Blog Archives

Derek Jeter passed Bernie Williams on the all-time Yankee hit-list two nights ago. I’ve been thinking a lot about Bernie recently. What is he doing? (He’s actually playing at a benefit concert this Saturday night) Does he watch the games? That kind of thing. Some of my questions were answered in this piece by Wayne Coffey in last Sunday’s Daily News.

Alex Rodriguez was supposed to get a day off a month ago when the Yankees were in California. It’s understandable why he hasn’t, though it now seems time to give him a breather. He’s had bad at-bats for the past few games. Last night, in particular, looked ripped out of the 2005-06 playoff handbook–missing fat pitches, chasing poor ones. Let’s hope Torre rests him soon. Moreover, it’d be nice to see Posada get some time off as well.

Speaking of Jorge, I was e-mailing with Joe Sheehan last night and he posed the question: Has Posada ever had a great post-season? Not a fine isolated series–he was good last year against the Tigers–but a real strong couple of series?

Finally, here are a couple of things to check out: Joel Sherman’s post about filling-in for S. Waldman on the radio last week; Jonah Keri on 100 players you love to hate, and John Heylar on Dr. James Andrews.

First, the good news. The Yankees beat the Orioles, 8-5 last night at The Stadium while the Tigers and Red Sox both lost. The Bombers are three-and-a-half games ahead of the Tigers in the wildcard standings (four in the loss column), and just three-and-a-half behind the Sox in the AL East. All the makings of a good night.

We shouldn’t complain. It’s just that sitting through another interminable Yankees-Orioles game almost takes the fun out of baseball. Last night’s game lasted 3 hours and 54 minutes. Oy and veh.

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Here’s more about last night: Edes, Cafardo, and Malloy in The Boston Globe; Bradford, Massarotti, and Buckley in The Boston Herald; Sherman and Vaccaro in The New York Post; Lupica and Harper in the News, and from the blogosphere, here’s Beth from Cursed to First, and the wrap-up from Yanksfan v Soxsfan.

Beckett and Wang later this afternoon…

“We lucked out. That eighth inning was incredible,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “The only thing predictable in this ballpark is the unpredictable.”

…”It came apart in a hurry,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.
(AP)

Turgid and tedious, that’s what it was, suddenly capped by a burst of joy, a shot of espresso. Hot dog. The Yankees played a sloppy game tonight but scored six runs in the eighth inning to beat the Red Sox in dramatic fashion, 8-7 at Fenway Park. The game lasted 4 hours and 43 minutes, just two minutes shy of the longest 9 inning game in history–a mark set last year by the Yanks and Sox. Andy Pettitte struggled, the offense left a ton of runners on base through the first six innings, Jason Giambi was a butcher at first base (botching three plays, the last one leading to two runs), and Melky Cabrera inexplicably slid into first base again, costing himself an infield hit in the process. And yet, down 7-2, the Bombers came back against Boston’s two best relievers, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Paplebon. Jason Giambi started the comeback with a solo homer, Robinson Cano followed with one of his own, and Bobby Abreu delivered the key hit, a two-run double off the top of the center field wall. Alex Rodriguez drove in the game-winning run–a solid single to left against Paplebon–and Mariano Rivera earned the save in what has to qualify as one of the biggest wins of the season for the Yanks.

It wasn’t pretty–in fact, it was downright ugly–but it was sweet. Yanks will have to play a much cleaner game tomorrow against Josh Beckett, who is sure to be fired-up. The Sox have handled Chien-Ming Wang in the past, so the fielding must be sharp. My biggest concern this weekend was the Red Sox sweeping. It’d be great if the Yanks can win at least one of the next two. Here’s hoping the Twins offer some help against the Tigers.

But for the moment–stay in the moment, kid, stay in the moment–things feel pretty good.

“I think that might be the best pitching staff in the league,” [Johnny] Damon said. “Detroit hasn’t been healthy all year I know and you have to look at Anaheim and Boston.

“But these guys [the Blue Jays], all of them throw the ball well. I really tip my hat to those guys. They’re a scary team, they’re really close.”
(Globe and Mail)

The Yankees lost a well-pitched game 2-1 against the Blue Jays last night. Ian Kennedy was terrific, giving up just a run off one hit over seven innings, and A.J. Burnett was McNasty allowing a single run over eight innings. But Battleship Chris Britton gave up two consecutive hits in the bottom of the ninth and that was that.

Kennedy made one mistake in the first inning. With a runner on, he grooved an 0-2 fastball right over the heart of the plate to Frank Thomas. The Jays’ DH pounded a long line drive to deep center field. Melky Cabrera looked as if he was going to catch it, but missed the ball at the wall, allowing the first run of the game to score. It wasn’t a can of corn but it was a ball Cabrera should have caught. Kennedy then retired the next 15 batters, as he mixed his fastball, breaking ball and change-up wonderfully.

Burnett, in a complete contrast of styles, was simply overpowering. His breaking ball was hard and sharp and it often skipped in the dirt. But that didn’t matter much as Yankee hitters waved at it anyway. Wilson Betemit whiffed three times on breaking pitches. Johnny Damon caught a change-up from Burnett and planted it into the seats for a solo home run in the sixth. By the time Alex Rodriguez came to hit three batters later, there were two runners on. Rodriguez couldn’t hold up on the first pitch, a hard slider, but he laid-off the next two pitches, also breaking balls. Then, Burnett spotted a fastball right down the pipe, and to cap it off, he threw the same pitch again. Rodriguez, guessing breaking ball, took both pitches (he’d strike out again in the ninth, after just missing a slider).

The Yankees left two runners stranded in the sixth and in the ninth and when Britton entered the game, well, it didn’t look good. Britton was pitching because Kyle Farnsworth was unavailable due to a sore neck. And so the Yanks lost a squeaker, ending their seven-game winning streak. It wouldn’t seem like such a tough loss if the Bombers hadn’t put themselves in such a pickle early in the season.

Ah, no use crying. Tonight gives Boston. Here comes the pain.

I love to root against A.J. Burnett. There’s just something about the looks of him that turn me off. It’s the body language, the same thing that I don’t like about Farnsworth–though Burnett is a far superior pitcher. He’s the guy with the million dollar arm, ten cent head, the guy with great stuff who is only a great pitcher sometimes. He is able to get by with his natural gifts because he’s been blessed.

Burnett will dominate a game for six innings and then not be able to finish. Or he’ll go on a run for half a season where he’s overpowering from start-to-start, and then he gets hurt or fades somehow. And always with the great stuff. But there’s always something. And you don’t know what that something is only that it is there. He’s elite talent but not an elite pitcher, not with a career record of 67-65 over 9 seasons. Burnett has never won more than 12 games in a season. I know you can be unlucky and injured but you can’t be that unlucky and injured.

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Anyone seen those Jabba The Hutt t-shirts? They are pretty cool. If you enter the code: jobabronxblock, you can save $2.50 per tee. Get ’em while they’re hot.

Our pal Allen Barra talks to Mets announcer Ron Darling about Jazz in this week’s Voice. Darling knows Lee Morgan from Ahmad Jamal. Who knew? And not for nothing, but I think that Darling is a superior color man.

Okay, here’s something to chew over. Yesterday, another BB friend, Pete Abraham, wrote a post about Jorge Posada. Pete thinks Posada is a “probable” Hall of Famer. I’m not so sure about that–as much as I’d like to see it happen, of course. Yeah, I believe that Posada is the third-best catcher in Yankee history (behind Yogi and Bill Dickey), but I think he needs to have another two or three very good seasons in order to be worthy of the Hall of Fame. Just off the top of my head, I wouldn’t rank Posada ahead of Ted Simmons, would you? Discuss.

It is brisk and chilly in New York this morning. As I walked to the subway I couldn’t help but think of playoff baseball. It’s not cold enough for a frost, so we’ll probably get local tomatoes and corn for one more week (the last, delicious reminders of the summer), but the leaves are starting to turn here and there, and the kids are back in school. The Yankees are not a lock for the post-season yet but they are getting there…

When Melky Cabrera reached second base with two out in the ninth inning, he slapped his hands together, nostrils flaired. Perhaps he was amped because his ground ball double play helped squash a Yankee rally in the fourth inning. As it was, his double was only the team’s fourth hit of the night (A fifth hit–a single to center by the next batter, Johnny Damon–was nullified by an extremely poor call by the second base umpire, Jim Wolf). The Yankees, however, had the lead and won the game, 4-1. An 8th inning error by Alex Rodriguez put an end to Joba Chamberlain’s scoreless inning streak, but Mariano Rivera got the last four outs of the game, and that was that. The Tigers (Mags) and Red Sox (Ortiz) and Mariners also won, so there was no change in the playoff standings as far as the Bombers are concerned (the Tigers did gain a game on the Indians who lost).

Hideki Matsui has been slumping but in the first inning he drove a fastball on the outside corner to deep left for an RBI. The YES broadcast showed side-by-side replays of Matsui’s RBI single with an at-bat from the previous game where he was pulling off the ball, his head jerking up in the air toward first base. Last night, he kept his rear and his head steady and drove the pitch. (Matsui also walked twice later in the game.) Rodriguez–who reached base on a check-swing walk (he got a favorable call on that one)–then scored on a wild pitch by Dustin McGowan. Robinson Cano added a two-run single in the fourth which was all the runs the Yanks would need.

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…For MLB to pattern itself after the NBA. This could take some time…

Howard Bryant is now writing for ESPN. He tackles the Mitchell Investigation in his latest piece.

Over at the NY Times’ blog, Tyler Kepner has a nice post about Harlan Chamberlain.

Can the Yankees win the East? Larry Mahnken takes a look.

Will Alex Rodriguez leave the Yankees? Tim Marchman thinks that is a possibility:

Some mysteries are no mystery at all. Take the ongoing speculation over whether or not Alex Rodriguez will be a Yankee next year. This is not, in fact, a mysterious issue. It was clear in January that he would opt out of his current contract, it became clearer when he had mounted one of the great displays of hitting the game has ever seen in April, and it is clearer still today, as he readies himself for a drive toward his 60th home run. Thus, absent a massive loss of face for the Yankees brass, he will almost certainly be playing for another team next year.

There are two reasons why this is clear. The first is that Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras, prefers whenever possible to have his clients set their value on the open market. The second is that the Yankees have loudly proclaimed that if Rodriguez does become a free agent they won’t be bidding on him, a claim to which general manager Brian Cashman has publicly attached his name and which has precluded any negotiations on a contract extension that would keep Rodriguez in the Bronx. Because Boras’s tactics are sensible and consistent, and because Cashman is not known for publicly lying, it would seem there is only one possible outcome here, absent a sentimental decision on Rodriguez’s part to surrender control over his future in exchange for having his games called by Suzyn Waldman.

Thanks to Baseball Think Factory for some of the links…

So Roy Halladay was pitching a brilliant game last night, but fell apart in the 9th as the Blue Jays lost to the Tigers, 5-4. Go freakin’ figure. Got to be one of the best moments of the season for Detroit. Magglio Ordonez had four hits including the game-winner. Man, he’s had some kind of season, hasn’t he?

The Tigers, who play a double-header against the Texas Rangers today, now trail the Yankees by just three-and-a-half games. The Red Sox lead is down to five games, as they lost a close one to the Devil Rays last night, 1-0.

The Blue Jays won’t make the post-season but they can play the role of spoilers, starting tonight against the Yankees. Here’s hoping our boys continue to play well this week; here’s hoping they win this series in Toronto. ‘Nuff said.

Hideki Matsui is in a slump yet the Kansas City pitching staff decided time and again to pitch to Alex Rodriguez this weekend. Rodriguez ripped home run #52 off Zach Greinke in the first inning yesterday. He singled in the fifth and scored on Jorge Posada’s double. Yes, the Yankees’ two best players, Rodriguez and Posada, were at it again yesterday. Chien-Ming Wang didn’t feel great, but toughed-out seven innings, Robinson Cano made a nifty defensive play, and Mariano Rivera earned the save as the Yanks beat the Royals, 6-3. The Bombers gained a game on the Tigers, who finally lost to the Mariners, and now lead both teams by four-games in the wildcard standings.

When he reaches first base, Alex Rodriguez holds his right hand just over his heart as he rotates his left shoulder. He’s been doing this for about a month now, presumably stretching-out a jammed shoulder. I was going to mention this routine the other night. It’s not that Rodriguez is faking being injured, just that is he can’t help but call attention to himself. It’s the insecurity of the A-student who needs to be reminded how smart he is.

In his second at-bat last night, Rodriguez planted a fastball over the center field wall for his 50th homer of the season. As he was rounding the bases, the entire Yankee bullpen stood and began immitating Rodrgiuez, rotating their shoulders. Some of his teammates were doing the same when Rodriguez reached the dugout. Smiles all around. After the game Rodriguez showed good humor about being ribbed. “I’ve never seen a team make more fun of one guy than this team,” Rodriguez said, smiling. “That was pretty funny.”

Comes with the territory, big boy. Rodriguez hit a second home run–and narrowly missed hitting a third–as Andy Pettitte pitched a good game and the Yankees cruised to an 11-5 win over the Royals. The Bombers have won the series. A win today would be a great way to cap the weekend.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Another tough pitching match-up for the Yanks tonight. Here’s hoping they win the series here and now. It’s all about Andy and the bats.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

“I’ll never forget this day, Sept. 7, 2007,” said Harlan Chamberlain. “I can’t put my thoughts into words.”

Maybe the reason I don’t love baseball movies is because I’ve never fallen for male weepies like Field of Dreams or Bang the Drum Slowly. It’s not that I don’t get mushy in certain movies, it’s just that baseball movies don’t do it for me. My father, on the other hand, loved them and I could see myself, if not loving them myself as I get older, then at least appreciating what my old man saw in them and enjoying that.

My dad, who died earlier this year, was a great blubberer. Episdoes of Law and Order could get him going. He was just a natural crier, and it was easily one of his most endearing qualities. You gotta love a softy, especially old hard guys like my dad.

I couldn’t help but think of the old man last night as Harlan Chamberlain watched his son Joba pitch in the big leagues for the first time. “I think he’s more excited than I am,” Joba said before the game. “I think he’s more excited than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

Harlan bares a passing resemblance to my father–in the thickness of his face, in his glasses, mustache, and the couple of pens tucked into the breast pocket of his black dress shirt. My dad was a real Yankee-hater but he would have been touched by the scene captured by the YES cameras.

When Joba entered a 3-2 game in the bottom of the seventh, Harlan sat in his motorized wheelchair surrounded by family and friends. Harlan’s mouth turned downward and tears began to run down the side of his face. Then his chin and bottom lip began to tremble. He couldn’t stop it and it didn’t look as if he wanted to. Various relatives reached in to rub his shoulder. A young girl threw her arms around his thick neck his face completely moist now.

The long fly ball that ended the seventh put a scare into everyone, and Harlan’s reaction was priceless: His eyes bugged out as the rest of his face froze–no breathing. When the catch was made, Halan’s mouth, still turned downward, opened and he let out a yell, as he pumped his fist. Everyone around him patted him and cheered as Harlan shook his head with relief. Finally, he rolled his eyes and sighed as if to say…”Whew.” Really nice moment.

Joba pitched two scoreless innings. He wasn’t great but he didn’t give up a run. Then Mariano Rivera dominated the Royals in the ninth giving the Yankees a clutch, 3-2 win. Actually, it was a lucky win as much as anything else because the Yankees went 0-367 with runners on base. Check it out, it was ugly. But you can’t argue about aesthetics or luck when you are in a pennant race:

“We went to the bank a lot to win that game,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “We had so many guys on base. We used Farns, used Joba, used Mo. We spent a lot to get that win. It was an enormous win for us.”
(Hartford Courant)

True. A couple of guys who can’t play much better are Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada, the two best everyday players on the team. Rodriguez drilled a solo homer in his first at-bat, his 49th of the year. Posada followed with a solo blast of his own two batters later. On the Rodriguez dinger, I thought there would be too much top-spin on the ball and that it would hit off the left field wall for a double. But it hit the top of the wall and skipped over for a homer. Rodriguez now has the record for dingers by a third baseman in a season (or he’s at least tied the mark if you want to include Harmon Killebrew’s 1969 season). He also had two singles. Bobby Abreu doubled home the winning run. The Yanks are three games ahead of the Tigers in the wildcard standings, four up on the Mariners.

Our pal Pete Abe says Harlan Chamberlain “is a piece of work”:

He said he was prepared for Billy Butler’s ball to go over the wall because he knows Joba is going to give up a run eventually. “Matter of time,” he said.

After we got done speaking to him, Joe Torre came out of the clubhouse. Seeing Joba’s dad, he walked over.

“How did my boy do for you, Joe?” the proud father asked as he shook the manager’s hand.

“Pretty damn good,” Torre said. “We’re going to keep him.”

Harlan is scheduled to travel to Yankee Stadium for the first time in his life in two weeks.

I felt as sure that the Yankees would win the last two games of the Seattle series, and they did just that, but with the memory of last weekend’s weak-ass showing against the Devil Rays still fresh, I’m on the fence about whether I think the Yankees will win this series against the Royals. It’s the start of a nine-game road trip, the Blue Jays and Red Sox looming. I’m actually feeling that they are going to lose two-of-three, and I’m not trying to be dramatic, either.

I don’t know much about the Royals but I do know that they’ve been competitive. They are throwing three pretty good pitchers at the Yanks this weekend, I know that much. It’s just that I’m not convinced the Yankees can bring their A-game to a so-so team on a regular basis.

Show us you are a playoff team. You know what I’m saying? C’mon already. I know we’re impatient, I know we’re demanding. Just win already and we’ll leave you alone.

With Cliff still away on vacay, I was fortunate enough to get acclaimed sports writer Joe Posnanski–whose wonderful blog, The Soul of Baseball, quickly became a must-read this season–to share his thoughts on the Royals with us. Enjoy.

The KC Royals

By Joe Posnanski.

Since May 12, the Royals have played exactly .500 baseball — they are 51-51. This probably doesn’t seem the kind of record that would prompt a ticker-tape parade, but hey it has been bad around here. The Royals are one win away from clinching a non-100 loss season. When you’ve lost 100 games four out of five years, you take your small victories when you can get them.

The exciting part about the Royals recent solid play is that they are doing it with kids. The Royals one moment of promise in the last 15 or so years happened in 2003 when they got off to the amazing 16-3 start and were in first place most of the season. But they did that mostly with veterans — Mike Sweeney, Raul Ibanez, Carlos Beltran, Brian Anderson, Jose Lima (!), Curt Leskanic, etc. — and any clear-eyed observer would have known that it could not last. Of course, the Royals had been so bad for so long that many of us DID think it would last, then Ibanez signed elsewhere, Beltran was traded, Sweeney got hurt, the others got old, and the Royals lost 210 games the next two seasons.

This time around, at least, it’s the kids sparking the resurgence. It begins with rookie starter Brian Bannister, who came over from the Mets in the Ambiorix Burgos deal. I am so rarely right about anything, but, man, I nailed that deal. I heard from all my New York friends when Burgos showed up at spring training throwing 100 mph, looking great. I said: “Just wait.” Burgos, as predicted, couldn’t throw strikes, couldn’t get anybody out and blew out his arm. Have fun with that guy.

Meanwhile, Bannister has been terrific — to me, he’s the American League rookie of the year right now. You could argue for Dustin Pedroia, I suppose, but at this point I still like Bannister. For so long people were ready to hand the award to Dice-K. Look at their numbers now:

Bannister: 12-7, 3.16 ERA, 151 ERA+, league is hitting .242 against him.
Matsuzaka: 14-11, 4.11 ERA, 111 ERA+, league is hitting .246 against him.

So it starts with Bannister. He will throw this weekend. Then, you throw in rookie closer Joakim Soria, who has been electric all year — the league is hitting .192 against him. Yankees fans will, I think, see similarities between him and Mariano. I’m not comparing the two at all, obviously. I’m saying that Soria obviously idolizes Rivera because he has patterned his setup and delivery after the guy. At times, if you look away from the screen and look back quickly, they look identical. Try it! It’s fun!

Then there are the two rookie hitters — Alex Gordon and Billy Butler. Gordon started off the season horribly — on June 6 he was hitting .173. Since then he’s hitting right at .300 with some power, and it’s clear watching him play that he pattered HIS game after George Brett.

Billy Butler is just a stud. No other way to say it. He’s 21 years old, his power isn’t in place yet, he has no position, but the guy can flat hit. If you took his stats from this year over a full season, you would come up with a .300 average, 40 or so doubles, 12 homers, between 90 and 100 RBIs — and this guy has no idea what he’s doing yet. A scout called me and said he’s the best young right handed hitter he’s seen since Manny Ramirez.

That’s four rookies, all contributing (five if you include shortstop Tony Pena, who really can’t hit and never walks but probably makes more good defensive plays than any other shortstop in the league). There are some other good signs too. Zack Greinke, after a couple of lost years, is back in the rotation and he has not given up a run in this stretch as a starter. Gil Meche, who was everybody’s favorite whipping boy when the Royals gave him $55 million over five years, has been solid (his 7-12 record doesn’t show it; his 3.85 ERA does). Mark Teahen has had an up-and-down year, but he’s a good player who can beat you a few different ways. Joey Gathright’s average had dropped a bit, but he’s beginning to figure out how to use his amazing speed. Longtime Royals icon Mike Sweeney is back with the team and has been hitting the ball hard again.

Point is there are signs of hope in Kansas City. It’s worth noting, however, that these signs of hope did not prevent the Yankees from destroying the Royals in the Bronx.

Ian Kennedy is on the mound tonight, making his second-career start. Gil Meche, winless in his last eight starts, goes for the Royals. Yanks have their work cut out as Meche is due for a turn in luck, but they are still supposed to win these games, yes?

Right. Exactly.

Would be great to see Rodriguez hit his 50th in KC.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Where does Alex Rodriguez’s season rank amongst the greatest single seasons ever by a Yankee hitter? Well, according to OPS+, if the season ended today, he’d rank #25. Rodriguez currently sports an OPS+ of 183 (he had an OPS+ of 167 in his last MVP season, 2005). If he drops to 180, he’ll be in 30th place. Nothing but a bunch of guys name Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle and DiMaggio ahead of him on the list. But check out Bobby Murcer’s 1971 season, and Paulio O’s strike-shortened 1994 season, making to top 30.

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Joba Chamberlian’s father, Harlan, will be travelling from his home in Lincoln, Nebraska to Kansas City this weekend to see his son. According to the New York Post:

Harlan always believed in his son but even he is surprised by Joba’s meteoric rise in the Yankee bullpen. “It’s more astonishing than anything,” he said. “It’s beyond my wildest imagination. And as a father, I just want to reach out to my son and touch him.

“I just want to hold him for a few minutes. I’m more anxious to see my son right now than anything else. If he pitches, that’s frosting on the cake.”

Harlan has lived with polio since he was nine-years old.

I guess the ankle is okay. Soup to nuts, Alex Rodriguez is your American League MVP. His performance Wednesday night is the kind that voters remember at the end of the season. In a big game against his old team, Rodriguez delivered the biggest hits. He ain’t no choke artist this year.

The Yankees were down 2-1 when Rodriguez led-off the seventh inning with a long home run against Jarrod Washburn. When he came to the plate again later in the inning it was thirty minutes later and the lead was up to 7-2. Now he hit another home run, a two-run line drive into the left field seats. That makes 48 homers, 134 RBI, and 127 runs scored.

The Mariners used six pitchers, the Yankees scored eight runs and the half-inning last just under forty minutes. Good ol’ American League baseball.
For a second straight night, the Bombers erupted late turning a close game into a blowout. Final: Yanks 10, M’s 2. Washburn was his usual stingy self against the Yanks, crafting six effective innings. Phillip Hughes had his best start since returning from injury. His fastball was lively, he was throwing his curve ball well, and challenged the hitters. Went right at them. His only mistake was a 2-0 fastball to Raul Ibanez in the third inning. The pitch caught too much of the plate and Ibanez stroked a line drive home run to right, giving the M’s a 2-0 lead.

A solo shot by Jose Molina in the bottom of the inning brought the Yanks to within one and Hughes worked out of trouble in the fourth. With a runner on third and one out, he got a strikeout and a ground ball. Then he worked a perfect fifth and sixth (with some help from Duncan who threw out Ibanez trying to stretch a single into a double to lead off the sixth).

The Mariners were hurt even more by luck. A botched play at second, allowing Molina to reach safely, and later, a routine ground ball that reached the outfield because second baseman Jose Lopez was out of position moving towards second on a hit-and-run play. Ichiro was robbed by two bad calls on the bases–one at second (phantom tag by Jeter), the other at first. The M’s were upset with home plate umpire Larry Vanover’s strike zone all night (with good reason, he was all over the place). Rick White got himself thrown out by Vanover he was so frustrated.

Joba Chamberlain pitched a one-two-three seventh and earned his first career victory. A necessary win for New York. An awful loss for Seattle. The Yankees now travel to Kansas City with a three-game lead over the Mariners. Most of all, it was another great night from Mr. Big Stuff (the team’s second best player Jorge Posada drew a key pinch-hit walk in the seventh), the best player in the league.

Last night won’t mean much if the Yanks don’t win again tonight. They need to win this game and they need to win this series. Being three games up on Seattle is a whole lot better than just a one-game lead. Then again the Mariners need to win this game badly too. I expect their best effort and Washburn has been tough on the Yankees in the past. But I also expect Hughes to throw a good game and I expect the Yankees to win. Could be wrong, of course. They could come out flat. Who knows what we’ll see. But they should win, right? Alex Rodriguez is in the starting line-up, he’ll DH. Jorge sits, so does Abreu. Betemit plays third, G’bombee plays first, and Shelley SlamDuncanstein is in right.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!