A Royal Bash

The Yankees biggest question mark heading into the season was the quality of their starting pitching and the first eight games have done nothing to change that. Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina have been very good, while Chien-Ming Wang and Shawn Chacon have not. Yesterday Chacon was shaky against the Royals, but the Yankees offense bailed him out for a 12-5 win.

Gary Sheffield was the offensive star of the game going 3-5 with a home run and 4 RBI’s to lead the Yankees 15-hit attack. Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter had five runs scored between them and Jason Giambi had two doubles. The Yankees also showed their patience at the plate by drawing eight walks. The bullpen also did a great job. Mike Myers, Kyle Farnsworth and Ron Villone each pitched a hitless and scoreless inning to close out the game.

New York has now gotten back to .500 and has one more game against the Royals before heading on the road again to face Minnesota and Toronto.