In his best start of the season, Brad Penny fully resembled the guy who represented the Dodgers in the All-Star Game two years ago.

The pitcher was touching 98 MPH and consistently sitting at 96 MPH with his fastball, all the while mixing in a deceiving volley of curveballs and changeups.  The Yankee lineup – the fully operational Yankee lineup – were certainly impressed with Penny’s stuff.

Unfortunately, it looks like Penny will be a victim of the numbers game, as John Smoltz is one rehab start away from joining the Red Sox.  While it’s great that Penny’s trade value has risen quite a bit over the past month, I have to admit: I like the guy, and I’ll be sad to see him go so soon.  There is actually one other pitcher I’d rather boot from the rotation, but it would be a PR nightmare for Terry Francona if he were to have the audacity to make that move.

Once Manny Delcarmen barfed up those runs in the 7th inning, I was fully resigned to a death by bullpen.  It has been such a rare occurrence this season, and I figured we were “due”.  Shame on me for expecting anything less than a continuance of the Megasweep ™.

Some other notes from the game:

• I know the mention of eye-problems sounded like a bit of a joke, but since that story came out on June 6th, David Ortiz is 6 for 15 with 3 HRs and 4 walks.
• Rocco Baldelli actually looked good in CF last night, including a possible game-saving diving catch in the late innings.
• Ex-Dodger pitchers have been on quite a roll.  Takashi Saito has a 1.50 ERA since April 24th (18 innings).

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