The Yankees have certainly had their share of issues this season, but things seem to be coming together at the right time for New York.

Thursday’s 6-4 win over the Tigers moved them 8 1/2 ahead of Boston and nine in the loss column, with Boston scheduled to play Toronto on Thursday night (Roy Halladay vs. Julian Tavarez … yeesh).

More importantly, the win gave the Yankees a 5-2 record this year against the Tigers, who still have the best record in the American League. At least for now. The Yankees are just two behind Detroit in the loss column, making home-field advantage a realistic goal for the Bombers.

There are eight teams besides the Yankees that have winning records in the AL, and New York is 42-30 against those teams. That bodes well for the Yankees as they head toward October, since they’ll be seeing these same teams in the playoffs.

A few quick thoughts from Thursday:

– The Yankees are breathing a huge sigh of relief after Mariano Rivera’s MRI came back without any signs of structural damage. As careful as they will have to be with Rivera, the fact that they felt comfortable enough to use him Thursday is a great sign.

– A-Rod’s three-hit day, which included an RBI single, a double and a solo homer, may be a good sign for the Yankees. If he can get hot in September and ride that hot streak into the postseason, it will help the middle of that lineup immensely.

– Randy Johnson may not be happy with his day after giving up the two-run blast in the ninth, but he gave the Yankees exactly what they needed. For the first eight innings, he looked like an ace, and that’s what they need him to be a month from now.

– Finally, a plug for my boy Bordo. For anybody that may be interested, Sam Borden is having a contest for September to win a Yankees World Series DVD collection. You just have to predict the number of wins the Yanks will have in September. Go to his blog and enter there.

While driving to the Stadium this morning, I heard Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio (whom I happen to enjoy listening to) discussing the American League’s MVP race. Their belief was that Jermaine Dye will take the award, because he will have more meaningful games in which to make a difference over the final month of the season than Derek Jeter will.

They also said that Ryan Howard should have the edge over Carlos Beltran, because Howard has single-handedly kept the Phillies in the wild card race, and that if the Phils win the wild card, he should win the award.

Am I missing something?

The September "Player of the Month" award is there to reward a player who has a huge September. The MVP award should represent the player who has been most valuable throughout the entire season.

With that in mind, my vote (if I had one, of course) would go to Jeter and Beltran. At least that’s where I stand today.

Jeter has been the most important player on the Yankees this season, helping the team overcome the injuries to Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui. His numbers are impressive — .339 average, 92 runs scored, 81 RBIs (batting second most of the year), 30 doubles, 26 steals and a .414 on-base percentage.

Yes, Dye is having a tremendous year, and he would probably place second on my ballot. Three weeks ago, I would have said that David Ortiz was my top choice, but the incredible demise of the Red Sox (as well as Ortiz’s latest health problems) have practically dropped him from the race.

To reward Dye over Jeter because his team is fighting for a postseason spot in September while Jeter’s team has a spot firmly in their hands is ridiculous. Jeter has helped put his team in the position it is in, and for that, he gets penalized? Puh-lease.

Same with Beltran. How would he lose the award to a player on the second-place team in his own division? The Phillies are 15 games behind the Mets! How do you think that happened? Beltran might not be the only reason for it, but he’s certainly a significant piece of the puzzle.

Here’s hoping that voters look at the entire season and not just September.

Saw Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby on Saturday night, and while it won’t rank up there with Anchorman, Old School or Wedding Crashers, it was pretty darn funny.

Will Ferrell is simply one of the funniest humans on the planet, and John C. Reilly was tremendous as his sidekick-turned-enemy. Some truly hysterical lines, great characters (Walker and Texas Ranger? Come on!) and a good-enough story to keep you interested. What more do you need?

As for the Yankees, I think it’s safe to say that every single player and staff member is thrilled to be heading home tonight. This 10-day road trip has felt like an eternity, starting with the five games in Boston that felt like 15.

Although the West Coast swing didn’t go as well as they would have liked, the Yanks return home with a solid lead in the AL East over the sinking Sox, and Boston isn’t showing any signs of life that would indicate that will change.

Carl Pavano was expected to return to the rotation this week, likely in place of Jaret Wright, but he had yet another setback, this time with a rib cage muscle. Yawn. Wake me up when he gets here, OK?

More to come after the game …

POSTGAME UPDATE: Yankees win, Red Sox lose … lead back to 6 1/2 games. I’m catching a flight and GOING HOME. See ya.

HOME SWEET HOME: Got back this morning after a sleepless red-eye flight, though I did watch the first nine episodes of Season 2 of Entourage.

Got a five-hour "nap" in, wrote a story on the Yankees’ 20 days from ****, and now I’m ready to enjoy the next two days off. I’ll be back at the Stadium on Wednesday.

I’m here in Anaheim for the weekend, as the Yankees close out their 73-day road trip with three against the Angels.

It’s strange for me to be in "The O.C." since I just started watching the show with the same title. I’ve been hearing Bordo and T-Kep talk about it for two years, and Dena was harassing me into watching the first two seasons with her.

Needless to say, we started Season 1 and I was hooked within about 25 minutes. I only wish Samaire Armstrong, who played Anna, was on the show longer.

We finished the first season and will start watching Season 2 next week.

I also just started watching "Entourage" this week (I know, I know, I should have been watching from the beginning), and I finished Season 1 on the flight today. Great stuff. I can’t wait to watch the next DVD. Again, Samaire Armstrong (Emily) should have played a bigger part on that show, too.

Back to baseball.

The Yankees had a disappointing series in Seattle, but hardly a crushing one. They dropped a game in the standings, but still hold a 5 1/2-game lead over the Red Sox.

Boston still has six games on the West Coast, and I’d be surprised if they go any better than 3-3. The Angels always give the Yanks trouble, but I see New York taking two of three this weekend. Not sure why, it’s just a gut feeling.

Either way, the Yankees are in great shape. They have tough series at home coming up with the Tigers and Twins, but they have played the good teams very well this season. They took 3 out of 4 in Detroit and played the Twins tough all the way back in April, though it’s hard to remember back that far.

Carl Pavano threw six solid innings at Triple-A on Friday, and Joe Torre is making it sound like he could be back with the Yankees within the week. He has been a punchline for more than a year, but if he could actually return and pitch to his ability, it would be a nice addition for the stretch run.

BABY PAPI? I just saw a picture of Howie Kendrick (right) on the scoreboard during his at-bat. Does anybody else think he looks like an 18-year-old David Ortiz?

A GOOD READ: For those who want to know how Scott Proctor turned himself into one of the most valuable players on the Yankees this season, check out this piece by Tyler Kepner in the New York Times.

MONKEY BUSINESS: I have to admit it — I think the Rally Monkey is hilarious.

For those who haven’t seen it (though, if you’ve watched the Yankees-Angels playoff series in 2002 and 2005, you have indeed seen it), they put a jumping monkey in an Angels jersey on the scoreboard when the game is tied or the Angels are losing in the late innings. He supposedly brings them luck.

Well, they have also inserted the Rally Monkey into fake movie clips. Tonight’s topped them all: Monkeys on a Plane. Brilliant stuff.

Roy Halladay, Johan Santana and Justin Verlander have to be considered the three favorites in this year’s American League Cy Young race, but what about Chien-Ming Wang?

It’s a little far-fetched to think that the second-year hurler could have a legit shot at the award, but with six weeks remaining in the season, anything is possible.

Wang twirled a gem on Wednesday night in Seattle, defeating fellow sophomore Felix Hernandez with seven innings of two-run ball. The offense torched King Felix for seven runs in less than four innings, giving the Wanger all the run support he would need.

For your consideration:

Wang is now 15-5 with a 3.81 ERA. The ERA is likely too high to warrant consideration for Cy Young honors, but if he wins six of his last seven starts and gets to 21 wins, anything can happen. He would probably need the other three pitchers to have some terrible starts to boost their ERAs, which all sit much closer to 3.00 than his.

But why not? The Yankees are certainly playing great baseball at the moment, so Wang is sure to get some decent run support. Toss in the fact that five of his last seven starts could be at Yankee Stadium, where he is 9-2 with a 2.97 ERA, and things are lined up for the 26-year-old to have his first 20-win season.

With 179 1/3 innings already under his belt, it’s possible that he could hit a wall at some point, though he may have already busted through that wall. Wang had three average starts in his last three, but his game on Wednesday was vintage Wang. He’s not a power pitcher, so he shouldn’t run into a problem when it comes to pumping fastballs by hitters. Sinker, sinker, sinker … ground ball, ground ball, ground ball. Welcome to the world of Wang.

Do I think he will win the Cy Young? No. Should he be in the conversation? Absolutely.

Before I settle in for my first good night of sleep since last Wednesday, here are a few thoughts from my first day in Seattle:

1) The Space Needle may be my favorite landmark in the United States. It’s very cool looking, there’s a great view from the top, and I always think of "Frasier" when I see it. Despite all of its awards, I feel like that show was very underappreciated. Great stuff.

2) Safeco Field is my favorite ballpark in the Majors. It’s clean, has good fans, great concessions, the best press box in baseball, a retractable roof and just looks sharp overall. Watching a game here makes me excited to see what the new Yankee Stadium will look like.

3) Jeff Karstens did a nice job. He was hardly overpowering, he allowed a couple of big home runs, including a tape-measure shot by Richie Sexson to left field. But the kid kept his composure, got a string of outs after Sexson’s shot and gave the Yankees a solid outing. Do I think he’s going to wind up in the class of Jered Weaver, Justin Verlander and Francisco Liriano? No. But he can fill some innings here and there, which is all they’re looking for.

4) Alaska Airlines is pretty good. The seats were comfortable, I had a ton of leg room in the exit row and the flight attendants didn’t wake me up to tell me they were serving drinks. As brutal as a six-hour flight is, this one wasn’t as terrible as it could have been.

5) Wang-Felix should be a good game. We’ve all seen what Wang can do when he’s on his game, but this will be just the second time I get to see King Felix pitch in person. I’m looking forward to it.

6) This mustache thing is getting out of control. Just check out the photo. Giambi’s going to have to shave soon, right?

Goodnight everybody.

Well, that went about as well as it could have for the Yankees.

No one, not even the most optimistic fan, would have predicted a 5-game sweep at Fenway this weekend. The Yankees didn’t even play their best baseball, but they got it done when they needed to.

Now, it’s off to the West Coast with a 6 1/2-game lead in the division, and there’s no looking back for New York. Like I said recently, they won’t sniff second place again, and my April prediction of a 7-8 game win in the East may come true after all. Go figure.

What impressed me about this series was how every single player on the roster (other than Karstens, who makes his big-league debut Tuesday) made some sort of contribution. Nick Green, TJ Beam, Brian Bruney, Sal Fasano … even A-Rod did some good. Johnny Damon said, "That’s what championship teams are made of." I couldn’t agree more.

Three in Seattle, and it looks like they won’t even have to face King Felix. The Yanks should take 2 of 3. Then it’s on to Anaheim, where the pesky Angels await. My gut tells me they take 2 of 3 there, too, but they could just as easily lose 2 there. I’ll say 4-2 for the week, but 3-3 wouldn’t shock me. Either way, they’re in great shape.

The best news? I don’t have to go back to Fenway this season. Hallelujah.

We’re back for the final game at Fenway between the Yanks and Sox this season, and I for one couldn’t be happier. These last three days and four games have drained me.

Giambi, Damon and Posada are not in the lineup, as Torre looks at the big picture. With six games in the next six days on the West Coast, it’s a great move. Especially since they won the first four games already.

I’ll post throughout the game. Enjoy.

2:47: Too tired to post a lot today. Sorry, everyone. I’m using the comments section, too, so take a look.

Lidle has thrown a ton of pitches in the first five innings, but he’s gotten the job done. Wells has been terrific, which shouldn’t surprise anybody since no one expects much from Boston right now.

You would think that a 0-0 game would be a welcome sight for me, but all I can think about is this 0-0 game going 18 innings.  That makes me want to throw up. Really. I mean it.

Yanks win. See next post.

Many people have been eager for this matchup between Curt Schilling and Mike Mussina, so I will do several entries throughout the game.

Some quick pregame news: A-Rod is the DH tonight, leaving Nick Green to play third base. Mussina must be happy to hear that.

The Yankees sent down TJ Beam before the game, as Cory Lidle returned from California after attending his grandmother’s funeral. Lidle starts Monday.

Kyle Farnsworth’s leg has healed well, and he should be ready to pitch again by Tuesday.

9:09 PM: Sorry for the lack of posts, but there have been some technical difficulties with the site for the past 45 minutes or so. We’re back in action.

Bad first for Mussina, who allowed a pair of runs. Can’t blame A-Rod for those. 

Yanks’ offense made Schilling throw 22 pitches in the first, which was a good sign, but they didn’t get anything out of it.

About 20 minutes ago, the tarp came on the field, even though it was barely raining. About 90 seconds later, the heavens opened up and it’s been pouring ever since. Stay tuned.

9:32: They’re estimating a 9:50 time for resuming play.

10:11: Before Giambi came to the plate, one of my colleagues said, "They should walk Giambi to set up the triple play for A-Rod."

Clearly, this was a joke (or was it?), but Giambi blasted a three-run shot off of Schilling a few minutes later, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

Giambi doesn’t pimp his home runs often, but he knew that one was gone right off the bat and appeared to watch it for a second before starting his trot. We’ll see if Schilling noticed the next time he faces him.

10:22: I know a lot of people (myself included) have hyped Big Papi as the AL MVP, but what about Manny Ramirez?

As of the fourth inning, he was hitting .330 with 35 home runs and 100 RBIs. Yes, it’s eight homers and 16 RBIs less than Ortiz, but he’s hitting about 50 points higher!

Not to mention … against the Yankees this season, Manny is hitting .555 (!!!!!) with eight home runs and 21 RBIs in 14 games. Talk about stepping up against your rivals.

10:44: Mussina is gone, replaced by Ron Villone to start the fifth. A team PR rep said that Mussina left with tightness in his right groin. More later on this after the game.

11:07: Big Papi must have heard me question his MVP credentials, because he homered (and pimped it) to give the Sox a 4-3 lead last inning.

Yanks had a chance to tie it, as Schilling’s throwing error with Abreu on first moved him to third with one out, but A-Rod and Cano couldn’t bring him home. They may regret that one before it’s over tonight.

11:53: Proctor just got the double play ball he needed to keep the Yankees within striking distance at 5-3, but Cano made a big error.

That’s OK, I was hoping to be here even longer tonight. The next game only starts in about 13 hours.

11:57: Nice job by Proctor, who strikes out Pena and gets Mirabelli to fly out to Abreu. It’s not over yet — Timlin is in.

12:03: Timlin gives up a single to Damon and hits Jeter. Two on, none out. Here comes lefty Javier Lopez, who was called up today, to face Abreu and Giambi.

Manny just went into the Green Monster during the pitching change. I love this place sometimes.

12:10: OK, so Lopez walks Abreu, which was all Francona could bear to watch. Here comes Papelbon (and there goes Manny into the Monster again — I love it!) for a six-out save.

This begs the question: Instead of waiting for a jam to bring Papelbon into, why didn’t Francona start the inning with his All-Star, phenom closer? If you’re going to use him for six outs, why not let him just pitch the two innings? It makes no sense.

If Boston loses this game, it’s all on Francona.

12:37: Papelbon did the job, but it took 22 pitches. Let’s see how he responds in the ninth. I imagine he’ll see Melky, Bernie and Damon.

12:46: Game over … no, wait. Jeter continues his quest for the AL MVP award with a game-tying hit as Papelbon blows the save. Oh good … more baseball.

Six blown saves for Pap this year … third this month.

12:58: They just called that a double for Ortiz. Worst call I’ve seen in months. If that’s not an error, I don’t know what is.

1:06: And that’s why Mariano Rivera is who he is. Bases loaded, one out, he gets out of it. Extra innings — just what I was hoping for!

1:10: The mustache comes through! Giambi goes deep for the second time tonight. Yanks lead, 6-5. It’s up to Mo in the 10th to close it out. If he blows it, I may quit.

1:27: Game over. Yanks up 5 1/2, go for the most unlikely sweep ever tomorrow. Final thoughts after the postgame mess.

3:27: Yes, 3:27 AM. For the love of all that is holy in this world, why am I awake?

Just got back to my hotel, thanks to a ride from Ian Browne (the Red Sox and Yankees may be rivals, but Ian and I are great friends).

Some final thoughts before I lay down for less than six hours of sleep:

The Yankees can lose 22-0 on Monday and it won’t make the least bit of difference. At this point, if they don’t win the AL East, it will be as big an upset as 1978.

I don’t think Mussina’s injury is bad. He said it’s the same as it was on June 30, and he made his next start five days later. At worst, he misses one start.

Giambi is awesome. Great guy, great hitter, great quote. He called Jeter "Superman" after the game and called the last three days "the greatest four games I’ve played in my career." That’s saying something.

OK, I’m done. These last three days have been absolutely insane, and I’m sure we’ll have some silly game on Monday. Talk to y’all then.

Well, even though I believe the Yankees are a better club than the Red Sox, I wouldn’t have predicted the first three games of this series to go the way they have.

The Yanks have blasted Sox pitching for 39 runs in the first three games, becoming the first team ever to score 12 or more in three straight games against the Sox at Fenway. Today’s victim was Josh Beckett, who has lived up to all of the expectations that accompanied him to the AL. At least my expectations.

I have said since the day the Red Sox dealt for Beckett that he would not have a good year. Yes, he has 13 wins, but those are largely the result of run support and a handful of games against bad AL teams and sad NL teams.

Against teams with winning records, Beckett has a 6.80 ERA. In three starts against the Yankees, he is 1-2 with a 12.21 ERA. Is that the stuff of an ace? I think not.

On the flip side, Randy Johnson — who, incidentally, has almost identical stats this season to Beckett — has gone 7-1 against Boston since joining the Yankees. If there is one thing that will please Yankees fans, it’s beating the Red Sox.

Some impressive stat lines from the three games this weekend:

Johnny Damon: 9-for-18, 2 homers, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 5 runs, 8 RBIs
Alex Rodriguez: 5-for-13, 2 doubles, 3 runs, 5 RBIs
Bobby Abreu: 7-for-13, 5 walks, 2 RBIs, 3 doubles, 4 runs
Robinson Cano: 6-for-15, 10 RBIs, 1 homer, 1 double, 3 runs

Two more games in the series. Mussina vs. Schilling should be a terrific game on Sunday, and who knows what to expect from Lidle vs. Wells. I’ll say this … if the Yankees win Sunday’s game to take four in a row and move 5 1/2 games up on the Sox, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Wells pull up with some lame injury and miss his start.