Two Out of Three From the Pesky Blue Jays

So the Yankees cleared Customs and headed to Toronto. I can imagine how it went...

Canadian Customs Official: "Do you have anything to declare?"

John Sterling: "Yes, I declare that you just can't predict baseball."

(rolleyes)

The Yankees got a good performance from Freddy Garcia on Friday night, going 6 innings and allowing just 2 runs. Joba Chamberlain was a little shaky again, allowing a run.  So did Clay Rapada.

But it didn't matter, because the Yankees did what the Yankees are supposed to do: They unloaded the lumber. Anchored by Mark Teixeira's 22nd home run of the season, they scored 7 runs in the last 2 innings to put the game out of reach.

Yankees 10, Blue Jays 4. WP: Garcia (6-5). No save. LP: Ricky Romero (8-9).

The Saturday game may have been a key moment in the season. Ivan Nova started, and his last 2 outings had been bad. This time, he was on. The 4th inning was a little shaky, but, other than that, he cruised into the 8th, advancing his record to 11-6. David Robertson and Rafael Soriano (28th save) took it from there.

The offense? As with the defense, the 4th inning was key. Casey McGehee homered (his 9th of the season, but his 1st as a Yankee) off Aaron Laffey (3-3), anchoring a 4-run inning. Yankees 5, Blue Jays 2.

Then yesterday, Phil Hughes did the opposite of Nova, turning some good recent performances into an awful one (11-10), getting shelled in -- you guessed it -- the 4th inning. Recent acquisition Ryota Igarashi didn't do much better in relief of Hughes... and that turned out to be key.

Because the Yankees trailed the Jays 10-1, and then started to come back. J.A. Happ (8-10), whom you might remember pitching for the Phillies against the Yankees in the 2009 World Series, was doing fine until the 6th, and then the hits couldn't seem to stop coming. That 6th included home runs by the overrated, washed-up Derek Jeter (his 9th) and Robinson Cano (his 25th). The Yanks got 3 in the 6th and 3 more in the 7th...

But that was as close as they got, as Casey Janssen had to come in for Toronto and slam the door for his 15th save.  Jays 10, Yankees 7.

Still, getting 2 out of 3 on the road is good. Especially from those Pesky Blue Jays. Add on the split of the 4-game series in Detroit, and it was a 4-out-of-7 roadtrip. Not great, but acceptable. As I said last week, you win 2 out of 3 at home, and go slightly above .500 on the road, 54-27 + 41-40 = 95=67, which probably = American League Eastern Division title.

*

So here's where we stand, with 48 games to play: The Yankees are 67-47, leading the AL East 5 games over the Tampa Bay Rays, 5 1/2 (6 in the loss column) over the Baltimore Orioles, 11 (12) over the Boston Red Sox and 13 over the Jays.

Elimination numbers -- keeping in mind that the Yanks, Rays and Jays have played 1 fewer game than the O's and 2 fewer than the Sox -- are 35 for the Sox and Jays, 42 for the O's, and 43 for the Rays.  Any number of Yankees' wins and Rays' losses the rest of the way, adding up to 43, and the Yankees win the Division again.

The Yankees start a homestand with a 3-game series against the Texas Rangers -- the one team in the AL with a better record.

Tonight: David Phelps vs. Ryan Dempster, the former Marlin and Cub ace.

Tomorrow night: Hiroki Kuroda vs. Matt Harrison.

Wednesday night: Freddy Garcia vs. Scott Feldman.  Boy, there's a pitching matchup to hold your attention...

As we say in hockey, "RANGERS SUCK!" Come on you Pinstripes!

Call Marla Gibbs, Yankees on "227"

With the recent death of Sherman Hemsley, Marla Gibbs is now 1 of only 2 surviving members of the main cast of The Jeffersons, along with Damon Evans, the 2nd actor to play Lionel Jefferson.

Mike Evans, the 1st one, who left the show to co-create and co-produce Good Times, whose youngest character, played by Ralph Carter, was named for himself, died in 2006.

(UPDATE: I was under the impression that he had married a woman named Helena Jefferson, who, sadly, she also died from cancer, even before he did. However, as shown in the comments below, I am now aware that he never married, and have had this confirmed by a second source.)

Gibbs later starred on a sitcom titled 227, named for the apartment building the show was set in, in Washington, D.C. That's not exactly "Movin' on up," but at least she didn't have to verbally joust with George Jefferson anymore.

Last night, the Yankees were on "227." They scored 2 runs in the 1st inning, 2 in the 2nd, and 7 in the 3rd, on the way to a 12-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles, salvaging the last game of a 3-game home series.

The Yankees teed off on Zach Britton (1-1). Curtis Granderson hit his 29th home run, giving him 60 RBIs as a Number 2 hitter on August 1. Robinson Cano hit his 24th, a grand slam, giving him 62 RBIs. Nick Swisher hit his 24th double, giving him 55 RBIs and raising his batting average to .263 after an atrocious start.

Casey McGehee made his Yankee debut, wearing Number 45 and playing 1st base in place of the injured Mark Teixeira, going 0-for-2, but hitting a sacrifice fly that drove home Cano with his 1st Yankee RBI, and drawing 2 walks and scoring each time on a Derek Jeter single.

Phil Hughes (11-8) pitched very well for 6 innings, then made way for the return of Joba Chamberlain. I'm sure a lot of people thought this was another example of NBC's awful tape-delay, but then, baseball is no longer an Olympic sport.

Joba was a bit rusty, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk over an inning and 2/3rds, but that he was able to pitch without pain after not appearing in a major league game for 14 months -- especially since we didn't expect to see him again until early next season -- is good enough. Clay Rapada and David Robertson each got 2 outs without allowing a hit, much less a run.

The Yankees are now 61-43, 6 1/2 games (7 in the loss column) ahead of the Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division. The Boston Red Sox are 8 1/2 back (9 in the loss column), and the Toronto Blue Jays are 10 back. The elimination numbers are 48 for the Jays, 49 for the Sox, and 51 for the Rays and O's.

The Yankees have today off, and the Seattle Mariners come into town for a 3-game series tomorrow.  Then it's off on a roadtrip, 4 games in Detroit, and 3 in Toronto.

No Super Nova, and What the Hell Was Hans Backe Thinking?

Your offense gives you the gift of a 5-0 lead after the 1st inning, you should be able to hold it.  Ivan Nova didn't.

The Yanks' 5-run bottom of the 1st included Robinson Cano's 23rd home run of the season. Here's what the Baltimore Orioles' top of the 2nd included: Single, strikeout, strikeout, 2 strikes, almost an ordinary inning... then ground-rule double (5-1), single (5-3), single, walk, grand slam (5-7).

Final: Orioles 11, Yankees 5. WP: Chris Tillman (4-1). LP: Nova (10-5).

Nova hadn't lost a game in over a year until June. He's been a .500 pitcher since then. He's starting to look like a flash in the pan.

Which is not as powerful as a supernova. We need him to be Super Nova, so we can have champagne in the fall.

To make matters worse, last night, A.J. Burnett pitched a 1-hit shutout for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Yankees made a trade with the Pirates, sending them pitcher Chad Qualls (who did nothing for us) for infielder Casey McGehee, who can offer cover for the injured Alex Rodriguez at 3rd base and the (not as badly) injured Mark Teixeira at 1st base, and adds a righthanded bat. And Joba Chamberlain has been activated off the Disabled List. We were wondering if we'd ever see him pitch again.

The series with the Orioles concludes this afternoon, Phil Hughes vs. Chris Britton.

*

To make matters worse, the Red Bulls lost to Tottenham last night at Red Bull Arena. Having been humiliated by pathetic draws to half-strength Los Angeles and Liverpool sides (the latter at the Ravens' stadium in Baltimore), Tottenham started 8 of their usual starting XI, while Metro manager Hans Backe also started 8 of his usuals -- but not goalie Ryan Meara (still injured), and not the legendary Thierry Henry, who, contrary to what Daniel Levy, and before him Alan Sugar, think, has owned Tottenham for years. Henry didn't even suit up.

Essentially, Backe sent a boxer into the ring with one hand tied behind his back.

Tim Cahill, Captain of the Australian national side, played his 1st game after coming over from Liverpool-based club Everton, and challenged for a goal in the 7th minute, but Jan Vertonghen, the bastard Tottenham bought from Amsterdam's legendary club Ajax, knocked him down in the box. The referee correctly awarded a penalty, which Kenny Cooper converted. And backup goalie Bill Gaudette made some phenomenal saves. Metro went into the break up 1-0, and were still up 1-0 going into the 58th minute.

But Backe made some what-the-hell substitutions. This led to goals from the Welsh chimpanzee Gareth Bale in the 59th and the Icelandic bastard Gylfi Sigurdsson in the 64th. After shutting Bale down completely for 58th minutes, the new defense absolutely collapsed.

It was a disgusting performance. It was worse than Arsenal's 8-2 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford last August. That was on the road, against a team that was expected to win, and Arsene Wenger had a squad beseiged by injury (6 starters missing including 3 defenders) and disloyalty (this was in the closing days of the Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri sagas), and, to make matters worse, Arsenal played the last 18 minutes with 10 men after Carl Jenkinson got a 2nd yellow card (by which point it was already 6-2 to the Fergiebastards).

This was worse. This was at home, against a struggling team, and Backe had a choice. He could start his best players. Aside from Meara, they were all healthy (and even Meara's injury shouldn't have mattered because, aside from that 5-minute collapse which was hardly his fault, Gaudette was sensational).

"Friendly," my ass: This was Tottenham. The fucking Spurs. And their vermin fans. When there's rats in your house, you call the exterminator. And you let him use all his weapons.

What the hell was Backe thinking?

It would have been different if it had been Liverpool, or Chelsea, or Man United, or some other English team that led me to also embrace my "local club." Then, I wouldn't have cared that it was Tottenham. Well, maybe, if I were a Chelsea fan. Definitely, if I were a West Ham fan.

But I am Arsenal. And I hate Tottenham. For many reasons, but they all boil down to one: They think they're hot shit, but they're only half right.

This was the 2nd time in a span of 2 years that Tottenham came to Red Bull Arena. In July 2010, they, Manchester City, and, because of the huge Portuguese community in the Newark-Harrison-Kearny region, Sporting Clube de Portugal (a.k.a. Sporting Lisbon) came for the New York Football Challenge, which Sporting won.

Both times, the Red Bulls led 1-0 at the half.  Both times, Backe pulled his starters. (The 1st time, Henry played and scored in the 1st half, and Backe pulled him for the 2nd.) Both times, Spurs ended up winning, 2-1.

I hate Tottenham. Not as much as I hate the Red Sox or the New York Rangers... but now that Joe Paterno has gone to his ultimate reward, I now hate Tottenham more than I hate Penn State.