Joba Rules part III

I now declare the Joba as a starter vs. reliever debate officially dead. Chamberlain (7-2) threw perhaps his best game as a starting pitcher tonight, going eight innings while not allowing a run, and leading the Yankees to a 6-2 victory over the Rays. For his third consecutive outing, Joba showed great command, surrendering just three singles as he struck out five and walked only two batters.

As Joe Girardi said in the post-game, Joba was crisp. He and Posada had great chemistry all game, and worked quickly together. Chamberlain was so effective because he got strike one, and was also not predictable in his approach. He was strong throughout the game, and was still hitting 95 mph on the gun in the eighth inning. Chamberlain didn't have one trouble inning. The fifth was the only inning the Rays had two runners on base against him, when he walked his only two batters. Over his last three starts, Joba is 3-0, with a 0.84 ERA. On the season, he is now 7-2 with a 3.58 ERA. He also improved his road record to 5-0 this season.

The offense was equally as impressive as Chamberlain was tonight. The Yankees built a 2-0 lead on Mark Teixeira's run-scoring single in the first and a single, double and Robinson Cano's RBI grounder in the fourth. Teixeira and Melky Cabrera hit solo homers in the eighth. Teixeira and Jorge Posada also had RBI singles for the Yankees, who have 11 of 13 games coming out of the All-Star Break. Cano grounded out to drive in a run in the fourth inning, then hit his 16th homer of the year in the sixth for a 3-0 lead against Matt Garza (7-8).

Back to the man of the hour. For his third consecutive start, Joba showed the type of consistency Yankee fans have been looking for. With this three start stretch, Chamberlain is firmly entrenched as a starting pitcher, and right now if the Yankees were to enter the playoffs, he would be their #3 behind C.C Sabathia and A.J Burnett. The All-Star Break must have really done something for Joba's psyche. Remember, in his three starts before the break, Joba allowed 16 earned runs. He used the break to go home to Nebraska, where he didn't think about pitching for awhile. Clearly, the time off rejuvinated him.

The bombers have now won 24 of their last 31, and are now 23 games above .500 at 62-39, their best record of the season. With Oakland's 8-5 win over Boston tonight, New York extended their lead in the AL East to 3 1/2 games. The Yankees continue their nine game road trip tomorrow. They head to Chicago to open up a four game set with the White Sox. Andy Pettitte (9-4) is set to start against youngster Gavin Floyd (8-6).

Tidbits:

• Chien-Ming Wang had season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his injured right shoulder in Birmingham, Alabama. Good riddance.
• New York is 6-5 against Tampa this year. The two teams do not meet again until September 7-9 in the Bronx.
• It was great seeing George Steinbrenner at the game and in the clubhouse tonight. Girardi and many of the players said it was great for himself and all the guys to see him, and that they want to keep their recent surge going for George.

(AP Photos/Mike Carlson)