Swing and a Swish, Yankees Win

So the Yankees played the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon, not wanting to get swept at home by the team that, prior to William Nathaniel Showalter III taking over as their manager, was the worst in baseball.

And they trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th. They got a man on, and up to the plate came Nick Swisher.

Boom. Home run to left-center. Ballgame over, Yankees win, theeee... Oh, you know how that goes. "It's Swish-a-licious!"

As long as the Yankees win, broadcaster John Sterling can say whatever he wants. Except for "Something sort of Grandish," when Curtis Granderson hits one. "The Grandy man can" ain't so bad, but "Something sort of Grandish" needs to be going, going, gone.

Ivan Nova started and pitched well, going 6 innings, allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. Good job there, but we didn't hit for him. David Robertson and Boone Logan, between them, pitched a perfect 7th and 8th. Good job there, but no runs for them, either. Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless 9th, and, thanks to Swish, got the win, now 3-4 with a 4.65 E-R-Oy.

Attendance: 44,163, pretty good for a Wednesday afternoon game against a team that was still pretty lousy when most of those tickets would have been sold.

Jorge Posada missed the game with concussion-like symptoms. Uh-oh... Francisco Cervelli has done pretty well as a sub catcher, and Jesus Montero has hit pretty well for Triple-A Scranton. But I'm not yet ready to say goodbye to Hip Hip Jorge.

Pending tonight's series finale between the Strays and The Scum, the Yankees lead Tampa by 2 full games, albeit just 1 in the loss column, and Boston by 9 1/2. Our Magic Number to clinch the Division is down to 22. The Sox' Tragic Number to be eliminated is 17.

I notice the Phillies are back on top in the NL East by half a game over the Braves, although they're even in that All-Important Loss Column. The Phils' Magic Number is 23, while the Mets, 11 out for the Division and 10 1/2 back of the Braves for the Wild Card, have a Tragic Number of 13.

Minnesota leads the White Sox by 4 1/2. Although Texas has been really slumping lately, they still lead Oakland by 7. It's not impossible that they could blow it. Cincinnati now leads St. Louis by 6, that looks safe. But the NL West has become a dogfight, with San Diego just 1 up on San Francisco and 4 1/2 up on Colorado.

For all intents and purposes, there are still 11 teams fighting for 8 spots. Gotta love September baseball.

UPDATE: Last night the Red Sox kicked the stuffing out of Matt Garza and the Tampa Bay bullpen, 11-5. The Yankees' Magic Number to clinch the AL East is now 21.