This, my friends, was a big win. To lose this game, and then fall 8 games behind the Red Sox, would have been a disaster.

As Torre says about Matt DeSalvo: “He’s legitimate.” And, he’s the best pitcher to ever wear #14 in Yankees history. (Take that, Russ Van Atta and Hideki Irabu!)

If DeSalvo keeps rolling, he has to stay with this team. This means back to Triple-A for Phil Hughes when he’s sound. (This would not be a terrible thing for Hughes.) A rotation of Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, Clemens and DeSalvo is starting to look real good, for now. (This means “Just say ‘No!’ to Igawa.”)

Lastly, “Happy Mother’s Day!” to all the Moms out there today. Last year, Randy Johnson started for the Yankees on Mother’s Day. The year before that, it was Kevin Brown. This year, we have Andy Pettitte. Makes you want to sing “Which one of these things doesn’t belong with the other?” (Right?)

With Josh Beckett going for Boston today (against the O’s in Fenway), Andy will need to be dandy for New York (against Seattle). Another day, another big game for New York to win. Let’s hope the pink bats bring out the best for the Yanks today.