Yankees Dunn In By White Sox

For the 2nd night in a row, the Yankees didn't hit enough against the Chicago White Sox. For the 2nd night in a row, blaming the Yankees' pitchers for the loss is wrong.

Brian McCann, in his Alfonso Sorianoesque all-or-nothing fashion, hit one out in the 1st inning, his 7th of the season, to give the Yankees a 3-0 before the Pale Hose even came to bat.

But Hiroki Kuroda, yet again, didn't have it. He allowed a run in the bottom of the 1st, and by the time he left in the 5th, the Yankees were down 4-3.

Hector Noesi, released by the Seattle Mariners after he was "the other guy" that they got along with Jesus Montero in sending Michael Pineda to the Yankees, pitched 6 strong innings for the White Sox. Not that I have anything against the White Sox, but the fact that the Yankees were getting stymied (there's a verb you don't see very often anymore) by someone they traded away was sickening.

The Yankees needed more runs, and they struck back in the top of the 7th. And, for the 2nd time in 3 days, a wild pitch from a Chicago-based pitcher aided them in a late situation.

Brian Roberts led off the inning with a single. Soriano then singled. Brett Gardner bunted them over. Derek Jeter walked to load the bases. Tying run on 3rd, go-ahead run on 2nd, insurance run on 1st, 1 out.

Scott Downs was now pitching, and, with Jacoby Ellsbury at the plate, he threw a wild pitch. Everybody moved up, and Roberts scored. Tie ballgame. Ellsbury flew to center. Sacrifice fly: Soriano scored. 5-4 Yankees.

However, it's worth noting that the Yankees had men on 1st & 2nd with nobody out in the 3rd; 1st & 2nd with 2 out in the 4th; 1st & 2nd with nobody out, and then 2nd & 3rd with 2 out, in the 8th; and a man on 1st with 2 out in the 9th. Total runs scored in those innings: None.

David Robertson came on to close it out in the bottom of the 9th. He'd had, to that point, 9 save opportunities this season. He had succeeded in all 9.

But he allowed a leadoff single to Dayan Viciedo. And then, up to the plate stepped Adam Dunn. He has a good chance of breaking Reggie Jackson's career record for strikeouts. But he also had 447 career home runs, including the longest ever in Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark (once his home park) and, formerly, the longest ever in Washington's Nationals Park (also his home park at the time).

Make it 448: Dunn cranked one to center field. Robertson knew it was gone the moment he turned around, and was disgusted at himself for throwing such a slugger a big fat meatball.

White Sox 6, Yankees 5. WP: Daniel Webb (4-0). No save. LP: Robertson (0-1).

The Yankees are only 1 game out of 1st place in the loss column, but are also now just 1 game over .500. And now, we get to watch Vidal Nuno pitch. Oh, joy.

At least we have the comfort of the Red Sox having lost 8 straight.

"Well, tonight, thank God it's them, instead of you!"

Tough Way to Clinch, But Playoffs Clinched

The Yankees reached the postseason 6 times in the 1920s, 5 times in the 1930s, 5 times in the 1940s, 8 times in the 1950s, 5 times in the 1960s, 3 times in the 1970s, 2 times in the 1980s, 5 times in the 1990s (not counting being in 1st place when the Strike of '94 hit), 9 times in the 2000s, and in the 1st year of the 2010s, making for 50 appearances in postseason play.

The 51st was going to come this month, in fact this week. Exactly when, we weren't sure. Could it come today? Sure, if the Yankees could win either game of a rain-forced, dual-admission, day-night doubleheader against the last remaining team eligible for the American League Wild Card, other than themselves and the Boston Red Sox: The Tampa Bay Rays.

It wouldn't come easy: Back spasms for Phil Hughes meant that manager Joe Girardi decided to go with "starter-by-committee." You know how well "closer-by-committee" works? As in, since the 1990 Cincinnati Reds, not at all?

Whitey Ford demands an explanation for this bullshit. Yogi Berra seems to want one, too. After all, if you don't explain this bullshit, this bullshit won't have no explanation.

Eight pitchers. Girardi used eight pitchers! Hector Noesi started. Then Raul Valdes, George Kontos, Aaron Laffey, Cory Wade, Boone Logan (All hands, brace for impact!) and Luis Ayala. That's the 1st 7.

Incredibly, these 7 guys, over 8 innings, held the Rays to 9 hits, 2 walks, and just 2 runs.

While there were a few jams, they got us out. The only real mistake was Noesi allowing a 3rd inning home run to Desmond Jennings. No, I've never heard of him, either. Although I hear that Desmond has a barrel in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, after an Alex Rodriguez double drove home Derek Jeter in the bottom of the 1st, the Yankees didn't score again off Rays starter James Shields in the 1st 7 innings. It was still 2-1 Rays going into the bottom of the 8th. In other words, those 7 Yankee pitchers pitched very well, and it wasn't enough!

Eduardo Nunez led off the bottom of the 8th with a home run. Tie ballgame.

With one out, Brett Gardner hit a line drive single to left. He stole 2nd. Jeter took first on one of those "unintentional intentional walks" -- after all, 1st base was open, and this could set up an inning-ending double play.

Out went Shields, in came J.P. Howell. The first batter he faced was Robinson Cano: Double to center. His 46th double of the season, his 114th and 115th RBIs of the season. Yankees 4, Rays 2.

Ninth inning. Enter Sandman. Mariano Rivera was the 8th Yankee pitcher of the afternoon, and he went through the Rays 1-2-3 to nail down his 603rd career save.

Ballgame over! Chase for the Playoffs over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeee Yankees win!

WP: Ayala (2-2). LP: Shields (15-12). SV: Rivera (44).

*

So here's how the MLB postseason is shaping up:

* The Yankees will be no worse than the American League Wild Card winners. Their Magic Number to clinch the AL Eastern Division is 2. Any number of Yankee wins and Red Sox losses adding up to 2, and the Yanks win the Division. It can happen tonight, weather permitting, if the Yanks win the nightcap of this Yankee Stadium doubleheader and the Red Sox lose again to the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. If either a Yankee win or a Red Sox loss happens, but not both, the Yankees can clinch tomorrow in the finale of the Rays' series, or with a Sox loss in the finale of their O's series. If it still hasn't happened, the Sox come to town on Friday and the Yankees can settle it then.

* The Detroit Tigers have clinched the AL Central.

* The Texas Rangers have a Magic Number of 4 to eliminate the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and clinch the AL West.

* I was, incorrectly, under the impression that the Yankees clinching at least the Wild Card meant that the Rays were eliminated entirely. This is not the case: The Sox have yet to clinch the Wild Card. Their recent slide means that they still have a Magic Number of 6 to clinch it. However, having to come to New York may keep that race in chaos for a little longer. The Angels can be eliminated in 5 (their losses and/or Red Sox wins).

* The Philadelphia Phillies have clinched the NL East.

* The Milwaukee Brewers have a Magic Number of 3 to eliminate the St. Louis Cardinals and clinch the NL Central.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks have a Magic Number of 2 to eliminate the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants and clinch the NL West.

* The Atlanta Braves have Magic Numbers of 4 to eliminate the Giants and 6 to eliminate the Cards for the NL Wild Card.

If the current standings hold to the end of the season, keeping in mind that the Wild Card winner cannot face the Champion of its own Division in the Division Series...

* The Yankees have home-field advantage over Detroit.
* Texas has HFA over Boston.
* Philadelphia has HFA over Arizona.
* Milwaukee has HFA over Atlanta.

*

As I type this, the start of Yankees-Rays is being delayed by rain, but it looks like Red Sox-Orioles is starting on time.

Come on you Pinstripes! Let's clinch that Division tonight! Which means... Rain, rain, go away!

*

Hours until the Red Bulls play again: 1, tonight, at home against Real Salt Lake.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 2, this Friday night, home to J.P. Stevens H.S. of Edison (Stevens was the President of the town's Board of Education, who died while Edison H.S. was being built, and as a result his name is on the dedication plaques of both schools).

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 2, this Friday night, at Yankee Stadium II.

Days until Arsenal play again in a competitive match: 3, this Saturday, home to Bolton Wanderers, of Greater Manchester.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 3, this Saturday afternoon, home to Ohio University. Thank God it's not Ohio State. Even in their probation-weakened, scandalized state, I wouldn't want the Scarlet Knights to have to play the Buckeyes of THE... Ohio State University!

Days until the next North London Derby: 10, on Saturday, October 1, at White Hart Lane.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: 17, on Saturday, October 8, at 7:00 PM, in their season opener, at home, against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Prudential Center. A little over 2 weeks. The first game against the New York Islanders is a day-after-Thanksgiving matinee, Friday, November 25, at the Nassau Coliseum. The first game against The Scum isn't until Tuesday night, December 20, at the Prudential.

Days until the Red Bulls play another "derby": 29, against the Philadelphia Union, in their regular season finale, on Thursday night, October 20, at Red Bull Arena. Just 4 weeks.

Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 52. Just over 7 weeks.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 64. Just 9 weeks.

Days until the last Nets game in New Jersey: 210, on Wednesday night, April 18, 2012, against the Chicago Bulls, at the Prudential Center. Under 7 months before New Jersey no longer has an NBA team. This is, of course, contingent on the current NBA lockout not rearranging the schedule.

Days until the 2012 Olympics begin in London: 310 (July 27). Just over 10 months.

Days until Alex Rodriguez collects his 3,000th career hit: 657 (estimated -- adjusted for his current injury). Under 2 years.

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 700th career home run: 788 (estimated).

Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 865 (tentatively scheduled for February 2, 2014, although it could end up being moved back a week or 2).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 756th career home run to surpass all-time leader Hank Aaron: 1,399 (estimated).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 763rd career home run to become as close to a "real" all-time leader as we are likely to have: 1,513 (estimated).

Yankees Win On 9/11 Anniversary

What started out as a great pitching matchup on Saturday afternoon didn't stay one. CC Sabathia pitched 6 strong innings against the Angels in Anaheim, but Dan Haren was pitching a shutout, giving the Angels a 1-0 lead.

Joe Girardi lifted CC, and brought in Hector Noesi. This proved to be something I would not recommend, as he allowed 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th to put the game out of reach.

Girardi then brought in George Kontos, a 26-year-old native of the Chicago suburbs, wearing Number 70, to make his major league debut. He didn't exactly make things better.

Final score: Angels 6, Yankees 0. WP: Haren (15-8), who finished the shutout. LP: Sabathia (19-8).

*

Yesterday was the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. A day to give New Yorkers hope and healing.

The Yankees did their part, however small. Freddy Garcia did not pitch well over his 5 innings, but the bullpen held the Angels off the rest of the way: Cory Wade (5-0) in the 6th, Rafael Soriano in the 7th, David Robertson in the 8th and Mariano Rivera (40th save) in the 9th.

Trailing 5-2, the Yankees scored 2 in the 5th and 2 in the 7th to win it, 6-5, beating Angel starter Ervin Santana (11-11). Home runs were hit by Robinson Cano (his 25th) and Curtis Granderson (his 39th).

Mariano is now just 1 save from 600, 2 from Trevor Hoffman's record, and 3 from breaking said record.

The Yankees head up to Seattle to start a 3-game series against the Mariners. Phil Hughes starts for the Bronx Bombers tonight, while Felix Hernandez starts for the M's. "King" Felix, my ass: On the Yankees, he'd be the 3rd starter at best.

*

Incredibly, the Red Sox kept losing. They got swept by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox' sure American League Playoff berth, first as the Eastern Division Champion and then as the Wild Card winner, is now in jeopardy.

The Yankees are 3 1/2 games ahead of The Scum, 4 in the loss column, with 17 left to play (16 for them). The Sox are now just 3 1/2 ahead of the Rays for the Wild Card (3 in the loss column).

If the Rays overtake the Sox, as the Yankees have (for the moment), especially with the Sox coming into The Bronx for one more 3-game series, and if the Yankees can knock the Sox out in that series, will that be final revenge for 2004?

Probably not. An ALCS win (an ALDS win not being possible) may be the only way to achieve that.

So should we root for the Red Sox to make the Playoffs, to set the revenge up?

No. Instead, in the words of the great Irish comedian Mario Rosenstock (creator of Special 1 TV, in character as Manchester United's bastard manager Alex Ferguson), we should be "Just sittin' back, bottle o' wine, top o' the league, enjoyin' the chaos down below."

*

Jeter hits 3073 DONE
Rivera saves 599 3
A-Rod homers 628 135
A-Rod hits 2769 231
Magic Number 14 (to eliminate Scum for Division, 11 to eliminate Rays for Wild Card, 2 for Jays, O's done)

Yanks Give Suzyn Waldman a Birthday Present

After a 4-hour rain delay, the Yankees and Baltimore Orioles played a baseball game last night. It took so long that, before it was over, WCBS broadcaster Suzyn Waldman said she was a year older.

Happy Birthday, Suzyn. "Ma Pinstripe" turns 65. Why reveal her age? Well, she was born in Newton, Massachusetts, outside Boston. She grew up as a Red Sox fan. She says she's changed. Maybe, but I still don't feel guilty about revealing her age. Besides, she doesn't look bad for her age. Surprisingly, she's older than broadcast partner John Sterling, a.k.a. "Pa Pinstripe." Theeee broadcaster's age, 63.

(The nicknames "Ma and Pa Pinstripe" were given to them by Bob Raissman, the sports-media columnist for the New York Daily News, who also gave ex-WFAN voice Chris Russo the nickname "Mad Dog," Dog's ex-partner Mike Francesa "the Sports Pope," and Bob Costas "Rappin' Roberto.")

When the game did get underway, Phil Hughes -- whose uniform number happens to be Suzyn's age -- continued to fight for his spot in the rotation, going 6 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits, only 1 walk, 5 strikeouts. But he did not factor in the decision.

This is because, in the top of the 7th, between them, Hector Noesi and Boone Logan blew the lead. Don't look so surprised. John Sterling is wrong: Sometimes, you can predict baseball.

This enabled Cory Wade to come in and put out the fire, and he became the winning pitcher (4-0) when, in the bottom of the 7th, Francisco Cervelli (4th of the season) and Brett Gardner (7th), not exactly a part of Murderer's Row, hit back-to-back home runs. Jorge Posada (13th) had already hit one out in the 3rd, off Baltimore starter and loser Tommy Hunter (3-3).

Yankees 5, Orioles 3. Mariano Rivera nailed down his 39th save of the season. Getting closer to that record. The Yankee winning streak is now 6.

The Red Sox won, so the Yankees remain 2 1/2 games ahead of them, 3 in the loss column. The Magic Number drops to 20.

The series concludes this afternoon, weather permitting. A.J. Burnett goes against Zach Britton. Who will show up, Good A.J. or Bad A.J.?

Jeter hits 3068 DONE
Rivera saves 598 4
A-Rod homers 628 135
A-Rod hits 2768 232
Magic Number 20 (to eliminate Scum and win Division, 12 to eliminate Rays and clinch Playoff spot, 4 for Jays, O's done)

*

Hats off to Stephen Strasburg. The Washington Nationals' great hope for the future, the man called the "most-hyped pick in draft history" by ESPN and the "most hyped and closely watched pitching prospect in the history of baseball" by Sports Illustrated, returned to the majors last night, a year and change after Tommy John surgery, when we thought he might not pitch again until next season.

He pitched 5 scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Washington, limited by a pitch count. The Dodgers went on to pound the Nat bullpen and win, 7-3.

The Nats got 29,092 fans for last night's game, in spite of dodgy weather. That's about 5,000 above their season average so far. This is the excitement that Strasburg brings. He's good for the game.

Logan's Home Run

Three games have come and gone since I last posted. Don't worry, my computer didn't melt in the heat. (108 degrees in Newark yesterday -- hottest day in New Jersey history. New York City got up to 104; Philadelphia, 102.)

Thursday night, CC Sabathia went the distance, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks -- but it wasn't enough, as James Shields stopped the Yankees cold, allowing just 1 run, on a double by Robinson Cano. To make matters worse, the Yankees couldn't score off Kerosene Kyle Farnsworth in the 9th.

Tampa Bay Rays 2, Yankees 1. So the Yankees only split the 4-game series in St. Petersburg. WP: Shields (9-8). SV: Farnsworth (19). LP: Sabathia (14-5 -- breaking a streak of 8 straight winning decisions.)

The Yankees went from scoring just 1 run on Thursday night to scoring 9 on the Oakland Athletics last night.

How many times did they score, Ed Rooney? "Nine times."

In the 3rd inning.

This after 5 in the 2nd.

This after allowing 2 in the 1st 2. It was 0-2, then, next thing you knew, it was 14-2.

But then, just like that, it was 14-7. It ended 17-7.

WP: Hector Noesi (2-0), pitching very well in relief of Phil Hughes, who did not have it at all. LP: Trevor Cahill (8-9). Yankee home runs were hit by Nick Swisher (his 11th) and Mark Teixeira (his 26th, a grand slam in the 3rd).

It was 100 degrees at first pitch, and still, 46,921 fans came out to Yankee Stadium II. Yankee Fans are nuts. Sometimes, that's a good thing. This time, I don't know.

Seventeen runs last night. If only we could've taken 2 and applied them to the night before, and 2 more and applied them to today. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way (as the Yankees found out back in the 1960 World Series).

A.J. Burnett started, and a daylight start usually means "Good A.J." Not today: "Bad A.J." wilted in the heat, not getting out of the 6th inning. Cory Wade got the last out, holding the A's to 3-1. Swisher homered in the bottom of the 6th, and the Yanks looked like they could come back from a 3-2 deficit.

But then, Yankee manager Joe Girardi did something no one but a fool would do.

He brought Boone Logan in to pitch the 7th.

How does that old Hank Williams song go? "It's Boone Logan, I could cry."

Logan gave up a home run, and, as Ol' Hank would say, "There's a tear in my beer." True, it was to Yankee Legend (now with the A's) Hideki Matsui, but that didn't make a difference. It was now 4-2 A's.

Memo to Yankee general manager Brian Cashman: BOONE LOGAN CANNOT PITCH! SEND THIS NUMBSKULL DOWN TO THE MINORS!

The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the 9th. They got men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. A hit would tie it. But Teixeira juuuust got under a pitch, moving the runners over, scoring Brett Gardner to make it 4-3 and moving Derek Jeter to 3rd, but now there were 2 outs, and Robinson Cano grounded out to end it.

The Yankees had won 11 straight against the A's, and 25 of their last 29 against them. Not this time.

WP: Rich Harden (2-1). SV: Andrew Bailey (11). LP: Burnett (8-8).

To make matters worse, The Scum keep winning. They're playing the Seattle Mariners this weekend at Fenway, and the M's are pathetic, tonight's game will be their 14th straight loss. They're sinking faster than the Titanic, and there hasn't been this much whooping of Bostonians on mariners since the original Tea Party in 1773. (At least, unlike the politicial idiots who call themselves the Tea Party, most of the idiots at Fenway Park, drunk like their 1773 forebears, are Democrats. Politics trumps sports -- but I still hate the Red Sox.)

Tomorrow, the Yankees close out the series with the A's. Bartolo Colon pitches against Gio Gonzalez.

The Red Bulls managed a home draw tonight against the rather imaginatively named FC Dallas, with Thierry Henry getting the equalizer in the 85th minute. Not great news, but I'll take it.

Enough Is Enough! I Have Had It

In the top of the 1st inning at Yankee Stadium II last night, it was clear that Yankee starter Freddy Garcia (4-5) did not have it against the Boston Red Sox, a.k.a. The Scum. He gave up a leadoff home run to that little pissant Jacoby Ellsbury. Then he walked that schmuck Dustin Pedroia. Then he allowed an RBI triple to that big galoot Adrian Gonzalez. Then he finally got on out, Kevin Youkilis, that asshole, wiggling his own, on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 before the Yankees so much as came to bat. He allowed another run in the 2nd, on an RBI double to Pedroia, before Joe Girardi finally took him out.

Luis Ayala got through the 3rd inning, but was hurt. So Girardi brought in Hector Noesi, and he did what we were hoping Garcia might do: He pitched 6 strong innings, allowing The Scum only 2 runs. Good job by the rookie, he may be a find. If he can pitch 6 in relief, he can pitch 6 as a starter.

(By the way, Cliff Lee is only 5-5, and has a higher ERA than Bartolo Colon, and not that much lower than Garcia, and he pitches in the NL, where he faces pitchers instead of designated hitters. So anybody who thinks the Yankees lost anything by not signing Lee is a fucking moron.)

The 2 runs that Noesi allowed? On a home run by David "Big Papi" Ortiz, the big fat lying caught steroid cheater.

But that wasn't the worst of it: The worst of it is that the big fat lying caught steroid cheater's homer came after the bottom of the 1st.

What happened in the bottom of the 1st? Sox start Jon "Mo" Lester (I did not make that nickname up) hit Mark Teixeira. Who's only leading the Yankees in home runs and runs batted in.

He had to leave the game -- although this did allow Jorge Posada to play 1st base and get his 1st and 2nd hits of the season off a lefthanded pitcher, plus a 3rd against a righthander. After one of the worst seasonal starts in Yankee history, Jorge is now batting .195.

Later in the inning, knowing that Teixeira had been replaced by Posada, a catcher, what does Lester do? He hits Russell Martin, the Yankees' regular catcher. He did not have to leave the game, thankfully.

Anybody think those plunkings were accidental? The hell they were! Maybe the 1st one could be explained as just losing a little control, but a 2nd one, in the same inning, on a player at a position where the Yankees can't afford to lose one? And don't tell me Lester was a little nervous, that he was unnerved by the rivalry: This son of a bitch has been in the majors since 2006.

Yes, I know, he has survived cancer. That does not make him a good person. Eric Abidal of FC Barcelona has survived cancer, but he grabbed the throat of Robin van Persie of Arsenal during a game in the 2011 Champions League. He is a rotten person, and so is Lester, and so is every player on the Red Sox. They truly are scum.

Red Sox pitchers have been intentionally hitting Yankee batters for years, and they always get away with it! But let a Yankee pitcher hit a Red Sox batter, and they whine like the little bitches that they are, and the Yankee pitcher gets tossed and fined!

And when the Boston Fat Boy came to the plate afterward? And after his homer? Did a Yankee pitcher hit him? Has a Yankee pitcher ever purposely hit the one man whose cheating-aided bat has made the difference between the Red Sox winning 2 World Series and still hearing "1918" chants? No. And they let him hit another home run off him.

Let him. Absolutely invited him to do so.

I don't know what team Samuel L. Jackson roots for -- he's from Washington, D.C., so he may have rooted for the old Washington Senators growing up -- but if he were a Yankee Fan, he'd be saying what I'm saying here:

Enough is enough! I have had it with this motherfucking cheating by these motherfucking Red Sox!

David Ortiz should overcome his corpulence and get down on his knees and thank God and Bud Selig -- he probably can't tell the difference -- that he's even allowed to play professional baseball after being a big fat lying cheating steroid user, getting caught, lying about it, and getting exposed as such.

Enough is enough. I have had it with the Red Sox. Start hitting them. And if you get fined and suspended, take Selig to court. Either apply the rules equally (if you're going to toss a Yankee pitcher for hitting a Sox batter, any Sox batter, then toss Lester for purposely hitting both Teixeira and Martin), or don't apply the rules at all, and let the players do what they want, and may the last team standing win.

This is disgusting. Ortiz should be banned for life, the Sox' titles stricken from the record, and Lester suspended for at least one start, or until Teix returns, whichever is longer.

But we have a spineless milquetoast in the commissioner's office, and as long as the Red Sox are winning, he will pander to them.

Anyway, Derek Jeter got 2 more hits. He needs 12 for 3,000. He now has a good chance to get it on this homestand.

Final score, Scum 6, Good Guys 4.

The Yankees and Red Sox are tied for 1st place, although the Yankees still lead by a game in the All-Important Loss Column.

The series continues tonight. A.J. Burnett (who better be "Good A.J." tonight) against the elderly knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

You remember Wakefield, right? He threw this pitch.

*

Jeter hits 2988 12
Rivera saves 575 26
A-Rod homers 623 140
A-Rod hits 2730 270
Magic Number 103 (to eliminate Scum, 100 for Rays, 99 for Jays & O's)

Catching Up, Like the Yankees Have Done

Computer issues prevented me from updating for 3 straight days. Which felt like 4, considering I was going back and forth between the Yankees and TV season finales.

I can't believe both Kate Beckett (Stana Katic on Castle) and Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney on The Mentalist) both got shot. So did Mike Franks (Muse Watson -- great name -- on NCIS), but he's a lot harder on the eyes, not to mention the ears, than Beckett and Lisbon.

Lisbon says she'll be all right, but Franks is dead, and Beckett sure looks dead. At least Patrick Jane (Simon Baker on The Mentalist) finally got Red John (a very creepy cameo by West Winger Bradley Whitford).

UPDATE: Beckett's life was saved, and Whitford's character turned out not to be Red John. It took another 4 years for Jane to get his revenge.)

*

Tuesday night. The Yankees not only got the hits they needed, but came through late, scoring 2 runs in the 7th and 2 more in the 9th, to finally beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-2. Alex Rodriguez hit 2 homers to break out of a nasty slump. WP: Ivan Nova (4-3). No save. LP: James Shields (4-2).

*

Wednesday night. Back up the coast to Baltimore to face the Orioles, revitalized under former Yankee manager William Nathaniel Showalter III.

Bartolo Colon turned back the clock again. He pitched 8 brilliant innings and got a Nick Swisher sacrifice fly to score A-Rod in the 4th, and the Yankees took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th.

All game long, John Sterling was musing (I like that word) on WCBS about how Colon was throwing an average of 10 pitches per inning. So should he have been sent back out for the bottom of the 9th to protect his 1-run lead?

If you have Mariano Rivera to come out of the pen to throw fresh and protect that lead, you bring him in. Right? Right?

This time, wrong: Mo didn't have it, and the O's tied it up.

I hate extra innings. If you're gonna win, do it in 9, so I'm not too tired to celebrate. If you're gonna lose, do it in 9, so I'm not tired AND pissed off.

Here's what the Yankees blew on Wednesday night:

* 2nd: A-Rod on 3rd, Swisher on 1st, 1 out. Andruw Jones struck out, Eduardo Nunez grounded to short.

* 3rd: Curtis Granderson walked, 2 out. Mark Teixeira grounded to 3rd.

* 5th: Derek Jeter singled, 2 out. Granderson struck out.

* 6th: A-Rod singled with 1 out. Thrown out trying to stretch it to a double, 2 out. Robinson Cano singled. Swish struck out. Insert "George Carlin word" of choice here.

* 7th: Jones draws a leadoff walk. Brett Gardner pinch-runs. Nunez sacrifices him to 2nd, 1 out. Francisco Cervelli flies to center. Jeter grounds to 3rd. You can't waste leadoff walks like that!

* 8th: Teix walks with 1 out. A-Rod grounds into an around-the-horn double play, 3rd to 2nd to 1st. And the A-colytes grouse when Jeter does that.

* 10th: Russell Martin singles with 1 out. Jeter and Granderson both strike out. This is when I decided it was no longer a matter of if the Yankees would lose, but when and how. I figured it would be on a what-the-hell play. You know the kind I mean.

* 12th: Chris Dickerson leads off with a single. Gardner sacrifices him to 2nd, 1 out. Looks good, right? Nunez grounds to 3rd, Dickerson can't advance, man on 2nd, 2 out. Martin grounds to short but beats it out, and then steals 2nd. So men on 2nd & 3rd with 2 out. Jeter up. Captain Clutch, not so much: A weak grounder to 3rd, the kind of hit we've been seeing to much of from him the last year or so.

* 13th: Granderson hits a leadoff single. Teix singles him to 3rd. 1st and 3rd, nobody out! This is it, the Yankees are going to win! No, it's not, A-Rod pulls a Carlos Beltran and takes a called 3rd strike. Robinson Cano is intentionally walked. Bases loaded, 1 out. Dickerson strikes out. Gardner grounds to 1st.

* 14th: Nunez hits a leadoff single. He steals 2nd. Man on 2nd, nobody out. This is it, right? Wrong. Martin hits a foul pop to 1st. Jeter hits another weak infield grounder, this time to 2nd, advancing Nunez to 3rd. Granderson grounds to short.

Think about that for a moment: It may have been 14 innings, but the Yankees stranded 14 runners -- 7 of them got as far as 2nd base, 10 of them got on base with less than 2 outs. You can't do that!

Top of the 15th. I am one very tired and very unhappy uncle. Teix leads off with a single. Don't get your hopes up, Mike, A-Rod is up. Will it be a strikeout, a popup, or a double play? None: He singles, too. So men on 1st and 2nd with nobody out, and Cano up. The Orioles pull pitcher Jeremy Accardo, replacing him with Michael Gonzalez. Still, the next 3 hitters are Cano, Dickerson and Gardner. Surely, one of them will get the big hit, right? The way this game has gone thus far, probably not.

Cano does! A hit! Center fielder Adam Jones mishandles it! Teix scores! A-Rod scores! Cano gets all the way to 3rd! It's 3-1 Yankees, and still nobody out!

Gonzalez hits Dickerson in the face with a pitch. Stay classy, Baltimore.

A.J. Burnett, of all people, pinch-runs for Dickerson, who turns out to be fine. Gardner hits a sac fly that scores Cano. Jeter had been the designated hitter, then moves to short for the bottom of the 15th, replacing Nunez, so now the Yankees have had a pitcher as a pinch-runner and the pitcher forced to bat... and bat 6th.

Fortunately, Hector Noesi, making his major league debut, pitched 3 strong innings before working himself out of a jam (the depleted Yankee bullpen left him, and Joe Giradi, no choice) in the bottom of the 15th. Final(ly) score, Yankees 4, Orioles 1.

WP: Noesi (1-0). LP: Accardo, 2-1.

The funny part was that there was this leather-lung, probably right underneath the press box because you could hear him over the radio all game long, yelling, "LET'S GO YANKEEEEEEEES!" In the 14th, Suzyn Waldman said, "You'd think he'd get tired." Sterling chuckled.

I wonder if they had a 14th-inning stretch? I have seen it done.

*

Last night, the Yanks and O's finished up the 2-gamer on the Inner Harbor. The man who built the 1st Yankee Dynasty, "Colonel" Jacob Ruppert, said his idea of a perfect day was when the Yankees scored 8 runs in the 1st inning, and then slowly pulled away.

He would have liked last night's game, if not thinking it "perfect."  A Jeter double, a Granderson triple (1), a Teix groundout (2), A-Rod struck out, Cano was hit by a pitch (another purpose pitch? Why couldn't Buck have been this aggressive when he was managing the Yankees? He could've had Ken Griffey Jr. or Edgar Martinez plunked in that Playoff in '95), Martin walked, a wild pitch, Jorge Posada (remember him?) walked to load the bases. Swish got the kind of hit that ends slumps, doubling (3, 4 & 5). Five runs before the Birds even came to bat.

The Yankees scored 4 more in the 4th, to knock Brad Bergesen (1-5) out of the box. Gardner and Jeter -- who are you callin' an old man? -- hit back-to-back triples, and Teix, the native of nearby Annapolis, Maryland who grew up an Oriole fan, knocked one out later that inning for his 285th career home run. He'll reach 300 before the season is out.

Now, the only question was, would the Yankees get 5 full innings in before the umpires called it due to rain? CC Sabathia (4-3) efficiently set the O's down to make it an official game. He tossed 8 innings, 7 hits, no walks, 9 strikeouts, and, most importantly, gave the exhausted bullpen a nice rest before Amaury Sanit, a Cuban defector born on the 4th of July (in 1979), allowed the O's to get on the board in the bottom of the 9th. Yankees 13, Orioles 2.

*

So the Yankees come home to start -- ugh -- Interleague play again, with 3 in The Bronx against The Other Team. I'll have more on that later.

The Yankees are currently 23-19, officially a game behind the Rays, but even in the All-Important Loss Column. The Scum are a game and a half back (1 in the AILC), the Toronto Blue Jays, pesky or otherwise, 2 1/2 back (2), and the O's 5 back (4).

Jeter 2970 30
Rivera 572 29
A-Rod 621 142