The Yankees definitely backtracked tonight, mounting a brief, belated but inspired rally in the top of the ninth before falling 7-5 to the Orioles. More of the same-old, with Clemens not at his sharpest, but the relievers also allowing add-on runs, making the comeback that did occur, unlike last night's whimpering ending, all the more strained to even the game. More of the old with a newer, odd-throwing lefty baiting seasoned veterans with subpar high fastballs out of the zone, more dearth of clutch hitting, more offensive peaks and valleys, more stranded runners and squandered chances, more bullpen antics. If this is what I've brought back to watching/blogging after the hiatus, should I revert to Baseball via distance, with radio interludes and Gameday summaries to serve as my manna, with other priorities lingering anyway? Sheesh, what a poor three games, what Jekyll-and-Hyde baseball at the wrong time.

Brian Burres, a down-and-up fill-in for the Orioles, served as shutdown du jour/lefty bete noir tonight, holding the Yankees to a run and only four hits and three walks in six innings. Abreu was 0-5 with 2 Ks, and A-Rod was 0-4 with 3 Ks.  The Orioles, meanwhile, pounded Yankee pitching for 13 hits and worked 4 walks. Clemens was game but mediocre, giving up eight hits and four runs with three walks and six strikeouts on 113 pitches in 6 1/3 innings. He worked himself into trouble right away by allowing two runs in the first. Roberts led off with a double, Patterson struck out, Markakis walked, Millar's flyout sent Roberts to third, and Tejada doubled to left to score Roberts and Markakis, 2-0 Orioles. Roberts again wrought havoc on the Yankees in the fifth, when he worked a lead-off walk in a nine-pitch at-bat after being behind 0-2, awful, Patterson sac bunted him to second, he stole third then was singled home by Markakis, 3-0 Orioles.

The Yankees responded at long last when Matsui homered to right to begin the seventh, but the Yankees should have had more. Jorge singled, Cano forced him at second, Phillips fanned, Melky worked a walk to continue the inning yet Johnny Damon, who has been bad since I've returned and spotty the week before, grounded out meekly to end the inning. The Orioles appeared to have the game in hand when they added on two runs in the seventh and eighth apiece, chasing Clemens and cuffing around Myers and Bruney, with an A-Rod error to boot, pardon the pun. Yet the Yankees inspired a brief flicker of hope before burning out in the ninth. Matsui singled and Jorge blasted a no-doubt homer to right, 7-3 Orioles. Cano doubled to right, Phillips singled to left, and Melky singled in Cano, 7-4 Orioles with 1st and 2nd, no outs. Yet Damon, the Yankees' bane lately, grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, in which Melky appeared to be way off the bag making a hard slide straight at Tejada, yet there was no overt harm and Tejada was thankfully diplomatic. Unfortunately, that was nearly the end of the Yankees' harm tonight. Though Jeter singled in Phillips to make it 7-5 and bring Abreu, the tying run to the plate, Abreu struck out on a pitch out of the zone to end it, 7-5.

The bottom of the Yanks' lineup was the strength, with Matsui, Posada, Cano and Melky each having two hits and Phillips having one himself, and the 5-9 hitters scoring all five runs and driving in four.  Matsui is now at .293, Cano still knocking on the .300 door at .298, Melky solid at .286, Phillips still above .300 at .308, and Posada staying warm at .330, amazing. But 1-17 from the 1-4 hitters, who were responsible for all four runners in scoring position left on base with two outs, is unacceptable, Damon's two double plays were killers, and only Jeter's ninth-inning single represented a clutch performance, shameful.

Wang (11-5, 3.57 ERA) faces Daniel Cabrera (7-10, 5.04 ERA) in the must-win finale, one of many for all remaining series.  The Yankees have alternatively feasted and been shut down by Cabrera in the past and, with the Yankees' sputtering offense of late, Wang must be at his best in the event of a tight, low-scoring affair. Beth at Yankees Chick speculated that the Yankees wouldn't score more than five runs in a game in the Royals series, suggesting that the Yankees were due to cool down. That seems to have occurred for the Yankees for the last three games now, beginning with the 7-0 finale in Kansas City; she was off by a few games, but right nonetheless. More such feast-or-famine swoons will threaten to keep the Yankees home in October, and they need to exhibit greater urgency in these clutch situations. Tonight was abysmal, pero manana es otro dia. Let's Go, Yankees!

With apologies, I'll post belatedly on yesterday's games, in which the Yankees concluded the suspended game with an 8-7 victory, but came up short in the normally scheduled game, 4-2. I'm sorry my posts have been so infrequent lately. I've been working a decent amount the past week, we've been hosting and entertaining several kids (who are great and lots of fun to be around), and I've been working on a guest lecture that I'll give on Monday in a colleague's class.  Additionally, on Thursday night GLG had a marathon 2 hour 45 minute, four inning tournament softball game that they lost, 23-22. That's not a misprint, either. Sad to see the softball season come to an end; they're a great group of kids who had a lot of fun and started to hit a ton near the season's end, and GLG had a very good year. Thursday night, a girl from the other team cranked one well into the outfield, a rare accomplishment given their experience levels and the adult-sized fields at the local college, the left fielder moved back and to her left to catch it, relayed it in on a line to GLG at short, who then whirled and threw to nearly pick off the player leading halfway off first, very impressive. It was a great play, and for young kids they're very heady and can play.

I got home from seeing "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (which I would definitely recommend) just after the conclusion of the suspended game, so I was doubly glad for the outcome. Mariano struggled, giving up a run in the ninth. After Mariano struck out Tejada to lead off the ninth, Patterson doubled and Yankee killer Ramon Hernandez singled him in, 8-7. Payton forced him at second, Roberts singled and Fahey forced Roberts at second to end the threat and the month-long game, awesome. Myers got the win, Mariano got his 10th save, and the Yankees upped their record to 55-47.

The Yankees lost last night's game 4-2, generating little offense to support Andy Pettite who, despite struggling in the third and allowing three runs, pitched well enough to keep the Yankees in the game. Yet Jeremy Guthrie held New York in check for the second time this year, scattering six hits and two runs over six innings, walking three and striking out four. Guthrie throws hard (high 90s fastball) and has a very good slider that he used well to bust in the lefties, each of whom got a hit, but who left a combined four men on base in scoring position. In the Yankees defense, Abreu and A-Rod hit the ball hard in the eighth with nothing to show, and the Orioles played good defense (especially Tejada) to rob the Yanks. But they left eight on.

They did make the Orioles pay for a mistake in the second, scoring a two-out run when Phillips worked a very good walk off a close, 3-2 pitch. Melky then tripled to left-center to score Phillips when Patterson got very wall shy and just ducked out of the way of a ball he should have caught, as he appeared to fill his pants in unrequited anticipation of crashing into the wall. Melky was just safe in a bang-bang play at third, one that could have gone either way. The Yankees got within 3-2 in the sixth when  A-Rod walked and Matsui executed a terrific hit and run to right with A-Rod stopping at second. But Posada struck out looking before Cano singled to right to score A-Rod, and Phillips grounded into a 4-6-3 double-play to let Guthrie escape.

Pettite's downfall came in the third. After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the second (which included Pettite's poor fielding on a chopper from Payton that he dropped, appearing to take his eye off the ball), Pettite gave up a lead-off double to Patterson, got Markakis to fly out, walked Millar, Patterson stole third during Pettite's strikeout of Tejada on an excellent 1-2 slider, walked Huff on four pitches, Hernandez hit a two-run single through the hole, 2-1 Orioles, followed by Gibbons ripping an RBI single off the wall in right, 3-1 Orioles. He was his own worst enemy in the third. Proctor exacerbated things by allowing a lead-off homer to Millar in the bottom of the eighth, widening the lead to two. Thanks, Torchy.

But two runs, stranding eight, against a very good young pitcher isn't enough from the offense, which cooled against one of the best young arms in the game and after a monumental week. After getting shut out in the finale in Kansas City, the Yankees need to bounce back after dropping two (calendar-wise) in a row. Today the Yankees send Clemens (3-4, 3.72 ERA) against lefty Brian Burres (4-4, 4.33 ERA). 55-48 is a heck of a lot better than it was even earlier this month. But the Yankees will need to win series the rest of the year, continuing with this one. Six series in a row is a good sign of the consistent excellence the Yankees have shown this month, but this too is winnable. Let's Go, Yankees!

[Edit: I see that the Yankees sent down Kei Igawa after his dismal performance Friday. Good. Honestly, I'd rather he stayed in Scranton the rest of the year in favor of Chamberlain, if a call-up were necessary after Hughes returns. On Hughes, given his good pace of recovery from the severe ankle sprain and his stellar performances in Scranton, he should be up here in a week, not soon enough after the revolving door of Clippard, DeSalvo, and Igawa. Enough of the garbage starts from them, already.]

This team has everybody else playing their game right now. Every game lately, the Yankees have done all the right things--getting clutch hits, moving runners over and sacrificing oneself to get runs in, power hitting from several sources (most notably A-Rod, Matsui, Cano, Abreu and even Duncan), and very good pitching (with a couple exceptions). This combination, regardless of the competition they've faced, has made the Yankees nearly unbeatable after the All-Star break, allowing the Yankees to gain ground in both the AL East and Wild Card races.

Taking the third game in a row against the Royals and clinching their sixth straight series win, the Yankees added on nicely in the 7th and 8th innings to blow a close game wide open and win going away, 7-1. Mussina pitched well, as did the bullpen, to match Meche, the Royals' best starter. If there was one game on paper that worried me, this was the one, with an up-and-down Mussina facing Meche, who has had a good, solid year. Melky hit a two-out, two-run homer in the second to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. The Royals got their lone run in the sixth when Gload doubled with two outs and Sanders singled him in, 2-1 Yankees. Yet excellent team baseball earned the Yankees the run back immediately, when Posada and Cano singled to start the seventh, Phillips sacrificed them over to second and third, and Melky hit a sac fly to score Posada, 3-1 Yankees. The Yankees blew it open in the eighth, when Jeter singled, Abreu forced him at second, and A-Rod crushed his 35th homer of the year, and 499th of his career, to deep right-center, 5-1 Yankees. Matsui then followed with his own bomb, a homer deep to right-center far into the Royals' bullpen, 6-1 Yankees. Cano singled solidly to right, part of his 3-4 night, and Phillips ripped an RBI double down the left-field line, 7-1 Yankees. Mussina was good, going 5 2/3 innings and yielding six hits, a run earned, walked two and struck out four on 95 pitches. The bullpen pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, giving up only two hits and no walks while striking out one.

The bats continued their hot streak. Cano was 3-4 with two runs, and is batting a much better .299, outstanding. A-Rod was 2-5 with 2 RBIs (102 RBIs for the year) and is batting a solid .311, Jeter singled twice in four at-bats and is hitting a sharp .337, Matsui is really mashing the ball, homering again (18 HRs, 67 RBIs this year), Abreu was 1-4, .274 Avg, Melky had the first three Yankees RBIs, and Phillips had a terrific RBI double and is batting a terrific .302. The Yanks left on seven runners, five in scoring position, but had three two-out RBIs.

I'll go into more depth tomorrow to break down the latest run, some of which involves some catch-up work, but this team has been outstanding this month, especially after the All-Star break, providing some real hope and energy that's a welcome change from the first few months. With Boston losing 1-0 to Cleveland, the Yankees are 6.5 back, 6 in the loss column, and are climbing within striking distance with just over two months to play. The Yankees have won six straight, 12 of 15 since the All-Star break, and are a stellar 17-6 this month, just outstanding. Paralleling all this drama is A-Rod resting on the precipice of history, one homer away from the 500 club, which would ensure an already great player future Hall-of-Fame status. Just keep winning games, and the rest will take care of itself. Let's Go, Yankees!

I got back last night from being in New York for a wedding, and though I was tied up for four and a half days with travel and various engagements, I got to see the highlights from the Saturday double-header sweep, and also watched the last five innings of the Sunday afternoon decimation that the Yankees laid on Tampa Bay. What a bludgeoning, and that gave the Yankees three straight series wins, nine of twelve after the All-Star break, and a 14-6 record in July, 15-6 after last night's great game. This is exactly what the Yankees needed to do in July against a mix of play-off caliber and subpar teams--win series and warm up the offense. I'll go into more details tonight in a lengthy catch-up post since I had to work this morning and am entertaining several kids, along with ours, for the next two weeks with some pool time today. But I'm thrilled to see the lefties bust out, with Matsui's 5-6 game against the Rays a stand-out performance and he and Cano raising their averages 20 points in the streak. I'm equally impressed with the contributions from Duncan, the continued work from Andy Phillips, and the solid work of the bullpen (with the obvious exception of the 14-4 blowout loss last Friday). More to come later, but I feel gratified to see this tear regardless of the opponents. They've justified our sticking it out. Let's Go, Yankees!

Since I'll be at a wedding and tied up for nearly the whole weekend, I hope everyone enjoys the Yankees games. I'll be able to catch some of the action, but Saturday will be a very full day, especially since I'm in the wedding party. It's unlikely I'll post until Monday, but feel free to come by and chinwag among yourselves. If so, please keep it friendly. The Yankees really need to keep this momentum going, and sweeping the Jays, as well as taking three of four at least from Tampa, no slouches, would be excellent. Let's Go, Yankees!

Before getting to this team's terrific comeback tonight to nail down a 6-1 win, after trailing 1-0 and mustering a measly 2 hits through the first six innings, some highly important baseball history for this date is in order. First of all, a happy 67th birthday to future Hall-of-Fame manager Joe Torre! Second, twenty years ago was when one Donald Arthur Mattingly belted a homer off Jose Guzman of Texas to homer in his eighth straight game, tying Dale Long for the longest home run streak in consecutive games all-time, in 1987, just incredible. It was also eight years today when David Cone--the pitcher to whom Frank the Sage and I have often agreed we would give the ball if any Yankees team of the past decade needed a win--pitched a perfect game against the Montreal Expos, a day on which Yogi Berra returned to Yankee Stadium to catch the first pitch from the only player in major league history to throw either a no-hitter or perfect game in post-season history, Don Larsen, in a moment of sweet serendipity. I saw that game from the bottom of the second onward, and it was one of the greatest sports experiences I'll ever witness, bar none. Today is a very rich day in Yankees sports history, one worth noting.

The Yankees appeared that they would limp through today's rich history, yet that was not to be the case. Even though they struggled throughout most of the game, the Yankees got good enough starting pitching from Clemens to keep it tight, and the bats again came to life in the late innings to pound a good Jays' bullpen. They also got a bit of good fortune, since the Royals again beat Boston in The Dump, 6-5 to lower the Red Sox lead to 7 games, 6 in the loss column. Outstanding, and this team is catching fire, having won five in a row and 11 of the last 14.

Clemens allowed a run in the first, surrendering a one-out triple to Rios, and a two-out single to Glaus to score Rios, 1-0 Jays. Clemens struggled all night, but bent and didn't break as he yielded base runners, but refused to allow any more to score.  With runners at first and third and two outs in the third, Clemens struck out Glaus to end the threat. In the fourth, with first and third with one out, Clemens induced a 5-4-3 double play, with Phillips making a good scoop on Cano's bouncing relay throw, to escape trouble. With second and third and one out in the sixth, Clemens got Phillips to pop out to shallow right for the second out, and then got McDonald to pop out to Cano in shallow center to escape even more trouble. Continuing the tradition of avoiding trouble, Proctor immediately walked Johnson to lead off the inning and Rios nearly decapitated Proctor on a single through the box to make it first and second, no outs. Proctor toughened to get Wells to pop out to Cano in shallow right, one out, and he then struck out Glaus, two outs but, after walking Thomas, Torre pulled Proctor for "lefty specialist" Mike Myers, who actually did a good job versus Overbay, getting him to ground out to first to keep it at 1-0.

Meanwhile, Shawn Marcum was pinning down the Yankees, keeping the ball down and inducing three double plays to erase what few base runners the Yankees earned through the first six innings. Yet in the seventh, the Yankees exploded when Marcum could no longer throw knee-high pitches. Jeter led off with a great single to right. It wasn't great just because it was a good hit, or because the Yankees really needed a hit at this point in the game. Rather, it was a good hit because, since Marcum was keeping the ball down the whole game, Jeter reached down to get it. But he didn't bend down to lunge; nor did Jeter dip his body to try to hit it, as Melky, Cano and others had done probably out of frustration. Jeter's hit was great because he bent at the knee, lowering his torso while keeping it erect to get down for the ball, without putting an uppercut swing on the pitch, really masterful. Abreu executed a terrific hit and run to make it first and third, no outs. [Earlier in the game, in the fourth, the Yankees had first and third with no outs after a great hit and run with Damon and Jeter, but failed to score after Abreu popped out and A-Rod grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.] This time would be different, for A-Rod lined a 2-1 pitch to deep left-center to score Jeter and Abreu and give the Yankees the lead for good, 2-1, a great clutch hit, and A-Rod now has 92 RBIs for the year. The crowd showered A-Rod with "MVP, MVP!" chants as he stood on second, classic. Matsui singled to left to make it first and third, no outs. Jorge struck out, Cano worked a very good patient walk, and again Andy Phillips came through with a big hit, this time a single to left to score two, 4-1 Yankees. Nine O'Clock Lightning Strikes Again!

Yet the bullpen made things too close for comfort, especially since the Yankees were trying to win the series in this the third game. Bruney walked Hill to lead off the eighth and, despite retiring Zaun, was lifted in favor of Villone, who walked Stairs. Torre wasted no time in bringing in Mariano, who immediately got a double-play ball from Johnson, yet Cano's relay pulled Phillips off the bag to keep the inning alive with two outs. Yet The Sandman fanned Rios to end the last serious threat the Jays would muster. The Yankees added two in the eighth, when Abreu singled to right with one out, A-Rod beat out a double-play ball, Matsui singled to make it first and third, Posada singled in A-Rod, 5-1 Yankees, and Cano singled to score Matsui, 6-1 Yankees. Mariano worked a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his 15th save this year, and the Yankees are rolling, if in unusual fashion. They've won 11 of the last 14 and five straight, really impressive, even though they've come from behind far too much lately.

A-Rod was 1-3 with two runs, two RBIs and a walk, now hitting .309. Matsui continues to heat up, hitting .286 by going 2-4 with two runs scored. Abreu and Jeter each went 2-4 with a run, Cano was 2-3 with an RBI and is hitting .278, and  Phillips again had a big single, driving in two. Clemens wasn't great, but certainly stood tall Marcum shut down the Yankees, allowing in six innings 9 hits, an earned run, walking one and striking out three on 99 pitches. Though Bruney and Villone struggled, the Yankees had 3 innings of one-hit scoreless relief, outstanding. The staff allowed runners, but helped to strand 13 Jays runners, a staggering total. Mariano was again The Man, slamming the door to lock down the game.

McGowan faces Wang tomorrow afternoon as the Yankees, having already won the series, try for the sweep. Seven back, six in the loss column, to Boston is far better than even a week ago. Let's keep it rolling, guys. Let's Go, Yankees!

Little by dramatic little, inch by inch, this team's worm is starting to turn, if only a quarter turn. This team is slowly creeping back. I don't know how much potential this team either has or is feeling among the players themselves. I don't know how far they'll take it, though my dollars to donuts are on this team taking it farther than the nay-sayers think, and that the playoffs are within reach. What I do know is that this team has shown some genuine spark, and has started to reverse some bad numbers for this year in their favor. They're winning close games, they're overcoming gaffes (today it was Nuke, and I'll get to that), and they're getting clutch at-bats from myriad sources. Bit by bit, this team is starting to put "it" together.

Tonight the Yankees beat the Jays 3-2 in 10 innings, the game in which the Jays had their best starter, Roy Halliday, on the mound and therefore their best chance to win in this four-game set. Halliday was very good, going seven very good innings and allowing five hits, a run earned, three walks while striking out six on 112 pitches. Thankfully, Andy Pettite responded with a similarly excellent outing, allowing seven hits, a run earned, walking three and striking out seven on 116 pitches, very clutch to go toe-to-toe with Halliday in a terrific pitchers' duel. The Jays scored in the first when Rios singled to center with one out, Wells flew out to Matsui, Glaus walked and Thomas doubled to make it 1-0. In the bottom of the first, the Yankees responded and threatened, but only managed to tie the score, though they did force Halliday to throw 28 pitches. Damon worked a lead-off walk, Jeter and Abreu ground-outs moved Damon to third, and A-Rod collected his 90th RBI of his magnificent year to tie it at 1. Matsui singled to right to move A-Rod to third and Posada walked after being down 0-2 to load the bases, but Cano grounded out to force Posada at second to end the threat, part of 12 Yankees left on base, including five in scoring position.

Pettite escaped trouble in the second, when he had second and third with two outs, by striking out Rios. He did so again in the sixth when, with two outs and Thomas on first Zaun singled. Yet Pettite struck out Royce Clayton to end the threat. He looked positively pumped when he fanned Glaus to end the seventh and cap off an outstanding outing against one of the finest pitchers in baseball, vintage Pettite. Yet the Yankees began to both get runners on base and squander them in the seventh. Cano, who had a very good clutch night, singled in the seventh, Phillips flew out, Melky singled to center and the Yankees started to rally, but Damon, who is really struggling, popped out on an infield-fly call, and Jeter grounded out to end the rally.

Enter Nuke LaFarnsworth, who really needs to go from more than just the role as the Yankees' unreliable eighth-inning set-up man, but from the team as a whole. I personally promise to exorcise the locker room if requested if and when he's gone. Thomas singled and Howie (It Wasn't My Fault I Made A Bush-League Drop On a Routine Fly-Ball) Clark pinch-ran. With a 1-1 count against Overbay and clearly pre-occupied by Clark, Nuke threw over to first with Clark still on the bag and, if that weren't bad enough, threw the ball away to allow Clark to advance to second. Yes, regular readers, you know it's coming--stinking horrible!!! Despite Proctor's generous offers to torch Nuke's personal belongings on the spot, Nuke politely denied the offer and got Overbay to line out to Phillips for the first out. Yet Aaron Hill then doubled to left to make it 2-1, and again it seemed as though the Yankees--at least the dopey segment of their team--would again be their undoing, but not tonight. Zaun popped out to shallow left for the second out and, after intentionally walking pinch-hitter Stairs, Nuke got Reed Johnson to fly out, but in this close game, the Yankees surrendered the lead, 2-1 Jays. The Yanks mounted a two-out rally in the eighth, with Matsui and Posada singling back-to-back, yet Cano struck out to end it.

Bruney worked a good, 1-2-3 ninth (hear that, Nuke?!?) and then things got dramatic. [Call me exceedingly optimistic, but I just had the feeling that the Yankees had it in them to tie it up or win it in the ninth. Maybe it was because they've played well for a change lately in close games, maybe I was just willing it with one of several of my home brews in hand, but they responded, generating some much-needed electricity for this team.] Phillips singled to left, again getting a clutch hit, to lead off and Cairo pinch-ran for him and stole second on a 1-0 pitch. Melky then singled off Overbay's glove into shallow right and Bowa sent home Cairo, who was out by a few feet on a very good throw from the strong-armed Rios, 1 out. It was a risky call but one worth taking, in my view, with the Yankees getting so few chance and having the chance to tie the game, but Zaun blocked the plate and Cairo was shaken up. Thankfully, Melky took second on the throw. On a 2-1 count to Damon, Melky brazenly stole third in what turned out to be an enormous play for, after Damon walked, Jays' closer Jeremy Accardo balked, balked, in the tying run on a 1-0 count to Jeter, which also moved Damon, the winning run, to second, 2-2 tie. YES!!! But Jeter and Abreu grounded out to short to end the rally, but not before the Yankees tied it at 2.

The Yankees now had the advantage being at home, for they still had Mariano, Vizcaino and Proctor in the pen, while the Jays used their closed in vain. Vizcaino came in the tenth and retired Howie (It Wasn't My Fault I Made A Bush-League Drop On a Routine Fly-Ball) Clark, but then surrendered a single to Overbay, 1 on and 1 out. Hill hit a gimmie double-play ball to Vizcaino, who made a poor throw to Cano for the second out thus preventing the inning-ending double play. But Vizcaino fanned Zaun on a 3-2 slider in, and the Yankees then won it in the tenth. A-Rod got hit by a curve against righty Janssen, Matsui struck out but not before very nearly winning the game on a monstrous foul ball to right off a 1-1 pitch, and not before A-Rod took second on a 2-2 wild pitch. The Jays intentionally walked Posada to get to Cano, who lined the first pitch deep to left, to the opposite way, to score A-Rod and win it, 3-2. A great game, and the Yankees again won another close won. The Yankees are now 8-14 in one-run games and, with their paltry but amazingly improved 4-11 mark in two-run games, the Yankees are 12-25 in close games, not great but a far cry from their poor 8-24 record in close games at the All-Star break. Of equal importance, the Yankees won another close game on the same day that the Red Sox got clobbered at home, 9-3 by the Royals, bringing the Yankees to within 7 in the loss column with 71 left to play, excellent.

Cano was 2-5 with the game-winning RBI, his first walk-off hit as a Yankee, to raise his average to .275. Matsui was 2-4 with a walk, now hitting a more respectable and worthy .283 and feeling his oats with the power swing, Melky was 3-4 with a run to raise the average to .282, A-Rod was 1-4 with an RBI (again, his 90th of the year) and the game-winning run, Posada was 1-3 with 2 walks, and Phillips got the ninth started with his single. Yet the top of the lineup was 0-13, though Damon did walk twice and score a run, really bad. Also, the team left 12 men on base, five in scoring position, almost as bad as the Jays who left on 12, 6 in scoring position. Pettite provided a great, clutch start to match Halliday, Nuke was really awful, but Bruney was good and Vizcaino was solid, bringing home the win while also allowing Mariano and Proctor to rest. The Yankees have now won 4 in a row and 10 of the last 13, and are playing clutch ball, not always good, but doing the right things in the right situations to win games.

Tomorrow, Roger Clemens (2-4, 4.20 ERA) faces Shawn Marcum (5-3, 3.68 ERA) as the Yankees look to extend the winning streak to five, and clinch the series against the Jays. The Yankees have a real shot to put distance between them and the Jays, and are starting to gain ground against the up-and-down Red Sox. Let's Go, Yankees!

I'm working through one of my own home brews as I write this, and I have to say that I'm almost as pleased with the results of the home-made English Brown Ale as I am with tonight's Yankees game, which they won 6-4, and to which I'll get soon enough. The directions which I followed assiduously recommended that the ale be stored at room temperature for 2-3 weeks. Right smack in the middle of that time frame, I decided to chill one and test the results after barbecuing dinner--chicken breasts slathered with tangy sauce, not bad if I must say. And the beer, though with a little sediment in the bottle, was good. The flavor was good, solid for an English ale--not as sharp as Wychwood's Hobgoblin, and not quite as smooth as Newcastle, but a nice happy medium, a solid brown ale. I'm happy with the results, and will get cracking on an Oktoberfest in early August.

The home brew was a nice accompaniment to the Yankees' latest streak, winning nine of the last twelve dating back to just before the All-Star break. Igawa was of course Igawa, throwing entirely too many pitches for five innings--an astoundingly inefficient 115, 23 per inning, which is exactly what he threw in the first. He escaped trouble in the first and second, largely by throwing an effective change-up at the right time, yet couldn't continue his Harold-Lloyd, hanging-off-the-face-of-the-clock routine in the third, when Glaus pounded a two-run homer to tie it at 2. Nor could Igawa elude trouble in the fifth, when he surrendered another homer to Glaus, who positively mashed the ball today, to make it 4-3. After getting Thomas on a deep fly out to center, giving up a single to Overbay amidst boos, but fanning Hill and Zaun on off-speed pitches, Igawa stomped off immediately through the dugout and to the locker room, probably to destroy another locker he is only marginally worthy to possess. His final line reflects the oil-and-water admixture of effectiveness and futility--5 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs earned, 4 walks, and 7 Ks on 115 pitches. Just not major-league quality, though the strikeout total is good, for a change.

The Yankees' bats were again hot, banging out 11 hits and three homers, including A-Rod's 496th career shot. In the second, Matsui pasted a shot to right-center to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead and, with one out, Cano followed suit with a blast to right, 2-0 Yankees. After Glaus matched the Yankees' power display, the Yankees again responded right away--something they've been doing with greater frequency. Jeter singled, continuing his hot hitting. Abreu forced him for the first out, and A-Rod blasted his homer to make it 4-2. 496 is an outstanding accomplishment in its own right, and he's really putting together one of the greatest years in Yankees history at this rate, which is saying more than it would for any other team.

Proctor surrendered a single to deep right to Clayton, but Abreu made a great, swift play off the wall, right in the far corner, to retrieve the ball quickly and throw it on a line to Jeter at second, a subtle but great and important play, for Reed Johnson grounded into a beautifully turned 6-4-3 double play, which was big because Rios then cranked a homer to deep left off Proctor in the sixth to tie it at four. At this point, I couldn't help but wonder if this would be one of those games where the Yankees couldn't quiet the other team's bats, yet that was the last of Toronto's scoring. Again, the Yankees responded immediately in the sixth with clutch hitting to retake the lead. With two outs, Posada stroked a 3-2 pitch to left, Cano showed excellent patience and recognition by laying off low change-ups (similar to the one which he swung at and missed to take it to 0-2) to work the count to 2-2, and then pasting the 2-2 offering off the wall, immediately next to the 385 foot sign in right-center, for a double, second and third with two outs. Cano hit that ball so hard that it left an imprint next to the number 3 that stayed there for the rest of the game, just missing his second homer of the night. Phillips came through again, really justifying his playing time at first by blooping a 1-2 pitch to center that landed right in front of Wells, scoring Posada and Cano, 6-4 Yankees, really clutch. After what Phillips has been through in his personal life, helping his wife battle through cancer and helped his mother return to health after a terrible auto accident, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Good for him.

Good defense helped the Yankees again tonight. In the seventh, Thomas flew out to deep left center and, after Overbay singled, Matsui made a terrific play on a deep fly from Aaron Hill, tracking it to deep left-center and nearly over-running it, reaching back across his body over his head to snag the ball for the second out. After walking Zaun on four pitches, Proctor struck out pinch-hitter Matt Stairs to hold the lead. Matsui made another shoestring catch on a liner from Alex Rios to help Vizcaino register a 1-2-3 eighth [hear that, Nuke?!?]. In the ninth, Mariano left a pitch up that Glaus cranked off the center-field wall, just missing a homer, and it caromed past Melky to grant the slow Glaus a triple. Yet Mariano stranded him there, fanning Thomas and catching Overbay looking before getting Hill on an easy grounder to A-Rod, 6-4 Yankees.

Again the Yankees win a close game, a very good trend lately, improving their two-run record to 4-11 and, with their one-run record at 7-14, the Yankees are now 11-25 in one and two-run games, better than their 8-24 record just a week ago. The bats were again hot, and certain key players are heating up just when the Yankees most need it. Jeter was 2-4 with a single and a double, and is batting .335, excellent. Cano was 2-4 with a homer and a double, scoring twice and raising his average to .273. Posada was 2-4 with a run, hitting a terrific .332. Matsui is really seeing the ball and smacking it solidly almost every time, going 2-4 with a homer and a single to now bat .280, with 14 homers and 56 RBIs on a year rounding into the right form. A-Rod's homer gives him 32 homers and 89 RBIs and a .310 average on the year, and his 496th career home run. Phillips went 1-3 with his two, game-winning RBIs, and is hitting .304, great for him and the team as well. Though the three home runs were largely responsible for the low number of men left on base, the Yankees still only left on four runners, one in scoring position, and had four two-out RBIs.

Igawa's days are numbered at this pace. Proctor, cursed by Kay immediately before Rios's homer by the announcer saying that Proctor "hadn't allowed a run since his bonfire of the insanity" against the A's, wasn't at his best but did a good enough job in the seventh to hold the lead, especially with his big strikeout of Stairs.  Vizcaino was good in the eighth and Mariano, despite the lead-off triple to Glaus, got through a very tough part of the lineup for his fourteenth save and 427th of his illustrious career, lowering his ERA to 3.32 in the process. Pettite (5-6, 4.27 ERA) faces the usually tough Roy Halliday (10-4, 4.66 ERA) tomorrow night, another game the Yankees must have. Nine of the last twelve is good, and so is being two games above .500 (strictly comparatively speaking, of course), but the Yankees need to keep climbing, gaining confidence, and getting clutch hitting and good defense, as they have in this run. Keep up the good work, guys. Let's Go, Yankees!

In one of the stranger games I've seen in years, the Yankees pulled one out of the hat (or some other nether region), beating the Rays 7-6 to take the four-game set, three games to one. Again, the Yankees spotted the Rays an early-inning three-run lead, only to storm back, with some usual suspects and some irregular actors providing the heroics. The pitching was mainly shaky, the Rays played themselves out of the game in some crucial spots, the Yankees got some luck on which they capitalized and made some terrific defensive plays, but a win is a win is a win, and they needed this one, indeed this series, badly.

Facing Edwin Jackson, who entered the game with a miserable 1-9 record and a 7.23 ERA despite throwing very hard, the Yankees again failed to score runs despite some hard-hit balls. With one out Jeter walked, Abreu flew out to the left-field wall for the second out and, after Jeter stole second, A-Rod was caught watching the grass grow to end the first. Mussina was hammered early and often, and was lucky not to have been chased from the game in the first couple innings. With one out in the first, Crawford blooped a single that Melky didn't pick up right away and allowed to drop. On cue, Crawford stole second off the dreadfully slow dynamic duo of Molasses Mussina and his faithful sidekick, Caddie-Boy Nieves, for the first of two steals for Crawford for the game, and three for the Rays against the Quicksand Twins. Mussina walked Harris, Pena singled a 2-2 pitch off the mound and past Jeter, 1-0 Rays, but Harris inexplicably was caught off second by Melky, 2 outs. Mussina walked Young, and Upton singled to right, 2-0 Rays. Norton grounded out to mercifully end the inning at 2-0, but it easily could have been 3-0. It was so in the second, but not before Matsui nearly hit a homer to left in the top half of the inning. Against a shaky Mussina, Wiggington singled, Navarro bunted for a single, Iwamura popped out, Crawford singled to right to score Wiggington, 3-0 Rays, with Navarro going to third. Harris popped out, Crawford stole second to set up a potentially big inning, but Pena flew out to Melky, 3-0 Rays, and though part of me thought about another comeback from another three-run deficit, the other part of me not only wondered if the Yankees had it in them, but worried that Mussina might not last five innings.

He escaped further trouble in the third, when Wiggington's single (his second of four hits for the day) brought Upton toward home for a play at the plate, where Matsui nailed him from left on a good throw to save a run, a big play as the game would show. In the fourth, Mussina was spared again by fine defense. Navarro singled, amazingly for a guy batting .173 going into the game starting 2-2 today. Listening to the game on WCBS simply because I couldn't take any more of the Terrible Twosome of DeWayne Staats and Joe (Migraine) Magraine, and because I knew Sterling would be a far more palatable alternative, I sarcastically muttered, thinking about how bad Mussina/Caddie are at holding on runners, Watch this guy steal second on us, and wouldn't you know he did, utterly unbelievable how bad Mussina and Nieves are on that defensive aspect. Iwamura grounded out to short and Crawford grounded out to Phillips, colliding with him as Phillips lumbered to the bag to just beat the fastest baseball player I've ever seen. Harris then drove Mussina's 0-1 offering to the center-field wall, where Melky made a great leaping catch to save a sure run and keep it at 3-0, again bailing out Mussina.

The Yankees got lucky but, as the great Casey Stengel said, luck is really about making your own luck, and the Yankees certainly did that. Cano had a terrific 11-pitch at-bat, hitting a bloop single to center, the start of Jackson's unraveling as the Yankees forced him to throw 36 pitches in the fifth. Phillips then lined a 3-2 pitch to center and Upton, who had robbed the Yankees the past few games of potential extra-base hits with his outstanding speed and leaping catches, showed he's still learning the position, over-running the ball by heading to right-center as the ball tailed behind him, going all the way to the wall for a "triple" and scoring Cano. Nieves atoned for his putrid defense by smacking a 2-1 fastball up and over the plate to right-center for an RBI double, and the Yankees were back in it, 3-2 Rays with no one out and the bottom of the lineup initiating the comeback. After Damon made out, Jeter cranked a 1-1 pitch to deep right-center for a clutch homer, 4-3 Yankees, who again spotted the Rays three, only to march back and take the lead, as they did Saturday night. Abreu nearly added on by sending Upton onto the warning track for the second out, and A-Rod struck out to end the inning with the Yankees, who were badly outplayed and were it not for several great defensive plays probably buried, amazingly in the lead 4-3.

Mussina got more help from his defense and the Rays themselves in the fifth and sixth. Though allowing a one-out single to Young in the fifth, Mussina got Upton to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. In the sixth with one out, Wiggington singled and tried stretching it into a double, testing Melky's arm. According to Sterling, Melky had to field the ball going toward left-center and, as a lefty, then turn and throw, which he did quickly to nail Wiggington. This prompted Sterling, who was unusually saucy today, to say, "Tampa Bay has been running the bases like drunks today," a classic line. This of course was after he rightly dissected Waldman's comment early in the game, even before Mussina got jack-hammered, that Mussina "supposedly had a great bullpen session the other day" by snorting "...you're fed a lot of stuff, and I normally don't partake. We'll see," and by recalling the 1951 playoff game between the Dodgers and the Giants, saying "Newcombe got in trouble in the ninth inning, and whoever was down in the bullpen said, 'Branca's throwing great and [Clem] Labine is bouncing his curveball,' of course they brought in Branca..." He added later, "I don't mean to tear down all these stupid baseball cliches..." Hilarious, and much more acerbic than I can remember Sterling, especially toward Waldman, with whom he has a good rapport. Frankly, I'd like to hear more of it.

The Rays came back in the seventh off Villone, who had been very sharp the past month. Villone regularly got behind batters and it cost him. He was behind Iwamura 3-0, got it back to 3-2, but left it up and Iwamura singled to center. Crawford hit into a 5-4-3 double play, leaving hope Villone would get out of it unscathed, but he promptly walked Harris on five pitches, and Pena positively crushed a 1-0 Villone pitch to deep right, 5-4 Rays. [At this point, I had to go to work, hence my not posting until now. I checked in at the computer at work, right after the Yankees came back to make it 7-5 in the 8th, and immediately shut it off, checking the result later after the Yankees had won. When I got home, I watched the archived game, choking down the verbal malaria that emanates from Staats and Migraine.] Yet the Yankees responded right away, as they did last night and unlike many other games this year, when once the Yankees were down they so often were out. A-Rod lined the first pitch from Stokes to right-center for a double to start the eighth. Against "lefty specialist" Kerosene Casey Fossum, Matsui singled to right, first and third no outs. Melky struck out, and Cano belted a deep sac fly to the track in left to score A-Rod, tie the game at 5, and move Matsui up to second on a close play. Phillips provided a huge clutch hit, singling on the first pitch from Gary Glover to left to score Matsui, and Phillips went to second, arriving safely past the "Olay" tag from Wiggington, a terrible second baseman, 6-5 Yankees. Posada, pinch-hitting for Nieves who had to ice down his shoulder from carrying Mussina's bag of clubs (certainly not from throwing out base runners) and nurture his bruised pride from allowing Navarro to steal off him, was intentionally walked, Damon walked on a 3-2 count to load the bases, a big at-bat. Jeter's infield single to Iwamura scored Phillips, 7-5 Yankees. Though Iwamura made a nice diving stop, he fumbled the ball in the transfer from glove to hand, skipping a ball he never seemed to cleanly have, and Jeter beat the throw.

Yet Nuke being Nuke made it closer than it should have been. In fairness to Nuke, he didn't jeopardize the lead the way he normally does--throwing way too many balls, getting behind batters, and subsequently coming down Broadway. The Rays jumped on him early in the count, with Upton swatting Nuke's first pitch to deep right-center for a ground-rule double that was very nearly a homer, getting wedged in the top of the wall until a Yankees fan grabbed it. Norton, ahead 2-0 in the count, popped out to Cano, the one easy out of the inning coming from the only batter Nuke got behind. Wiggington lined an 0-1 pitch for a double to left to score Upton, 7-6 Yankees. With Wilson pinch-running for Wiggington, likely still apologizing on the way back to the dugout for his base-running gaffe in the sixth, Navarro lined an 0-1 pitch to the right of Phillips, who made a great diving catch, got up to one knee and fired it to Jeter wisely covering to double off Wilson and end the threat, pulling another Yankees pitcher's bacon (this time Nuke's) out of the fire and preserving a slimmer lead, 7-6. Mariano also received defensive help in the ninth. After allowing a typical blast off Mariano, a cheap bloop single that landed just before a diving Melky (who thankfully blocked it from rolling past him, into the windmill, and down the hole for extra bases and a free game of miniature golf the next time the Yankees came to this, the world's biggest putt-putt park), Mariano had Crawford down 1-2. Appearing to foul off an inside pitch, Crawford's bat struck Jorge's glove, who was reaching out quite a bit for the ball to try to nail Iwamura stealing second. The catcher's interference, E-2, made it first and second with no outs, more tension in this wild game. Yet Mariano got Harris to ground into a 5-3 double play, two outs with Crawford on second, and got Pena, suddenly dangerous this year, to pop to A-Rod for the final out to a crazy game, 7-6 Yankees.

Jeter was 2-4 with a run, a walk and three RBIs, raising his average to a crisp .333. Phillips was 2-4 with two runs and two RBIs, now hitting .302 and providing one of many defensive gems by the Yanks today. Matsui was 2-5 with a run, now hitting .277, and an enormous defensive assist to gun out Upton at the plate. A-Rod was 1-5, but his double started the eighth-inning rally. Caddie Nieves hit a big double in the four-run fifth to score Phillips, Cano was 1-2 with a walk, a run and an RBI, and the 7-9 hitters went 4-9 with 4 runs and 4 RBIs. The Yankees left 8 on base, right at their unfortunate average for the past 31 games, and 4 were in scoring position. But Phillips and Jeter had two-out RBIs in the eighth, and the Yankees cashed in on some poor Rays plays, and made them pay with good defense when Tampa Bay, as Sterling hilariously recounted, "was running the bases like drunks." The pitching was shaky, giving up sixteen hits. Mussina gave up 11 hits and two walks, but miraculously only three runs earned thanks to defensive salvation and Rays stupidity. For the first time in over a month, Villone allowed a run on Pena's two-run blast. Vizcaino earned the win with all of a perfect one-third of an inning. Nuke was Nuke, and Mariano was actually pretty good despite the ninth-inning tension, earning saves in back-to-back games, his 13th of the year and 426th of his illustrious, future Hall-of-Fame career. For the first time in the last 31 games, the Yankees won a one-run game when Boston lost, thus finally gaining a game in a one or two-run situation. The Yankees are now 9 games back, and have upped their abysmal record in close games to 7-14 in one-run games, and 3-11 in two-run games. Onward and upward, one frayed nerve at a time.

The Yankees return home to face the Jays, with Josh Towers (4-5, 5.07 ERA and pitching well lately) facing the incomparable Kei Igawa (2-2, 7.14 ERA) to start the four-game set in The Bronx. This is the first time the Jays and Yanks have met since the game in which A-Rod yelled "Mine" behind the Jays' rookie third baseman, prompting hissy fits from sniveling Jays players, punching-bag manager Jay Gibbons, and A-Rod bashers from coast-to-coast, all nonsense to me. It will be worth watching to see if the Jays try to exact some retribution against  A-Rod by throwing at him or running him at third. We'll see, but it would be a big mistake to anger a Yankees team already rolling, having won eight of the last eleven, even if it was with an admixture of luck and clutch hitting. Let's Go, Yankees!

Showing some grit and resiliency, the Yankees rebounded from last night's poor performance and came back from a 3-0 first-inning deficit to beat the Devil Rays, 6-4. Wang settled down to pitch well and provide a quality start, Villone and Mariano were very good out of the bullpen, with Mariano notching his 425th career save, good for third all-time, and the bats came through with some clutch hits that added on runs in the middle and late innings. Bobby Abreu had a monster night driving in five runs, and every Yankee except A-Rod and Cano had a hit as the Yankees again evened their record at .500.

Wang was shaky in the first, giving up singles to Iwamura and Harris, and consecutive RBI doubles to Pena and Young (who is really developing into a heck of a player now that he's throwing his bat at the ball and not umpires) to make it 3-0 Rays. But after yielding a two-out single to Iwamura in the third, Wang retired twelve consecutive Rays until Young singled to left with two outs in the sixth to start an unrequited bases-loaded rally. After leaving pitches up in the first, Wang was terrific and sharp. Though he loaded the bases in the sixth, he got Gomes looking to end the rally, a huge point in the game.

The bats started slowly but got hot, with most players contributing to the win. The Yanks got a rally in the third, with Phillips generously receiving a hit on a poor throw from Harris to first. After Thompson (playing for Melky who was exhibiting flu-like symptoms) flew out to shallow left, Damon walked, Jeter singled to left to load the bases, and Abreu beat out a relay from Wiggington to prevent a 6-4-3 double play to score Phillips, 3-1 Rays. As a side note, an odd play occurred in the third that helped the Yankees. Wang appeared to hit Harris to lead off the third, but home-plate umpire Ed Hickox ruled that the ball hit the bat, Jorge alertly grabbed the ball in front of the plate and tagged Harris, still in the box, for the out. After an umpires' conference and some arguing with Rays manager Joe Madden, the play stood, but it was the wrong call. The ball, I believe, did in fact hit the bat handle, but then hit Harris while in the box, the play should have been a foul ball. But it was recorded an out, and Wang began to cruise from there.

Matsui cranked another homer to right, his second in as many nights and 13th of the year, to lead off the fourth and close it to 3-2 Rays. Thompson led off the fifth with a double to left, Damon lined out to second, Jeter struck out and, just when it seemed as though the Yankees would squander another lead-off base-runner (especially one in scoring position), Abreu mashed a tater on an 0-1 pitch way deep into right to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead they'd never relinquish. After Wang escaped trouble in the sixth, the Yankees tacked on another run in the seventh. With one out, Damon singled to right, Jeter singled to left and Damon just beat Crawford's throw to make it first and third, one out.  Abreu then grounded out to second to score Damon, 5-3 Yankees. Villone slammed the door on the Rays, striking out two, with a weak grounder from Iwamura to Jeter sandwiched in between. Villone's been dominant in the last month, a very good sign, and has really excelled against lefties during that stretch, giving the Yankees a lefty-versus-lefty option out of the pen with Myers's failures in that role. Nuke again made things interesting in the eighth. After retiring Harris, he served up a 3-2 homer to Pena to close it to 5-4 Yankees. With two outs, Nuke walked the speedy B. J. Upton, who was then caught stealing on a great throw from Jorge, who pegged it right at the bag a few inches off the ground so that Upton slid into Cano's glove on Jorge's nearly perfect throw, bailing out Nuke. In the ninth, the Yankees added on a big run, Damon walked and stole second, and with one out Abreu stroked an RBI double to left to plate Damon, 6-4 Yankees, with Abreu driving in five of the six runs, and outstanding night. Despite surrendering a throw-the-bat single to right to Gomes, Mariano struck out Cantu and Iwamura in succession to end it, 6-4 Yankees.

Abreu was the hitting star of the night, going 2-5 with a run and five big RBIs, 49 total on the season, to raise his average to .273. Matsui was 2-5 with a homer, upping his average to .275 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs, and good to see the lefties carrying a game. Jeter was 2-5 and is hitting .331, Damon was 1-3 with two runs and two walks, and Phillips and Thompson contributed a hit apiece. The team left 8 on base, 5 in scoring position, but Abreu came through with clutch hits, and Matsui's homer brought the Yankees closer, giving the sense that they would show some fight tonight, which they did. Wang settled down, with book-end trouble innings surrounding great innings from the second through the fifth. His final line wasn't overly impressive, but he was really on a roll from the end of the second onward--6 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs earned, no walks and six Ks on 95 pitches, none bigger than striking out Gomes with the bases loaded to end the sixth. Villone continued his outstanding relief work with a dominant scoreless seventh, Nuke was Nuke but thankfully, the Yankees had a small cushion, and thankfully Mariano was The Man, earning his 12th save and moving past Mets' closer John Franco into third on the all-time saves list with his 425th career save. Mariano, these last thirteen years you've been with the Yankees have been a genuine privilege, watching you, the greatest relief pitcher of all-time, blossom into the great pitcher, teammate and humanitarian that you've become. Your 1996 year was the greatest year a set-up reliever has ever had, and you've been the greatest, most clutch closer in the history of the game, one you've changed with your dominance. You're the Man, Mariano, and there's no greater player alive today who deserves to be the last person to wear Jackie Robinson's #42 than you. You're the best, Mariano, and you always will be.

Good win for the Yankees, coming back from an early deficit to win a two-run game, making their record 6-14 in one-run games, and now 3-11 in two-run games. Keep winning the close ones, guys, and let's get that series win tomorrow afternoon. Mussina (4-6, 4.62 ERA) faces Edwin Jackson (1-9, 7.23 ERA), another in what will be a long string of must-wins for the Bombers. Let's Go, Yankees!

In a game we've seen all too often this year, the Yankees failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities, and had subpar pitching from starter and relievers alike, to drop a winnable 6-4 game to the Devil Rays. Clemens struggled to throw strikes, and hitters took turns being patient to works walks against him and jumping on first-pitch strikes. The Rays jumped ahead 3-0 in the second when resurgent reclamation project Carlos Pena singled sharply to right and Delmon Young nailed the first pitch to left to make it second and third with no outs. Upton hit a sac fly to center to score Pena, 1-0 Rays, Clemens killer Greg Norton walked, Navarro went down looking and, just when it looked as though Clemens might escape with minimal damage, light-hitting Josh Wilson banged a triple to center to make it 3-0.

The Yankees scratched a run back in the third. With one out, Cairo walked, Damon forced him for the second out, and Melky executed a hit-and-run to perfection to right and, on Young's throwing error, Damon scored, 3-1 Rays. Clemens worked an easy 1-2-3 third on eight pitches, but the Yankees hitters' impatient streak reared its ugly head, costing then a chance to close the gap. With the count 2-0, A-Rod chased two eye-high fastballs that would have walked him, but instead leveled the count before flying out to center for the first out. Posada then doubled to right and, had A-Rod shown the kind of patience that he did in his first at-bat when he worked a four-pitch walk, he might have scored, or at least been on third with no outs. Alas, Matsui also chased a terrible pitch up and in to strike out, all the while flailing feebly with his head and arms flying about seemingly uncontrollably, and Phillips flew out to left to end the brief threat.

Clemens labored in the fourth, giving up a single to Young and walking Upton on four pitches. Norton grounded out weakly to Phillips but advanced the runners to second and third, one out. Navarro weakly tapped to A-Rod for the second out, yet scored Young, 4-1 Rays. After Clemens had a 1-2-3 fifth on nine pitches, the Yankees again squandered a chance to narrow the lead. Jeter flew out deep to center for the first out, A-Rod hit an infield single to short, Posada walked against a tiring Kazmir. Yet Matsui was caught looking on a pitch slightly outside for the second and really key out, for having failed to either hit or advance the runners, as Norton did in the Rays' fourth with a productive out, then Phillips fanned to end the threat. Matsui looked bad in the at-bat, again pulling off the ball, especially on the 1-0 pitch.

The Rays added on in the sixth to make it 5-1. Pena walked and, as Young struck out, stole second. Upton walked on four pitches again, with Clemens clearly struggling, and Clemens killer Norton singled to right to load the bases. Against Bruney, who promptly got behind 3-1 and had to make a good offering, Navarro hit a sac fly to right to make it 5-1. Though the Yanks made it 5-2 in the seventh, good defense and a bad at-bad from Melky prevented them from a bigger inning. Abreu, pinch-hitting for Thompson against outcast "righty specialist" Jay Witasick, singled to center, Cano, pinch-hitting for Cairo, singled to right center to make it first and third, no outs. Damon hit a sac fly to right, 5-2 Rays. But Melky looked bad against struggling lefty Casey Fossum, who had allowed lefties a .337 average coming into the game and righties a .349 clip, by striking out chasing a low slider in the dirt for the second and key out of the inning. Jeter then smoked a grounder to short that Harris dove and stopped, going to second for the force to end the threat. The bullpen coughed up the run right back in the seventh. "Lefty specialist" Mike Myers struck out Iwamura looking but allowed a double to Crawford to the left field corner. With Proctor in and paying next to no attention to Crawford, one of the fastest players ever in the major leagues, Crawford stole third without a throw, horrible. A good sign of trouble brewing was Proctor's throwing the first pitching without so much as a glance to Crawford at second. Combined with Proctor's molasses delivery to the plate, Crawford made it look pathetically easy. Pena popped out to Jeter for the second out, but Young singled to center to score Crawford, 6-2 Rays. A-Rod was robbed by Iwamura in the eighth to lead off, and Posada and Matsui then hit back-to-back homers to make it interesting, 6-4 Rays. But closer Gary Glover allowed deep flyouts to Phillips and Abreu to end the eighth, and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to close it out with a save.

Clemens was not the same Clemens who threw two magnificent starts immediately before the All-Star break, going 5 1/3 and allowing five hits, five runs earned, four walks and striking out two. He struggled to locate the strike zone all night. Proctor was bad, the worst he's been since he torched his personal belongings after an A's game. Maybe he should scour for some more combustibles to torch and exercise the demons of tonight's performance. Though Posada added another strikeout to his recently high tally, he was very good at the plate, going 2-3 with his homer and a walk, raising his average to .330. Abreu and Cano were 1-2 after coming in as pinch-hitters, Damon was 1-3 with a walk, a run and an RBI, A-Rod was 1-3, but Jeter was 0-4, despite some hard hits, and grounded into his third double-play in two nights. Seven left on base, four of which were in scoring position, didn't help matters at all, especially against a tough but vulnerable Kazmir tonight. It also doesn't help to have a lineup with weakness in the bottom third, with Thompson and Cairo playing for Abreu and Cano. Abreu has only hit .237 against lefties, but draws walks--a dozen in the previous twelve games--and Cano is actually batting better against lefties (.276) than righties (.269). It's not a lineup designed to win games. And again, the Yankees failed to gain ground on Boston, who lost 6-5 to Toronto, by losing another close game. The Yankees are now 8-25 in one (6-14) and two-run (2-11) games, and it's really costing them opportunities to make this a race in the AL East.

Wang (9-4, 3.36 ERA) gives the Yanks a good shot to bounce back tomorrow night against Andy Sonnanstine (1-3, 5.36 ERA). Let's focus on taking three of four, eminently doable, and get moving this second half, guys. Let's Go, Yankees!

Sorry for the late post, but I had to coach GLG's second-last game of the year, which they won 7-6 in the last inning, and GLG had her hand in the victory, sprinkling her magic dust to bring the team a big win over a team that beat them 20-8 four weeks ago. With the bases loaded and no one out in the bottom of the fifth and last inning, GLG was behind 1-2 after fouling off two pitchers from a hard-throwing pitcher. Her patience worked the count full, and GLG didn't flinch as the next pitch sailed high, with GLG's walk bringing in the winning run, a tremendous win. As important as anything, some girls new to pitching came in and did well, and the team was patient against a team of hard-throwing girls. A really tremendous ball player, whom I liken to the Tatum O'Neal character Amanda Wurlitzer in "The Bad News Bears" for her all-around skills (honestly better than any boy her age I've seen, and that's no joke), pitched out of a bases loaded, no one out jam in the third by striking out the side, really tremendous in retrospect. But there's just nothing like watching your kid make a big, game-changing play, as GLG did tonight. What a kid. We went out and celebrated with wings and other fried foods that are really bad for you but taste great, and my better half had a beer with her wings, a rarity, but then again so is our going out for wings. a great night all around. I had a Leinenkugel's Summer Wheat, which I'd highly recommend.

I came home and watched most of the archived re-broadcast via MLB.TV, which was posted quickly after the game and very satisfying to watch. It beats the tar out of "Baseball Tonight," as I'm sure most of the commenters here would attest. The Yankees evened their record at .500 with a sound 7-3 victory over Tampa Bay at what is easily the worst venue in major professional sports, "The Trop," a gigantic putt-putt park for major-league ball players. It sports a few catwalks that become in play for big fly balls, a windmill just beyond second that gives teams a run for hitting the ball through the hole in the bottom, and a gigantic clown behind first base that shoots water at the opposing team's first baseman. Seriously, the park is a joke, and should be razed to the ground. I've literally seen several minor-league ballparks that blow that rinky-dink park away by a country mile, bot the least of which is Dunn Tire Park in Buffalo, home of the AAA Cleveland affiliate Buffalo Bisons.

The bats came alive immediately after the All-Star break with a strong power surge. Jeter and A-Rod hit back-to-back homers in the fourth, and Abreu later added a solo homer with two outs in the fourth. Jeter crushed a 2-0 Shields pitch to center, and A-Rod lined a 2-2 offering to deep left. Abreu's shot came on an 0-2 pitch, and Abreu smoked it to deep center to make it 4-1 Yankees. Posada hit a double through the clown's mouth down the right-field line to plate Matsui in the sixth to make it 6-2 Yankees.

Pettite wasn't at his sharpest, but was certainly better than he's been in his two previous starts. He pitched well out of trouble in the fourth, when he allowed only one run after loading the bases with no one out, and got Navarro looking to end the frame. Pettite also nipped the Rays' rally in the bud in the sixth, with some help from Melky who made a terrific catch against the center-field wall on a long drive from Carlos Pena to hold Harris at first for the first out. The bullpen worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings, with Nuke providing his usual off-beat generosity with a hit and a walk, but otherwise avoiding real trouble. Mariano fanned two in wrapping up the win, and Vizcaino was good in relief of Pettite, striking out two and allowing no one to reach base.

The bats were good, and everyone but Cano had a hit, though he was also robbed of a hit. A-Rod is really chasing history now, nearing an amazing bench mark in his Hall-of-Fame career by hitting his 495th career homer, his 31st of the season, and scoring three more runs to have an astounding 82 for the year. Abreu started the second half in sterling fashion, going 3-4 with a double and a homer, as well as two two-out RBIs, to raise his average to .270. If Abreu can keep picking up his average, this team is going to win a lot of games. When the team wins, Abreu hits over .350; when they lose, he hits just over .150, a very telling statistic. Posada was 1-3 with an RBI, his double in the sixth to plate Matsui, to raise his average to .327.

A very good way to start the second half, and tomorrow Clemens gets Scott Kazmir. Clemens has pitched brilliantly in his last two starts, and continued excellence from the starters will bode very well for this team and its oft-beleaguered bullpen. Just keep winning, guys, and the rest will take care of itself. Easier said than done, yes, but lots of wins strung together will get people turning their heads at the Yankees, for positive reasons for a change. Let's Go, Yankees!

I hope this post finds everyone well. I also hope I didn’t distract anyone fromESPN’s gripping “Who’s Now?” its latest version of summer padding programming cleverly designed to immerse viewers in pseudo-democracy by voting on who’s more “Now,” all the while allowing people’s historical memories regarding sports to slowly ebb down the memory hole. Here I was thinking that I could look forward to another round of Steve Phillips’s ersatz news conferences this summer, in which he pretended to be a team’s GM, fielded and dodged pretend questions, and seemingly tried to shill himself to any potential buying team, be it Kansas City, Batavia, or Staten Island. Yet “Who’s Now?” has brought ESPN into a whole new realm of make-believe. I can’t wait to see what the gang at ESPN will concoct to trump their brilliant college football preview from last year, when Kirk Herbstreit, Mark May and the boys not only extrapolated the entire college football season before it was played, but added the currently non-existent wrinkle of a playoff system to boot. This tripe makes the glut of World Series of Poker reruns seem remarkably innovative by comparison. Had to get that off my chest. The next target from ESPN will probably be "Madden Nation." Bleeuch.

Anyhoo, since the Yankees and the rest of baseball has had off for the All-Star break, I thought I’d invest some time and effort to assess what the Yankees have done since the last time I conducted one of these state-of-the-Yankees statistical compilations back on June 8, before the advent of the Pittsburgh series, when the Yankees stood at 27-31. Since then, the Yankees have gone 15-12, but during this stretch rose three games above .500, only to embark on the road trip from the crypt to Colorado, Frisco, and Baltimore, going 1-7 with a suspended game. Since returning to The Bronx from that nightmare, the Yankees have gone 6-4, losing the series to the A’s in ignominious fashion before taking three of four from the Twins and two of three from the Angels.

What follows is a statistical compilation of the regulars’ batting averages, runs, RBIs, walks, and strikeouts for the hitters, and the pitchers’ ERA calculated for the team, the starters (with and without the now departed Tyler Clippard), and the bullpen. There is the usual assortment of good and bad, with some surprises that might bode well for the second half. I finish it off with a brief discussion of the Yankees’ woes in one and two-run games, and what consequences they have had for the Yankees in the month prior to the All-Star break.

First the hitters:

Damon 17-80 .213 14R,  7RBI, 11BB, 10K, 2 HR, 1 2B,  11 (RLSP, runners left in scoring position)
Jeter 36-104  .346 16R, 11RBI, 10BB, 22K, 10 2B, 1 3B, 1HR, 5RLSP
Melky 30-97 .309 11R, 11RBI, 8BB, 15K, 3 2B, 1 HR, 6RLSP
A-Rod 33-94 .351 27R, 29RBI, 18BB, 22K, 8 HR, 7 2B, 11RLSP
Posada 25-94 .266 11R, 10RBI, 13BB, 26K, 2 HR, 3 2B, 9RLSP
Matsui 27-103 .262 16R, 25RBI, 13BB, 15K, 6 HR, 6 2B, 12RLSP
Abreu 28-98 .286 15R, 14RBI, 12BB, 17K, 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 7RLSP
Cano 30-106 .283 13R, 11RBI, 4BB, 13K, 7 2B, 3 HR, 11RLSP
Cairo  19-70 .271 6R, 9RBI, 3BB, 11K, 5 2B, 7RLSP

To accentuate the positives, A-Rod knocked the cover off the ball, and it’s hard to imagine where the Yankees would have been without him. In these 27 games, A-Rod averaged a run and more than an RBI a game, while drawing frequent walks. Nearly half of his hits were extra-base hits, astounding. His 30 homers, 86 RBIs, and 79 runs lead the majors. Jeter was torrid as well, with 1/3 of his hits going for extra-bases while scoring often despite a high strikeout total—the same as A-Rod’s. Melky has been hot, and has hit particularly well since being elevated to the two-slot by Torre. Though he lacks power, Melky has consistently gotten on base and set the table for Jeter, A-Rod, Posada and Matsui. Speaking of which, Matsui’s average has actually dipped during this stretch but he’s experienced a good power surge, with 44% of his hits going for extra bases and driving in nearly a run a game. During this 27-game stretch, Matsui has more than doubled his home-run total, bringing his first-half tally to eleven, and drove in about a run a game, really fantastic work. Cano has raised his average to .274 by the break, and has started to both steer the ball to left and drive the ball for power, mainly to right. He still lacks patience—drawing half as many walks as his good and less experienced friend Melky—but has solidified the bottom of the lineup lately, and needs to continue this for the Yankees to get back into the thick of the playoff chase. Though frustratingly up and down, Abreu has improved during this stretch, hitting the ball with more authority and drawing walks. Cairo has filled in admirably for the injured Mientkiewicz and before Phillips got hot (hitting .316 now, and .379 since he got his first hit after being recalled), Cairo was reliable and playing above himself, especially with the stick. The team as a whole drew 95 walks in 27 games, about 3.5 per game, a high amount, though they left on average about eight on base per game—indicative of both bad (stranded runners are stranded runners) and good (even when the Yanks struggle to score runs, the problem was a lack of situational hitting, not usually getting runners on base).

Posada has cooled off, which is not a surprise, but his high strikeout total is a bit alarming—more than one a game, since he sat several times while Mussina’s caddy Nieves played. The break will probably do him some good, and maybe speed up his swing again. Damon, though injured for much of the first half, had a poor stretch and probably should have been on the DL to recuperate. The Yankees really need Damon to set the table for the rest of what is still a very formidable lineup, and one could only hope that the break granted Damon some respite for his “sexy” calves.

The pitching has been quite good and has done much to keep the Yankees treading water instead of sinking. The team’s ERA for the 27 games was 3.86—4.73 for the starters and a terrific 2.14 for the bullpen. Even with Proctor’s flame out performance against Oakland that prompted his torching his personal effects, he allowed six runs in 17 innings, good for a 3.18 ERA. Vizcaino’s excellent performances over this stretch, in which he allowed 4 runs but only 2 earned, are illustrated by his 1.29 ERA. Despite allowing two runs in one inning against the Mets and another against the Twins in the 7-6 victory, Mariano’s ERA is a still-good 2.25. Nuke LaFarnsworth’s ERA was 2.70, Bruney’s was 3.38, Myers’s 1.69 and, remarkably, Ron Villone didn’t allow a single run in 9 1/3 innings of outstanding relief work, the best of a good body of work.

The starters’ ERA is a bit higher but, when you factor out the departed Tyler Clippard’s two poor starts, in which he allowed 11 earned runs in just seven innings, the starters’ ERA is a decent 4.29, and the team’s ERA without Clippard is 3.55. While 3.55 might be too much (or little, as it were) to expect from them in the next 27 games, particularly because it’s asking a lot from the heretofore erratic bullpen, it’s possible that if the starters continue to go deep into games and give the relievers such significant rest, they can perform near these lofty standards. Wang has really re-established himself as the staff ace, despite the ongoing problems he’s endured with the middle finger on his pitching hand. He threw 35 1/3 innings in five games, getting into the seventh inning or deeper every time out, and allowed an amazing seven earned runs in those five games, an ERA of 1.78. Mussina has also been very good, contributing five straight quality starts with a total ERA of 3.16. Clemens has been quite good on the whole, with a 3.63 ERA, four of six quality starts and his last two were gems, going eight innings each time while allowing a total of seven hits and two runs earned against the Twins and Angels. These three and the bullpen have picked up the slack of Igawa and Pettite, who has struggled badly of late. Igawa’s ERA in three starts has been an awful 6.19, and he has looked worse the last two times out after pitching fairly well through most of his start in Frisco. Pettite has been lit up like a pinball machine in three of his last six starts, ballooning his ERA to a shocking 8.31 over that stretch I examined thanks in large part to allowing nine runs eight earned against the A’s, six runs earned against Colorado, and eight runs earned against the Angels. While Igawa is probably a hopeless case for this year and perhaps beyond, it’s unlikely that this terrible skein from Pettite will continue. With Hughes on track to continue his rehab with starts in the minors, one can probably expect the starters’ ERA to hold steady or drop with his return and Igawa’s jettisoning to Scranton, or Pluto.

The Yankees struggled in one and two-run games, as they have all year, losing chances to gain on Boston in key games. They were 3-4 in one-run games and 0-1 in their lone two-run game in the last 27 games. More importantly, Boston won each time the Yankees won the three one-run games, and lost three times when the Yanks lost by one (the fourth time Boston didn’t play). While the Yankees didn’t fall farther behind, they could have gained three and one-half games, yet lost very winnable games against Frisco (when they were way ahead, then lost in extra-innings as Mariano sat), Colorado (the game with Jeter’s base-running gaffe), Baltimore, and the thirteen-inning game against the Angels last weekend. Not a good recipe for getting back into the hunt, and it’s as important as any component of this team to their having a chance to contend in the second half. Quite simply, they need to win many more close games than they did in the first half, when they went 6-14 in one-run games and an abysmal 2-10 in two-run games, to compete.

Come what may in the second half, but it’s up to the Yankees now to make up ground in steep conditions—ten games behind Boston, nine in the loss column. The schedule favors them in July, playing sub-.500 teams most of the way, but 2005 showed that those aren’t gimmies (remember winning only 8 of 19 against Tampa Bay and getting swept by Kansas City), as did the series in Colorado, Frisco and Baltimore. But with more very good pitching, some improved hitting, and a fresher bullpen, I’m optimistic, and certainly not giving up hope. It’s just unfortunate that a team with so much talent needs to rely to some degree on hope instead of its own excellence, but such has been 2007 thus far. Let’s Go, Yankees!

Hopefully portending good things to come after the All-Star break, the Yankees decimated the Angels in the last game of the nominal first half, trouncing the LA Angels of Superfluous Acronyms 12-0. Starting hot, the Yankees scored four in the first inning. Damon grounded to first, but Melky started a string of three straight singled with one to left-center, Jeter roped another to left to send Melky to third, and A-Rod blooped one to shallow left-center to score Melky, 1-0. Matsui then crushed a 2-2 Santana offering to deep right, 4-0 Yankees. Matsui has 11 homers and 53 RBIs, and the Yankees could really stand to get similar numbers from the historically good, but up-and-down version of Matsui this year, and about 25 points higher with the average. Thereafter, Santana was tough, walking Posada immediately after Matsui's homer then retiring eight straight before the Yankees chased him in the fourth. Wang was very good, but started slowly, walking Willits on five pitches and getting to 3-1 on Figgins. But on his next pitch, a strike for 3-2, Jorge made a great throw low and to the bag to catch Willits stealing for only the fourth time this year he's been nabbed. Wang then struck out Figgins and, as the great John Sterling noted, instead of being on the verge of two on and no one out, the Yanks had two outs and no one on. Wang then struck out the obnoxious, loud-mouthed, Yankee-fan basher Cabrera for the third out, and cruised from there despite having some trouble with the middle finger on his throwing hand.

After retiring eight straight Yankees, Santana got hit hard in the fourth.  Posada was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth, Abreu singled down the right-field line to send Posada to third, and Cano laced a homer off the screen on the foul pole to blow it wide open, 7-0. Cano has started to hit much better of late, especially since starting to go the opposite way. He's a far better hitter than his .274 average, just as Matsui is far better than his own .274 average and Abreu beyond his .264 albatross, and hopefully they will return to historical form for the Yankees to make the big second-half run they need. After Cano's bomb, Phillips continued his good hitting with a double off the right-center field wall that narrowly missed being a homer, and that Vlad narrowly missed catching. After walking Damon, Santana was through, but the Yankees weren't done scoring. Off Chris Resop, who later left the game with a sore right elbow, Melky bunted Phillips and Damon over, Jeter grounded out to short with the infield in, and A-Rod lined a homer to left, very similar to his homer Friday night, to leave no doubt, 10-0. The Yankees added two in the seventh. Cano doubled to left with one out, Phillips got an infield single to short, Damon reached on an Izturis error to load the bases, and Cairo, pinch-hitting for Jeter [why it wasn't for A-Rod to rest his sore hamstring, I'll never know], lined a two-run double to left, 12-0 Yankees.

Wang was very sharp, going 6 1/3 and allowing five hits, two walks and striking out three on only 88 pitches. More importantly for him, he induced ten ground outs, and really got rolling after his shaky start. The bullpen went the rest of the way, allowing no hits and only a lead-off walk by Proctor to start the eighth. Villone looked good in the ninth mopping up his second game in three days, and if he, Proctor, Myers, Nuke and Bruney can put it together, the Yankees--who have been getting far better starts from most of the starting staff (sans Igawa)--should give the pen enough rest to be fresh and throwing hard.

A-Rod capped off his great first half by going 2-5 with two runs and four RBIs, passing the great Lou Gehrig and also Fred McGriff with his 494th career homer, and also passed Yogi Berra on the career RBI list. Hitting .317 now, A-Rod is certainly the first-half MVP, the best player in baseball thus far without a doubt. Cano was 2-4 to raise his average to .274, with two runs and three RBIs. Matsui was 1-3 with his 11th homer and two walks, and also has 53 RBIs, not bad, but he needs to be more consistent and to steer the ball to left more. Phillips was 2-3 with two runs, and is looking more confident with his average at .316. Abreu went 2-3 to finish a sub par first half on a high note, raising his average to .264 and scoring a run. Jeter was 1-4 with a run to finish an excellent first half at .336, and though Jorge understandably slowed a little at the plate, going 0-3 with a run means he's still hitting a crisp .326, a really tremendous first half. Melky was 1-4 with a run and is hitting .275, and Damon really needs to get healthy and get going, and was 0-3 with a run, lowering his average to .245.

The lefties are key to the Yankees--as they go, so will the Yankees this year and this second half. 42-43 isn't very good, but the Yankees have actually gotten better in June and early July from a dismal start, and despite nay-sayers, are still within striking distance. They need to continue to get good starting pitching, relief work that is improving, and consistent hitting especially from the lefties and in clutch situations. Their one and two-run records are terrible--6-14 in one-run games and a woeful 2-10 in two-run games, indicative of poor clutch hitting, runners stranded and bullpen letdowns for the most part, with some sloppy starts sprinkled in for bad measure.

I'm going to stay optimistic about the second half, and think that the Yankees can and will make a good run. Keeping the Faith, Let's Go, Yankees!

While listening to the game, I wanted to mention for anyone who had not seen it that Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal in five sets, 7-6 4-6 7-6 2-6 6-2 to tie Bjorn Borg with his fifth straight Wimbledon title, just amazing. Federer and Pete Sampras are definitely the two greatest men's tennis players of my lifetime, and Federer now has in Nadal the young great and consistent rival that Sampras, through no fault of his own, always lacked. This Wimbledon title is Federer's eleventh career grand slam title, and with continued excellence could certainly pass Sampras, who won fourteen slam titles. A great accomplishment, and a hearty congratulations to Venus Williams who won her fourth Wimbledon singles title Saturday.

What a difference a day makes. Last night the teams were scoring touchdowns in The Bronx; today, they were throwing up blanks in a classic pitchers duel that the more fundamentally sound Angels took, 2-1 in 13 innings. John Lackey and Roger Clemens matched each other zero for zero through eight innings apiece, with Lackey allowing a run in the second and Clemens a run in the third that, had A-Rod fielded it cleanly, may have had Anderson coming home from third. They were otherwise outstanding. Clemens's final line was eight innings, five hits, a run earned, a walk, and three strikeouts on an incredibly efficient 98 pitches. Lackey was also outstanding, going eight and giving up five hits, a run earned, no walks and striking out eleven, getting Yankees to chase curves and sliders outside the zone all day.

The bullpens continued the outstanding work. Torre went to Mariano right away--the right move to me--for the ninth and tenth, and he could have worked a third (which would have made no difference in retrospect) since he threw only fourteen pitches and allowed one hit. The Angels countered with set-up man par excellence Scot Shields, who held the Yankees scoreless through the ninth, tenth, and eleventh innings on only one hit, though several batters--Posada, Cano for example--hit the ball quite hard and deep for outs. Nuke LaFarnsworth worked the eleventh for the Yanks and though he gave up a hit and had an error on a bad pickoff attempt, was in no real danger. That error was the Yankees' third, all of which to that point were harmless, yet the worst was yet to come since the Yankees were not done with their poor defensive display. After working a scoreless twelfth, Vizcaino gave up a leadoff double in the thirteenth to Kendrick, and with Molina up the normally sure-handed Cairo coughed it up for the Yankees, committing two errors on one play (the Yankees' fourth and fifth errors, horrible) with a bobble and a throwing error that allowed Kendrick to score the winning run. Though the Yankees had first and third with one out in the thirteenth against K-Rod, Melky struck out and Jeter grounded out to complete his 0-5 day, and the Yankees' 2-1 extra-inning, one-run loss.

Posada and Cairo each had two hits, and Abreu had the lone RBI with a double to drive in Matsui, who hit a double himself, in the second. But the Yankees stranded eight, four in scoring position, and mustered little against the best three pitchers the Angels have. The Yankees had Posada on second with a lead-off double in the seventh, but Abreu and Cano struck out before Jorge got picked off to end the frame with nothing. Melky whiffed his first four time sup for the dubious "golden sombrero" then, after getting a single, struck out in the thirteenth for his fifth K of the game, terrible. The pitching was excellent all around, and poor defense did the Yankees in, as one sensed would happen as they continued to make errors. Unlike the Angels, much better at ABC baseball, the Yankees really failed to move runners along and, when they did especially through stolen bases, failed to plate those few who got on.

Tomorrow the Yankees send out Wang (8-3, 3.58 ERA) to try to win the series against the inconsistent but talented Ervin Santana (5-9, 5.35 ERA). Let's Go, Yankees!

After getting home late last night from a barbecue and drinks at a friend's, I checked the Yankees' score and saw the 14-9 Yankees win. Apparently the Yankees yielded a safety late in the game. The Yankees pounded out 19 hits (and an impressive sixteen singles) and chased Bartolo (Unworthy Cy Young Winner) Colon from the game early in the six-run third and, despite a bad start from Pettite, and a base-running gaffe that cost the Yankees another run, they absolutely pounded the Angels. Everyone got a hit, and everyone boosted their batting averages, runs, RBIs and overall stats. A-Rod blasted a big home run in the sixth to make it 12-9. That was his 493rd career, tying him with the greatest first baseman of all time, Lou Gehrig, and went 3-4 with three runs and two RBIs to boost his average to .319.  Jeter went 2-5 witn a run and an RBI and is batting .342, Posada went 3-5 with two runs and three RBIs to raise his average to .329. Cano went 3-4 with a run and an RBI, despite missing third base and costing the Yanks a run, and is now hitting better at .276 and is finally going to the opposite field with a good level swing. Damon was 2-4 with two runs, two stolen bases and an RBI and Melky is continuing to excel, going 3-5 with three runs and an RBI to bat .278 now. Abreu was 1-3 with an RBI on a sac fly, Matsui also went 1-3 while scoring twice, driving in a run and walking twice, and Cairo was 1-3 with two RBIs, including one on a rare Yankee suicide squeeze. Remarkably, the Yankees only left four on base, and while they hit into three double plays, they scored most of their base runners, outstanding.

Despite allowing a run on two hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings, Edwar Ramirez earned his first win with the Yankees. The bullpen was good, holding the Angels to one run in four innings of work. Proctor pitched 1 2/3 of no-hit, scoreless relief with three Ks, and Villone wrapped it up with a 1-2-3 ninth. 

John Lackey faces Roger Clemens, and hopefully the Yankees bring the hot bats against the Angels' ace. Let's work really hard to get the series win and keep gaining confidence, guys. Let's Go, Yankees!

According to the great Pete Abraham, here is today's Yankees lineup:

Damon LF
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Abreu RF
Cano 2B
Phillips 1B

I'm thankful to see that A-Rod will be playing and at third because historically, he has creamed Colon, including his three homer, ten RBI game on April 26, 2005. Rumor has it that a couple of those homers he hit a couple years ago have recently burned up re-entering the atmosphere. I'm intrigued to see that Damon is playing left and Melky center, with Matsui as DH. It seems on one hand a good thing that Damon is healthy enough to play the field, and on the other that Matsui, unless he has a nagging injury that I don't know about, is going to be rotated out now and then with the others to allow Melky, the superior defender, to play the field. Perhaps it might be because he's shown some shyness around the wall lately, twice against the Twins, and Damon is deemed the better fielder even with the weaker arm. What I find interesting is that Damon is playing where his arm is a greater liability than in center, where corner outfielders are usually expected to have a better chance at outfield assists. Then again, Damon could play shallower than Matsui because of his greater speed, and maybe that could make up for his weaker arm. Maybe this is a sign that Melky is the center fielder of the near future for the Yankees. Just some mid-afternoon speculation. See everyone tonight, and enjoy the game.

In the best, closest and most exciting game of the four-game set, the Yankees beat the Twins 7-6 to at long last win a series. Showing some offensive punch from a variety of sources, the Yankees hit three home runs without A-Rod, and got very good relief pitching to pick up the mess that Igawa left them. Finally showing some life, the team has bounced back nicely and gained some much-needed momentum as the Angels come to town for the final three games before the All-Star break.

Igawa was shaky from the get-go, surrendering two runs on four hits in the first alone, and it could have been worse. Igawa began inauspiciously by walking Bartlett, Mauer singled to center and Cuddyer followed with an RBI single, 1-0 Twins, but Cuddyer was thrown out at second on a strong throw from Melky trying to stretch a single into a double. Morneau drove in Mauer with a single, 2-0 Twins. But Igawa fanned Hunter before allowing a bloop single over the mound that he couldn't reach, and finally got out of the first by striking out Ford. Igawa actually had a 1-2-3 second, aided by Jeter's terrific trademark jump-throw to just nail Bartlett at first for the third out. In the second, the Yanks exploded for five runs, all with two outs. Cano belted a deep homer to right-center, 2-1 Twins. Phillips doubled to right and, in a great and pivotal at-bat, Cairo worked it to 3-2 and fouled off several pitches before smoking a double to left that one-hopped off the wall, tying the game at 2. Damon walked and Melky, with the count 0-2, got a bit of the GLG's magic powder. GLG got her name GLG ("Good Luck Girl") from Frank the Sage during Boston Massacre III, when the Yankees scored whenever she was in the room, and from GLG's saying with runners on base, "A home run would be nice," then it would happen. GLG uttered the magic home-run phrase, and so it happened on cue, with Melky belting one to deep right to make it 5-2 Yankees. GLG strikes again!

Yet Igawa labored in the fourth and gave the lead right back, with the Twins themselves scoring all three runs with two outs. Cirillo led off with a ground-rule double to deep center, Ford lined a double to left-center on which Damon made a beautiful diving catch for the first out, with Cirillo taking third. Rodriguez lined out to Jeter for the second out, but Igawa did the inexcusable by walking Punto, the ninth hitter batting .202 at the time to extend the inning in costly fashion. Bartlett got an 0-2 pitch up in the zone and ripped a double to left, 5-4 Yankees, and Mauer followed with a single to center to tie it at 5. By the end of the fourth, Igawa had thrown 82 pitches, way too many for four innings, and the walk to Punto was a killer.  The Yankees stranded two in the fourth, fifth and sixth apiece, four of those six in scoring position, and it seemed as though it would be one of those games where the opposition seems to turn off the run spigot and the Yankees squander scoring chances, with the result being a painful loss.

Yet the bullpen held things tight the rest of the way. Vizcaino, Proctor and Nuke LaFarnsworth worked scoreless sixth, seventh and eighth innings respectively, with Proctor getting a 4-6-3 double play to dispose of his lead-off walk to Mauer. Nuke actually worked a 1-2-3 inning, only his fourth this year, and the score remained tied at 5 until the bottom of the eighth when, with two outs, Jeter worked a walk and Matsui absolutely crushed a Neshek offering deep into the right-center field bleachers to make it 7-5. Matsui, who went hitless in his first three at-bats and stranded two in the fourth, came alive his last two at-bats with a single and the very clutch, dramatic homer. Mariano wasn't his sharpest in the ninth, allowing singles to the weak-hitting Rodriguez and Punto before fanning Bartlett. He got Mauer on a slow roller to Jeter for the second out but Rodriguez scored, 7-5 Yanks. But Mariano fanned Cuddyer on a 3-2 check swing to end it, save the win and earn the Yankees the series win. Outstanding.

Melky went 3-5 with a run and three RBIs and is hitting .272, Matsui was 2-5, now batting .273, with a run and the two RBIs from his game-winning homer, Phillips was 2-3 with a run to raise his average to .286, making good use of his playing time. Cano was 2-4 with a homer and is at .270, and Jeter was 1-3 with a run and two walks. Among the regulars, only Posada didn't have a hit. If these lefties can pick their averages up a bit more, another 20-25 points apiece, this team will be in business. Key tonight was that the Yankees scored all their runs with two outs, very clutch. Kudos to the bullpen for holding it tight until Matsui's homer. In other good news, A-Rod's MRI came out normal today, and he might play tomorrow night.

Bartolo Colon (6-4, 5.79 ERA), the undeserving Cy Young winner from 2005, takes on Andy Pettite (4-6, 3.77 ERA) tomorrow night.   Let's get some real confidence and beat what may be the best team right now in baseball. Let's Go, Yankees!

[Edit: I had to hustle to GLG's softball game today and set aside this note that the terrific John Sterling mentioned during his broadcast, namely that today is the 60th anniversary of Larry's Doby's desegregating American-League baseball when he played for the Indians on July 5th, 1947, nearly three months after Jackie Robinson first played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. A good and decent man as well as a Hall-of-Fame player, Doby endured racism from some teammates, opponents and fans alike, yet persevered to become an outstanding player from the late 1940s through the 1950s.

Also, the great Pete Abraham blogged at his LoHud site that "Chien-Ming Wang was tabbed “Mr. Wang-derful” on the back page of the Post. Ron Guidry flipped out. “Wonderful?” he said to Wang. “You walked four guys!” The Gator then took the Post he was carrying and threw it in the trash. Just hilarious. Wang was cracking up." Apparently Wang and Gator have a great relationship where they tease each other, or more appropriately Gator teases Wang, a lot. This sparked my memory, when during a broadcast in Frisco, Waldman said that while Yankees pitchers were taking batting practice to prepare for hitting in National-League parks, Wang hit a homer off Gator, who promptly threw the next pitch behind Wang. Anyone who thinks that Gator hasn't done a bang-up job with the pitching staff, with all the travails and poor outings they've had to endure, out to have his or her head examined.]

[Edit PS: According to Abraham, Phil Hughes has thrown two bullpen sessions that apparently went smoothly, and he'll throw a rehab start on Monday. If there are no setbacks, he may rejoin the Yankees by the end of July. Given Igawa's performance today, and his sub-mediocrity this season, I'd say that a rotation of Wang, Pettite, Clemens, Mussina and Hughes sounds very good to me, and with some life in the bats can maybe get the Yankees back into this thing. Fingers crossed.]

The Yankees lost 6-2 to the Twins today, and I didn't see a single pitch. The family and I ventured out on a hot 4th of July to see the local parade, which was a good one. It contained a diverse set of groups--from the obligatory contingents of military, fire and police personnel to WW2, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Iraq Wars' veterans (including one performing a strange lip-syncing of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" into a flood light on the back of a fire truck), from anti-war groups to state and local politicians, from high school marching bands to shriners in mini-cars and on quads to ***-rights activists. One poignant moment came when the local county Republicans went marching past, waiving while walking and coasting on their float, and it was pretty quiet--odd for a fairly right-wing part of the country. A man next to me began yelling out, "Hey, great job with that War in Iraq. How long has it been going on? Really smart!" while giving a mock thumbs up--not a good sign for powers-that-be when their locals get heckled at a July 4th parade. I saw a couple friends I hadn't seen in some time, all of us mired in our own endeavors but happy to see one another for the first time in a couple years.  We got home and had a terrific feast--steak, corn on the cob, baked potatoes--that everyone enjoyed. Since my little guy doesn't like the loud booms of fireworks, my wife took GLG to the local fireworks display while I stayed home with the little man for some games (he creamed me in "SORRY!" twice, and beat me five of seven in "Piranha Panic," par for the course with the kids. GLG pasted me two of three last weekend in "Monopoly," her at-home internship in cutthroat capitalism.), popcorn while watching New York's impressive fireworks on TV, and my reading him and later GLG the Declaration of Independence, prompting some good questions and comparisons from both kids.

My politics are admittedly pretty far left of center, and I consider myself a patriot through and through. I deeply love this country and respect its heritage and institutions. I am not shy about calling out the powers-that-be when I believe they screw up, or fail to fulfill the mandate of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and our laws and democratic principles. My former right-wing friends with whom I've had deep and often heated political discussions (former not because they're right-wing, but rather because these discussions revealed them to be thoroughgoing bigots and racists) utterly failed to understand this--that one can criticize this country's actions and intentions yet love and admire it, that one's beliefs can be rooted in maintaining and fulfilling the mandate of this country while criticizing particular courses of action that veer from it. I embody that which to some is a contradiction but, to me, coexists fairly neatly--a critical view as a responsible and (trying to be) informed citizen of what we as a nation do and represent, in order to fully represent what's best about, and do what's best as a citizen for, this country.

I say this not so much to prompt a political discussion on a baseball blog, but rather to lay out some ideas since I know that I've made occasional political references here, and will continue to do so; nothing too heavy, but worth dropping in when pertinent as we discuss our common love for baseball and the Yankees. But to prevent potential misunderstanding among any readers, there are certain things I would hope we all can agree on, and one of them is what good and joyous celebration should come from people on July 4th, today the 231st anniversary of our nation's independence. Flaws in the above-referenced document notwithstanding--its sexism of the time in a statement that "all men are created equal" and not "all people," the racism that failed to consider people of color any part of that "all men," the classism of fifty-six wealthy people deigning to speak for people who for subsequent years they denied the right to vote because of their lack of property while summoning them to fight and die for equality and liberty, and the broad-brush treatment of Native Americans as "the merciless Indian savages"--the Declaration of Independence is an incredible document after more than two centuries, well worth reading and studying. How bold and innovative, what a polite, articulate stick-it-in-your-ear indictment of King George III specifically and colonialism generally, what a brash and brave series of grievances and statements to pen--to say to the most powerful nation at that time, "We've had it with you, here's why, and good-bye." Moreover, the articulation of them as "endowed...with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...." That's just brilliant, tying together life itself with ideals through which to maximize it--"liberty and the pursuit of happiness," while saying that powerful people are and must be accountable to those governed or they lack the right to govern. That took real nerve, and to have pulled it off through several years of war, invasion, starvation, regional differences, communication difficulties, serious internal dissent with a plurality of people loyal to England, brutally harsh winters, paucity of necessary supplies, and poverty to provide the genesis of this great nation is nothing short of incredible.  Problems with the mentalities of the "Framers" side, I for one am glad to remind myself of this great Declaration and its innovative principles now and then, none of which I take for granted. I am equally glad that so many have thought about, fought for, and died to expand the principles that fifty-six people articulated, and countless others felt, wrote about and lived out 231 years ago today to cover many more and increasingly diverse people.

I hope that each of you thoroughly enjoyed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in your own ways today--hopefully safe and not infringing upon others pursuing the same in their own ways. Back to baseball tomorrow. Happy July 4th, Everyone. Thanks for reading.

The Yankees pounced on the Twins, beating them 8-0 tonight in convincing fashion and getting contributions from numerous players. Wang was at times erratic but avoided the worst of trouble to keep the Twins from crossing home, the Yanks' offense is bouncing back, and the Yankees may have found some relief help internally. Edwar Ramirez, recently called up from AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, pitched the ninth and struck out the side with his marvelous dancing change-up. Clearly, the spirits of Yankees players and fans alike are higher than they've been in a couple weeks.

The Yankees again scored in the first, again with the Damon and Melky putting together back-to-back singles to give the Yanks first and third, no outs. Jeter's force to short brought in Damon, 1-0 Yankees. The Yankees stranded two in the second. With one out Posada walked and Phillips singled. Cano popped meekly to first for the second, swinging at a fastball in on his hands and getting jammed, and Damon grounded to short to end the second. Wang and the Yankees avoided serious trouble in the fourth when Wang issued a lead-off walk to Jason Bartlett but, for the first time this year, he was thrown out stealing on a terrific throw from Jorge for the first out. Wang then walked Mauer and Cuddyer in succession to make three walks in a row to start the inning, and a Morneau single to left loaded the bases. But Torii Hunter, who has grounded into the most double plays in the AL this year, did so here, a 5-4-3 double play to let Wang wiggle free. The Twins had three walks and a single in the fourth, but didn't score. It is worth saying that A-Rod's bat overshadows his sterling defense this year. He turns the 5-4-3 with ease, always making excellent, accurate throws to Cano at second that allow Cano, who turns the double play quickly, to hang in there for the throw without lunging, or putting him in harm's way with the approaching runner. A-Rod is really on his way to earning a Gold Glove at third.

The Yankees added on right away. Abreu hit an infield single to third, and with two outs, Cano put together a really good at-bat. After laying off Silva's sinking fastball to make the count 2-1, Cano parked the next pitch to right, 3-0 Yankees, Cano's first homer in 112 at-bats. After allowing a lead-off single to Kubel in the fifth, again Wang got a double play, a 4-3-6, in which Cano just missed tagging Kubel who held up in the baseline, but Phillips quickly turned and threw to Jeter, who just got Kubel before he reached second. Giambi could never have made that throw, well done Phillips. Wang again avoided trouble in the sixth. Castillo singled to lead off, Bartlett forced him at second, Mauer walked, but Cuddyer struck out and Morneau grounded out to Cano, and again Wang escaped. The Yankees again scored after Wang escaped potential trouble, exploding for five runs in the bottom of the sixth to salt it. Posada lined a single to center that bounced right before Hunter and past him, allowing Posada to chug in to third. On the next pitch, Silva threw a wild pitch, preventing a winded Posada from getting a breather and forcing him to score, 4-0 Yankees, Jeter laughed as Posada huffed and puffed as he walked to the dugout, for it looked as though it took Jorge about a minute and a half to score from third. It's a good thing the Yankees have such a deep foul territory behind home to have allowed Jorge, who almost runs like a Molina, to score. Matsui scorched a double down the right-field line, Abreu smacked a ball so hard to right he was held to a single but drove in Matsui, 5-0 Yanks. Phillips flew out deep to left for the first out, and Silva got the hook in favor of Roidscon, who struggled. Abreu took second, not getting credit for the steal because Bartlett missed the ball, Cano was hit by a 3-2 pitch. Damon grounded out to Roidscon, who fumbled the ball thus preventing a double play, which was costly. Melky drove a 1-2 pitch to single in Abreu and Cano, who scored on a close play at home by making a beautiful slide around Mauer, who was blocking the plate, by reaching his left hand around Mauer's leg, 7-0 Yankees, with Melky taking second on the throw. Jeter then singled to center to score Melky, 8-0 Yankees.

Wang got sharper as the game went on, getting Hunter looking to begin the seventh on a borderline strike. He also got some good defensive help, with Phillips making a terrific diving stop on a ground ball from Tyner in the third and Jeter making one of his patented leaping snares on a sharp line drive from Kubel in the seventh. Though the Yankees failed to score after the sixth, they continued to scorch the ball. Abreu ripped a sharp single to right in the seventh, and Jeter narrowly missed a home run to right-center in the eighth, tattooing a 1-0 pitch off Ramon Ortiz about two feet from the top of the wall for a double.

The Yankees may have found a diamond in the rough with Edwar Ramirez, the tall, skinny right-hander who struck out 80 batters in 43 1/3 innings at Trenton and SWB this spring. He throws 90-92 with his fastball, and his change-up is dazzling as it teases batters before dipping down