The summer months had not been kind to Yankees starter Orlando Hernández. Between right elbow and back injuries, the Cuban-born pitcher had made just eight starts since hitting the shelf with elbow inflammation in the middle of June. In that span, he had not been his typical self on the mound, posting a 5.51 ERA over that span.

Over the final three starts of August, however, El Duque began to show signs of turning it around, as he went at least seven innings in all three starts and allowed three runs in his last two. With the Yankees in desperate need of stability in the starting rotation, Hernández had the chance to show his team that his elbow and back troubles were behind him, and that he was ready to be the dominant late-season and postseason pitcher he had been in his first two seaso

See Full Page