A Close Call

Well, that was close. It's one thing to give up 14 runs in one inning and lose a game by a margin of 18, but I can imagine no defeat quite so ignominious as losing to Carl Pavano. That's the fate the Yankees found themselves facing as they finally got to see the pitcher they thought they were signing four years ago. Captain Bruised Buttocks stymied the Yanks for six innings, retiring the first ten batters in order before Derek Jeter finally managed a hit in the fourth inning. Thankfully, the Indians bullpen wasn't quite as unhittable, and the Yankees were able to score six after Pavano left the game and win 7-3.

Of course, the part of the game everyone's talking about now isn't Pavano's terrifyingly good performance, but Jorge Posada's disputed home run that scored the go ahead run in the 7th inning. I can certainly understand why Cleveland might be upset by the decision to let the home run stand, but I think the umpires made the right call. It's not, mind you, that I'm entirely certain that the home run was valid. It's that I'm certain that no one can tell one way or the other from the instant replay, and lacking any better evidence the umps had to go with the ruling on the field. Of bigger concern to the Yankees is the fact that that home run probably wouldn't have made it out in the old stadium, but that's a post for another time.

Jorge jeading back to the DL

By now, I'm sure you've all heard the news that Jorge Posada is heading back to the DL, and there's a strong possibility that he won't be back until next season. Posada is to have an MRI today to help decide whether he should have season-ending surgery now in order to make sure he's ready for next year, or play through the injury and finish out the season. Personally, I'm hoping that he chooses the latter. It's far more important for the Yankees to make sure that they have Jorge Posada the borderline Hall-of-Famer for the next few years than it is for them to try and have Jorge Posada the catcher who can't throw for the rest of the season.

Assuming that Posada does opt for the surgery, the question the Yankees must now answer is whether they can do better than Jose Molina at catcher. The short answer is probably not. The long answer is that good catchers are hard to find, and the names that are currently being floated as possible trade candidates, like Yorvit Torrealba and Paul Lo Duca, aren't any better than the defensively great and offensively terrible Molina. Right now, the only catcher who might be available and might be an upgrade over Molina is Rangers' prospect Taylor Teagarden.

Teagarden is a very good defensive catcher who has good power and plate discipline, but struggles to make contact. At worst, he'd be Molina's equal, and he has the potential to be much better. However, Teagarden's availability depends on whether or not Texas believes that either Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Maximiliano Ramirez is a long term solution at catcher. Additionally, a prospect of Teagarden's caliber wouldn't come cheap, and considering the Yankees' weak bargaining position, they'd have to give up a lot. In other words, I wouldn't hold my breath for this deal to happen.

Live Blogging 6/5/07, Draft Day Special

I'm sorry about the recent lack of posts, but I've been feeling under the weather lately. I thought I'd make up for it by doing a double live blog, covering both today's game and the First-Year Player Draft, which will commence at 2pm. So, without further ado, here are your starting lineups:

Yankees

1. Johnny Damon - DH
2. Derek Jeter - SS
3. Bobby Abreu - RF
4. Alex Rodriguez - 3B
5. Hideki Matsui - LF
6. Jorge Posada - C
7. Robinson Cano - 2B
8. Wilson Betemit - 1B
9. Melky Cabrera - CF

Pitcher: Chien-Ming Wang

Blue Jays

1. Shannon Stewart - LF
2. David Eckstein - SS
3. Alexis Rios - CF
4. Scott Rolen - 3B
5. Matt Stairs - DH
6. Lyle Overbay - 1B
7. Kevin Mench - RF
8. Rod Barajas - C
9. Joe Inglett - 2b

Pitcher: Dustin McGowan

Obviously, the big story of the game is the return of Jorge Posada. I'd be very surprised if the Blue Jays don't test his shoulder.

Update 1:13PM:Well, Toronto's not going to be able to test Posada's shoulder like that, as it take Wang only ten pitches to send the first three batters back to the dugout. He's definitely got his best sinker today, and just as importantly, he's throwing it for strikes at the knees.

Update 1:25PM:Considering how many baserunners they've stranded this season, you've got to be happy with the Yankees getting two runs here. Still, after a leadoff walk followed by a double, I kind of hoped for a bigger inning.

Update 1:30PM:If, by the way, you're someplace where you can't watch the game on TV, you can watch the draft online here. Right now the various teams' delegations are being introduced. The Yankees, I believe, will be represented by Tino Martinez.

Update 1:35PM:Wow. Posada wastes absolutely no time as he rips the first pitch he sees into right field for a single. Even if baserunners go wild against him, his bat is going to be a major boost.

Update 1:48PM:MLB.com is reporting that Tampa Bay will select Tim Beckham, a high-school shortstop from Georgia, with the first pick. Obviously, Beckham wasn't a player the Yankees were watching, as he was always going to be taken well before their turn came around. As they've done in recent years, I think the Yankees will be focusing on players who other teams might pass on because they'll be expensive to sign. Unfortunately, more and more teams are willing to shell out big money for their big draft picks, so the Yankees may not be able to do that in the first round. That said, there is a chance that either first baseman Eric Hosmer or shortstop Casey Kelly, both high-schoolers out of Florida with top 10 talent, will be available, as Hosmer is a Scott Boras Client and Kelly has a strong commitment to the University of Tennessee as quarterback as well as a baseball player.

Update 2:01PM:Wang manages to wriggle out of trouble thanks to a nice play by the Captain, but he's really got to get that sinker back into the strike zone or this game is going to get ugly.

Update 2:17PM:Well, the draft has officially started and the Rays, annoyingly, took all five minutes to make the pick they knew they were going to make all day. Congratulations to Tim Beckham.

Update 2:18PM:Matt Stairs hit a sky-high fly ball that very slowly drifted over right field. It looked like an easy out right until it landed on top of the fence for a two-run home run. That might have been the laziest home run I've ever seen.

Update 2:28PM:So much for Eric Hosmer, who was just taken by the Royals with the third pick. As I said, more and more teams are becoming willing to pay big money to their high draft picks, and Kansas City is a perfect example. That said, the Yankees can still flex their financial muscles in the later rounds, as they've done in recent years with players like Austin Jackson and Dellin Betances, two players who other teams felt were too expensive to sign away from college.

Update 2:38PM:What a horrible error by Melky Cabrera. He completely missed an easy fly ball that could've resulted in a double play and the end of the inning. Instead, the ball bouces off his glove, a run scores and there's two men on with one out.

Update 2:44PM:That'll do it for Wang. who leaves with the Yankees down 7-2. Obviously Melky's error hurt him, but he wasn't doing well to begin with. If anyone knows where his command went, I'm sure he'd like it back.

Update 2:49PM:Prior to this year, Chien-Ming Wang gave up 2.41 walks per nine innings. Over the past month, that number is at 5.88. I'm not sure what the problem is, but the Yankees need to figure it out fast.

Update 3:04PM:Now that's dissappointing. Bases loaded with no one out and all Abreu, Rodriguez and Matsui can muster is two runs off of a ground ball and a sacrifice fly? That's a huge waste of an opportunity to get back in this game.

Update 3:08PM:There aren't many times when I'm happy to see LaTroy Hawkins, but this is one of them. Hopefully this means that Joe Girardi realizes that Ross Ohlendorf is only effective as a short reliever.

Update 3:35PM:Wilson Betemit doesn't have the bat to be an everyday first baseman, and I can understand why people might be upset to see him in the lineup instead of Jason Giambi for the second straight game, but he's still a valuable player. There simply aren't many guys with that kind of power that can play every infield position.

Update 3:50PM:How is it that Jose Veras managed to jump ahead of Chris Britton in the bullpen? He did a nice job bailing out Hawkins here, but his stuff doesn't really seem special, and Britton is the one with a track record of success in the majors.

Update 3:55PM:Over at the draft, Casey Kelly is still available, as is Christian Friedrich, a lefty from Eastern Kentucky who would be a real coup for the Yankees.

Update 4:07PM:The Cubs, Mariners and Tigers just took three college relievers in a row, which I think is good news for the Yankees, since I doubt that they were interested in any of them.

Update 4:10PM:Well, Brad Wilkerson provides the first test of Posada's shoulder, and it doesn't go so well. Wilkerson's jump was too good for anyone to throw him out, but Posada's throw was way off target, and only a leap by Robinson Cano saved it from heading into the outfield.

Update 4:23PM:Just three picks left before it's the Yankees' turn, and there's still quite a few interesting players still left. Aside from the aforementioned Casey Kelly and Christian Friedrich, there's Tulane ace Shooter Hunt and high-school righties Gerrit Cole and Tim Melville. All of these would be strong picks, so the Yankees have to be feeling pretty good right now.

Update 4:28PM:I understand the impulse to have Robinson Cano bunt here, but considering how bad he looked trying it, you've got to question the move. Bunting is a skill, and a manager should know which of his players has it and which don't.

Update 4:37PM:Finally, the Yankees turn has come. Christian Friederich is gone, but there's still plenty of good players that have fallen. So many, in fact, that the Yankees really need to base their decision as much on what players might fall to their next pick at number 44 as on their talent.

Update 4:45PM:The Yankees take Gerrit Cole, a right handed pitcher from Lutheran High School in Orange, CA. The folks on ESPN are comparing him to Phil Hughes, based largely on the fact that he's considered the best pitching prospect from southern California since Hughes. Cole, however, is a very different kind of pitcher. Hughes is all about command, while Cole is all about power, throwing his fastball consistently from 94-96mph and occasionally hitting 98mph. However, even though he's got more velocity, Cole's command is erratic, and his mechanics make some scouts worry about the possibility of injury. If the Yankees can improve upon those weaknesses, he's got potential as either an ace starter or closer. It's exactly the kind of high risk, high reward pick the Yankees have been making over the past few years, and it's a good strategy for them.

Update 4:56PM:Meanwhile, back at the game, the Yankees wasted their opportunities to take the lead in the eighth, and now find themselves down to their last out with Matsui at the plate representing the tying run. He's been pretty bad today, as the only starter without a hit, but there aren't many hitters I'd rather see in the clutch.

Update 5:00PM:And that would be why. Now it's a question of whether Jason Giambi's moustache can overcome the gimpiness of Jason Giambi's foot.

Update 5:02PM:The Moustache delivers! A walk off, pinch-hit home run into the upper deck in left field, and that's the game.

Update 5:17PM:The first round of the draft is over, and with it goes ESPN's coverage, but MLB.com will be showing the rest, which is going to continue until 9PM today. The Yankees next pick is in the supplemental first round, which they recieved as compensation for losing Luis Vizcaino to the Rockies. So far, two of the players who I had hoped would fall to the Yankees, Casey Kelly and Shooter Hunt, have been taken by Boston and Minnesota respectively.

Update 5:27PM:And the Yankees surprise me greatly by taking Jeremy Bleich, a lefty from Stanford that most people saw as a third or fourth round pick. It's especially surprising since Tim Melville, a right hander from Missouri has fallen from his expected mid-first round status because of the money he's asking for. I guess the team didn't want to take two high school pitchers in a row and went for some polish instead. Anyway, Bleich is a pretty classic lefty who throws his fastball in the 88-91mph range and complements it with a good curveball and changeup. At best he's a middle of the rotation starter, and it won't take him long to develop.

Update 5:42PM:With the end of the first round, there'll be a break till 6:15PM, so I'm going to wrap up this post and start a new one when the Yankees make their next pick at number 75.

April is the Cruelest Month

The first month of the baseball season is over and the Yankees find themselves in third place with a losing record. While this is certainly an improvement over last season, I don't think it's what any of us expected. Baseball, however, is all about the unexpected and a lot of what has gone wrong for the Yankees are things that no one could have seen coming, let alone do anything about:

• A schedule which started by playing twenty games straight without an off day.


• Miserably cold and/or rainy conditions in the first thirteen of those games.


• A Papal visit to Yankee Stadium which created a schedule where the team would play a Major League record 18 road games in April, with only two days at home between 8 and 10 day trips.


• Injuries which caused Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez, three of the most valuable and durable players in the game, to miss significant time.


• Injuries to the backups for Jeter and Posada, with Jose Molina only able to catch sporadically as he worked through a hamstring strain and Wilson Betemit unable to play at all thanks to corneal ulcers.


• The freakish coincidence of A-Rod going pulling his quad the night before his wife gave birth. This kept him from getting an MRI, something which might have kept him from aggravating the injury.


• Pneumonia which hospitalized Joba Chamberlain's father and caused the pitcher to leave the team in order to be with his family.


• A torn Lisfranc ligament in Brian Bruney's foot which may cause him to miss the rest of the season

Looking at that list, I have to say that it's something of a minor miracle that the team is only one game under .500. This isn't to say that the team shouldn't be doing better. While you can't really blame anyone for the above mishaps, you can question how Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi and the rest of the Yankees' staff have reacted to them, and I'll be doing that tomorrow.

Posada heading to the DL

Usually watching Chien-Ming Wang dominate opposing hitters makes for a great day. However, as I watched today's game, my usual enjoyment was soured by a sense of impending doom. Minutes before the game, Jorge Posada was scratched from the lineup with no explanation, and the Yankees provided no information as the game wore on. Finally, the New York Times reported that Posada had suffered a muscle tear in his subscapularis muscle. It's uncertain whether he'll need surgery or how long he might be out, but he's already been put on the DL for the first time in his 13 year career.

Anyway, I'm sure some of you are wondering which of the shoulder's many muscles is the subscapularis. The shoulder's a bit too complicated for me to try and make a diagram, but there is an easy exercise you can do. First, raise your right arm with your elbow at a ninety degree angle, like you're taking an oath. Then, stand in a doorway so that your palm and forearm are pushing against the wall. As you lean forward, you'll feel your subscapularis stretch in your chest and shoulder. Now imagine trying to throw a baseball without full use of that muscle, and you'll understand the predicament Jorge Posada finds himself in.

Hijinks

It's been a very strange couple of days for the Yankees, and even stranger ones for Yankee fans as the team made some very confusing moves in response to injuries and the weather. Let's see if we can straighten this out.

First, Derek Jeter is out till Friday at the earliest, but will almost certainly stay off the DL. Also avoiding the DL is Jorge Posada, as an MRI revealed no structural damage in his shoulder. What's unclear, however, is how long it'll be until he can actually play. That's all pretty straightforward. What's bizarre is what the Yankees did next.

With Posada and Jeter unavailable, it was obvious that some kind of move needed to be made to get some help. They elected to call up Alberto Gonzalez to start at shortstop tonight, which is not the move that I would make. Wilson Betemit may have looked shaky in yesterday's game, but I think the greater need is for a catcher to back up Jose Molina. Right now, if Molina were to get injured in a game, he would be replaced by Morgan Ensberg, who, as far as I can tell, hasn't played the position in this millenium. However, that's just a questionable move. The bizarre move came when it was time to make room for Gonzalez on the roster.

First, Joe Girardi told reporters that Ensberg had injured his ankle and implied that he was headign to the DL. This, apparently, was news to Ensberg, who told Tyler Kepner of the Times that he was fine. Finally, after tonight's batting practice was over, the team revealed that Shelley Duncan had been sent down to Triple A.

So that's all there is for the injuries, but the wackiness didn't end there. About fifteen minutes before gametime, the Yankees stopped Ian Kennedy from warming up and announced that he had been scratched from his start, without providing any reason. Thankfully, it turns out that there was no injury. What happened was that Joe Girardi, perhaps because of the advice of team meteorologist Al Roker (no, seriously, he really is on staff), felt that the game would be postponed or delayed due to rain and didn't want to waste a start by Kennedy. It probably would've been a good decision, except that tonight's umpires are apparently a little crazy, as we're now in the sixth inning, even though it's been pouring all night and the field is an absolute mess. Meanwhile, Kennedy has finally taken the mound after Brian Bruney, Billy Traber and Kyle Farnsworth combined for four good innings, and one not so good one from Farnsworth.

Spring Training - The Catchers

I've been away for a while, but it's February now and that means roses, chocolates and baseball. It's just three days until pitchers and catchers report, with all the other players reporting just five days later. For the Yankees, that'll be a whopping 69 players altogether:

Player	Position
Bobby Abreu	RF
Jonathan Albaladejo	RHRP
Kyle Anson	C
Wilson Betemit	IF
Andrew Brackman	RHSP
Chris Britton	RHRP
Jason Brown	C
Brian Bruney	RHRP
Melky Cabrera	CF
Robinson Cano	2B
Bernie Castro	IF
Francisco Cervelli	C
Joba Chamberlain	RHSP
Justin Christian	OF
Colin Curtis	OF
Johnny Damon	CF
Eric Duncan	1B
Shelly Duncan	1B
Morgan Ensberg	3B
Kyle Farnsworth	RHRP
Brett Gardner	CF
Jason Giambi	DH
Dan Giese	RHRP
Alberto Gonzalez	IF
Nick Green	IF
LaTroy Hawkins	RHRP
Sean Henn	LHRP
Alan Horne	RHSP
Phil Hughes	RHSP
Kei Igawa	LHSP
Austin Jackson	CF
Steven Jackson	RHRP
Derek Jeter	SS
Jeff Karstens	RHRP
Ian Kennedy	RHSP
Jason Lane	OF
Jeffrey Marquez	RHSP
Hideki Matsui	LF
Daniel McCutchen	RHSP
Mark Melancon	RHRP
Juan Miranda	1B
Jose Molina	C
Jesus Montero	C
Mike Mussina	RHSP
Eduardo Nunez	SS
Ross Ohlendorf	RHRP
Scott Patterson	RHRP
Carl Pavano	RHSP
Andy Pettitte	LHSP
Heath Phillips	LHRP
P.J. Pilittere	C
Gregory Porter	OF
Jorge Posada	C
Edwar Ramirez	RHRP
Cody Ransom	IF
Darrell Rasner	RHSP
Mariano Rivera	RHRP
Alex Rodriguez	3B
Austin Romine	C
Humberto Sanchez	RHSP
Scott Strickland	RHRP
Jose Tabata	RF
Billy Traber	LHRP
Marcos Vechionacci	3B
Jose Veras	RHRP
Chien-Ming Wang	RHSP
Steven White	RHSP
Chris Woodward	IF
Chase Wright	LHSP

That's a full 40 man roster, 29 non-roster invitees and a lot of names for anyone to keep straight. So, over the next couple of days I'm going to break it down for you, starting with the catchers:

40-Man Roster Players:

• Francisco Cervelli
• Jose Molina
• Jorge Posada

Non-Roster Invitees:

• Kyle Anson
• Jason Brown
• Jesus Montero
• P.J. Pilittere
• Austin Romine

As usual, the Yankees are bringing nearly every catcher in the organization to camp, for the simple reason that there's a lot of pitchers who need to throw to someone. Obviously, only Posada and Molina will be on the team come April, but keep an eye on Francisco Cervelli. Posada and Molina are both getting old, especially for catchers, and its very possible that the 20 year-old Cervelli would be called up if either was injured.

Among the non-roster invitees, Montero and Romine stand out as the prospects to watch. Both appear on my list of the Yankees' top prospects (which I'll be sharing here over the coming weeks), and both are players with loads of raw talent. I'm especially interested in seeing how Montero handles himself behind the plate, as defense said to be his biggest weakness. As for the other three NRIs, there's not much to say. Anson, Brown and Pilittere are all decent minor league catchers, but it's hard to imagine any of them having an impact on the major league level.

Tomorrow, I'll take a look at the starting pitchers, where there's a lot more players, questions and competition.

Hip Hip!

Well, Brian Cashman can cross the first thing off his to-do list, as Jorge Posada signs a four-year, $52.4 million contract. While I'm happy that Cashman was able to get this done quickly, the deal shows exactly how big of a mistake he made when he declined to offer Posada an extension before the season started. By all accounts, Posada would have been willing to sign a three year extension for something around $30 million, which would be much better for the Yankees. Granted, there was no way to know that Posada would have a season like he did, but I still don't understand how Cashman could have looked at this offseason and thought there would be any better options.

Of course, just because Posada signed doesn't mean Cashman should stop looking for someone to replace him. This contract will last until Posada is 40 years old. Here is the list of players who have caught regularly and remained productive at that age:

1. Carlton Fisk

Fisk was a freak of nature, and while Posada is a better candidate than anyone to replicate that kind of success, the Yankees shouldn't count on that. Getting a capable backup for the short term is imperative, and in the long term the Yankees should be prepared to move Posada to the DH spot after Giambi's contract is up next season.

However, those are concerns for another day. For now, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that we'll get to see Jorge finish his great career while still wearing pinstripes.

Our long national nightmare is over

After all that waiting, the news is starting to come fast. Right on the heels of the news that Alex Rodriguez is a narcissitic idiot comes word that the Yankees have decided to hire Joe Girardi as manager. Technically they're still negotiating, but I doubt it'll take long to finalize the deal. After all, Girardi is going to have to get right to work and find himself some coaches. Don Mattingly, who is disappointed at not getting the job, has already announced that he won't be returning next season. Meanwhile, Larry Bowa has been offered a job as the third base coach in Seattle, and Ron Guidry will likely be getting the axe soon. This would leave Girardi with a staff that consists of first base coach Tony Pena, hitting coach Kevin Long and bullpen coach Joe Kerrigan. Right now, the only candidate whose name I've heard bandied about is Dave Eiland, the pitching coach for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees who helped Phil Hughes so much in September. Other than that, I think the field's wide open.

As for Girardi himself, I think it's a good decision by Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenners. I've certainly written about his qualifications enough, but that's not what really impressed me about their choice. For the past few seasons, Don Mattingly has been the presumed heir to Joe Torre's throne. There really was no question that the Yankees were grooming him for the role, and when Torre left it really seemed like it was Mattingly's job to lose. However, the Yankees sat down with their candidates and allowed themselves to be impressed by Girardi, who was reportedly fantastic in his interview. As I said, it seemed like the job was Mattingly's to lose, but Girardi went ahead and won it anyway. The reason he was able to wasn't because Mattingly did anything wrong, but because the Yankee brass kept their minds open, and you have to give them a lot of credit for that.

After the sour notes of the departures of Joe Torre and Alex Rodriguez, it's truly refreshing to have good news coming out of Tampa and I'm hoping to hear more soon. Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte all said that Joe Torre's departure would impact their decisions. I hope that the arrival of the catcher who helped them so much in their younger days will also make an impact.

Goodbye Mr. Torre

I did not see that coming.

For those who haven't heard, the Yankees decided to offer Joe Torre a 1 year, $5 million contract, and Torre turned them down. Its a surprising turn of events, and it seems more than a little shady to me, at least as far as the front office is concerned. The Steinbrenners (its been reported that George's sons Hank and Hal had a lot of input on the decision) couldn't really think that Torre, a Hall of Fame manager who has led the Yankees to historical greatness, would take a 33% pay cut just to have to go through the headache of another negotiation in a year. If they did think that, then they're idiots. If they didn't, then they must have been trying to look good to potential free agents Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, who have indicated that Torre's future will play a role in their decisions.

I've already written about the potential replacements, so let me just say a few things about Joe Torre. He could absolutely infuriate me with some of his in game moves, but there's no denying that he handled the spotlight of New York, and shielded his players from it, better than anyone. With the rise of cable, Torre faced scrutiny from more press than any manager in Yankee history. In fact, other than the White House Press Secretary, I can't think of anyone, that has to face more reporters and cameras than Joe Torre. His class and professionalism set the tone for a clubhouse that could easily fall apart with the number of highly paid stars that are on the team. and its going to be an incredibly difficult act to follow. I'm sad to see him go, and I've decided that as a farewell present, I'll be making a donation to the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation. It's a small thank you to a man who helped bring me some very good memories.

Makin' Me Sweat

Never let it be said that I'm not man enough to admit when I'm wrong, even when no one would know. I didn't get around to writing it before the game, but I didn't think Roger Clemens should have started tonight's game. I simply did not believe that his elbow could stand up to the Red Sox offense. Granted, Clemens said he could pitch, but I'm pretty sure he'd say the same thing if he were run over by the bus. He's just that kind of Texas son of a gun. The Rocket, however, was pretty sharp, pitching an efficient six innings, allowing only one unearned run, while striking out four and allowing only six men to get on base. While he had only thrown 87 pitches at that point, Joe Torre wisely decided that he didn't want to push Clemens' elbow to hard and turned things over to the Joba Chamberlain.

Unfortunately, Curt Schilling was just as sharp, if not more so. He only needed 69 pitches to get through seven innings, giving up only one run off a solo homerun by Robinson Cano in the 5th. Considering that Chamberlain was available for two innings, and Mariano Rivera was pretty well rested too, it seemed like we might be in for a long night, waiting for someone to scratch out a run against these dominating pitchers. Derek Jeter, perhaps having plans for the rest of the night, had other ideas.

After Melky Cabrera struck out to start the eighth inning, Doug Mientkiewicz managed to get on with a single. It was then that Joe Torre made a gutsy, brilliant call. Rather than have Jose Molina try to sacrifice Mientkiewicz into scoring position, Torre sent in Jason Giambi to pitch hit. What made this decision so surprising was that the only catcher who could replace Molina, Jorge Posada. For those who don't know, when you have a DH take over for a player in the field, the pitcher has to take over for that player at the plate. Torre, however, saw his chance to get a run and took it, deciding to worry about the pitcher's at bat when it came.

The gamble worked out beautifully, as Giambi singled and Damon grounded into what would have been the third out had Torre used Molina to sacrifice. Since Torre didn't, though, the Captain had the opportunity to come through in the clutch, and he did so in style, knocking a home run over the Green Monster to put the Yankees ahead 4-1. That would be all the offense the Yankees' needed, though the bullpen would make it close.

In the bottom of the 8th, Chamberlain gave up the first earned run of his short career when Mike Lowell took him deep for a solo home run. The 21 year old remained poised, as he came right back against J.D. Drew. Joba the Hutt struck him out with a breaking ball that Drew watched go by like he was frozen in carbonite.

The real nailbiting came in the botton ninth, which Mariano Rivera started by walking Jason Varitek. A Julio Lugo double would score him, and a hit batter followed by another walk would load the bases with two outs for David Ortiz. It's funny how Yankees/Red Sox games always seem to come down to big moments like these, where the game is on the line and each team has exactly who they want on the mound and at the plate. This time the moment was Mo's, as he got Ortiz to Big Papi out to shortstop with the classic cutter inside. The perfect ending to a game that was everything this rivalry is supposed to be.

Even though the Yanks won the series, without the sweep they're too far back to have a realistic shot at the pennant. However, by winning five of their last six against Boston, they've proven that they're more than ready to meet them in October. As far as getting to October, they remain two and a half games ahead of Detroit for the Wild Card, and their magic number drops to 10.

Play it again, Alex

Last night's game was almost a repeat of the night before. They were both pitcher's duels early, until the Yankee offense, led by a player with two homeruns, explodes in the later innings while the Yankee pitching keeps dominating. The funny thing is that while the results were much the same, the players weren't.

Joe Torre shuffled his lineup, resting Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu. Surprisingly, Alex Rodriguez was able to talk himself into the lineup after rolling his ankle the night before, though he was limited to DH duty. It turned out to be a pretty good decision, as Rodriguez hit his 47th and 48th homeruns in the 8th inning (yes, he hit both in the same inning), tying his own record for most homeruns hit by a righthanded Yankee.

Last night's two homerun star, Jorge Posada, was replaced by Jose Molina, though Posada did come in as a pinch hitter in the 7th. Molina filled Posada's large cleats well, knocking in the Yankees' first run in the 3rd with a solo shot that just snuck by the left field foul pole.

The most important performance, though, belonged to Philip Hughes. It was Hughes' first start since Dave Eiland, his pitching coach in Triple-A came up to New York to see him. I'm not sure what, if anything, Eiland did, but Philip Hughes: Ace of the Future was back last night. Jose Molina barely had to move his glove as Hughes was in complete command of his fastball, curve and change. He had a little trouble with his slider, which kept diving in the dirt, but three strong pitches were all that he needed to stymie the Mariners. With Roger Clemens' elbow woes and Mike Mussina's sudden inneffectiveness, the hope that Hughes can be a dependable starter down the stretch and into the playoffs is a welcome one indeed.

A couple of random notes:

• Wilson Betemit earned my eternal respect when he walked to the plate to the strains of Pearl Jam's "Better Man". Its almost as good as Hideki Matsui using Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song".
  
  
• One of the downsides of rosters expanding in September, at least for fans, is the sheer number of pitching changes a manager can make. While the Yankees were scoring eight runs in the seventh, Seattle manager John McLaren seemed to change pitchers with every swing of the bat. Every time I looked at the bullpen to see who was coming in, it seemed like there were a dozen guys left there. All told, Seattle made seven pitching changes, painfully extending the game.
  
  
• Before he was a coach, Eiland was a reliever for the Yankees, Padres and Devil Rays. He holds the distinction of being the only player in major league history to give up a home run to the first batter he faced and to hit a home run in his first at-bat.
  
  
• The Yankees' magic number for the wild card is now 20. I'll try to put up some kind of counter in the coming days.

Wang to the rescue

Monday was just a terrible day for the Yankees. First came the news that Andy Phillips' wrist was fractured when he was hit by a pitch on Sunday, and will miss 4-6 weeks, which is essentially the rest of the season. If it wasn't for bad luck, Philips wouldn't have no luck at all.

Then, Roger Clemens left last night's game after allowing five runs over four innings in order to get an MRI on his elbow, which was "tightening up," according to Joe Torre. All that's known right now is that Clemens will definitely miss his next start, but he insists he'll pitch again this season. Of course Clemens is the kind of guy who'd say that if his hair was on fire, so I think I'll wait and see what happens after he heads back to Houston to see his doctors and get a cortisone treatment.

Finally, after Clemens left the game, the Yankees went on to lose the game 7-1, allowing the Mariners to narrow the Yankees' lead in the Wild Card race to just one game.

All of this meant just one thing; it was time for the Taiwan Kid to ride to the rescue. Chien-Ming Wang pitched a classically Wangesque game, throwing the sinker low in the zone and watching the opposition hit it right into the ground. The first seven batters he faced all hit ground balls, only one of which snuck through the infield for a hit, and out of the 26 batters he faced a ludicrous 17 of them were retired on ground balls. Supporting Wang's dominance were Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu and Robinson Cano, who had four hits each, including two homeruns by Jorge, leading the Yanks to 12 runs.

As big of a blowout as it was, though, there were a couple of scary moments in the game. In the bottom of the seventh, Alex Rodriguez turned his ankle sliding into third base, and in the top of the eighth, Wang had to leave after retiring the first batter (on, of course, a ground ball) due to tightness in his lower back. Thankfully, the word is that they're both fine, though A-Rod may need a day or two off and Wang will probably get an extra day of rest before his next start (which shouldn't be a big deal with the off day on Thursday).

A-Rod's injury, by the way, led to the first major league at-bat for our former Attorney General, who seems to have found a new job rather quickly. Or maybe that's Alberto Gonzalez with a "z".

Anyway, tomorrow's rubber match pits the struggling Philip Hughes against Jarrod Washburn, who's been tough on the Yankees in the past. I'll be in Tier Box 635, Row F if anyone wants to say hello. Once again, just look for the shiny, shiny head.