A-Rod-less Yankees finish sweep of ‘Stros

With the help of Jorge Posada’s second grand slam in as many days, the Yankees completed their sweep of the Astros this weekend with a 9-5 win. Robinson Cano had a solo shot and Phil Hughes picked up his ninth win while Alex Rodriguez sat out his third straight game as he prepares for a hopeful Tuesday return.

Best of all: Mark Teixeira. He’s actually riding a six-game hitting streak after his sixth-inning double, though his batting average has gone up just nine points in that stretch.

Also, Chad Huffman made a satisfying debut. I almost posted about him mid-game, as he opened his career beating out an infield grounder. He later walked and K’d.

Worst of all: Hughes fell apart in the sixth, allowing a two-out, two-run single and two-run homer to ex-Yank Kevin Cash. His ERA is now north of 3.00 for the first time since the beginning of the year.

Coming up: The easiest part of the Yankees schedule is over and it’s back to exciting baseball against tough NL teams over the next two weeks after an off-day Monday.