Is A-Rod Back To Normal?

Quietly, A-Rod has gone the way of Don Imus in disappearing from the headlines. Lost in the discussion of the Yankees' slide, Torre being on the hot seat, and that Mets employee involved in dealing steroids, A-Rod has gone 1 for his last 14. For all I know, A-Rod will hit three dingers tomorrow. But his bat is back to normal. And if his slump continues, New York's A-Rod lovefest will be over.

On Rob Neyer's blog, he mentioned that A-Rod has had similar streaks at other points in his career. So any Yankee fan who though the guy was gonna hit 100 homers is as delusional as that idiot who wrote the book "Dow 36,000" in 1999.

- On the other hand, is Mo back? Hard to believe he finally got his first save a few days before May. In his case, he's pitched so infrequently that I can't say the guy is back. And I can't say he's finished. Friday night's appearance was ugly stuff, but only if and when the Yankees win consistently and give Rivera more save chances can we say whether he's still got it. The jury is still out.

- Igawa pitched surprisingly well today, but as putrid as the Yankees have been, you couldn't have expected the Sox to sweep them two series in a row. But with Julian Tavarez going tomorrow, the Yanks have a chance to take the series.