The Yankees gutted out a 5-4 victory over the Rays tonight with the help of game-tying homers by Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher as well as a game-winning homer by Robinson Cano in the ninth.

Best of All: A HUGE win to hold onto sole possession of first place in the AL East. This game had a little Yankees-Red Sox intensity too. Just a well-played, exciting game to watch.

Cano was quite a sight tonight, slugging two doubles and a homer. If he starts getting hotter than he already has been all year, it’s trouble for AL pitchers.

David Robertson gets a big shout out from me as well tonight. He pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, ending it with a devastating breaking ball to who else but Matt Joyce, the Ray who hit the game-winning homer Friday night and the would-be game-winner in the sixth tonight.

As far as I’m concerned, D-Rob is the eighth inning guy ahead of Joba Chamberlain AND newly acquired Kerry Wood until he shows ineffectiveness.

Worst of All: Alex Rodriguez didn’t hit No. 600 and Lance Berkman had a rough, 0-for-4 start to his Yankee career. That is all.

Coming Up: The rubber match is set for Sunday afternoon with CC Sabathia on the mound.

Lance Berkman was the first to tell the world he’ll be hitting second in the Yankees lineup in an interview on MLB Network. I originally expected him to hit sixth, keeping Nick Swisher in the No. 2 spot that he’s found comfort in, but I guess Joe Girardi has a little more respect for Berkman, 34, than I do.

Here’s the new-look lineup; Berkman essentially takes Nick Johnson’s spot and Jorge Posada takes a full day off.

Derek Jeter SS
Lance Berkman DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

Do you agree with Girardi moving down the hot Swisher to make room for Berkman?

Brian Cashman added a piece to the Yankees’ bullpen puzzle by trading for Kerry Wood about a half an hour before the deadline came. The deal is complete, according to Joel Sherman, but “awaiting (Bud Selig’s) approval on dollars that Indians are sending Yankees.”

If you’re worried about Wood’s long, injury-filled history, read this Jon Heyman teet:

#yankees have found relief market dismal. wood just came back from DL, and if hes healthy, he has a chance to be great

I’m surprised he said he could be “great.” Wood hasn’t been great as a reliever since 2008, but Heyman is a safe guy to believe.

Wood was NOT one of the top relievers available at this trade deadline — Joakim Soria, Scott Downs and Matt Capps were — but the Yankees were on Soria’s no-trade list and the asking prices for Downs and Capps were too high.

Chad Qualls went to the Rays, the Yanks’ top competitor, so if you look at it from that standpoint the Yankees added a better reliever — plus two hitters. Qualls was the anchor weighing down the Diamondbacks’ bullpen, the worst in the majors. Here are Wood’s career numbers as a full-time reliever since 2007:

Report Created on Baseball-Reference.com

Now that another big Yankees acquisition has become official, it’s time to predict another John Sterling home run call! The Yankees WCBS 880 broadcaster has come up with some pretty comical calls in the past, and I expect nothing less when Lance Berkman goes yard for the first time in Yankee pinstripes.

I think the early favorite has to be something based on “Sir Lancelot,” one of the Knights of the Round Table. His previous nicknames include “The Big Puma” and “Fat Elvis” so perhaps try to incorporate those in your call. Here are some possibilities that I’ve come up with and some that already have been suggested:

• “Sir Lance-A-Lot hit that one to Camelot!”
• “That Berkman sure did put a hurtin’ on that one!”
• “The Big Puma goes boom-uh!”
• “Fat Elvis really knows how to hit ‘em, I tell ya”
• “Look at Lance dance around the bases!” – Fletch
• “He hit that ball like a berk-MAN” - Fletch

UPDATE:
Some ideas via Twitter:

I have to say, all three of these are great. Can you top these? If not, which do you prefer?

If you went out last night and missed the Yankees news, here’s a quick news roundup to get you up to speed:

• The Yankees suffered a tough 3-2 defeat in Tampa, as Phil Hughes watched his 2-0 lead disappear when he allowed a three-run homer to Matt Joyce in the sixth inning. The two Yankee runs were scored by the first two batters of the game, as Nick Swisher slugged his 19th homer of the year. Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez is still stuck on 16 for the year and 599 for his career.
  
• The Lance Berkman deal will be announced later today and the Yankees will likely send reliever Mark Melancon and infielder Jimmy Paredes to the Astros.
  
• After the loss to the Rays Brian Cashman completed another deal, acquiring outfielder Austin Kearns from the Indians for a player to be named later and cash considerations. Here are Kearns’ career stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

Report Created on Baseball-Reference.com

Multiple reports swelled in around 4 p.m. today indicating the Yankees will net Astros switch-hitting first baseman/DH Lance Berkman before tomorrow’s trade deadline.

The deal isn’t final yet; money is still being discussed. The Yankees will be sending non-prospect minor leaguers in return, according to Ken Davidoff. I’d assume that means no Jesus Montero or Andrew Brackman.

The 34-year-old is definitely past his prime, but he’s still got a little life left in his bat. Here are his career stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

Report Created on Baseball-Reference.com

One column to pay attention to is his OBP. Despite a major decline in BA, his OBP has remained quite high. Daily news reporter Jesse Spector compared Berkman to a switch-hitting Nick Johnson. Hard to disagree with that.

As far as I’m concerned, he fits perfectly into the lineup at the DH and can spell Mark Teixeira when necessary. I like the move, just as long as the Yankees don’t give away any minor leaguers whom I really like.

If Alex Rodriguez was waiting for a good time to break into the 600s, this would be the weekend to do it. A-Rod and the first-place Yanks will face some of the toughest pitching in the league this weekend, as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

The Rays held a share of the division lead through June 19, but the Yankees sped past them at the end of the month and have used an 18-6 run in July to maintain a two-game lead.

The Red Sox haven’t been able to keep pace and have drifted to 7.5 games behind, making the AL East a two-team race until further notice.

Head to Head:
The Yankees started the second half with a series win over the Rays to tie the season series at 4. After this weekend, these two teams meet twice more at each other’s homes in the middle of September.

Pitching Matchups:

Date:	Yankees starters	Rays starters
Fri., 7:10 p.m.	Phil Hughes (12-3, 4.04)	Wade Davis (8-9, 4.32)
Sat., 7:10 p.m.	J. Vazquez (9-7, 4.54)	Matt Garza (11-5, 4.06)
Sun., 1:40 p.m.	CC Sabathia (13-4, 3.15)	James Shields (9-9, 4.79)

Players to Watch:
Yankees: Alex Rodriguez. He’s still sitting on 599 homers. There’s a reason all three games this weekend at the Trop are sold out.

Rays: Carlos Pena. A .216 hitter for the year who is hitting .304/.429/.696 with three homers and eight RBIs over his last seven games scares me. That man is Carlos Pena.

Prediction:
The Rays are winners of their last six, but the only way they can take their spot atop the East back is with a sweep. With the Yankees’ three top starters going this weekend, I don’t foresee that happening. But I will give the Rays the benefit of the doubt because Mr. Garza is coming off his no-hitter. Rays take two out of three, most likely tonight and tomorrow.

“Adam Dunn to somewhere the American League” seems to be the biggest rumor left in the trade deadline now that Roy Oswalt has finally found a new home. The worst part about being a blogger during the final week of the trade deadline is dealing with conflicting reports.

Yesterday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post, a highly credible reporter, posted an article headlined “Yankees finished with pursuit of Dunn.”

Last night, ESPN’s Buster Olney, perhaps the most credible baseball reporter on the planet, listed the Yankees second behind the Rays as a possible landing point for Dunn last night on Baseball Tonight and then again on Sports Center.

One reporter will be dead right and the other will be dead wrong. I’m not going to tell you who to believe; all I can do is let you know there are in fact conflicting reports.

Now, on to something related that we can discuss…

Calling All Yankees Fans: For the sake of debate, let’s assume Olney is right. Do you want Dunn in pinstripes? I’ve read hundreds of responses already — from two threads I started on Yankees forums, to RAB’s post on Dunn — still, I’m not entirely positive on how I feel about adding Dunn to the Yankees’ already powerful lineup.

So please, somebody convince me why the Yankees should or should not add Dunn at the deadline (in the comments below, on Facebook, on Twitter, or shoot me an email).

Following an 8-0 blowout yesterday, the Yankees clinched a series victory against the Indians tonight with an 11-4 win. The offense broke out in the seventh with a seven-run rally, which was more than enough support for spot starter Dustin Moseley.

Best of All: Moseley pitched six innings of one-run ball to earn the victory and all but sure up the next spot start in place of Andy Pettitte.

Worst of All: Alex Rodriguez is still stuck on 599. He had two opportunities with the bases loaded late tonight, but couldn’t come up with a granny. However, he did drive in his 83rd, 84th and 85th runs of the season.

Coming Up: The Yankees head down to Tampa this weekend for a big series with the Rays, who most consider the second-best team in baseball. Check back before the game Friday night for a series preview.

Guess who’s 13-6 with a 3.21 ERA for the Twins?

Carl Pavano.

OK, the headline gave it away, but would you have ever guessed that without the headline? Here’s a guy who, in his prime age, made 26 starts for the Yankees over four season at the price of $40 million. In those starts he went 9-8 with a 5.00 ERA.

Can you believe it? Pavano practically added nothing to the Yankees in four years, and now he’s thriving for a team on the verge of taking control of the AL Central.

What makes me even more sick — and I know I’m getting a little ahead of myself here — is that there’s a chance the Yankees will face him in the first round of the playoffs. If he beats them, I don’t know what I’ll do. But it probably won’t be good for my health.