus on a slow roller in the middle of the field that broke up the no-no bid. But no matter- Kuroda re-grouped and threw a shut-out. Swish and Tex went back-to-back in the bottom half of the inning and the Yanks came away with a very fast 3-0 victory.

Meanwhile, the bosox are taking a page from the Bombers' old days and have turned their clubhouse into the Boston Zoo. There is perhaps a mutiny simmering in beantown and as a Yankee fan, not much is sweeter especially when the sawx trail us by 13 games in the loss column and it's mid-August. Currently the Pinstripers have the best record and best run differential in the AL; no team has a bigger lead in their division.

Looks like I will not be so worried about the pennant race when I go on vacation...

Cheers
Brian