Ah, so with Cliff and his bride living the life of Riley in the motherland, you all are going to have to put up with my, well, less than comprehensive pre-game posts. Yanks finish up down in Tampa tonight.

Go git ’em boys. Don’t nobody get hurt now, ya hear? (And here’s to Alex Rodriguez breaking out of his mini-slump with a big night.)

The Yanks got smushed by the Devil Rays on Saturday 8-0, and then 11-4 on Sunday, almost as badly as Manny Ramirez did by Boston Globe columnist Gordon Edes over the weekend (yikes). Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina were the losers; yesterday, Ron Villone continued to struggle. Moose was hit in the hand by a line drive off the bat of Carl Crawford in the fifth, but was not hurt seriously. He was more upset about losing the game. Later, he told the New York Times:

“It’s a big deal,” said starter Mike Mussina, who lasted four and two-thirds innings Sunday and was the losing pitcher. “It was a big deal last year, and we let it get away. When you clinch this early, you’ve got to find a way to get motivated and stay after it for another week. We’ve got to win some ballgames and not let it get away from us.”

With Sunday’s loss, the Yankees fell a half-a-game behind the Tigers for the best record in the league. According to Pete Abraham, Torre told reporters after the game that while home field advantage throughout the post-season is important, it’s not worth exhausting his players this week. “I’m not going to beat the hell out of them,” he said. This isn’t the first time in recent memory that the Yankees have slipped a bit towards the end of September. I don’t think it will sperl them for the playoffs.

Gary Sheffield had an adventurous go of it at first base on both Saturday, when he was hand-cuffed by a throw from Johnson, and again on Sunday. More from Kepner:

“Once I go through it and see it once, I’ll get it,” Sheffield said. He added: “I’m willing to learn. I’m putting the work in and the time, and eventually I’ll get it.”

Torre said that while Sheffield’s footwork could improve, even a more experienced first baseman might have made the same decisions. While saying he had not decided whether to start Sheffield at first in the playoffs, Torre seems confident he could manage it.

“He’s got a feel for the game,” Torre said. “So I’m not really concerned.”

Jason Giambi hopes to return later this week. I think it’s safe to say that Torre and the Yankees are not sure yet what their first base/DH plans will be come next week.

Chien-Ming Wang won his 18th game of the season as the Yanks beat the Rays, 4-1 on Friday night. Gary Sheffield didn’t get a hit but made a couple of nice picks at first. Mariano Rivera wasn’t particularly sharp in his return but he did manage to strike out the side in the ninth.

Cliff is getting married today and will be honeymooning in Italy for several weeks (he won’t return until after the ALDS). Go Cliff and Becky and go Yanks!

The Boss speaks (says he feels fine and that the Yanks will go “all the way”); Jason Giambi might need surgery on his left wrist this off-season (he’s playing with a torn ligament); Tyler Kepner profiles Brian Bruney; Will Weiss looks at the Yankees division-clinching games since 1996; Christian Red writes about Ray Negron’s new book; the Yankees are moving their AAA operations to Sranton, P.A.; over at the Replacement Level Yankees Blog, SG takes a look at the Good, Bad and the Ugly of the 2006 season; and last but not least, Bronx Banter reader Pistol Pete has arranged some clips of the Yankee’s post-game celebration the other night over at You Tube. Good looking, bro.

I’m looking forward to see Gary Sheffield play first base this weekend down in Tampa. Nothing like a little hometown cooking to get him going again.

And now… for the Prime Minister, sinister.. Pete N-hi-hi-hi-hi-hi-hice! (Nice nice nice)

Kick em in the grill, Pete. Props to Jack Curry.

The Yankees lost 3-2 to the Blue Jays last night in Toronto but clinched their ninth straight American League East Division title when the Twins spanked the Red Sox in Boston, 8-2. The young kids in the Yankee clubhouse–Melky Cabrera, Robby Cano, Jose Veras–led the champagne and beer-soaked celebration. Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez could not stop smiling. Gary Sheffield talked about how eager he is to contribute in playoffs. Derek Jeter was bumrushed by the young Latino mob during a TV interview with Kim Jones, who was repeatedly (and perhaps mean-spiritedly) doused by Randy Johnson. Naturally, Jeter managed to keep his composure. So did the veteran Jorge Posada who stressed that this was just a good start.

All of the older guys mentioned how tickled they were at the energy and enthusiasm of the younger players. Bernie Williams, who really looked geeked, his eyes wide open and innocent like a kid on Christmas morning. Williams knows that the end is near for him, and it appeared as if he was taking a special pleasure in the moment. Joe Torre’s eyes started welling-up when he first spoke with Jones. Unfortunately, he kept his composure. We’ll have to wait for a more significant celebration to really see the waterworks, bless his heart.

This doesn’t get boring. Every year that the Yankees make the playoffs is a special occasion, something to be treasured and appreciated.

Congrats to the team on a fine regular season. Now, as the Captain likes to say, the real season begins…

Doc Halladay, I presume?

There is only one kind of real daily tension remaining in the regular season for the Yankees and that’s hoping that the team can get through each game without losing anyone to a significant injury. On Tuesday night, Derek Jeter was hit in the hand with a pitch, Johnny Damon made a funny motion with his left arm after making a poor throw from the outfield in the fith, and, later in the same inning, sustained some minor cuts on his left hand after making a terrific, game-changing catch. Jason Giambi left the game early with tenderness in his aching hand. The YES announcers did not say that anything to lead us to believe that it’s a devastating issue, but nevertheless, it’s enough to make you hold your breath.

Ron Guidry looked like his old fluid self tossing bp to Gary Sheffield this afternoon. The Yankee slugger, wearing a sweat-soaked t-shirt cranked Gator’s first offering into the second deck of the Rogers Centre. He was activated and available to pinch hit tonight but did not appear. However, we will see him soon–regardless if Giambi will need a few days to rest. Joe Torre has stated that he’d like to wait until the Yankees clinch the division before he uses Sheff, and tonight, the Bombers (with a little bit of help from the Twinkies) moved two steps closer, their magic number reduced to one. Not bad when you consider the fact that Roy Halladay is pitching for Toronto tomorrow.

Jeff Kartsens pitched a very nice game and the bullpen was effective as the Yanks beat the Blue Jays, 6-3. Bobby Abreu broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run dinger to straight away center in the seventh and Godziller Matsui added a solo shot in the eighth (earlier, Jorge Posada cranked his 20th homer of the season). A good job all around by the boys tonight.

The Yankee announcers spent a good deal of the broadcast talking about Verducci’s cover story on Alex Rodriguez, which will be on the stands tomorrow. After thinking about it for a few hours the thing that really stands out about the story is not that it tells us a lot that we don’t already know, or haven’t already suspected about Rodriguez and his teammates, but the fact that it reveals some of the behind-the-scenes atmosphere of the Yankees. One thing that has been a constant during the Torre Era is that the Yankees have kept their business to themselves. When Buster Olney wrote his book about the team he learned about a dispute that Jorge Posada and Tino Martinez had had while Olney was covering the team. Olney never knew about it and Posada told him that was because the Yankees didn’t let anyone know about that kind of stuff. It was all handled in house. It doesn’t get into the papers.

Af for the SI piece, well, I can’t remember the last time we’ve read anything as intimate or direct about the Yankees since Torre came to town. It’s not as if Giambi or Torre didn’t realize that their words would get out there. Maybe that is part of what they are trying to do. I’ve spoken with a few people today who thinks if that is the case it’s a lousy move on their part. No matter, let’s just hope this doesn’t shake Rodriguez out of the nice groove he’s started to get in. The Yankees have too many good things going on to let themselves get sucked into any kind of controversy. Still, cruddy timing continues to plague Alex Rodriguez (who was 0-3 with a walk tonight).

Hold your head, bro, and way to go Yanks!

Nobody in Yankeeland has been analyzed half as much as Alex Rodriguez has been this year. But just when you thought the horse couldn’t take another lash, Tom Verducci arrives with an insightful, behind-the-scenes profile of Rodriguez. There are especially good quotes from Jason Giambi. Check it out.

“We were dead,” said Rodriguez, whose 34th homer made it 3-2. “This is as tired as I’ve seen this group in probably three years. A.J. Burnett was dominating us, about as much as we’ve been dominated all year.”
(Don Amore, Hartford Courant)

Man, was anyone else fired-up watching that game last night? After the bullpen blew two games on Sunday, I was in rare form as A.J. Burnett dominated the Bombers through the first five innings–cursing, kvetching, and shouting loud enough to drive Emily from the couch. Burnett had his fastball and his breaking ball working and he simply overpowered the Yanks who didn’t arrive in their hotel ’til the wee hours of the a.m. The team got a jolt of life when Johnny Damon was ejected for arguing balls and strikes after Hideki Matsui was called out on a check swing in the fifth.

The Jays held what seemed like a commanding 3-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Burnett could not finish off Bobby Abreu with two men out. Abreu worked a full count and then slapped a single up the middle. Then Alex Rodriguez planted a 1-0 fastball over the wall in left center field and the Bombers were on the board. Suddenly Burnett lost his groove. Jason Giambi walked on five pitches, Burnett balked him over to second and then walked Jorge Posada. However, he got Robinson Cano to pop a fastball up to shortstop to get out of the inning. As good as his stuff is, you have to wonder about Burnett’s mental toughness. I was calling him everything in the book from where I was sitting.

Godzilla Matsui singled sharply to center to start the seventh but was retired when Melky Cabrera hit into a 6-4-3 double play. But Aaron Guiel–who replaced Damon in center and made a fine sliding catch to boot–dunked a 1-2 curve ball into left for a double. Burnett fell behind Derek Jeter 3-0 before the Yankee captain crushed a home run over the wall in left center field, putting the Yankees ahead for good. It was only the second time that Jeter has swung at a 3-0 pitch since 2002 (the other time came in his final at bat on Sunday night). Hot damn and go figure, right?

The Yanks added three in the ninth (with Bernie Williams doing his best Albert Belle routine) before Posada waved at ball four with the bases loaded to end the inning. As it turns out, they would need all the insurance they could get as Troy Glaus lined a three-run dinger off Octavio Dotel in the bottom of the ninth. More moaning in the Bronx. The only reason I wasn’t more upset was that I had called Glaus’ dinger two innings earlier. It took four Yankee relievers to seal the deal, but when all was said and done, the Yanks had a 7-6 victory, and saw their magic number for clinching the AL East cut to three games.

Gary Sheffield had a thorough tutorial at first base yesterday afternoon and it looks like we’ll see him at first base, if not in Toronto, then later this week or this weekend down in Tampa. According to Tyler Kepner in the New York Times:

Sheffield has spoken recently with Fred McGriff, a former teammate who lives near him in Florida. McGriff reinforced the message that the position change would benefit Sheffield.

“This is a blessing in disguise for you, and you don’t even know it yet,” Sheffield said McGriff told him. “It just enhances your value.”

Sheff will face Ron Guidry in a live bp session today. Yo, I’m just licking my chops to see that man hit again, aren’t you?

I really don’t have much to say about the Blue Jays. As the season winds to a close it looks as though their splashy offseason will have netted them an extra six wins. That’s nothing to sneeze at, but 86 wins just isn’t going to cut it in the American League.

What’s most compelling about the series that begins in Toronto tonight is that a) the Yankees could make like 1995 and clinch in Canada and b) because the rest of the rotation was scrunched into two days over the weekend and Cory Lidle is out with tendonitis in his pitching hand, the Yankees are running out a trio of rookie starters. This spring I did a lot of blabbing about the trio of 25-year-old pitchers in Columbus which I thought could produce this year’s Chien-Ming Wang for the Yankees. Things didn’t work out that way. Sean Henn and Darrell Rasner spent large chunks of the season on the DL and Matt DeSalvo was so awful that he was exiled to Trenton where he continued to walk more than he struck out. Henn inspired little confidence when healthy and was eventually converted to relief, though he’ll return to the rotation in Lidle’s stead on Wednesday.

Of the three, only Rasner, who starts tonight against the Jay’s offseason poster boy A.J. Burnett, has displayed the sort of potential I had trumpeted in the spring. Rasner has been uniformly excellent for the Yankees in his limited opportunities this year. He posted a 2.89 ERA in the minors with a stellar 3.93 K/BB ratio–which includes a few rehab starts following his three-month DL stay due to shoulder soreness–and has allowed just one run in 11 2/3 major league innings (0.77 ERA), striking out eight and walking none. In his only previous start for the Yankees, Rasner held the Twins to a run on four hits over six full. Most recently he pitched in relief of tomorrow’s starter Jeff Karstens and threw four one-hit shutout innings against the Devil Rays, striking out five and throwing a staggering 80 percent of just 45 pitches for strikes. That outing came on Thursday, which means Rasner is pitching on three-days rest, albeit from what amounts to half a start. I continue to hold out hope that Rasner will be a part of the discussion for next year’s rotation. While I don’t think he’ll be able to work his way into the fourth spot in the playoff rotation, a good outing tonight could clinch his spot on the postseason roster as he could do for the Yankees what Ervin Santana did against them in Game 5 of the ALDS last year.

As for Burnett, he has been dominant over his last three starts–24 IP, 16 H, 4 R, 1 HR, 5 BB, 22 K–but it’s too little, too late. In his last start against the Yankees, Burnett was bounced after giving up four runs in four innings and throwing 86 pitches. That start came in the Bronx. At home against the Yankees in late June, Burnett turned in 7 1/3 strong innings to earn just his second win of the year. He’ll have to face a full set of Yankee starters tonight, though I expect to see Torre start resting guys again tomorrow as the Yankees play their second of three games on the Rogers Centre turf.

Hmmm, Rasner plus a full-strength Yankee line-up. I could get used to this.

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If the Yankees won the Saturday’s night cap despite the performance of their starting pitcher, they were inversely swept in Sunday’s split-double header despite the fine performances of their starters. Jaret Wright and Mike Mussina combined to hold the Red Sox to four runs on eleven hits over twelve innings, walking four and striking out nine. The bulk of the hits and strikeouts were Mussina’s, the bulk of the walks were Wrights, the runs and innings they split evenly.

In both cases the Yankees came up short due to shoddy relief pitching and Joe Torre’s ultimately wise decision to play these games as if the division had already been clinched. Torre did not run out his full starting line up in any of the four games this weekend, resting Posada in Saturday’s day game, Damon, Matsui and Cano in Saturday’s nightcap, Abreu, Giambi, Jeter and Posada in yesterday’s opener, and Damon, Rodriguez, and Matsui in the finale. As a result, the Yankee offense scuffled despite facing the likes of Kyle Snyder and Kevin Jarvis.

In yesterday’s day game, Nick Green and Sal Fasano went a combined 0 for 6 with three strikeouts. Indeed, it was Green and Fasano who made the first two outs of the fourth inning after Hideki Matsui, Aaron Guiel and Chris Wilson had loaded the bases to start the inning. That, plus a Johnny Damon strikeout for the third out, killed that rally and ultimately cost the Yankees the game. It also helps explain how Kyle Snyder was able to hold the Yankees to two runs over five innings while striking out seven.

Game one was tied 2-2 after six, when Joe Torre turned to Ron Villone. Things started innocently enough. Eric Hinske flied out on Villone’s first pitch. Villone then walked Doug Mirabelli on five pitches, but rallied to strike out Alex Gonzales for the second out, keeping pinch-runner Coco Crisp at first base. With Mark Loretta at the plate, hitting for rookie David Murphy, Villone appeared to pick Crisp off first base. Crisp, fooled by Villone’s move, took two quick steps toward second and Craig Wilson received the throw at first. Crisp then froze and, as Wilson charged down the baseline toward him, Crisp danced around him to the outfield side of the baseline and jogged back to the bag untagged. Wilson and Joe Torre argued that Crisp should have been called out for running out of the baseline, but rookie first base umpire Mike Estabrook and veteran crew chief Jerry Crawford, who was umpiring second, ruled Crisp safe and the inning continued.

(more…)

The Yanks and Sox each won a game yesterday as the Bombers magic number was reduced to four. If the Yanks sweep today’s so-called double header, they will clinch the AL East (Cliff will be in the house for the second game). Josh Beckett survived a second inning jam, while Chien-Ming Wang was not particularly sharp as Boston beat New York 5-2 in the afternoon game. And though Randy Johnson wasn’t brilliant either in the night game, the Yanks pulled out a 7-5 victory. (Johnson vs. Tavarez was some kind of fugly starting match-up, eh? Like Lee Van Cleef goes to Jurassic Park.) Derek Jeter had singles in each game, extending his hitting streak to 25.

I was at the matinee with my cousin and we sat in the rattle-your-jewlery seats, three rows behind home plate, where people are more interested in anything and everything but watching the game. Look, there’s Spike Lee. Oh my god, is that Adam Sandler and Kevin James? There is a sign that reads “No Cell Phones,” that is completely ignored. Oy. These seats are mostly populated by well-healed clowns dressed-down in fancy t-shirts and ripped jeans, sandals and designer baseball caps. Two rows in front of us sat the film producer Brian Grazer with his son, and a thin, blond man. The back of Grazer’s neck looked like a piece of old leather–years of tanning by the pool. His hair was spikey, and he wore a black iozid shirt. His son wore a Che Guevara t-shirt. Grazer spent much of time on his cell phone and he was gone by the seventh inning. Two women behind us, with lungs that’d put Ethel Merman to shame, carried on at length about bridal showers, driving directions and how overpaid ball players are. “I don’t even mind that they are so loud,” my cousin said, “but at least they could be interesting.”

The seats were spectacular (and they were free thanks to the generosity of another cousin), but the atmosphere was repulsive. I felt like I could use a shower when it was all said and done.

The highlight of the game for us came when Jim Kaat threw out the first pitch. Accompanied by his three grandchildren (two boys and a little girl), Kaat watched a video tribute and then tossed a ball to Mike Myers. His granddaughter, wearing a pink Yankee cap almost bigger than her entire body, ran off the field and slapped somebody five by the Yankee dugout. She threw her arms around her grandfather as he held her in his arms during the National Anthem and in that moment it was clear why Kaat is leaving the game. Some things are just more important than baseball.

Two mo’ today. Let’s go Yankees!

On the morning of June 30, the Boston Red Sox had won their last twelve games and held a four-game lead in the American League East. A month later their lead in the East had shrunk to 1 1/2 games. From there they went into a free fall, winning just nine of their next 31 games. The Sox are now 11 1/2 games behind the first-place Yankees and could be eliminated this weekend should they fail to at least split the four games they’ll play in the Bronx.

So what happened? Simple really, their pitching completely imploded. No team gave up more runs in August than the Red Sox, who allowed a major league worst 5.97 runs per game as their opponents posted a .314 batting average against them.

Why? Look no further than this weekend’s probables. Josh Beckett has been an utter disappointment, mixing a 6.38 August ERA with his 33 home runs allowed in 184 innings (1.61 per 9 IP). Curt Schilling, who came out of the gate looking like the ace of old, posted a 5.22 ERA in August and has missed his last three starts due to a strained back. The Sox had hoped he’d return to pitch on Saturday afternoon, but instead they’ll have to give a fourth start to Julian Tavarez, who was moved out of the bullpen into the rotation in Schilling’s stead in part because he was so ineffective out of the pen that the team figured it couldn’t hurt to try it. The second game of Saturday’s double header will see Kyle Snyder take the mound for the Sox. Snyder has a 7.02 ERA as a starter this season, but the Sox rotation is so depleted that they keep running him back out there. Saturday’s nightcap will be his tenth start for Boston. Worse yet, Snyder isn’t their most desperate attempt to find a starter. Things have gotten so bad that the Red Sox are carrying 37-year-old Kevin Jarvis, he of the career 6.05 ERA. I mean, seriously, look at these numbers! Finally, Monday’s starter will be rookie Kason Gabbard. Who? Exactly.

It’s telling that Tavarez and Gabbard have actually improved the Boston rotation as they’ve replaced the since-released Jason Johnson (7.36 ERA in six starts for the Sox) and highly-touted rookie Jon Lester, who has alarmingly been diagnosed with lymphoma, but nonetheless posted a 7.66 ERA in five August starts before landing on the disabled list. With Tavarez and Gabbard in the rotation, the Sox have split their last dozen games. That counts as progress in Beantown these days.

How did things get so bad? Let’s take a look at the Red Sox opening day rotation:

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LICKSHOT GUEST SPOT

As the Red Sox prepare for another late-season, AL East showdown with the Yankees, Hub heartthrob and longtime Idiot Johnny Damon sat down with Bronx Banter correspondent Jacob Luft for an exclusive one-on-one interview.

BB: Johnny, It’s been about 10 months since you turned down the Yankees’ offer in free agency and decided to stay with the Red Sox. Any regrets?

JD: Absolutely not. What we have here and what we’ve built here the past couple of years, winning the World Series in 2004 and finally overtaking the Yankees in the East last year … it’s just too special. This group of guys, we’ve been through a lot together and management has done a great job of keeping this core together.

BB: How close did you come to donning the pinstripes?

JD: I mean, I thought about it. You have to. Business is business and their offer was pretty strong. Pedro went through the same thing when the Mets came calling last year, and Derek Lowe almost went to the Dodgers after ’04. But at the end of the day, John Henry and [Boston GM] Theo [Epstein] came to the same conclusion that, as with those guys, they knew I would be too difficult to replace and came through with the years and money I wanted.

BB: C’mon Johnny. We all know you couldn’t handle losing those locks of yours.

JD: [Laughs] Yeah, you got me. That was definitely a factor. But I’d like to think there’s a little Vanity Smurf in all of us.

BB: You mentioned Derek. With Curt Schilling and Pedro taking turns on the DL, how big have the contributions from Derek and Bronson Arroyo and rookie starter Jonathan Papelbon been in keeping the Red Sox in the hunt?

JD: They’ve been huge. What can you say about Arroyo? The guy would be an ace anywhere else, especially for any middling NL Central team. Plus he signed a team-friendly contract to stay here and be a part of this. Papelbon is the real deal. His arsenal makes him perfectly suited for the rotation. Cla Meredith is unorthodox but has done a fine job as the closer. And Derek, ever since we shored up our infield defense [the Orlando Cabrera-Nomar Garciaparra trade in 2004] he’s been lights out.

BB: That left side of your infield, with rookies Hanley Ramirez and Andy Marte. How tough is it to hit a ball past them?

JD: It’s like a brick wall over there with those two guys. I doubt the Red Sox have ever had a better defensive shortstop than Hanley. In fact, we’re planning on interrupting a game during our next homestand to honor him with a plaque saying, “Best Defensive Shortstop in Red Sox history.”

BB: Didn’t you do that already? Maybe I’m confusing that with “Best Fourth Outfielder/Pinch-Runner Dave Roberts Day.”

JD: Maybe so. I can’t really keep track with all the hype surrounding this team. I mean, every day there’s another book that comes out about us. Somebody out there must be buying all this junk or else they wouldn’t keep writing them.

BB: Who is the MVP, Manny Ramirez or Big Papi?

JD: Well A-Rod was in the mix there until recently when he went down with those heart palpitations. I hope he’s OK. Yankee fans need to give him a break. As for the MVP, it’s tough because Papi gets the big hits but he wouldn’t have the chance if Manny wasn’t protecting him. It’s totally a Mantle-Maris thing. I hope they split the award.

BB: In hindsight, how disastrous would it have been if the Red Sox had not backed off of the Josh Beckett trade talks? He ended up with the Yankees, where he has floundered against the tough AL lineups.

JD: Well that trade would have cost us Hanley, who looks like he might be the next Barry Larkin. I’ll be shocked if Derek Jeter ever wins a Gold Glove again. Besides, have you heard of this kid Anibal Sanchez? He’ll be in the rotation next year for sure. Beckett is a nice talent and maybe he’ll turn into the ace the Yankees thought they were getting when they traded Wang and Cano for him, but he’s still got some learning to do, and we’ve handled him pretty well so far.

BB: So has Vernon Wells.

JD: Yeah, Vernon told me the other day he’s going to buy Beckett a Rolex for Christmas to thank him for all the gopher balls he’s thrown him.

BB: What do you want for Christmas?

JD: Another ring. We got one two years ago but last year we fell to the White Sox in seven games in the ALCS. We have a veteran group here that has been together a long time and knows how to win. It’s a good thing the front office never carried out those elaborate plans for overhauling the ballclub. Sometimes, it’s just better to stick with what works and not to outsmart yourself.

BB: Thanks for your time, Johnny. Just for the record, I think you would have enjoyed being a Yankee. I know the fans here in the Bronx would have loved it. Instead we’re stuck with Coco Crisp.

JD: [Laughs] I’m not touching that one.

Jacob Luft is the baseball editor for SI.com and, as you can tell, an aspiring fiction writer.

Man, I didn’t think they were even going to play last night. Neither, apparently, did Joe Torre, who scratched Chien-Ming Wang, and kept Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu out of the starting line-up and off the slick outfield surface. It rained all day long in New York, but the waterworks stopped shortly before five o’clock. Jeff Kartsens got the nod instead and wasn’t especially sharp, giving up two long balls to Rocco Baldelli in the early going. The rain started up again by the end of the fourth inning, and the Rays held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, three precious outs from an official game.

But the Yanks rallied to tie the score, propelled by RBI hits from Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. Two innings later, Cano broke the tie with a two out single to left and Alex Rodriguez added a two run base hit through the right side of infield. Darrell Rasner pitched the final four innings, and did a wonderful job getting ahead of hitters. He allowed just one hit and stuck out five. Oh, and Godziller Matsui homered for the first time since May. Final score: Yanks 7, Rays 4.

With the win the Yankees’ magic number is now six (Boston beat the O’s in Baltimore last night). About the only drag for the Yanks was when Jorge Posada was plunked in the elbow during the seventh inning. Posada was removed from the game. While it does not appear to be serious, he will be checked-out today to make sure that everything is copasetic. Ol’ Snuffleupagus Fasano could see a lot of burn this weekend. Speaking of which, click here to buy one of those dope Sal’s Pals t-shirts.

Finally, Gary Sheffield continues to get closer…scary, ain’t it?

There is some sad news to report on this rainy afternoon in New York. Jim Kaat is retiring. Tonight and tomorrow will be his final two broadcasts for the Yankees. While I had heard that Kaat might call it quits at the end of the year, all of sudden, he’s going to be gone. I don’t exactly know why he’s leaving before the end of the season. I can only speculate that Kaat didn’t want to call attention to himself as everyone around him was gearing up for the playoffs. Regardless, Kaat deserves a long, loud ovation from Yankee fans near and far for the steady and insightful work he’s provided over the years.

Man, I’m not ready to see him go and I’ve been feeling upset about it all morning long. I haven’t always agreed with Kaat’s analysis, but I have never had anything but the utmost respect for his professionalism, his eloquence and his willingness to speak his mind. He is a terrific storyteller, has an easy-going sense of humor, and has been a wonderfully measured prescence in the Yankee Universe. I remember my uncle spotting him in a bank on the Upper West Side during his stint with the Yanks at the end of his playing career, and I’ve always thought of him as a guy who appreciated New York City, and come to think of him as one of our (adopted) own. Richard Sandomir has a piece on Kitty today in the Times. The YES Network will have a tribute to Kaat up on their website later this afternoon, or perhaps this evening.

Kitty, you haven’t even left yet and I’m missing you already. But here is wishing Kaat the best of times with his grandchildren and on the golf course down in Florida.

I can’t recall the last time I was at the Stadium when things were as relaxed as they were last night. The announced paid attendance was over 52,000, but there were far less who actually turned out to watch the Bombers plow past the hapless D-Rays, 8-4. Truth be told, it wasn’t a particularly exciting game. The pace was American League East Sluggish as the starting pitching for both sides was mediocre. However, there were some highlights: Derek Jeter’s first inning single, which extended his hitting streak to 22 straight; Robinson Cano’s five RBI, and Alex Rodriguez’s drive that landed half-way up the black seats in dead center. Rodriguez had three hits on the night, and helped keep a first inning rally moving by taking out shortstop Ben Zobrist with a hard, but clean slide. Jason Giambi had two hits and though Godzilla Matsui went hitless, he just got under a pitch in his first at bat and lined out hard to left later in the game.

The Yankees’ magic number was reduced to seven as the Red Sox were blanked in Baltimore last night, 4-0.

Bernie Williams celebrated his 38th birthday from the bench. At one point between innings, the P.A. blared the Beatles tune, “Birthday,” and Bernie waved to the crowd. Joel Sherman spoke with Bernabee, who remains a class act:

Williams admits having to battle the dissatisfaction of devolving from star to spectator. “I’d rather be frustrated about not playing, then accept it and then not be ready when playing time comes,” Williams said. “The frustration tells me I’m ready and I’ll be ready when they need me.”

…”I’m having a lot of fun, man,” Williams said. “I am more mature at accepting administrative decisions. It’s not that I lack fire or don’t feel frustration at times. But I can accept it and not be subversive about it.”

Meanwhile, for the latest on Mariano Rivera, check out Jack Curry’s column this morning in the Times.

And for a glimpse of the future, peep Jim Baumbach’s piece on the Yankees’ top pitching prospect, Phillip Hughes.

Last night the Yankees returned home from the road, dropped a nine-spot on the D-Rays in the bottom of the first that featured 6 RBIs from deadline pick-up and emerging fan favorite Bobby Abreu, got 6 1/3 scoreless innings from recently activated rotation vet Mike Mussina, and saw Hideki Matsui return from four months on the DL to a tremendous ovation followed by a four-for-four performance in which he reached base in all five trips to the plate. That’s a tough act to follow, especially with Cory Lidle, who has been exactly what the Yankees needed in the fifth spot in the rotation, even if that does mean he’s been pitching like a fifth starter.

Lidle’s last four starts have alternated twelve scoreless innings with a pair of disaster outings in which he gave up a combined 11 runs in 5 1/3 innings, inflating his Yankee ERA to 4.81. His opponent tonight will be 24-year-old rookie Jason Hammel. Hammel, a tall slender righty, has made five career big league starts, two back in April and three in a row leading up to tonight. His last, which came at home against the Twins, was the best: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K. Hammel has progressed steadily through the Devil Rays organization and has solid hit, walk and strikeout rates in the minors, so there’s reason to believe tonight will be the first of many times the Yankees face him over the next several years as he projects as a mid-rotation mainstay for the Rays.

The Yankees blew out the Devil Rays in the first inning last night, driving Tampa starter Tim Corcoran from the game before he had recorded the inning’s second out, then touching up his replacement Brian Stokes for a four-spot. The first time through the Yankee order, only Jason Giambi, who made his first start in four games at first base, made an out, flying to left. The rest of the inning went like this: single, steal, walk, homer, walk, steal, fly out, double, single, single, pitching change, single, K, walk, double, K. Two of the three extra base hits came off the bat of Bobby Abreu, who came to the plate with five men on base during the inning and drove all of them home along with himself on a three-run homer in his first at-bat and a bases-loaded double in his second trip. All totaled, the Yankees sent 13 men to the plate, ten of whom reached base, nine of whom scored.

From there, the story of the game became Hideki Matsui, who picked up an RBI single on a bloop to center in his first at-bat since May 10, then proceeded to pick up three more singles and a walk, while scoring two runs, finally leaving for a pinch runner in the eighth having yet to make an out. Matsui looked great at the plate, keeping his weight back and powering through the ball, hitting mid-90s fastballs with authority and hooking a foul home run into the upper deck in right.

While the offense was feasting–they’d score three more in the third while Bobby Abreu came just a few feet short of a grand slam, flying out with the bases loaded to end the fourth–Mike Mussina kept the Devil Rays fasting, setting down the first ten Rays in order and leaving after 6 1/3 scoreless innings having allowed just five hits. Moose threw 70 percent of 87 pitches for strikes, striking out five and walking no one.

T.J Beam kept Tampa off the bases in relief of Mussina in the seventh and eighth while Torre turned to his bench, resulting in an eighth-inning defensive alignment that included only Melky Cabrera from the starting line-up.

The only blight on the game as far as the Yankees are concerned was Octavio Dotel’s performance in the ninth. In to get the final three outs with a 12-0 lead, Dotel had nothing, surrendering four runs on a walk to pinch-hitter Shawn Riggins in just his second major league plate appearance, singles by rookies Dioner Navarro and Ben Zobrist, and doubles by Ty Wigginton and Jorge Cantu. Final score: Yankees 12, Devil Rays 4.

On the YES broadcast, Jim Kaat speculated that Dotel, who had thrown just 5 1/3 innings over eight appearances prior to last night, is in the typical dead-arm period that most pitchers experience during spring training. Given that Dotel went through a sequence in that inning in which he threw five straight pitches into the dirt in the left-handed batters box, I’d have to agree. Certainly one hopes that’s what’s going on with Dotel, as it provides hope that Dotel still might come around before Joe Torre has to decide his playoff roster. Whatever the cause, Dotel has really struggled with his control since being activated, and has now walked seven men in his 6 1/3 innings, one more than he’s struck out.

In other news, Gary Sheffield did indeed take live batting practice before the game, taking 32 swings. He’s also continuing to work out at first base, and he and Torre are now saying that Sheff could be activated during this homestand.

Finally, Philip Hughes, Tyler Clippard and J. Brent Cox, the three double-A pitchers who many hope will form the core of the Yankee pitching staff of the future along with Chien-Ming Wang, were in uniform in the Bronx for last night’s game. The three will not be added to the active roster (only Hughes is on the Yankees’ 40-man), but the Yankees wanted to give them all a taste of the big leagues as Hughes and Cox especially could find themselves a part of the big league roster next year.