They shaved one game off the lead Boston had over them in the Wild Card standings.

The Yankees’ best (Joba) outpitched the Sox best (Beckett).

Xavier Nady is now in left field and the bottom part of the order looks respectable again.

Damaso Marte is also now a Yankee and he struck out Big Papi in an important situation on Saturday.

Not bad. But now it’s back to business against the O’s and then the Halos come to town. After that it’s off to Josh Hamilton’s home in Texas…

Now, in the coming days there will be a lot of speculation about the Yankees trading for a starter to replace Ponson. I think replacing Ponson is important. However, much of the speculation is currently around Jarrod Washburn (Stats) of Seattle coming to New York in exchange for prospects. Bad idea. It’s not to say that Washburn would be a bad number five guy on the Yanks, but with a season ERA of 4.50, it ain’t worth it.

Ian Kennedy will soon be available. Phil Hughes will follow shortly thereafter. If the Yankee brass had enough faith to start the season with these two in their starting five, they should stick with them now. One of them should get Ponson’s job.

Yes, 2008 did not start well for either…Kennedy has a 7.41 ERA in eight starts. Hughes’ ERA is even higher at 9.00 after six starts. However, a combined 14 starts is no reason to trash a couple of guys who have shown as much promise as these two have. To think one of them cannot pitch with an ERA around 4.50 the rest of the year would mean the Yankees badly misjudged their worth.

Now, you could argue that the two young Yankee starters still need to go through growing pains before they can help the team and a pennant race is no place for such development. Additionally, you can argue that Washburn’s veteran experience is exactly what the Yankees need through the rest of the year and into the post-season. I suppose. But these two kids are supposed to be better than an overpaid number five starter. They have shown flashes of this in 2007. If the Yankees really want to go for a championship this year, they take a chance on one of the kids pitching like an ace.

Washburn is the type of pitcher that will do enough for the Yankees in the regular season and then get battered in the post-season. That’s not enough. If you recall, Hughes won the only post-season game for the Yankees last year by pitching an impressive game.

He, or Kennedy, should get the chance to win important games once again in ’08.

But Yanks-Sox? Now there’s a series I’ll always be ready for…particularly now that more than half the games are off the schedule and the Yanks are on the verge of making it a three-way race in the East. Yes, they’ve won six in a row and the pitching has been smokin’…plus, the June-July hot streak (thank you interleague ball and second rate teams…and that includes the Rays — yes, I said it) has been noteworthy. But who are we kidding? The Yankees aren’t for real until they send a message to Boston at Fenway Park and that means winning this weekend series.

Let’s look at the starters over the next three days.

Chamberlain vs Beckett. I’ll take Beckett who is 3-0 against the Yanks this season. Still, Joba does better commercial endorsements.

Pettitte vs Wakefield. This is the one game where Boston is at a disadvantage from the mound. Pettitte has been gigantic in the second half of any season for years now, but Wakefield is a mystery. We’ll know early if the knuckler is working or not…and if it is not, the Bombers will have batting practice until Terry Francona has seen enough.

Ponson vs Lester. Jon Lester has thrown a no-hitter, beaten cancer and carries a 3.20 ERA into his start on Sunday. Sidney Ponson is 6-1 with a respectable AL ERA of 4.01…but a closer look shows 99 hits and 27 walks in 78.1 innings. Somehow, he’s been a 258-pound Houdini getting out of jams with double plays and strokes of luck. Unfortunately for Sidney, the Red Sox are not a team that forgives too many base runners.

One never really knows how starting pitching will shake out as nothing ever really goes according to plan. Ponson may win the only game of the series for the Yanks and Beckett may get shelled in a winning effort. Baseball is funny like that. Still, the Yanks will need enough starting pitching to keep them in games so that Robinson Cano and the Yankee bullpen can win them (okay, Cano’s not the only one hitting, but he is on FIRE). Joba and Pettitte are the most likely Yankee heroes…or it could be Edwar Ramirez.

One last thought. If Ponson soon explodes — as he probably will — there is immediate help available. Ian Kennedy (I still have faith) has just completed 14 innings of one-run pitching in AAA ball.

We’ll likely see him soon.