Yanks took lead in this game on July 31

          Here’s an example of the Yankees’ forward thinking: At the trading deadline, did they really need Lance Berkman? Were they absolutely, positively desperate for the likes of Kerry Wood?

            Of course not. But the Yankees always are willing and prepared to improve, even a little. Berkman was the second star of this game, after Andy Pettitte, and Wood gives the Yankees an impressive sense of security in the eighth inning, heading through the eighth into the ninth.

         Both of those seemed like minor deals at the time, but Brian Cashman and the Yankees have the ability to look at July 31 and see October.