Tex slam lifts Yanks into first; BoSox right behind

Mark Teixeira hit his first grand slam as a New York Yankee en route to a 4-0 win over the Mets, as the 2010 Subway Series ended in a draw for the sixth time. The Yankees’ win combined with another Tampa Bay loss gave the Yankees sole possession of first place for the first time since April 21. However, the Red Sox won their sixth straight — during which time the Yankees went 3-3 — and are now tied for second with the Rays and one game out of first place themselves.

I’d just like to go off on the National League for a quick second: Boston is now 10-2 against you on the year, and in typical Boston fashion is not going to lose again for the rest of 2010. Thanks for coming out, Arizona and Los Angeles. Really spectacular work you’re doing over there in the NL West. And you know the Diamondbacks are going to come to play against the Yankees this week despite completely rolling over and dying for the Sox. /Rant

Getting back to the recap at hand, CC Sabathia was spectacular, hurling eight innings of shutout ball and paying the Mets and Hisanori Takahashi back for Friday night’s shutout. Tough-luck loser Johan Santana gave up the aforementioned slam to Teixeira but little else. Thankfully it was all the Yankees would need.

I hate to keep harping on Alex Rodriguez, but he had another ridiculously weak 0-4 day at the plate, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s playing through pain. He only has one home run this month, and that came more than two weeks ago on June 3. I know he’s missed a couple of games, but the lack of home run power remains alarming. Hopefully I didn’t jinx him.

I posed this question on Twitter yesterday but no one replied — I was wondering whether A-Rod and Tex had hit both hit home runs in the same game this year? If I have a chance I’ll check B-Ref myself, but I’m going to guess the answer is no, and that’s either disheartening or a scary proposition for the American League, given that the Yankees’ 3-4 hitters still have yet to really kick it into gear.

Follow Me On Twitter