It was the Alex Rodriguez show this weekend in Kansas City.

A-Rod homered for the fifth straight game, Jorge Posada drove in the go-ahead runs with a towering double and Chien-Ming Wang won his 18th game of the season as the Yankees clipped the Royals 6-3 on Sunday.  The Bombers are riding a five-game winning streak and now lead the wild card race by four over the Tigers.  The dream for their 10th straight division crown is still achievable -- the Yanks remained 5.5 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East.

The Good:

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod was challenged all weekend by the Royal pitchers and he made them pay every time.  His two-run jolt in the first came with two outs and first base open and gave the Bombers a quick 2-0 lead.  I shouldn't be amazed by anything Rodriguez does anymore, but he still makes me shake my head.  The guy is just an unbelievable offensive force right now and he's making it look easy.  It was A-Rod's 52nd home run of the season and the Yankee pen got a chance to rotate their left shoulders four times this weekend.  Good stuff.  Alexander The Great finished 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in.

Chien-Ming Wang.  Wang breezed through the first three innings and then battled the rest of the way.  Still, he kept his pitch count down (he finished with 90 through seven) and even though he worked in and out of trouble, he never really seemed to be in danger of giving up the big hit.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel completely at ease whenever Wanger is on the hill.  And that's what an ace is supposed to do for you.  It wasn't spectacular, but Wang improved to 18-6 with this: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 4 K.

Jorge Posada.  I was a tad surprised that Posada was catching a day game after a night game, but I guess the loss of Jeter made Joe pencil his name in the lineup.  Good thing.  Jorgie ripped a booming two-run double in the fifth inning to break a 3-3 tie and give the Yanks a lead they would never relinquish.  A-Rod is by far the Yankees MVP this season, but Posada is a distant, but important second.  I shudder to think what the Yankee season would have been like without Posada's Herculean offensive efforts.  Posada finished 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and 2 RBI.

The Bad:

Jason Giambi.  Giambi got the start at first on Sunday and he was the only Yankee starter who didn't crack the hit column.  The Giambino started strong when he first came off the DL, but he's been slumping lately and looks over-matched at times at the plate.  Jay Jay is 2 for his last 27 and his average has dipped to .243 on the season.  Giambi finished 0 for 3 with a K.

The Ugly:

He's back!  The Yankees made some roster moves on Sunday and called up six players from Scranton-Wilkes/Barre.  Yes, one of those players is the much maligned Kei Igawa.  I suppose Torre now has another option if Roger Clemens can't go in his next start.  Could you imagine what Mike Mussina would do if Torre chose Igawa over him for a start?  Oh, man!  Of course, the chances of that scenario happening is about ten billion-to-one, but it would make for some good copy.  Anyway, the other players called up were Jeff Karstens, Matt DeSalvo, Ross Ohlendorf, Sean Henn and Bronson Sardinha.

Monday is another off day for the Yanks (can you remember the last time the Yanks had so many off days during September?  Vinny from Kearny and I can't) as they head to Toronto to take on the Jays for a three-game set starting on Tuesday night.  Phil Hughes will get the call for the Yanks and he'll go against Shaun Marcum.  Marcum has had a good season (12-5, 3.74 ERA), but he has pitched terribly at home (4.97 home ERA versus a 2.71 ERA on the road) this year.  Hughes pitched better in his last start (a no decision against Seattle), but has yet to find consistency with his off-speed pitches.

There has also been some bad blood between these two clubs this season and A-Rod has been at the center of most of it (surprise, surprise).

Let's see what the Yankee third baseman has in store for everyone on Tuesday night.