One Hell of a Split

The Yankees blew a 5-0, and a 6-1, lead over the Red Sox, and trailed 9-7 in the bottom of the 9th, and won anyway. Last night, they followed that up by blowing a 5-0 lead, and trailed 7-5 in the bottom of the 9th... and got it to 7-6 with the tying run on 3rd and the winning run on 2nd, but couldn't close the deal on Jonathan Papelbon the way they did the night before.

The Scum victorious. One hell of a split series. The Yanks had won 13 of their last 16 in the Hundred Year War, but not this one. I guess they used up all their magic in the first game, and need time to regenerate. And with Tampa Bay coming in, they don't have much time.

I said that, in this stretch against the Twins, Red Sox, Rays and Mets, they needed to win 7 of 10. They have now won 3 of 5, with a two-game set against the Rays starting tonight and then three at New Shea against the struggling Mutts. Can they win 4 of those 5?

They took 2 of 3 against the Rays, in St. Petersburg, early in the season. I see no reason why they can't take both of these: As great a start as the Rays have had, the Yankees' has been nearly as good, and Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher should both be back.

As for the Mets, well, they wasted another fine performance by The Great Johan Santana last night in Atlanta (just as the Yanks wasted one by CC Sabathia). David Wright made a game-losing error (on a grounder hit by our old friend Melky Cabrera), and Wright's head really is not in the right place right now.

The Yankees proved last season that Pity Field wasn't hard to hit home runs in after all, unless you're a Met.

The Mets' only reliable starter right now, besides Santana, is Mike Pelfrey, who no longer seems to need me in the ballpark, and will most likely start on Saturday; and Santana can't pitch any sooner than Sunday anyway, unless Jerry Manuel wants to pitch him on 3 days' rest on Saturday, and besides, there's one team Santana has had trouble with dating to his Minnesota days, the team that crushed him in that 15-0 win last season: The Yankees. The Yankees have no reason to be overly concerned about the Mess.

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Still no confirmation of Cesc Fabregas' alleged wish to go back to Barcelona. Barcelona say they must repsect Arsenal's wishes. (There's a first time for everything.) And Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has said, "I do know there has been no official approach from Barcelona. Under those circumstances the best comment is no comment." So, relax, my fellow Gooners.

At the same time, there is still no confirmation of former Arsenal superstar and current Barcelona bench-sitter Thierry Henry coming to the New York Red Bulls. Though I do notice that "Metro" do not currently have a player on their roster wearing Tit's iconic Number 14. (I seriously doubt it's because they expect Johan Cruyff, who played two exhibition games in New Jersey for the Cosmos way back when, to come out of retirement at age 63.) Stay tuned.