Yankees Clinch 47th 1st Place Finish

The Red Sox lost to the Orioles. The next Yankee win meant winning the American League Eastern Division.

CC Sabathia took the mound against Jeremy Hellickson, and we had a Yankee Doodle Dandy of a pitchers' duel. CC got into a little jam in the top of the 2nd, but got out of it; in the bottom of the 2nd, Robinson Cano went the other way to hit his 27th home run of the season, and put the Yankees up, 1-0.

The Yanks loaded the bases in the bottom of the 4th, but only scored 1 run, on a double-play groundout. 2-0. In the top of the 5th, ex-Yankee backup catcher Kelly Shoppach, of all people, took CC deep to make it 2-1. In the top of the 7th, CC gave up another homer, to Sean Rodriguez. Who? Who cares. It was tied 2-2.

It stayed that way into the top of the 8th, and Joe Girardi, who almost never lets a pitcher go too long -- including the workhorse CC -- let CC throw 127 pitches. Old enough to remember such Yankee pitchers as Catfish Hunter and Ron Guidry, it ticks me off to think of 127 pitches being considered an anomaly.

David Robertson came in with 1 out and the bases loaded. How does 1 pitch for 2 outs sound to you? It sounded good to Cano, to Eduardo Nunez (playing shortstop as Derek Jeter was given the night off) to Mark Teixeira, 4-6-3, end of threat.

Bottom of the 8th. The Yankees load the bases with 2 out. Tampa manager Joe Maddon makes about a dozen pitching changes, or so it seems. And Girardi sends the aging but oh-so-experienced Jorge Posada in to pinch-hit for the dazzling but not-quite-tested rookie Jesus Montero.

Base hit to right field. 4-2 Yankees. The Stadium erupts. He gets Johnny Damon to pop up to short, 1 out. He gets Dan Johnson to ground to 2nd, 2 out. He allows a single to the not-exactly-mighty Casey Kotchman, but fans Matt Joyce to end it.

Ballgame over! American League Eastern Division over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!

Holy Cow!

How about that!

WP: Robertson (4-0). LP: McGee (3-2). SV: Soriano (2).

This is the 47th time the Yankees have finished a season in first place, the 16th time in the post-1969 Divisional Play Era.

Oh, by the way: Thank you, Orioles. And eat it, Sox!

*

Jeter hits 3082 DONE
Rivera saves 603 DONE
A-Rod homers 629 134
A-Rod hits 2772 228
Magic Number for Playoffs DONE
Magic Number for Division DONE
Magic Number for Best Record in AL 4

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).

Today Could Be the Clincher

Last night, Cliff Lee started a game as a pitcher for a team with postseason ambitions. Not the New York Yankees. He lost. He's still got a really good record, 16-8, with a 2.38 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP.

Am I going to stop beating the dead horse of "The Yankees can't win without Cliff Lee"? No, because the horse is still alive, and because some people are just... that... stupid.

Last night, Ivan Nova started a game as a pitcher for a team with postseason ambitions. This was the New York Yankees, although, when the season started, Nova seemed a poor substitute for Lee, who spurned the Yankees' offers to pitch for less money for a team that was closer to home. Yeah, as it turned out, by 100 miles, which isn't saying much when home is still 1,168 miles away.

Anyway, Nova was the winning pitcher against the Tampa Bay Rays, raising his record to 16-4 -- his 12th straight win, making him the 1st pitcher officially a rookie to win 12 straight decisions since Larry Jansen of the 1947 New York Giants.

(About Jansen: He also won 23 games, including the deciding Playoff game won by Bobby Thomson's homer, for the 1951 National League Champion Giants, before losing twice to the Yankees in that year's World Series. Early success in the higher-paying Pacific Coast League -- ironically, for San Francisco, the city to which the Giants would move in 1957 -- plus World War II and an arm injury that kept him from pitching in the 1954 World Series that the Giants won, curtailed his career, and he won "only" 122 games, against 89 losses. He returned to the PCL and then became pitching coach for the San Francisco edition of the Giants, where he helped develop Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry into the Hall-of-Famers he was unable to become. He died in 2009, age 89.)

Nova's season ERA is 3.62, not bad at all in the DH'ed American League, and his WHIP is 1.33, quite a bit above Lee's, but it's done the job for the Yankees.

The specific job he did for the Yankees last night was to throw 7 2/3 innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 walks, and no runs. Boone Logan got the last out in the 8th, and Luis Ayala finished the shutout in the 9th.

Hitting-wise, there were no home runs for the Yankees, but in the bottom of the 2nd, Nick Swisher doubled, Eric Chavez singled him home, Russell Martin singled him over, Brett Gardner beat out a bunt to load the bases, and then, after Derek Jeter struck out, Curtis Granderson cleared the bases with a double to make it 4-0. Granderson made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the 5th, knocking out Wade Davis (LP, 10-10,and that was the final.

The loss all but eliminated the Rays from Playoff contention. Officially, the Yankees' Magic Number to clinch at least a Playoff berth is now 2, but since their next 2 games are against the Rays, 1 win will reduce their Magic Number by 2. The Boston Red Sox also lost last night, to the Baltimore Orioles, reducing the Yankees' Magic Number to clinch the American League Eastern Division to 3.

Correcting an error I made earlier, there is a rain-forced dual-admission doubleheader at the new Yankee Stadium today. The 1st game has James Shields going for the Rays, but Phil Hughes, due to back spasms, may not be able to start for the Yankees as planned, and I'm not sure who would get the start.

The 2nd game is likely to be CC Sabathia against Jeremy Hellickson. It is possible that the Yankees could delay a decision on Hughes by a few hours, by having CC start the 1st game instead, but, knowing manager Joe Girardi, he'll probably just substitute someone else instead, to be better safe than sorry.

So, here's the situation:

* If the Yankees win either game of this doubleheader, they, and the Red Sox, both clinch at least a Playoff berth, either the Division Title or the Wild Card.

* If the Yankees win either game, and the Red Sox win, that reduces the Yanks' Magic Number for the Division to 2, and they can clinch as soon as tomorrow night.

* If the Yankees win either game, and the Red Sox win -- or, if the Yankees sweep the doubleheader, and the Red Sox lose -- then the Division is clinched tonight, before the Sox come in for the final regular-season series between the teams on Friday.

Big day, filled with baseball. As long as the weather cooperates in both New York and Boston, that is.

Jeter hits 3082 DONE
Rivera saves 602 DONE
A-Rod homers 629 134
A-Rod hits 2772 228
Magic Number for Playoffs 2
Magic Number for Division 3
Magic Number for Best Record in AL 5

How's That 2011 Red Sox vs. 1927 Yankees Comparison Workin' For Ya?

Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Tony Lazzeri,

of the 1927 World Champion New York Yankees

Eric Ortiz (presumably no relation to the Red Sox' big fat lying cheating bastard David "Big Papi" Ortiz), NESN.com (New England Sports Network), January 2, 2011:

The Red Sox have won 100 or more games three times in their 110-year existence.

They will make it four in 2011.

In fact, the Red Sox have won 88 games, with 8 still to play. If they maintain their current winning percentage, they will win 93. A good total, to be sure, but not 100. Even if they win all their remaining games, they will have won 98, and will win at least the American League's Wild Card, but that still might not be enough to win the AL Eastern Division, as the Yankees have already won 92.

Eric Ortiz continues:

But this team has the potential to accomplish something even bigger than winning 100 games... 100 wins doesn’t just appear plausible. It seems downright inevitable. So does a date with history.

The Red Sox have no intention of suffering a similar fate. The way they are constructed, they could surpass the 116-win mark, but nothing less than a World Series title will make Boston happy.

The 2011 Red Sox possess all the pieces to have a season for the ages. If everything falls into place and the breaks go their way, they could do more than set records and become champions. They could do more than take their place on Immortality Peak and end up being mentioned in the same sentence as legendary clubs of the past: the 1929 A’s, the epic Yankees teams of the ‘30s, the 1970 Orioles, the 1976 Reds.

The 2011 Red Sox could accomplish a feat that has never been done. They could unseat the 1927 Yankees as the greatest major league team of all time.

That would be something to celebrate.

Really.

Babe Ruth demands an explanation for this bullshit.

*

Then there's what Mike Lupica -- New Hampshire native, Boston College graduate, Red Sox fan, and New York Daily News columnist, wrote this past Sunday, September 18, 2011:

Of all the injuries in the American League East, the one that made the most difference - and maybe all the difference for the Red Sox - was the one that lost them Clay Buchholz for the second half of the season.

It's more important than A-Rod, more important than Phil Hughes being gone from the Yankees as long as he was.

If Buchholz is healthy, I believe the Red Sox win the East easily, instead of fighting to the finish for a wild card the way they do.

Really.

John Lackey is 12-12, with an ERA of 6.49 and a WHIP of 1.630. Tim Wakefield is 7-7, with an ERA of 5.08 and a WHIP of 1.327.  Admittedly, Wakefield is 45 years old, and shouldn't be able to pitch like a 30-year-old ace. But the fact that a 45-year-old knuckleballer, who debuted in the major league when George Bush the father was President, is in your rotation suggests you've got problems. (In 1985, Ron Guidry was the Yankees' ace, winning 22. Phil Niekro won 16, but he was a 46-year-old knuckleballer, and shouldn't have been the Yankees' Number 2 pitcher.)

Before he got hurt, Buchholz was pitching very well. But suppose he was available. He couldn't take the place of Lackey and Wakefield, could he? Not unless the Red Sox want to go back to the days when men were men, and pitched every 4th day, instead of every 5.

The bottom line is that the Yankees have had A.J. Burnett pitch poorly again, and 3 major come-back-from-injury question marks in Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes, and a then-unknown quantity in Ivan Nova.

And the Yankees have won 92 games, with 10 to play, and are 5 games ahead of the Red Sox, 6 in the loss column.

No one was saying the 2011 Yankees were going to approach the 1927, or 1936, or 1941, or 1953, or 1961, or 1998, or even 1978 Yankees. But they've already won 92, which is as many as the 1996 World Champion Yankees won in the regular season.

So Lupica is saying that one injury is the reason the Red Sox aren't beating the Yankees over the course of 152, soon to be 162, games?

Hey, Lupica:

Bucky Dent demands an explanation for this bullshit.

One Mariano, There's Only One Mariano

As we would sing if the Yankees were an English soccer team, to the tune of Jose Marti's "Guantanamera":

One Mariano!
There's only one Mariano!
One Mar-i-aaaan-ohhhh!

There's only one Mariano!

The Yankees have been involved in some chases this season.

The chase for the 3,000 Hit Club by Derek Jeter. It's done.

The chase for the all-time leadership in saves by Mariano Rivera. It was done today.

The chase for the Yankees' 50th postseason berth (51 if you count having the best record in the American League when the 1994 season ended early due to Bud Selig not being willing to settle the strike). It’s almost done: The Magic Number is 4.

The chase for the Yankees' 16th AL Eastern Division title. It’s almost done: The Magic Number is 5.

The chase for the Yankees' 41st AL Pennant. Theoretically, the Magic Number is 11: The 4 to get into the Playoffs, the 3 to win the AL Division Series, and the 4 to win the AL Championship Series.

And the chase for the Yankees' 28th World Championship. Theoretically, the Magic Number is 15: The 11 from the aforementioned chase, and the 4 to win the World Series.

*

Today, the Yankees hosted the Minnesota Twins in a stand-alone makeup of a rainout.

A.J. Burnett was the Yankee starter. And the plate umpire was John Hirschbeck. Neither was a good sign.

After 3 innings, so far, so good: The Yankees led 5-0, thanks to Curtis Granderson's 41st home run of the season, a Russell Martin single that drove in a run, an RBI triple by Robinson Cano and the subsequent single by Nick Swisher.

The only downside was that a 5-run lead would mean a pitcher would have to pitch the last 3 innings of the win to qualify for the save.

But Chris Parmalee took Burnett deep to open the top of the 4th. Two singles followed, and suddenly Good A.J. was turning back into Bad A.J. He got an out, walked a batter to load the bases, then got a strikeout to end it.

With 1 out in the top of the 5th, Michael Cuddyer homered, and Parmelee doubled. So long, A.J. In came Cory Wade, who allowed a walk, a single to load the bases, and a groundout to make the score 5-4. Uh-oh, Five-nil and w...

Nope, Wade struck out the next 2 batters to end it. In the bottom of the 6th, Jeter led off with a great bunt and beat it out. (Did somebody say he was 37 years old? Did somebody say he was in decline?) Granderson grounded into a force, but Mark Teixeira's grounder moved Grandy to 2nd. Then Alex Rodriguez (himself only 228 hits from 3,000 now) singled Grandy home to make it 6-4 Yankees.

You never know when them insurance runs are gonna matter. This one didn't, because Rafael Soriano was perfect in the 7th, and so was David Robertson in the 8th.

Top of the 9th. The bullpen door opens. Holding his glove, out runs Number 42, Mariano Rivera.

Sorry, Jackie Robinson, but, today, Number 42 is someone else.

Exit light.
Enter night.
Take my hand...

We’re off to never-never land!

Metallica seems like such an odd choice for the soft-spoken, saintly Rivera. But he’s Mariano Rivera, so he can enter to "Enter Sandman" or any other song he might want.

He got Trevor Plouffe to ground out to Cano. One out.

He got Cuddyer to hit a sinking liner that Chris Dickerson, subbing for Swisher in right, was able to catch. Two out.

Last man standing between the Yankees and another victory, between Mariano and another piece of history, was the Twins' big bat of the day, Parmelee.

No contest: A 92 MPH cutter, called Strike 1. A 91 MPH cutter, fouled off, Strike 2. A 93 MPH cutter, called Strike 3.

Cue John Sterling: "Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeee Yankees win!"

Cue Phil Rizzuto: "Holy cow!"

Cue Mel Allen: "How about that!"

Career save Number 602. This is actually more impressive than Jeter's 3,000 hits (now 3,080), because that had been done before, if not all in a Yankee uniform. 602 saves? Until this afternoon, it had never been done by anyone, in any uniform.

The Top 10 in career saves is now the following:

1. Mariano Rivera 602 (active)
2. Trevor Hoffman 601 (former all-time leader)
3. Lee Smith 478 (former all-time leader)
4. John Franco 424 (all-time leader among lefthanders, former leader among National Leaguers)
5. Billy Wagner 422 (2nd among lefties)
6. Dennis Eckersley 390
7. Jeff Reardon 367 (former all-time leader)
8. Troy Percival 358
9. Randy Myers 347
10. Rollie Fingers 341 (former all-time leader)

Franco, of course, Wagner, Reardon and Myers are former Mets. Smith and Reardon were briefly Yankees. Incredibly, of these, only Eck and Fingers are already in the Hall of Fame, although Hoffman, Wagner, Percival and, obviously, Rivera are not yet eligible. (UPDATE: Through 2017, none were added to the Hall, although Hoffman fell only 5 votes short. He will probably be elected in 2018.)

John Wetteland, Rivera's predecessor as Yankee closer, is 11th with 330. Ex-Met Rick Aguilera is 16th with 318. Yankee Hall-of-Famer Rich "Goose" Gossage is 19th with 310 (he used to be 2nd behind Fingers). The (somehow) still-active Jason Isringhausen, back with the Mets, is 22nd with 300, tied with HOFer Bruce Sutter. Ex-Met Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez is 24th with 291, and ex-Met (and, briefly, ex-Yankee) Armando Benitez is 25th with 289.

More ex-Yankees: Bob Wickman has 267, Dave Righetti 252, Sparky Lyle 238. Met and Phillie legend Tug McGraw? Surprisingly, only 180.

Among active pitchers, Mariano is the only one with 400; Francisco Cordero and Isringhausen have 300; K-Rod, Joe Nathan, Jose Valverde, Brad Lidge and Jonathan Papelbon have 200, and Brian Fuentes is 1 save away from joining them.

Papelbon has 218, but he's already 30 and has been hurt a few times, so it looks like Mariano's record is safe for quite some time.

*

So the Yankees won, and Mariano broke the record. To make matters even better, the Red Sox lost to the Baltimore Orioles today, in the 1st game of a rain-forced doubleheader.

The Sox are now 5½ games behind the Yankees, 6 in the loss column, with 9 games to play (10 for us). And the Tampa Bay Rays, who were not scheduled for today, come into Yankee Stadium II tomorrow for a 3-gamer, and are just a game and a half behind the Sox for the AL Wild Card, a single solitary game in that AILC, the All-Important Loss Column.

Should the Yankees lose to the Rays, to set up a Sox Playoff berth, and thus give themselves a chance for full, final revenge for the Sox' steroid-driven 2004 win? No: Give it all you got, try to beat the Rays, and, as far as potential Playoff matchups go, let the chips fall where they may.

Because, to paraphrase the great comedian Mark Russell, few teams in all of sports have been hurt by falling chips as much as the Boston Red Sox.

So here's the remaining regular season for all 3 teams:

Tonight: Game 2 of the doubleheader, Orioles at Red Sox.

Tomorrow through Thursday: Rays at Yanks, Orioles at Red Sox.

Friday through Sunday: Red Sox at Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays at Rays. (Let the Jays be pesky to Tampa Bay for a change.)

The following Monday through Wednesday: The regular season closes with Yankees at Rays and Red Sox at Orioles – but the way both the Pinstripes and The Scum are followed by their traveling fans, and the way both the Rays and the O's have done at the box office, it could seem like home games for the New York and Boston teams.

My prediction: The Yankees will clinch the Division against the Sox on Friday night, but, with 4 games left against the O's, the Sox will win the Wild Card.

*

Jeter hits 3080 DONE
Rivera saves 602 DONE
A-Rod homers 629 134
A-Rod hits 2772 228
Magic Number 5 (to clinch Division, 4 to clinch Playoff berth)

Mariano Today

Looks like Joe Girardi also wanted Mariano Rivera to get the record-breaking 602nd save at Yankee Stadium II, because he started this lineup at SkyDome/Rogers Centre yesterday:

1. Brett Gardner, CF, instead of Curtis Granderson
2. Eduardo Nunez, 2B, instead of Robinson Cano
3. Cano, DH, instead of Jorge Posada or Andruw Jones
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Nick Swisher, RF
6. Eric Chavez, 1B, instead of Mark Teixeira
7. Russell Martin, C
8. Curtis Dickerson, LF, instead of Gardner
9. Ramiro Pena, SS, instead of Derek Jeter

Result: No runs on 5 hits -- 3 of them by the usually-useless Nunez. And 5 1/3 shutout innings by Aaron Laffey, Luis Ayala, Scott Proctor, Raul Valdes and George Kontos didn't make up for a shaky start by Freddy Garcia (11-8), as Branden Morrow (10-11) and Frank Francisco (16th save) shut out the Yankees.

Toronto 3, Yankees 0. The Pesky Blue Jays take 2 out of 3.

Tonight, the Yankees come home for a rainout makeup with the Minnesota Twins tomorrow afternoon, A.J. Burnett vs. Scott Diamond. Then 3 at home against the Tampa Bay Rays, where they could eliminate the Rays from the American League Wild Card race, thus clinching Playoff berths for both themselves and the Boston Red Sox. Then 3 at home against said Scum, where they (the Yankees, that is, not The Scum) will probably clinch the American League Eastern Division title. Finally, 3 in St. Petersburg against the Rays to close the regular season.

The Rays beat the Sox to take 2 out of 3 from them. So...

The Yankees' Magic Number to eliminate the Rays and clinch at least a Playoff berth is 5.

The Yankees' Magic Number to eliminate the Sox and clinch the Division is 7.

The Yankees' Magic Number to clinch the best record in the AL, and thus home-field advantage in both rounds of the AL Playoffs, is 10.

So here's hoping that Mariano gets it today -- not just to end the chase, but to put the Yankees 1 game closer to clinching.

*

Jeter hits 3077 DONE
Rivera saves 601 1
A-Rod homers 629 134
A-Rod hits 2771 229
Magic Number 7 (to eliminate Scum for Division, 5 to eliminate Rays for Playoff, Jays & O's done)

A-Rod 629, Mariano 601

(UPDATE: This was the day that I finally figured out how to use pictures on this blog. I still don't know what took me so long. But I have since added pictures to preceding entries.)

So I get up at 4:00 in the morning, catch a 5:55 AM bus that gets into the City at 6:45 AM, and get to the Blind Pig at 7:20 AM to watch Arsenal vs. Blackburn Rovers, a 12:45 PM start in England, but a 7:45 AM start here.

Don't ask... Arsenal blew a 2-1 lead against the team picked by many to finish last in the Premier League, and lost 4-3. Poor play and poor officiating...

George Graham demands an explanation for this bullshit.

All his successor as the great Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, can do is this:

It poured all through the game, and in England they play "football" in the rain. At least it wasn't raining in New York. Or New Jersey.

This, on top of last night's losses by the Yankees and East Brunswick High School's football team.

The good news is, Rutgers has the week off, so they can't add to my misery by losing. The bad news is, Rutgers has the week off, so they can't stop my misery by winning.

*

So it was up to the Yankees to do something good today.

Bartolo Colon did not have it: Those pesky Blue Jays tagged him for 4 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning, and he only went 4.

Who did Joe Girardi bring in to replace Colon? Why, Scott Proctor of course.

Thurman Munson demands an explanation for this bullshit.

Amazingly, Proctor did not take a bad situation and make it worse. He inherited a 6-1 Toronto lead, and held it.

Then came the top of the 6th. Alex Rodriguez, who's barely played in the 2nd half due to hip and thumb injuries, hit his 16th home run of the season, the 629th of his career. The Yankees scored 4 runs in the top of the 6th to close to within 6-5. Aaron Laffey pitched the bottom of the 6th. No runs.

Top of the 7th. Curtis Granderson expanded his MVP credentials with his 40th home run of the season.

Yes, the Grandy Man can. 7-6 Yanks.

And that's the way it stayed, through Hector Noesi in the 7th, Rafael Soriano in the 8th, and Mariano Rivera in the 9th.

It was the 42nd save of the season for Number 42, who will soon be 42 years old, and yet somehow defies Father Time.

WP: Laffey (3-2). LP: Carlos Villaneuva (6-4).

The save is the 601st of Mariano's career, tying the major league record set by Trevor Hoffman, mostly with the San Diego Padres.

Tomorrow, at 1:00 (okay, 1:07), the Yankees close out this 3-game road series with the Blue Jays in Toronto. Freddy Garcia starts against Brendan Morrow.

Hopefully, the Yankees will win this one big, so that Mariano can get the record-breaker at home. Unfortunately, the next home game is Monday afternoon, against the Minnesota Twins, and the scheduled starter is A.J. Burnett. Uh-oh, who will show up: Good A.J., or Bad A.J.? Mariano can't save the game if there's no lead. And the opposing pitcher is Scott Diamond, who's a pitcher with whom the Yankees may be unfamiliar. Another uh-oh.

That game is the makeup of a rainout. The Yankees then start a 3-game series at home to the Tampa Bay Rays. It is very possible that the Yankees could eliminate the Rays from Playoff contention, thus clinching at least the Wild Card for themselves -- but also for the Boston Red Sox, who come to town on Friday.

*

Jeter hits 3077 DONE
Rivera saves 601 1
A-Rod homers 629 134
A-Rod hits 2769 231
Magic Number 10 (to eliminate Scum for Division, 6 to eliminate Rays for Playoffs, Jays & O's done)