I felt bad for Warner Madrigal tonight.

Poor kid.  His first appearance in the big leagues and he sets off an offensive explosion for the Yankees.  His hair was puffed out the side of his hat indicating that he, Warner Madrigal, was young and ungroomed unlike the veteran players around him.  He was an innocent pup taking the mound in the seventh inning against Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi.  Just 24 years old, the neophyte from the Dominican allowed six of the seven batters he faced to reach base safely and absorbed six earned runs.  Warner also picked up the loss.

This, however, was good news for the Yankees who turned a 7-6 seventh inning deficit into a 12-7 lead — and ultimately a 18-7 victory — fighting back with a punch rarely seen this year.  The key hit was Jason Giambi’s two-run double to the left-center gap that gave the Yanks the lead.  Yes, for the love of God, he hit the ball to the left-center gap.  Damn.

From there, the rest of the crew laid into Warner and Jamey Wright.  A-Rod even hit home run number 17/535…yes, he’s good.  And no, I don’t believe he’s the devil for skipping the home run derby.  All A-Rod has to do is look across the clubhouse at Bobby Abreu to see how a home run contest can mess with a guy’s swing for a year or so.  I’d rather see him do right by the Yankees, not MLB.

So, here the Yankees sit, 7.5 games behind the Rays — the RAYS! — and 4 behind Boston who are in town starting tomorrow.  Sure, Tampa sits atop the majors, but until they crack the post-season, my money’s still on another Yanks-Sox battle in the AL East.

Lester vs. Pettitte in round one tomorrow in the Bronx.