A-Rod, Unit Help Yanks To Win

The Yankees, whether conscience or not, made a statement today. Yes, A-Rod had three hits, including his 27th home run, got a curtain call request from the sellout crowd and RJ (15-10) pitched into the ninth inning before surrendering a two run homer to Marcus Thames in the ninth.

Mo Rivera came in and gave up a leadoff double to Magglio Ordonez before retiring the next three batters to record his 33rd save. This is the fourth year in a row that Mo has recorded at least 30 saves. Only two other relief pitchers have accomplished this feat. Lee Smith and Trevor Hoffman, who happen to be #1 and #2 in career saves.

But where the Yankees made their statement was their in your face Pudge, we're gonna steal your ass off today. The Yankees were three for three in stolen bases against Pudge Rodriguez. A-Rod got his 12th, Johnny Damon got his 24th and Derek Jeter got his 28th, all off of Rodriquez. To put that in perspective, only 30 baserunners have even attempted to steal off of Rodriguez this year! Pudge had not allowed as many as three steals in a game since Sept. 16, 2005, when the Angels swiped four against him.

The Yankees are putting on their game faces for the stretch drive and showed their gritty determination today against what is record-wise, the best team in the league.

Twigs and berries - Detroit manager Jim Leyland was ejected between the top and the bottom of the seventh inning and it was all rather bizarre. After the Tiger's half of the seventh, Leyland came out to home plate to have a word or two with home plate umpire Jim Hoye. In the middle of the argument, a recording of Kate Smith started singing "God Bless America". Leyland took off his cap, put it over his heart and listened to the entire song. As soon as it was over, he was back in Hoye's face arguing over balls and strikes. He got the gate, but the whole thing was rather comical.

Jeter now has an 11 game hitting streak and is now hitting .340 just .10 percentage points behind league leader Joe Mauer who has been slumping lately and hit only .276 for the month of August.

Speaking of which Mauer (who is only two for nine this year against the Yankees) and the Twins come in for a three game weekend set.

The probable pitchers:

Carlos Silva (8-12) vs. Corey Lidle (11-10) on Friday at 7:05 PM
Scott Baker (3-7) vs. Jeff Karstens (1-0) on Saturday at 1:05 PM
Matt Garza (1-3) vs. Ron Villone (3-2) on Sunday at 1:05 PM

Monroe Spoils Sweep

For the first time this season Jaret Wright pitched into the seventh inning. As a matter of fact he pitched rather well, allowing only two runs over 6 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and the key - only one walk. All of that was wasted on a two out, three run home run by Craig Monroe (23) in the top of the ninth off of Scott Proctor.

The Yankee hitters were held in check on three hits all night by five Detroit pitchers. The key hit came from who else? Derek Jeter's two run double in the sixth inning.

After having pitched an inning in the day portion of the doubleheader and getting a save, it seemed prudent that Joe Torre not use Mo Rivera in the ninth, considering that the Yankees have now amassed an eight game lead over Boston. He'll be needed down the road.

Tomorrow's series finale will be at 1:05 PM and will broadcast nationally on ESPN.

Chinny Gets 16th In Game One

The Yankees only scored two runs but that was all they needed as Chinny Wang racked up his 16th victory in the first game of the day/night doubleheader today. He faced only 28 batters in going 7 2/3 innings, surrendering only three hits while walking two. Mo Rivera pitched the ninth for his 32nd save of the season. Craig Wilson's homer and Jason Giambino's sac fly, both in the fifth inning was all the offense that he needed. The Yankees' win, combined with Boston's loss at Oakland now puts them 8 1/2 games up in the East.

If the Yankees sweep the Tigers in this series they would be 1/2 game behind Detroit for the best record in the majors.

Update On Matsui's BP Session Today


Twigs and Berries:

Since falling a season-high four games out of first place on July 4, the Yankees have gone 31-17 to make up 11 games in the standings. ... The Yankees and Tigers are meeting with both teams at least 25 games over .500 for the first time since 1961. ... The Yankees have had 25 innings in which they've scored at least five runs, which leads the majors, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Texas is second with 22.

Injury Updates

Hideki Matsui - He is cleared to start taking live batting practice today. He won't do it on the field, but rather in the cage. It's all about getting his timing down. Despite the stellar play of Melky Cabrera in his absence, the Yankees are still counting on him for September and hopefully the playoffs.

Gary Sheffield - Sheff who has been taking underwater BP (I'd love to see that) has been progressing more slowly than Matsui and any timetable for his return is uncertain at this point.

Mike Mussina - His is still scheduled to come off the 15 day DL and pitch on Tuesday @ Kansas City.

Melky Cabrera - He was scratched from the finale in Anaheim due to a toothache. He was penciled in the lineup card last night before the rainout and is expected to play today.

As The Worm Turns

While the Yankees sat around in the clubhouse waiting for their game against the Tigers to be officicially called because of inclement weather, the subject of Carl Pavano was still a simmering one. Manager Joe Torre has pretty much written him off for the remainder of this year.

"I'm sure we'll see him sooner or later, but I don't think we can count on him for this year," Torre said before the Yankees' game against Detroit was rained out. "I'm not going to sit here and wonder when he's going to pitch, because we've got work to do at this point. We were sort of penciling him in and trying to figure out where he would fit."

Meanwhile the game between the Yankees and the Tigers was officially rained out and will be made up as part of a day/night doubleheader today. Game one will be at 1:05 PM and game two will be at 7:05 PM. The projected pitching rotation was tweaked slightly by the Yankees, with Jaret Wright pitching tonight's game and Randy Johnson moved to tomorrow's game. This will be the Yankees second twin bill in 12 days.

Three articles on Pavano-gate.

Newsday

Carl Driving Yankees Nuts, from the Daily News

Crash Course In Losing Patience by John Harper, New York Daily News

Pavano Hid Broken Ribs!

Carl Pavano hid the fact that he broke two ribs in an auto accident two weeks ago and the Yankees are none too happy with that.

"I think it's obviously frustrating, disappointing. There's a lot of words which would come to mind," Cashman said. "Of course I'm angry. ... I've got an army of people here that we provide to put our players in the best position possible to succeed, and I don't want anybody to sabotage that by holding back. And clearly here, for a period of time that took place."

I would say that Cashman being pissed is putting it mildly. The Yankees forked over $39.95 million for four years for Pavano to actually pitch for them and so far he has spent the majority of the time he has been with the Yanks on the DL for one ailment or another.

This latest incident is just bizarre in that he chose to keep it a secret from the Yankees and certainly doesn't put him in a good light with any of the Yankee brass.

Full story from Newsday.

Pavano Scared Stiff?

I think that the Yankees are getting close to giving up on the project called Carl Pavano. Here's why: After finishing up a rehab start in Columbus in which he gave up two runs over six innings, he said that he felt fine. When he was told that he may be starting for the Yankees on Thursday against the Tigers in place of Jaret Wright, his tune suddenly changed.


An interesting article appears in the Daily News.

BTW, you have no idea how hard it was to actually find a picture of Pavano in a Yankee uniform.

The Long Way Home

Well thanks to Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter smacking two homers apiece, they Yankees salvaged the last game of this series against the Angels to finish their long road trip at 7-4. Bernie Williams is having quite a year for someone who was supposed to be a part time player this year.

He is hitting .286 with 11 HR's and with his six RBI yesterday he now has 53 for the year, all in 357 AB's.

Jeter meanwhile continues his campaign for MVP with another solid day at the plate. His two HR's also gave him 11 for the year to go along with 81 RBI to go along with a lofty .337 batting average.

These are Jeter's projected totals for the year.

116 runs scored, 214 hits, 38 doubles, 33 stolen bases and 103 RBI (from the number two hole).

The Yankees have today off and will open a three games series against the Central Division leading Deroit Tigers. A-Rod could use the day off after going 0-15 over the weekend with 10 strikeouts.

Probable pitchers:

8/29 Nate Robertson (11-10) against Chinny Wang (15-5) 7:05 PM
8/30 Wilfredo Ledezma (2-1) against RJ (14-10) 7:05 PM on ESPN
8/31 Jeremy Bonderman (11-6) against Jaret Wright (9-7) 1:05PM on ESPN

Those Damn Angels!

Well the Yankees got pounded yesterday 12-7 by their nemisis the Angels. Corey Lidle got lit up early but the Yankees were getting runs as well but they couldn't hold the lead and that lead to the eventual outome of the game. Today is the last game of this brutual road trip and a nasty stretch of 22 games in 21 days. Last weekend's triumphant sweep of Boston is a distant memory. They have one last chance today to finish the road trip a respectable 7-4 trip versus an OK road trip at 6-5, should they lose. The only fortunate part of their recent stumble is that Boston is still struggling and the Yankee's have only lost one game from their 6 1/2 game lead they held when the left beantown.

Moving Alex Rodriguez to the number two spot didn't seem to help him much as he continues to struggle at the plate going 0-11 in this series with 8 strikeouts. In this afternoon's final game of this road trip the Yankees put Jeff Karstens (0-0) on the mount, who pitched well enough against Seattle on Tuesday but didn't figure in the decision in what became a Yankee 6-5 loss. Going for the Angels is lefty Joe Saunders (4-1).

After today's game the Yankees fly home and have tomorrow off before the Tigers roll into town on Tuesday night.

I Know What I Want For Christmas

I saw this t-shirt today. It's on my list for Santa!

Sleepy in Seattle

Despite the fact that Randy Johnson (14-10) completed his second game of the season (98th career) and pitched decently enough, the Bronx Bombers' bats were slumbering tonight against Yankee slayer Jarod Washburn (7-12). Washburn allowed six hits, two runs and two walks over 6 1/3 innings while fanning a season high nine.

Since 1999 only he and Pedro Martinez have an ERA of under 3.00 against the Yankees, covering at least seven starts. He won for the second time this year against the Yankees, while RJ lost for the second time against the M's this season. Washburn is now 4-3 with a 2.59 ERA in eight starts versus New York.

Here's an oddity - The Yankees had four base runners in the fourth inning but did not score. Catcher Kenji Johiima picked Robinson Cano off first base after he had singled. And after Washburn hit Green with a pitch to load the bases, Snelling made a running catch in left field on a Damon liner to end the inning.

In fact about the only bright spot for the pinstripers was that Johnny Damon hit his 21st homer of the year in the 7th inning off of Washburn. A-Rod was back in uniform but didn't start the game (soar throat). He came on in the ninth as a pinch hitter and whiffed.

The Yankees are now eight games into this 11 game road trip (6-2) and head to Anaheim for three games against the Angels this weekend.

The Yankess will put Jaret Wright (9-7) on the hill against the Angels' John Lackey (10-9). The last time Wright faced the Angels it was back on the 12th of August at the Stadium where he got the win in a 5-2 Yankee victory. He went 5 1/3 innings giving up two hits and one run. Lackey didn't fare so well his last outing versus the Yanks on August 14th at the Stadium. He was on the losing end of a 7-2 Yankee victory. Although he only surrendered three runs in seven innings, he was hit pretty hard. Giving up 11 hits while walking four batters.

Notes: Mike Mussina was placed on the 15 day DL with a sore hamstring, retroactive to Monday. He is expected to pitch again the first week in September.

What's Up With The 'Stache???

Some trivial drivel here. What is up with that small broom developing above Jason Giambino's upper lip? He looks more like a '70's porn star than a baseball player. I say either grow the full "fu" or get rid of that hideous looking pelt. What do you think?

Chinny's 15th

The Yankees got a dominating performace from Chinny Wang last night to become a 15 game winner. The Wang man allowed seven hits over seven innings, walking none and striking out five enroute to cruising to his 15th victory. The Yankees started early scoring two runs on a single by Robinson Cano which scored Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambino. They put them away and chased Mariner's starter Felix Hernandez in the fourth by scoring five runs on hits from Cano, Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Giambino, Abreu and Georgy Posada.

Wang is tied with Detroit's Justin Verlander and the Twins' Johan Santana for second place in victories in the American Leauge behind Toronto's Roy Halladay who has 16 wins.

The Yankees held on to their 6 and 1/2 game lead as Boston beat the Angels 5-4.

This and that - A-Rod missed the game with a sore throat and was at the team hotel taking antibiotics. ... Damon is now 10-for-16 (.625) with 21 RBI with the bases loaded this season.

In the rubber game tonight the Yankees throw LJ (14-9) against Jarod Washburn (6-12). Johnson is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA against his former team this year.

A Tale Of Two GM's

What do you make of the statements made today by Yankee's GM Brian Cashman (I'll get to him in a minute) and Boston's GM Theo Epstein? In the middle of the Yankees slaughtering of the Red Sox this past weekend Epstein came under some intense scrutiny from the media.

It should be prefaced to say that the Red Sox (in essence Theo) made no moves before the trading deadline to shore up their struggling bullpen or the offensive holes in their lineup. So when a story surfaced on Saturday in a Boston newspaper that the Red Sox could have had Bobby Abreu instead of watching him spank and punish Red Sox pitchers, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

It also didn't help that ex-Red Sox centerfielder Johnny Damon continued his smashmouth offensive attack against his former team over the weekend. The questions to Red Sox fans were obvious. Why aren't these two players on our team? Why is that we only have two reliable pitchers (Curt Schilling and Jonathan Papplebon)? Why do we have so many holes in our offense? Why in the hell did you go out and get 35 year old Javy Lopez to replace the injured Jason Varitek?

It all comes down to money and the Red Sox' current penchant to hang on to it. Johnny Damon has pretty much held his tongue all season on why he left Boston. When the Yankees first visited Boston this year, he was met with boos and derisive comments. It hurt, it stung this proud man. But, ever the professional, he kept his mouth shut. This weekend he finally let off a little steam. He stated that the Red Sox never made a serious attempt at signing him. The Yankees pursued him and offered him a contract with one more year on it than the Red Sox offered and for more money. Seems like a no brainer to me. He capped off his short commentary by saying that he was so happy to be playing in New York for the Yankees because he knows he is wanted in the Bronx. That is huge.

Another cloud of controversy swirled in beantown this weekend when it was reported that the Red Sox could have had Abreu. This didn't sit well, especially while Abreu was in the midst of going 10 for 20 with 7 walks against the Sox in the five game set.

If you are to believe Theo Epstein, it all comes down to money. Today, Epstein faced his critics by saying that the Red Sox didn't have the money to get those players. This is such hogwash, I'm not sure who he thinks is going to buy this but surely not Red Sox fans. The Red Sox do have the money, they are just choosing not to spend it. After all, when Roger Clemens was going through his now annual will I or won't I come out of retirement, the Sox were thick in the hunt. They knew that they were going have to pony up approximately $11 million to get Clemens. So my question for Epstein would be this. Was that $11 million earmarked solely for Clemens or couldn't that money have been spent on Abreu or Damon? Or a better bullpen for that matter? Me thinks that the honeymoon phase of the Theo Epstein post World Championship afterglow is now officially over. They don't have a farm system that they can depend on and the deals that they did make are not panning out. Take a look what Co Co Crisp or Wily Mo Pena have done recently.

Now let's talk about Brian Cashman. He also made a statement today concerning money. He stated that the Yankees are losing money. While that may be possible, albeit a little hard to swallow when you factor in creative accounting, the fact remains that love him or hate him, George Steinbrenner is the kind of owner that everyone wants. He will spend the money and to hell with the consequences.

The Yankees did not stand still at the trading deadline. The Abreu/Lidle trade was a huge coup, albeit an expensive one for the Yankees. Abreu fit right into an already surging Yankee offense. He is a patient and professional hitter. Before coming to the Yankees, he had already seen more pitches than any other major league hitter. Corey Lidle, while not Cy Young, gave the Yankees a reliable arm at the back end of the rotation. Obtaining Craig Wilson was also a great move, even if it meant Bubba had to take a hike.

The bottom line is that the Yankees are a better team than the Red Sox (thanks to their respective GM's) and while the Yankees can't put them in their rear view mirror just yet, hopefully it won't be too much longer until the Yankees can start printing playoff tickets and the Red Sox can start calling for tee times.



Is the honeymoon over for Theo?

Tough Break

It was a tough, albeit not unexpected outcome last night for the Yankees in frapachino town. The fact that they were coming off of that brutal series in Boston, the amount of pitchers and pitches, it was not surprising to see Ron Villone standing out there to start the ninth.

Jeffrey Karstens, who had been called up when the Yankees optioned Sidney Ponson back on the 19th, started the game. He gave up a two run shot to Adrian Beltre in the first and a solo shot to Richie Sexton in the third.

Other than those two mistakes he didn't pitch all that bad, giving up six hits and three runs over five and a third innings.

Bobby Abreu, coming off of his torrid hitting in Boston hit a three run homer in the third and A-Rod hit a to run homer in the sixth to put the Yankees ahead. But then came Jaret. Joe Torred only brought him in for only inning but that was enough. He surrendered two runs in his one inning of work on two hits and a walk.

On the bright side of things, Boston continued their slide, so the Yankee's lead is still at 6 and a half games.

They Yankees are more than half way done with this grueling 11 game road trip. They have two left here in Seattle and three in Anaheim before returning home for a well deserved day off before facing the Tigers in a three game set at the Stadium.

Tonight the Yankees throw Chinny Wang (14-5) versus Felix Hernandez (10-11).

Who'da Thunk it?

Going into Boston, especially on the heels of getting their asses kicked by Baltimore the day before, I was hopeful that the Yankees would take three of five in this series. To take all five and move six and one half games ahead of the Red Sox? Nothing short of fan-f'ing-tastic!

To me this series exposed the Red Sox weaknesses while emphasizing the Yankee strengths. The biggest strength of the Yankees is working the pitcher. In the first three games of the series, the Yankees got into Boston's bullpen and totally exploited its weakness.

I mean in the first three games of the series, the Red Sox staff had a hard time finding the plate on any regular basis. They surrendered 31 walks (28 in the first three games) in 45 innings. Guys came up big in clutch situtaions - Jeter, Abreu, Giambi, Posada, Cano, Cabrera and let's not forget Red Sox castoff Johnny Damon who almost singlehandely destroyed his former club.

This was a series of numbers:

Yankees Red Sox
Wins 5 0
Runs 49 26
Hits 62 50
Pitches 827 944
ERA 4.89 9.39
Steals 6 1
Time 19 hours and 41 minutes

The second game of Friday night's Day/Nighter set a major league record for a nine inning game lasting four hours and 45 minutes.

The Yankees just wore them down.

A usually stoic Joe Torre showed unusual glee after winning all five games.

"To me, this is a winning ballclub," Torre said later in his office. "Does that mean we're going to win the division? No, it doesn't guarantee that. But I certainly like the attitude we have, and their determination and their unselfishness." That's about as close as Joe is going to come to a guarantee.

The Yankees were just the better team, all weekend long in all facets of the game.

No time to rest on their laurels however. This was just as grueling on the Yankees playing five games in four days to start an eleven game road trip. After today's victory the Yankees boarded a plane where they will start a series against the Mariners beginning tomorrow night. The Yanks will throw Jaret Wright against the M's Gil Meche in the opener of the series.

After three in Seattle, they head down the coast for three against the Angels, then they will fly home to their first day off in three weeks. They'll need the rest. Their first opponent to open the homestand will be three games against the Central Division Leading Detroit Tigers.

This could be a very special year for the Yanks. Reminiscent of 1996 and 1998-2000 World Championship tesms. There are a lot of similarities that I will explore over the next few weeks.



Yankee Pitching Coach Ron Guidy Gives Kyle Farnsworth A Big Hug After He Nailed Down The Yankee Victoy With His 2nd Save Of The Season.

Limping into Beantown

Wowsers. I hope that Joe Torre has a good phone plan, because he certainly spent quite a bit of time calling the bullpen today. This is not the way the Yankees wanted to head into Boston for a key five games series, getting pummelled by lowly Baltimore 12-2 at the Stadium today. Nothing seemed to work right from the get go. Brian Roberts led off the game with a homerun. Starter Jaret Wright lasted only three innings surrending 5 five runs. Although he only gave up two hits, he allowed four walks and threw 75 pitches!

Although Johnny Damon (18th homerun) did the same for the Yanks in the bottom half of the inning and Robinson Cano smacked his seventh in the bottom of the second, it was all downhill for the pinstripers after that.

Their frustration seemed to culminate on a seemingly routine play in the sixth inning on an infield popup that involved Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Jeter was calling for the ball all the way, even though he was drifting toward third base where A-Rod steadfastly stood his ground with his glove in the air. The two players collided and the ball popped out of A-Rod's glove. What I found interesting about that play was the fact that the when the ball popped out of A-Rod's glove and fell to the ground, Jeter gave A-Rod "a look" and just walked away from the play, as if to say "Well you screwed it up, you go get it". Jeter was charged with the error.

Also of note in his two games since being activated Octavio Dotel has been hammered like a bent nail. His line - 1 inning pitched, four hits, 2 ER, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts and an ERA of 18.00. Not exactly encouraging.

Corey Lidle was placed on the bereavement list due to the death of his grandmother. Lidle was scheduled to pitch the last game of the five game series on Monday afternoon. It is unclear who might make that start at this point. The Yankees called up Brian Bruney from Columbus to take his place on the roster until he returns.

These are the scheduled starters for the series.

Friday Game 1 1:05 - Wang vs. Johnson on ESPN
Friday Game 2 8:05 - Ponson vs. Lester
Saturday 1:20 - Johnson vs. Beckett on FOX
Sunday 8:05 - Mussina vs. Schilling on ESPN
Monday 1:05 - Yankees TBA vs. Wells ESPN2



I wish I had a picture of the look on Jeter's face just after this play.

Dennis Leary on NESN

OK, I like Dennis Leary, so shoot me. I know, I know, he is a die hard Red Sox fan. I forgive him, because I think that he is hilarious. Anywho, he was in the booth for a half inning last night during NESN's broadcast of the Red Sox and Tigers game. What a half inning it was!

When he discovered that Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis was Jewish, it sent Leary into a "Hey, Mel Gibson, HOW'S REHAB??!!" rant that, while not quite rivaling the famous Rick Sutcliffe "George Clooney's out there solving that thing" in embarassment value, surely comes close it in pure entertainment value.

I found a video clip from deadspin.com. It is hilarious!

Dennis Leary's Mel Gibson rant on NESN

Breaking New Ground

In typical George Steinbrenner fashion the Yankees put on quite a show today when they broke ground on the new Yankee Stadium set to open in time for the first pitch of the 2009 season. Among those luminaries in attendance when The Boss pushed the first silver shovel with a baseball bat handle into the ground were: former Yankee great Yogi Berra, actor Billy Crystal, New York Governor George Pataki, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as well as the baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

The Boss was uncharacteristically a man of few words. "It's a pleasure to give this to you people," said Steinbrenner, who complained of the heat. "Enjoy the new stadium. I hope it's wonderful." Considering his age and health, I truly hope that he is around to enjoy the new Stadium.

While there will be seating for less fans than the current Stadium, 52,000 vs. 56,000, there will be more luxury suites as well as many of the new conveniences of modern ballparks.

The $800 million Stadium is being financed mostly by the Yankees. They are contributing $600 million, while the city and state are kicking in the other $200 million for the project, which is expected to add 1,000 permanent jobs to the local economy.

While many, including myself, are looking forward to the new stadium, there are quite a few nay sayers claiming that this will invoke a new curse of Babe Ruth, including former Yankee pitcher and current cry baby Jim Bouton. "If there are baseball gods the Yankees will be punished for this," said Jim Bouton, a Yankees pitcher from 1962 to 1968. "The curse of Babe Ruth is going to come visiting on them, saying, 'You've paved over my hallowed ground for a few bucks.'" Whatever.












The American flags atop Yankee Stadium, nicknamed "The House that Ruth Built," are poised at half staff in honor of Babe Ruth in New York City. The body of Ruth, who died the night before, lied in state in the stadium's rotunda Aug. 17 to Aug. 18, 1948.

Three Games Up, again.

While the O's young lefty Eric Bedard held the Yankees to one run over six innings, fanning six, it took him over 100 pitches to do so. Enter the Orioles bullpen, the worst in the league. It must have looked like the post game spread when LaTroy Hawkins came trotting out of the bullpen. Johnny Damon swatted a two run blast (his 17th) and Robinson Cano sliced an opposite field double to put the Yankees up for good. "We need to get a little better in our bullpen pitching," manager Sam Perlozzo said. Hmm, an astutue abservation if ever I heard one.

While both starters pitched well, neither was able to snap their personal two game losing streaks. The win, coupled with the Detroit's 3-2 victory over Boston put the Yankees three games up again on the Sox. Four would be nice heading into the five game series in Boston this weekend. :-)

Tonight the O's throw lefty Adam Lowen against newly acquired Cory Lidle in the finale of this three game set.

Also of note: THe Yankees activated Octavio Dotel today, 14 months after ligament replacement surgery on his elbow. To make room on the roster the Yanks optioned Jose Veras to Triple-A Columbus of the International League.

Carl Pavano threw four scoreless innings in a rehab start at Class A Tampa yesterday and reported no pain in his elbow.

A-Rod committed his 21st error of the season.

Does A-Rod Cause His Own Problems?

I find it curious that so many Yankee fans get on A-Rod's case. I understand that he will never, ever be Derek Jeter. The Yankee captain has been there and done that. He may be the best clutch player ever and in my opinion should be a serious contender (finally) for MVP honors this year. I also understand that much is expected of Alex Rodriguez and his $25 million annual salary. He may be having a subpar year (for A-Rod), still his numbers are nothing to sneeze at: .287 batting average with 25 homeruns and 85 RBI. That puts him on pace for 35 HR and 115 RBI for the season. Not to mention the fact that he is the reigning American League MVP.

That being said, it seems as if A-Rod brings a certain amount of grief on himself with his comments. Last year he made that comment about seeing a therapist on a regular basis. While he may have been trying to connect with fans, showing that he is a "regular Joe" exposing his soft underbelly, Yankee fans don't want hear about that. They want their third basemen to be like Craig Nettles. A tough, gritty kind of guy who can smack Carlton Fisk in the face so hard that it rang his bell. Not dance with Jason Varitek and have people laugh at him for doing it.

Another example of Rodriguez bringing the wrong kind of attention to himself was the comments he made after Sunday's loss to the Angels, implying to the press that he "may have been playing hurt". Exsqueeze me?? When Joe Torre was asked about A-Rod's comments he seemed to be in the dark about the whole thing. "Obviously," the manager said, "it was nothing debilitating because he was out there every day ... The nagging, everyday stuff would be my guess."

When Rodriguez was pressed about his comments last night after he knocked in the winning run all he had to say was "I'm not going to get into that, I didn't say specifically, did I?". He should have been talking about his game winning hit and how he hopes to continue to contribute and all that good stuff instead of digging himself a deeper hole.

A-Rod, just shut up and play. You're a good player, still the best all around player in the game. The only thing you need are some handlers to filter the comments that you make which only make your situation seem worse. Perhaps another high profile celeb who doesn't feel so comfortable in his own skin, Tom Cruise may be able to lend you his sister as a handler, since she did such a good job for him.

Thank Heaven

On a night when Randy Johnson (13-9) recorded his 4,500th career strikeout (placing him in third place behind Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens on the all time list) and his 276th career win, the attention seemed to focus more on Alex Rodriguez' comments (more on that later) that he made on Sunday as opposed to the Yankee's win or RJ's career milestones, which in my opinion is just retarded.

Derek Jeter led off the scoring with his 10th home run of the year, a two run shot off of losing pitcher John Lackey (10-9) in the third inning. That win combined with the Tigers' win over Boston gave the Yankee's a two game cushion in the AL East.

Jorge Posada led the Yankee's 16 hit attack going 3-4 with his 15th homerun of the season. RJ looked sharp over seven innings before giving way to Kyle Farnworth in the eighth and Mo Rivera finished out the ninth.

Tonight the Yankees face Baltimore at the Stadium with the O's throwing left hander Eric Bedard (12-8) against Moose Mussina (13-5). Both pitchers are trying to snap personal two game losing streaks.

The Trouble With Angels

Why can't the Yankees seem to be able to beat the Angels? The Angels improved to 4-2 against the Yankees this season and 53-50 since 1996. They are the only team in the Joe Torre era to have a winning record over New York. Not to mention the Divisional Playoffs in 2002 and 2004. What's up with that?

With the exception of Chone Figgins lead off homer, the Angels clipped off 14, count 'em 14 SINGLES. The Yanks never seemed to be in the game against rookie phenom Jered Weaver, who unlike his brother Jeff, seemingly loved pitching in Yankee Stadium, comparing to a video game. The rookie ran his impressive career start to an impressive 8-0.

Not to mention, the Sux feasted upon the woeful Orioles once again, running their season record against Baltimore to 11-1 to close to within one game of the Yanks.

Tonight in the finale hard throwing John Lackey goes up against LJ.

Ugh!!!! Missed Opportunities

Two things you can't do if you want to beat the reigning World Champions. Give them five outs in an inning and leave 15 men on base. Last night's game was so frustrating that I had to stop watching it. So many missed scoring opportunities. They had Vasquez on the ropes more times than a hangman. But they couldn't put him away.

Vasquez threw 111 pitches in his five innings of work giving up six hits and walking six, yet they could only score two lousy runs, both on Giambo's two run shot to left center.

A-Rod's 19th error of the season was just as costly as the Yankees lack of clutch hitting leading to the four runs scored in the second by the Chisox. Not to mention the fact that KC swept the fading Sux and they missed a golden opportunity to move four games ahead.

All in all a very frustrating night of missed opportunities.

No Mo Scares

Mo, Mo, Mo! Sometimes you just scare the crap out of me! Last night was one thing. That was a game that the Yankees should have won. Missed scoring chances and of course Konerko's pop.

Tonight, again with the agina! Well at least we came away with the win.

Some positive musings:

RJ looked very impressive.
Abreu finally hit a homer and has been great since coming over from the Phillies.
Cano has looked and played great since coming off the DL.
Matsui may be back in less than two weeks.

Tomorrow night Moose is going against ex-Yank flop Vasquez.

Moose is 6-2 on the road this year with a 3.42 ERA. He is 1-0 against the White Sox this year.

And Papelbone just blew a save and the Sux lost! Woo hoo! Three games up. Life is good. :-)

Here's a little tidbit from the Elias Sports Bureau.

Who leads the American League in blown saves since June 1?

Would you believe it's Jonathan Papelbon, who blew a one-run ninth-inning lead in the Red Sox' 5-4 loss to the Royals. It was Papelbon's second consecutive blown save, and his fifth in his last 15 opportunities after starting the season 20-for-20. Papelbon shares the A.L. lead in blown saves since June 1 with Ambiorix Burgos.

Hey Let's Talk Some Yankee Baseball

Well, the Yanks have the day off after taking two of three from the dismal O's before heading into Chitown with a two game lead over the Red Sux. It really seems as if the last minute deals that Cashman made to bring Abreu, Wilson and Lidle onboard has really energized the club. Sorry the Bubster was sent down, but with Wilson on the roster and Torre deciding to go with 12 pitchers, his days were numbered. See ya in September Bubba.

With Matsui, Sheff and now maybe even Pavano as well, able to make September contributions....well let's connect the dots for the fading and suddenly injury plagued Bosux.