Ichiro, Sori & Huff, Good; Nix's Hand, Bad

There was bad news for the Yankees last night: Jayson Nix, the previous night's hero, was hit by a pitch and got his left hand broken. He could miss the rest of the season, thus taking away his occasionally good bat, his frequently good speed, and his reliable defense. (Translation: Losing Nix means more Eduardo Nunez. That's NunE6 or NunE5.)

The pitcher who hit him was R.A. Dickey. A knuckleballer. With no history of hitting batters on purpose. And with no history of animosity with the Yankees. So I think we can reliably call this an accident.

Of course, Dickey has another problem, one he didn't realize with the Mets in his Cy Young Award season last year, but that the Toronto Blue Jays' other 2 big acquisitions from the National League have also realized: Pitching in the American League is hard.

The Yankees made it 3 straight over those pesky Blue Jays, coming through with 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th to win, 4-2.

With yesterday having a rainout-forced doubleheader, the Yankees needed an emergency starter. Adam Warren, normally a reliever, pitched the 1st 3 innings, and was a little shaky, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks, including a home run to Josh Thole, who also came to Toronto in the Dickey deal, and hadn't hit a home run since April 29, 2012, and had a grand total of 7 in 1,118 career plate appearances before that.

(The Dickey deal got the Mets 4 players, 2 of whom, John Buck and Travis d'Arnaud, are helping them at the moment. Not much, because the Mets still stink, but those 2 are doing their part to clear the smell.)

David Huff came in, and pitched innings 4 through 8, and allowed no runs on just 1 hit -- albeit with 4 walks. If a single starter had done what Warren and Huff did -- 8 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits, 6 walks -- we'd have gladly taken it.

Huff got the win (1-0), and if this is what he's capable of, maybe we should consider him for the rotation. (Today is his 29th birthday, so he's not really a "prospect" anymore.) At the very least, we should consider making him our regular lefthanded reliever, so that we can finally give Boone Logan the unconditional release he has so richly earned.

Dickey didn't pitch badly, getting into the 8th having allowed just 2 runs, on an Austin Romine sacrifice fly in the 2nd and a Curtis Granderson single in the 3rd. But with 2 out in the bottom of the 8th, Cano singled, and Alfonso Soriano blasted a home run. (His 26th of the season, his 9th in just 101 plate appearances for the Yankees.) When Mariano Rivera came in and slammed the door for his 37th save, it made a losing pitcher out of Dickey (9-12).

Notable in this was a single in the bottom of the 1st by Ichiro Suzuki. It was the 2,722nd hit of his major league career, moving him past Lou Gehrig on the all-time list. Combined with what he did in Japan, that's an even 4,000.

Granted, the level of play in Japan is about at America's AAA ball, but, still, this makes Ichiro only the 3rd player ever to reach 4,000 hits combined between such a level and the major leagues. The other 2 are Ty Cobb and Pete Rose, and they weren't exactly good guys. Ichiro is as close as you can come, outside of Mariano and Derek Jeter, to being universally admired in baseball.

When he started out in North America, with the Seattle Mariners, he was hyped like crazy, and I said he wouldn't last. I called him "Fluky Suzuki." Boy, was I wrong: His lifetime batting average is .320, he topped out at .372, broke George Sisler's single-season record with 262 hits, 5 times has had at least 224 hits in a season, has a career OPS+ of 112, has stolen 470 bases, including 5 seasons with at least 40 steals, topping out at 56 in his rookie year, and has won 10 Gold Gloves.

They may not elect Hideki Matsui to the Baseball Hall of Fame based on his combined effort in America and Japan. With Ichiro, such a combination is not necessary: He's in based on what he did here. (Unless, of course, they find out he used steroids or that he bet on games. Both of those are incredibly unlikely.)

The 4-game set with the Jays concludes this afternoon, with Andy Pettitte starting against J.A. Happ, whom you might remember from the 2009 World Series against the Phillies. This will be Andy's 45th career start against the Jays, the most against any team. After the game, the Yankees head down to Tampa to take on the future Orlando, Carolina, Norfolk, Utah or Portland Rays -- or Montreal Expos.

Come on you Pinstripes!

Nix On -- He's the One

The first live professional sporting event that I ever saw was the Yankees against the Toronto Blue Jays at the old Yankee Stadium. The Jays won. I have hated the Jays ever since. They've been a pain in the Yankees' neck ever since, too: No matter if one team is good and the other is struggling, or both were good, or both were struggling, they have been annoying. I call them the Pesky Blue Jays.

Yesterday, due to an earlier-season rainout, the Yankees had to play a day-night, separate-admission doubleheader at Yankee Stadium II against the Jays. I wanted to win both games. I also wanted to be there for either game, but it was not to be. (I had to work during the first, and wouldn't have gotten out of work on time to catch the start of the second. I'm at the point where I can no longer take 18 innings of baseball at once. Nine is enough, thank you. With all due respect to Dick Van Patten, Betty Buckley, et al.)

Ivan Nova started the 1st game for the Yankees. He'd been great lately, but in the top of the 2nd, he allowed 4 Toronto runs, all earned. Oy vey...

But that was it. Nova didn't allow any other runs. "Onebadinningitis" can kill a team's hopes. But Nova settled down, and the Yankees got him the runs he needed.

In the bottom of the 3rd, with 1 out, Brett Gardner singled, Ichiro Suzuki doubled, and Robinson Cano hit a home run to center field, his 23rd round-tripper of the season. The Yanks were within 4-3.

Alex Rodriguez led off the bottom of the 6th with a single. Curtis Granderson and Mark Reynolds struck out, but Jayson Nix (who would be heard from a few times on the day) drew a walk, and then Chris Stewart hit his 4th homer of the year, getting Nova off the hook. 6-4 Yankees.

Ichiro led off the bottom of the 7th with a single, and Cano doubled him home. Nix led off the bottom of the 8th with a single. Stewart flew out.  Gardner was up. Nix tried to steal 2nd, and Jays catcher Thad Weber threw the ball away, allowing him to get to 3rd. A sacrifice fly was all that was needed, and Gardner got it, driving Nix in.

Yankees 8, Blue Jays 4. WP: Nova (7-4). No save. LP: Neil Wagner (2-4).

*

Phil Hughes started the 2nd game, and it was a case of here we go again -- not just because he's had such trouble this season, but because the 2nd game started off like the 1st game, with the Jays taking an early lead. Fortunately, Hughes ended up pitching better than Nova, even though Nova got the win in his game, and Hughes didn't get the win in his.

Hughes allowed a single, a stolen base, a move-up grounder, a run-scoring wild pitch, and a walk. And that was in the 1st 3 batters of the game. But then he induced a 3-6-3 double play to leave the Jays only up 1-0.

Nix would be a major factor in the game, but not while leading off the bottom of the 3rd, as he grounded out. But Austin Romine singled, Gardner moved him over with a groundout, Vernon Wells walked, and Cano singled Romine home to get the run back.

The Jays -- who have a player named Kevin Pillar, no relation to former Boston pain in the ass Kevin Millar, or as they pronounced it up there "Kevin Millahhhh" -- got another run in the 5th, after Hughes made a mistake allowing a triple to Munenori Kawasaki (who, in spite of his name, has never hit for the cycle) and a sac fly by Rajai Davis. But with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th, Nix hit one out to left field, only his 3rd homer of the year, and the game was tied again.

When the Jays brought Darren Oliver to pitch the bottom of the 9th, you could feel that the win was in the bag: Oliver had frequently been pounded by the Yanks in the past, especially when he pitched for the Texas Rangers in the 1990s, and he's about to turn 43 and would've been out of the major leagues years ago were he not a lefthanded pitcher. (There aren't a whole lot of players who have batted righthanded and thrown lefthanded, but he's one of them. Easily the greatest of those was Rickey Henderson.)

Reynolds led off the inning by drawing a walk. Ichiro pinch-ran for him. Eduardo Nunez bunted him over to 2nd. Ichiro stole 3rd. And Nix completed what soccer fans would call a "Man of the Match" performance by singling him home. Yankees 3, Blue Jays 2.

WP: Mariano Rivera (4-2). No save. LP: Oliver (3-4).

The Yankees have won 3 straight, and 9 of their last 12. The return of A-Rod, the somewhat different return of Curtis Granderson, and the very different return of Alfonso Soriano, are big reasons why. Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis, Francisco Cervelli and David Phelps are out for the season, but Derek Jeter may return in a week. Travis Hafner and rookie revelation Zoilo Almonte might also return soon. Look out.

We are now 6 1/2 games behind Boston and Tampa Bay, who are tied for the AL East lead. The Rays have 4 games in hand on the Sox and 1 on the Yanks, so the Yanks are 7 games behind the Rays in the loss column, 5 thus behind the Sox. We are 5 games out of the 2nd AL Wild Card spot.

The Yanks are coming.

Ichiro Hits Walkoff, Cashman Shoots Mouth Off

The late Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver used to say, "The Oriole Way is pitching, defense, and three-run homers." As in, not just hitting home runs, but doing it with men on base.

Which is a little odd, because, from 1978 to 1982, Weaver managed Gary Roenicke (who remained with the Orioles through 1985, and even played 1986 with the Yankees).  In 1979, with Roenicke platooning with John Lowenstein (a big Yankee Killer at the time) in left field, Weaver led the O's to the Pennant, and Roenicke, hitting in pitching-friendly Memorial Stadium, hit 25 home runs -- but only had 64 RBIs.  He hit so many homers with no one on base, he was nicknamed "Solo." (No, Lowenstein wasn't nicknamed "Chewbacca." Or "Kuryakin," for that matter.)

Last night, against the Texas Rangers, the Yankees hit no home runs with anyone on base. But they hit 4 home runs, and won the game, 4-3.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched well into the 7th, Boone Logan somehow managed to finish the inning without starting a fire, David Robertson pitched a scoreless 8th and Mariano Rivera (1-1) pitched a scoreless 9th.

Travis Hafner hit his 12th home run of the season in the 4th, Brett Gardner his 7th in the 5th, and Jayson Nix his 2nd in the 6th, all off Ranger starter Yu Darvish. But it was RISPfail again: 1-for-7. The Yankees loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th, and didn't score.

In the bottom of the 9th, Chris Stewart led off with a walk. That's what you want to do in the bottom of the 9th: Get the leadoff man on. But Gardner grounded into a force play for the 1st out, and then he got thrown out stealing 2nd for the 2nd out. So nobody was on base when Ichiro Suzuki stepped up.

Tanner Scheppers (5-1) was on the mound for the Rangers. He came into the game with an ERA of 0.95. On a hot night, he was throwing some serious heat. He threw Ichiro 4 pitches, all fastballs: 96 miles per hour for a called strike, 98 for a foul ball, 98 for a ball, and 97... and Ichiro hit it out to right field to win the ballgame. (His 4th homer of the year.) Yankees 4, Rangers 3.

I know this isn't hockey, but I've got to say it: RANGERS SUCK! Actually, this is a case of both RANGERS SUCK and DALLAS SUCKS!

*

For most teams, a walkoff home run would be the biggest story of the day. But we are the Yankees. Things happen.

Alex Rodriguez is now officially on Twitter. And @AROD said...

Visit from Dr. Kelly over the weekend, who gave me the best news - the green light to play games again!

Good to hear. After all, one of two things is going to happen.  Either...

1. A-Rod will be able to play the way he used to, and we'll have his bat in the lineup and his glove in the field. Or...

2. He won't be able to play the way he used to, and we'll be no worse off than we are now, and might even have a better case for dumping him.

Personally, I would prefer Option 1.

Yankee general manager Brian Cashman has had some problems.  Including problems he shares with A-Rod: Saying the wrong thing in public, doing goofy things when he should be concentrating on his work, and fooling around with the wrong women.

Told by ESPN New York about A-Rod's tweet, Cashman said this:

You know what, when the Yankees want to announce something, we will. Alex should just shut the fuck up.

Huh? I realize that, yesterday, the Supreme Court plunged a knife into the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But since when does Brian Cashman get to decide that the First Amendment is now invalid? Neither the Yankee organization, nor any representative thereof, has the right to regulate the public statements of their players.

Freedom of speech (talking) and freedom of the press (writing, including the use of Twitter) are still in effect. They're not absolute. The classics examples of going too far are, for speech, yelling the word, "Fire!" in a crowded place when there is not actually a fire; and, for the press, publishing that someone is a crook without evidence. As long as a person isn't causing harm with his or her speech or writing, they've got the right to say pretty much what they want, and no one should be able to stop them.

Especially Cashman, who's done a lousy job of regulating his own speech. He's not quite at Billy Martin level, but at least Billy's really bad behavior was away from prying eyes. 

As noted A-Rod defender Lisa Swan put it in today's Subway Squawkers:

Get your popcorn ready! It's always fun to hear a guy who jumped out of an airplane and broke his leg, who cheated on his wife with a stalker mistress who had 13 restraining orders against her, and who gave Kevin Youkilis $12 million this year, criticize somebody for bad judgment and tell him to shut the bleep up.

It would kind of be like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, parents of baby daughter North West, getting in Gwyneth Paltrow's face about naming her child Apple.

(Side note: Right before the baby was born, Kanye released a song titled "I Am a God." No, Kanye, you're not.)

*

Can you imagine some of the Yankee Legends on Twitter?

Babe Ruth @SultanOfSwat
@Cubs I'm gonna hit one out off that kid you got pitching today. 5th inning. Straightaway center field.

Lou Gehrig @IronHorse4
Found a nickel! Lucky me!

Whitey Ford @ChairmanODaBoard
@Mick7 Where were you last night?

Mickey Mantle @Mick7
@ChairmanODaBoard There's 20 bucks in it for anybody who can tell me. Spent 2 hours throwing up. N' my knee hurts like hell. I'll only hit 1 out today.

Roger Maris @RogerMaris9
@Mick7 At least your hair's not falling out.

Joe Pepitone @JoePep25
@Mick7 @RogerMaris9 Me too Roger. Shit

Mickey Mantle @Mick7
@JoePep25 Maybe that's what ya git for bringing that hairdryer into the clubhouse. @RogerMaris9

Yogi Berra @Yogi8
@JoePep25 Your hair ain't as bad as mine. In my case, it's close to being over. If I had more hair, I wouldn't be this bald.

Thurman Munson @CatcherFromCanton
@BillyNumber1 Will you relax? We'll win today. I'll lead off the 9th with a hit, and the new guy with the big mouth will hit one out.

Billy Martin @BillyNumber1
@CatcherFromCanton Relax? Who can relax? Have you forgotten who our boss is?

George Steinbrenner @BigStein
@BillyNumber1 @CatcherFromCanton I haven't forgotten.

Phil Pepe @PepeDailyNews
@CatcherFromCanton Thurman, can I quote you on this? I'll have you listed as @ProminentYankee.

Phil Rizzuto @Scooter10
Holy Cow, this social media stuff is giving me agita. You huckleberries.

*

Joe DiMaggio wouldn't be on Twitter. He valued his privacy too much.

The thought of Billy Martin actually being on Twitter is disturbing.

Then again, maybe A-Rod and Cashman are made for each other. One's a born liar, the other's conflicted - conflict of interest.

Yanks Close 1st Half with 3 of 4 at Fenway

So here we are, at the metaphoric (though past the numerical) midway point of the Major League Baseball regular season for 2012. With the final Yankee series of such being at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox, the old enemy, The Scum.

For the most part, it has been a satisfying season. And, for the most part, it was a satisfying series.

On Friday night, the Yankees scored 5 runs in the top of the 1st. And then the Red Sox scored 5 of their own in the bottom half. And those of us who know these teams well, especially against each other, though, "Whoa, here we go again!" Once again, Fenway turned into a pinball machine.

The Yankee 5: Derek Jeter led off with a single. Curtis Granderson singled. Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch by Josh Beckett -- although I don't think even Super Punk would intentionally hit a guy to load the bases with nobody out, especially with Robinson Cano coming up. Then Beckett walked Cano. (1-0.) Then Mark Teixeira singled. (3-0.) Nick Swisher hit a sacrifice fly. (4-0). Raul Ibanez singled. And Eric Chavez hit a sacrifice fly. (5-0).

The Red Sox 5: Hiroki Kuroda allowed a leadoff double to Daniel Nava. A wild pitch moved him over to 3rd. Ryan Kalish hit a sacrifice fly. (5-1.) David Ortiz, the big fat lying cheating bastard, singled. Cory Ross reached on an error by Chavez. Adrian Gonzalez doubled. (5-2.) Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the man with the longest surname in baseball history (14 letters), hit a home run. (5-5.)

The Yankees scored a run in the top of the 2nd. And the Sox tied it up in the bottom of the 2nd. 6-6.

Oy vey, we could be here all night...

The Sox took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the 5th. Things were starting to look bleak.

But these are the New York Yankees. Anything can happen. And this was Fenway Park. Anything often does happen.

Here was the anything in the top of the 7th on Friday night: Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine had brought Andrew Miller in to relieve. (UPDATE: Yes, the Andrew Miller I would later bemoan Brian Cashman trading from the Yankees to Cleveland.) And he walked the leadoff man, Granderson. Then he walked A-Rod. He struck out Cano, and then Bobby V brought in a new pitcher.

What's with Bobby? You don't take a pitcher out right after he struck a guy out!

Especially if it's Vicente Padilla, the former Phillies washout who, it now appears, has what former Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee would call "an alligator mouth and a hummingbird ass." 

Teix nearly hit one out, sending a triple to the center field wall. 8-7.

Padilla stuck Swish out, but Ibanez (again: The Phils, a pretty smart organization these last few years, gave up on this guy) doubled Teix home. 9-7.

Valentine got Padilla out of there. In came Scott Atchison. No good (for him): Chavez singled home Ibanez. It was 10-7, before Atchison ended the carnage by striking out Martin.

Cody Ross got one back with a home run in the bottom of the 7th, but that was it. Yankees 10, Red Sox 8.

WP: Boone Logan (believe it or not, he's 4-0). SV: Rafael Soriano (20). LP:Miller (2-1).

*

Saturday featured a day-night doubleheader, due to an early-season rainout. In 1948, the Boston Braves (now in Atlanta) had a rotation of Warren Spahn, Johnny Sain, Vern Bickford and Bill Voiselle, and although the latter 2 had decent seasons, the former 2 were fantastic, and the slogan for this Pennant-winning Boston team was "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain."

Maybe the Sox should've prayed for sun the day the Saturday opener was supposed to be played.

The Yankees slumped a little. This time, they only scored 4 runs in the top of the 1st. A Jeter leadoff single (Did somebody say he was "in decline"?) was followed by Teix (batting 2nd?) and A-Rod flying out. Then Sox starter Franklin Morales hit Cano with a pitch. (Again, probably not intentional, but when it comes to hit batsmen the Sox have -- literally -- thrown away their automatic presumption of innocence.) And Swish swatted a homer. And then Andruw Jones, in the words of Yankee broadcaster John Sterling, made it "Back to back, and a belly to belly!" (Swish's 13th homer, Jones' 8th.)

Jayson Nix added his 3rd homer, and Jones added his 9th. The Sox got one in the bottom of that inning, but other than that, Freddy Garcia reassured a lot of Yankee Fans who thought he no longer had it, pitching very well into the 7th.

Yankees 6, Red Sox 1. WP: Garcia (3-2). No save. LP: Morales (1-2).

*

The regularly-scheduled Saturday night game wasn't as much fun. The 1st inning slump continued, as the Yankees scored only 3 runs. Hey, it's Fenway: 3 runs qualifies as "only."

Phil Hughes pitched pretty well into the 6th inning,but then the Sox got to him. And then Joe Girardi made 2 mistakes: He brought in Logan, whose luck ran out; and then he compounded this mistake by bringing in Cory Wade.

Bringing Cory Wade in to pitch at Fenway Park. This is like driving on the Turnpike's cars-trucks-and-buses lanes in the rain with no brakes: Not recommended.

Jones would homer in the 7th (his 10th), and Chavez in the 9th (his 7th), but it was for nought. Red Sox 9, Yankees 5. WP: Felix Doubront (9-4). No save. LP: Hughes (9-7, although he deserved a better fate).

*

And then last night. At one point, John Sterling read an ad for a drink, "Five Hour Energy."

Yankees vs. Red Sox at Fenway Park? Well, that's four hour energy.

Again, the Yankees declined in the 1st inning. This time, they scored only 2. In the 1st innings of these games, the Yankees outscored the Sox 14-6. In the remaining 8 innings, the Sox led 15-14. But you can't just cut out the 1st innings, can you?

Jones made it 4 homers in 3 games (11 for the season), and Ivan Nova was super again. Yankees 7, Red Sox 3. WP: Nova (10-3). No save. LP: Jon Lester (5-6).

Three out of four, we beat The Scum.

*

So here's how things stand in the American League Eastern Division, as we go into the All-Star Break: The Yankees are in 1st place, 52-33. The Baltimore Orioles, though they've slumped, continue to surprise, at 45-40, 7 games behind. The Tampa Bay Rays are 45-41, 7 1/2 games back, 8 in the loss column. And the Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays bring up the rear, both at .500, 43-43, 9 1/2 back, 10 in the loss column. And, as Sterling pointed out last night, those 10 losses are games that are awfully hard to get back. As he also pointed out, the way the schedule has worked out, there's a lot of games against the Sox and Jays in the 2nd half.

Magic Numbers to eliminate: O's 70, Rays 69, Sox and Jays 67.

Derek Jeter has 3,199 career hits. Alex Rodriguez has 2,857, 143 from 3,000. He has 642 home runs, 18 from Willie Mays at 660, 58 from 700, 72 from Babe Ruth at 714, 113 from Hank Aaron at 755,and 121 from surpassing Barry Bonds as the all-time leader with 763. He has 1,931 runs batted in, 69 from 2,000, and 367 from surpassing Aaron as the all-time leader with 2,298.

Considering how many injuries and slumps the Yankees have had, it's been a remarkable 1st half of the season.

I think we're going to enjoy the 2nd half.

Red Alert for Yankees, Chelsea Win Champions League

This weekend, the Yankees played their 1st Interleague series of the year, at home against the Cincinnati Reds. One team left with their sleeves red; the other, their faces.

Friday night's game was just right. Andy Pettitte pitched 8 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, and no runs. His first win (1-1) since October 2, 2010 (against the Red Sox, no less).

(He struck out 9, but, really, while strikeouts are spectacular they're not that good a mark of effectiveness; Nolan Ryan struck out more batters in history than anyone by far, and yet his career ERA+ is 112 and his winning percentage .526 -- both good, but hardly great.)

In contrast, the Reds started former Red Sox punk Bronson Arroyo, and the former Captain Cornrows didn't pitch all that badly, but the Yankees got to him in the 8th inning, with home runs by Robinson Cano (his 4th) and Raul Ibanez (his 8th), to hang the loss on him (2-2).

Yankees 4, Reds 0.

*

The Saturday game was much less fun. Ivan Nova struck out 12 and walked just 2 in 6 innings, but allowed 7 hits and 5 runs. (4-2. See what I mean about strikeouts?)

The Reds' starter was Homer Bailey. Wasn't that the name of Jimmy Stewart's uncle who lost the $8,000 in It's a Wonderful Life? (No, that was William Bailey, and $8,000 in 1945 would be worth about $100,000 in 2012. Think about that the next time you see that movie: To us, today, Uncle Billy misplaced a hundred grand.)

This Bailey was building a strong performance and not loaning many chances. Although Russell Martin hit his 4th homer and Jayson Nix his 2nd, the Yankees never really got anything going, despite a 9th inning in which we scored 2 runs and had the tying and winning runs on base. Five Red pitchers, starting with Bailey (2-3) and ending with Jose Arredondo (1st save), got the job done. And, oh yeah, while this hurts one of my points, they dished out 10 strikeouts between them.

Reds 6, Yankees 5.

*

CC Sabathia started on Sunday. You can always count on CC, right? Well, for a while, we sure could, as he had a no-hitter going into the 5th and a shutout after 6. Ibanez hit his 9th homer in the bottom of the 6th, driving in Cano to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. With CC on the mound, that seemed safe.

It wasn't. In the top of the 7th, CC gave up home runs to Ryan Ludwick and Ryan Hanigan. (No, I'd never heard of them, either. That's what I get for not following the National League. But I still refuse to return to Rotisserie Leagues. I've seen the Red Sox win 2 World Series, and that's as close as I care to get to "fantasy baseball.") Then with 2 out and a man on, CC walked 3 straight batters to force home the decisive run. Walks will kill you a lot more than strikeouts will save you.

The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 7th. Cory Wade got out of a jam in the top of the 8th, and then in the bottom of the 8th, Curtis Granderson led off with a single. The Reds made a pitching change. Cano struck out. The Reds made another pitching change. Alex Rodriguez came up, and hit a shot that John Sterling, Michael Kay and I all thought was gone. Wrong, it died at the warning track. And then Ibanez, who's done so much in the 1st quarter of the season, popped up to end the threat.

Wade got into trouble in the top of the 9th, and Boone Logan (naturally) finished it for him by allowing Ludwick to double home 2. The bottom of the 9th was a washout, as Mark Teixeira reached on an error, but that was it. (He's now batting .226.)

Reds 5, Yankees 2. A home series lost.

One piece of good news: Derek Jeter says he's fine and will be able to play in spite of an apparent injury yesterday.

*

Does anybody know why the Phillies let Ibanez go? Think of where the Yankees would be without him.

Because look at where we are with him: 4th place, 5 1/2 games (5 in the loss column) behind the Baltimore Orioles, and just 1 game over .500 (21-20). The Tampa Bay Rays are 2 back, the Toronto Blue Jays 4 back, and the Red Sox 6 1/2 back (6 in the loss column).

The Yankees get back to real baseball tonight, playing a good old-fashioned American League series with the Kansas City Royals. (Okay, the Royals have only been around since 1969, so it's not THAT old-fashioned. But they haven't sniffed the postseason since 1985, so it is a little old-fashioned.) Tonight, Hiroki Kuroda starts against Felipe Paulino. Tomorrow night, Phil Hughes against Luke Hochevar. Wednesday night, Pettitte against Luis Mendoza.

*

Milestone Tracker: Derek Jeter now has 3,147 hits. He is 17th on the all-time list, 5 behind Paul Waner, 7 behind George Brett, 37 behind Cal Ripken. Among players born after 1903, he's 10th. Among players born after 1941, he's 5th, trailing only Brett, Ripken, Eddie Murray and Paul Molitor. He's 1st among all players born after 1956.

A-Rod now has 2,815. He trails only Jeter and Omar Vizquel among active players. He needs 185 for 3,000, and unless Johnny Damon (now batting .172 with the Cleveland Indians) regains his stroke, he looks like the only active player with a decent shot at the milestone.

A-Rod has 634 home runs. He is 5th on the all-time list. He is 26 behind Willie Mays for 4th, 66 short of 700, 80 behind Babe Ruth for 3rd, 121 behind Hank Aaron for 2nd, and 128 behind Barry Bonds for the all-time record. I do think he's going to get to 3,000 hits, but I no longer think he's going to get to 763 homers -- not even if he'd gotten another 3 feet on that shot yesterday.

*

West London club Chelsea won the Champions League, defeating Bayern Munich on penalty kicks at the Allianz Arena in Munich -- Bayern's stadium, but, like the Super Bowl, the site of the CL final is picked years in advance, to heighten the chance of a neutral site.

It's bad enough to lose the CL (formerly European Cup) Final on your home field. But to be a German team losing to an English one on penalties? Oh, hell, the Red Sox beat the Yankees and won a World Series (although in back-to-back series rather than at the same time).

The thought of John Terry and Ashley Cole being Champions of Europe is deeply sickening, but, face it, the Bavarians blew it.

But it does mean that Arsenal's arch-rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, miss out on next season's Champions League in spite of finishing 4th, as Chelsea make it as defending Champions despite their 6th place finish in the League, and England gets only 4 slots. Tough shit, Spurs!

Chelsea: Number 1 in Europe. Number 6 in England. Number 3 in London.

Thank you, Kieran Gibbs, for that tackle that saved Arsenal's CL berth. This is the 17th year in a row that Arsenal have finished above Tottenham.

"Mind the Gap," my arse!

*

The New York Red Bulls beat the Montreal Impact 2-1 on Saturday night at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. This despite injuries that forced them into a 3-6-1 formation. (That's 3 defenders, 6 midfielders and 1 forward.) And a bogus sendoff reduced them to 10 men while the game was still tied. Metro won anyway.

Game 4 between the Devils and Rangers is tonight at the Prudential. Having taken home-ice advantage away from The Scum in Game 2, the Devils gave it right back in Game 3 like a bunch of mugs.

If the Devils do not win Game 4, this series cannot be won. Come on you Reds!

*

Hours until the Devils play another local rival: 10, tonight against The Scum. They won't play The Filth (the Philadelphia Flyers) or the New York Islanders again until the next season starts in early October.

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 2, this Wednesday night, home to Chivas USA, "the other Los Angeles team."

Days until the U.S. National Soccer Team plays again: 5, this Saturday night, against Scotland, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville -- formerly known as Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and Alltel Field, home of the NFL's Jaguars. Come on you Red White & Blues!

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 34, against D.C. United at home on Sunday night, June 24. They next play the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on Sunday night, July 8. They next play the Philadelphia Union on Saturday afternoon, July 21, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 46, on Friday, July 6, at Fenway Park in Boston. Under 7 weeks.

Days until the 2012 Olympics begin in London: 67 (July 27). Just over 2 months.

Days until Arsenal play again: Unknown, as the Premier League announces its schedule -- sorry, forgot to speak English, its fixture list -- for the upcoming season on Monday, June 18, and the new season always starts on the 2nd Saturday in August -- meaning that the next Arsenal match will probably be August 11, which is 82 days from now. It could be the next day, Sunday, August 12.

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown. As I said, the fixture list hasn't been released yet. But it almost certainly won't be in the opening game. "Derbies" rarely lead off a season.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 103, on Saturday September 1, at the Superdome in New Orleans against Tulane University. Not exactly a rivalry game, although Tulane was founded by a Princeton man. And thus, in a little over 3 months, will begin the Kyle Flood Era. Good luck...

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 109, on Friday, September 7, home to South Brunswick. I'm glad it's a home game: It's always good to open the season at home, and South Brunswick is particularly tough to get to: Despite the distance, it's not close to public transportation. But that's the only thing I have against them: Though they are neighbors, they are not rivals.

Days until the first Nets game in Brooklyn: Unknown, as the 2012-13 NBA schedule has not yet been released. The season usually starts in late October, so we're talking about 160 days or so. A little over 5 months.

Days until the 2012 President election: 168, on Tuesday, November 6. About 5 and a half months. Register to vote... and on November 6, vote!

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 185. A little over 6 months.

Days until Alex Rodriguez collects his 3,000th career hit: 436 (estimated around August 1, 2013).

Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 622 (February 2, 2014).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 700th career home run: 714 (estimated).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 756th career home run to surpass all-time leader Hank Aaron: 1,549 (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: 1,594 (estimated -- estimating 28 home runs a year, but accounting for his recent slump, he might get it by the close of the 2016 season, maybe around October 1, at age 41).

"Slow Start" Is Over, Time for the Yankees to Make Their Move

My apologies for not posting again sooner. Real life called.

On Saturday, Phil Hughes once again seemed to be pitching for his job. He was fantastic: He got into the 8th inning, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits and 1 walk. And while Boone Logan allowed a run in the 9th, it ended up not mattering.

Because the Yankees gave Hughes 4 runs in the bottom of the 2nd. With 1 out, Mark Teixiera doubled to right. After a 2nd out, Raul Ibanez came through with a double of his own. Then Russell Martin hit yet another double. And journeyman infielder Jayson Nix hit his 1st Yankee home run.

Ibanez added his 7th homer in the 4th, also off former Yankee Hector Noesi, and Robinson Cano drove home a run with a single in the 8th.

Yankees 6, Mariners 2. WP: Hughes (3-4). SV: Logan (1). LP: Noesi (2-4).

*

On Sunday, Andy Pettitte returned. At first, he looked fantastic, throwing some hellacious breaking stuff. But the Mariners got to him for 2 runs in the 4th and 2 more in the 6th, on home runs by Justin Smoak and Casper Wells, respectively.

Justin Smoak? Sounds like a psychedelic-era rocker. Casper Wells? Sounds like a "fellow" at the right-wing fanatic Heritage Foundation.

Another veteran, Kevin Millwood, pitched for Seattle, and he pretty much shut the Yankees down. The Yankees left 15 men on base: Derek Jeter 5 all by himself, Teixeira and Eric Chavez 3 each, Curtis Granderson 2.

Mariners 6, Yankees 2. WP: Millwood. LP: Pettitte (0-1).

*

On Monday, the Yankees went down to Baltimore for 2 games. Ivan Nova started and got smacked for 5 runs in 5 innings. But the bullpen shut the Orioles out the rest of the way: Clay Rapada, David Phelps, Logan, Cory Wade and Rafael Soriano.

The Yankees clawed their way back, with Granderson tying the game with his 12th homer in the 5th, and a Teix message winning it in the 7th (his 5th homer).

Yankees 8, Orioles 5. WP: Phelps (1-1). SV: Soriano (2). LP: Luis Ayala (1-1).

Unfortunately, Rapada got hurt, and then we found out that David Robertson was also unavailable due to injury. Turns out we now have both of our closers out, Mariano Rivera and Robertson. So we've got to rely on Soriano, whose 1st season in Pinstripes (last year) was horrible.

*

And then last night, in the words of ESPN's Tony Reali, the Yankees went veggie: They forgot to bring the meat!

Wei-Yin Chen (4-0) shut the Yankees down, allowing just 2 hits in the 1st 6 innings, singles by Nix and Jeter. In the 7th, Cano doubled and Granderson homered, but that was all the scoring. And CC Sabathia, who had been living dangerously lately, finally got hung with a loss for his less-than-stellar pitching (5-1).

Orioles 5, Yankees 2.

*

As things stand right now, the Yankees are 2 1/2 games, 2 in the loss column, behind the Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Eastern Division. The Toronto Blue Jays are 4 back, and the Boston Red Sox are 5 1/2 back, 5 in the loss column. It's mid-May now, and it's time for the Yankees to make their move: Although this start isn't as bad as some of the starts we've seen since 2005, it still needs to be better.

The Yankees head across the border to play 2 against those pesky Blue Jays, before coming home on Friday and starting -- ugh -- Interleague play against the Cincinnati Reds.

The starters tonight are Hiroki Kuroda and Kyle Drabek, son of former Yankee, Houston Astro and Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Doug Drabek.

This is the 999th post on this blog. I'll have to think of something special for my 1,000th.