For several seasons now, the buzz around the Tampa Bay Devil Rays has been their crop of young talent that has been bubbling just below the major league surface. One can trace it all the way back to 2002 when 20-year-old Carl Crawford made his major league debut and 25-year-old Aubrey Huff hit .313/.364/.520 with 23 homers. The next year, Huff hit 34 dingers and drove in 107 runs, Crawford played his first full season, stealing 55 bases, and 21-year-old Rocco Baldelli finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting. Meanwhile, the 2002 draft brought Jonny Gomes, who made his debut the next year, B.J. Upton, Elijah Dukes and Jason Hammel, and 2003 added Dmitri Young’s little brother Delmon. Upton made his major league debut in 2004 and at that year’s trading deadline the Devil Rays swiped 20-year-old lefty phenom Scott Kazmir from the Mets for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato.

Still, the Devil Rays’ bright future seemed perpetually over the horizon. That is until this year’s trading deadline. On July 12 they traded the now 29-year-old Huff, whose production had been in steady decline since his break-out 2003 season, to the Astros, getting pitcher Mitch Talbot and 25-year-old shortstop Ben Zobrist in return, clearing room for the relocated shortstop Upton at third base in the process. At the deadline, just after their last series with the Yankees, they traded 30-year-old shortstop Julio Lugo to the Dodgers, clearing space for Zobrist. In late August, they sent three-true-outcomes hero Russell Branyan to the Padres, clearing room for Delmon Young in right field. They also recalled failed 25-year-old fireballing starter Seth McClung and made him the team’s closer, while recalling starters Hammel and J.P Howell, acquired earlier in the year from the Royals for no-hit speedster Joey Gathright, and installed them in the rotation beside fellow rookie Jamie Shields.

At long last, the Tampa Bay youth movement has begun in earnest. Should Elijah Dukes win the first base job out of camp next year, something the Devil Rays cleared room for by releasing Travis Lee on Sunday, the D-Rays could have a 2007 opening day line-up whose oldest member is 26-year-old DH Jonny Gomes. Dig (with ages and 2006 stats):

1B – Elijah Dukes, 22, AAA: .293/.401/.488
2B – Jorge Cantu, 25, MLB: .247/.293/.408
SS – Ben Zobrist, 25, AAA: .323/.428/.456
3B – B.J. Upton, 22, AAA: .269/.374/.394
C – Dioner Navarro, 23, MLB: .257/.340/.367
RF – Delmon Young, 21, AAA: .316/.341/.474
CF – Rocco Baldelli, 25, MLB: .308/.344/.509
LF – Carl Crawford, 25, MLB: .305/.349/.479
DH – Jonny Gomes, 26, MLB: .216/.325/.431

SP – Scott Kazmir, 23, MLB: 3.24, 10-8, 144 2/3 IP, 132 H, 52 BB, 163 K

Gomes, who is on the DL due to season-ending shoulder surgery, is a good bet to revert back to his 2005 form (.282/.372/.534) in 2007, which leaves just Cantu, who slugged .497 in his first full season last year, and Upton, who hit .303/.392/.490 at triple-A Durham last year, who will need to shape up at the plate, assuming, of course, that Young, Dukes and Zobrist will continue to hit in the majors.

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“I can’t expect to win a postseason game giving up five runs,” Johnson said. “I got away with one tonight and I’m very grateful.”
(Sam Borden, N.Y. Daily News)

Indeed, Johnson was far from terrific last night, allowing five runs in six innings, but the Yankees bailed him out with six runs in the top of the seventh and Johnson earned the win (the 280th of his fine career), matching his win/loss total from 2005 at 17-10. The final score: Yanks 9, O’s 6. The critical play came when Fernando Tatis, a third baseman playing left field, misplayed Robinson Cano’s fly ball, allowing three runs to score. The Yanks did not look back.

Derek Jeter had two more hits, extending his hitting streak to 21 straight, and is now batting .346. Jeter characteristically remained mum about his chances to win the MVP award, refusing to react to David Ortiz’s recent kvetchfest. Alex Rodriguez returned from a nagging stomach virus and collected three hits of his own, including a home run. Rodriguez ended the night with 101 runs scored for the year, and has scored more than 100 runs in 11 consecutive seasons (oh, and he’s now driven in 100 plus runs ten times in his career). As Emily said when Rodriguez was rounding the bases in the ninth inning, “Rock on, Pukearella.”

The final word in the milestone dept: Joe Torre passed Miller Huggins on the all-time win list for Yankee managers last night. Only Casey and the great Joe McCarthy have won more games for the Bombers. Not bad for a boy from Brooklyn, eh?

The Yanks’ return home tonight with their magic number down to ten. The Devil Rays are in for three, with the Red Sox following this weekend for a four-game set. I’m sure we’ll hear more from the likes of Pete Abraham as the day moves on, but it’s likely that Hideki Matsui will be in the line-up tonight.

Welcome back Godzilla!

After dropping the opening game of their current series in Baltimore, the Yankees have won the last two despite being without Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and Mariano Rivera, and having to push Mike Mussina back in the rotation. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that they’re playing one of just four mathematically eliminated teams in baseball, but it sure is a nice boost to put up a few W’s with inferior line-ups while the big guns get healthy for the postseason. Tonight Randy Johnson and Kris Benson square off as the Yanks go for the series win and the O’s try (or at least we’ll asume they’ll try) for a series split. Benson’s been solid in his last two turns: 15 IP, 14 H, 4 R, 2 HR, 5 BB, 9 K. RJ’s been downright dominant. Throw out a two-run ninth-inning homer by Craig Monroe in his penultimate start and his combined line for his last two outings is 15 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 BB, 16 K. Purdy.

It is a bit chillier in Manhattan than it was five years ago to the day. Otherwise, it is a brilliantly sunny day, eerily reminiscent of that fateful morning that altered the city and the country forever. I rode the IRT to work this morning and there was the usual commotion, but there were also some hints of somberness too–a business woman in a black suit, a strapping Jewish kid with a black yarmulke, a gray-haired liberal with a black t-shirt that read, “What Really Happened?” Today is certainly a day to remember those who lost their lives in-and-around 9.11 as well as an opportunity to appreciate the good things we’ve got in our lives.

I sure have plenty to appreciate, that’s for sure. On Saturday, Emily and I took a ride up to Westchester to spend the afternoon with my mom and my step-father. While Em and Tom busied themselves with a project in the back yard, mom and I made a batch of madeleines, the shell-shaped cookies made famous by Proust in “Remberance of Things Past.” They are wonderful tea-time cookies, and must be eaten almost immediately. Even an hour or two after they’ve come out of the oven, they begin to change in nature, going from a light, sponge cake to a heavier, greasier cookie. It’s not even that they are my favorites, I just like the idea of them–the immediacy of it all. And you just can’t have them without a strong cup of tea for dunking.

Here they are fresh out of the oven. That’s my ma, adding some confectionate sugar, the final touch (dig, her beloved Tintin swatch).

And here is the final product, along with a simple plum tart and a strong cup of Earl Grey tea.

A small, good thing, if there ever was one.

A heppy ket.

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The Yankees struggled against Adam Loewen again yesterday afternoon. Fortunately the Orioles had even more trouble with Chien-Ming Wang, who allowed just one seventh-inning run in 7 1/3 innings on his way to his major-league leading 17th win.

For their part, the Yanks got two off Loewen in the fifth when Kevin Thompson drew a one-out walk, Nick Green singled, Johnny Damon singled Thompson home, and Melky Cabrera plated Green with a sac fly. Loewen was pulled after throwing 113 pitches over seven innings and the Yanks picked up an insurance run against displaced starter Rodrigo Lopez when Damon lead off with a double, Melky Cabrera bunted him over, and Derek Jeter singled him home.

That third run proved to be the difference as, with Mariano Rivera still on the shelf, Joe Torre turned to Kyle Farnsworth to protect a two-run lead in the ninth. Farnsworth did so by striking out Jay Gibbons, giving up a solo home run to Kevin Millar on a jock-high first-pitch fastball down the middle, then getting the final two outs on six pitches. Yanks win, 3-2.

The absence of Rivera highlights the far more significant story for the Yankees right now, which is the need for the team to get healthy. There’s no real time table for Rivera’s return from a muscle strain in his right forearm, though he plans to throw on flat ground today, just as he did on Friday, and Joe Torre claims he’s improving. Jason Giambi received yet another cortisone shot in his left wrist yesterday and won’t play until the Yankees return to the Bronx on Tuesday. Mike Mussina, who would be on regular rest today, has also been pushed back to Tuesday due to right shoulder soreness, this following his first start after being activated from the DL due to a groin pull. Alex Rodriguez, meanwhile, has come down with a stomach flu for the second time in Baltimore this season, and everyone else just needs some rest.

The good news is that the Yankees’ lead in the East continues to grow as the Red Sox managed to lose a 12-inning game to the Royals by a score of 10-4 last night, dropping to ten games back. The Yankees win over the O’s, meanwhile, officially eliminated Baltimore from the division race. Oh, and Matsui went 1 for 3 with a double and a pair of walks in the Thunder’s 4-3 loss to Portland.

Today the Yanks send Jaret Wright to the mound in Mussina’s place while the O’s counter with September call-up Hayden Penn. Wright hasn’t pitched at all since hurling 6 1/3 strong innings against the Tigers on August 30th. The 21-year-old Penn, meanwhile, was excellent in triple-A this year, but didn’t make it out of the first inning against Oakland a week ago in his only major league appearance this year. Last year he came up straight from double-A to make eight starts for the O’s, four of them during interleague, only to walk more than he struck out and post a 6.34 ERA.

The Yanks got smoked down in Baltimore to the tune of 9-4, but didn’t lose any ground in the standings as the Red Sox continued to find new ways to lose last night in Boston. Gilbert Bogie was the one bright spot for the Bombers. Miguel Tejada made a marvelous catch in left field. Otherwise, it was a snoozer. Today gives a late afternoon game, 4:30 start. I kind of dig late afternoon games, particularly because of the way the light moves over the field. It presents a different beauty for fans–and different challenges for the players, subtle as they may be. Especially now that it’s getting to be the autumn, the light is unlike it would have been in April or May. I love it. Maybe you can watch the game eating the last of the good local tomatoes or corn. Should be a relaxing day for a game. The sticks are going to break out. What can I say, but let’s go Yanks, man.

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There are 24 games left in the Yankees’ 2006 season, all of them against AL East opponents. Tonight they play the first of seven remaining games against the Orioles. They also have seven left against the Devil Rays, six against Toronto, and a four-game home set against the second-place Red Sox.

Entering tonight’s action the Yankees have a nine game lead in the division and their magic number to clinch is 15. The Orioles, meawhile, would be eliminated from the division race with a single Yankee win this weekend and could be eliminated from the playoffs altogether before the Yankees leave Baltimore.

Hideki Matsui is 1 for 6 in his first two rehab games with the Trenton Thunder, but the Thunder’s playoff series is knotted at 1-1, so he should have plenty of opportunities to get the kinks worked out. In last night’s game he walked in his first trip, coming around to score, then grounded out to second and popped out twice to the left side of the infield.

In other news, Kevin Thompson has been activated, having recovered from the staph infection that developed after he fouled a ball off his shin. There’s a Carl Pavano dig in there somewhere.

Cory Lidle starts tonight against Erik Bedard. Lidle has pitched six shutout innings in two of his last three starts. If you ask me, the 27-year-old Bedard is quickly becoming overrated, though he did hold the Yankees to one run over six innings the last time these two teams met.

The Yanks are running out the usual suspects, with Craig Wilson getting the first base start against the lefty Bedard, and the lefty Cano hitting behind Jorge Posada.

Seven more games against the Orioles. Have they banned greenies for bloggers as well?

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The Yanks are in Baltimore for a four-game series this weekend and well, it’s just hard to get juiced about this one, isn’t it? Four-hour games, a boring Orioles team, makes for precious little to say this morning. However, here are some links from around the ‘Net which may be of some interest:

Yankee GM, Brian Cashman talks to Roger Rubin about what we can expect from Hideki Matsui.

Don Amore examines the Yankees starting pitching.

Ed Price tackles the Yankees bullpen, while Jim Baumbach wonders how Kyle Farnsworth will do come October, Peter Abraham covers Brian Bruney, and George King updates Mariano Rivera’s situation.

Earlier this week, Joe Sheehan chimed-in on Alex Rodriguez’s season over at Baseball Prospectus:

Hey, is Alex Rodriguez still a choking scrub unfit to occupy the same infield as Derek Jeter? It’s kind of hard to keep up. I just happened to look today and saw that Rodriguez is 17th in the AL in EqA, 15th in RARP and 17th in VORP among position players. He leads AL third basemen in VORP and will likely hold that ranking until the end of the year. Defense could push Mark Teahen and/or Joe Crede ahead of Rodriguez in overall value, so you can figure he’s one of the two of three best third basemen in the league.
All of this in the worst year of his career.

The level of attention paid to Rodriguez’s slump went beyond all bounds of sanity. Yes, he was probably pressing, but there hasn’t been a player in history who had as much made of an 0-for-22 slump. I can guarantee you that the guy who bats two spots ahead of him in the lineup has never been subjected to the kind of small-minded, gleeful, jealous treatment that Alex Rodriguez endured in August.

Would that he never is, because it was shameful. I can hold this gig for a million years and I will never embarrass myself the way the press did over this issue. It’s the difference between writing about performance and writing about people, and it’s why I can stand behind every critical thing about a baseball player that I’ve ever put down on paper or onto your monitor, because I was never attacking their character or their person, but rather their work product. I have been wrong, but I have always stuck to the performance.

I have to admit that I underestimated the kind of impact that Johnny Damon would have on the Yankees this year. But as the season draws to a conclusion, and Derek Jeter is the thick of the MVP mix, I’ve come to believe that Damon has been almost as important for the Bombers, both in the locker room and on the field. Jeter smiles plenty during the games–he’s always enjoyed himself playing the game–but Damon is downright goofy. His smile is infectious, and along with the broad, carefree grins we see nightly from Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera (and across town from Jose Reyes), I don’t recall the last time a Yankee team seemed this loose, while being completely focused at the same time. As Pete Abraham recently noted, “I’m not sure there are 10 people in the world who enjoy life more than Damon.”

And yet, even if Damon is a flake, he’s also a gamer too. He’s played hurt all year, and you know that his teammates must appreciate that. Earlier this season I was in the Yankee locker room for a Sunday matinee against the Royals. It was get-away day, which means that the players arrive wearing suits. Damon was in the clubhouse early, before most of his teammates had arrived, wearing a stylish tan suit. Before he undressed, I saw him kneeling down in the the corner of the room, picking through a case of cds. After a few minutes, he stood up and groaned in pain–his foot has been killing him all year. He winced and hobbled for a minute as he balanced himself. Nobody was around, none of the reporters were paying attention to him at that moment, and there was no sense that he trying to attract attention to himself. It was just a small moment, but one that indicated that this was one tough dude.

The press absolutely love him. Damon might be the best daily talker the team has had since David Cone. In all, he’s been the perfect tonic for the traditionally tight-assed Yankees. Aditi Kinkhabwala has a piece on Damon today over at SI.com.

Randy Johnson threw six no-hit innings in Kansas City last night as the Yankees clobbered the Royals 8-3. The Red Sox were blown-out at home–and had some salt poured onto their wounds down in Florida to boot–as New York’s lead is back to nine games. Johnson (16-10) absolutely cruised, getting ahead of batters, and then putting them away. He threw only 81 pitches in seven full innings of work, walking two and striking out eight. To be sure, the Big Unit was aided by home plate umpire Charlie Reliford’s more than generous strike zone and an impatient KC lineup. But hey, the Yanks’ll take it.

David DeJesus broke up the no-no with a lead off triple in the seventh, but he was promptly picked-off of third by Jorge Posada. Down 5-0 at the time, I was surprised how DeJesus–who robbed Robinson Cano of a hit and also threw the Yankees’ second baseman out at the plate earlier in the game–could make such a careless play. Good as he is, I suppose this is why the Royals are in last place.

Posada powered the Yanks with two, three-run home runs. In the sixth, Jason Giambi–who had hit the ball hard in his previous at bat–doubled to the gap in right center. Alex Rodriguez followed with a walk and then Posada crushed a dinger to right. In the eighth, Andy Phillips–who had replaced Giambi in the seventh–doubled and Rodriguez walked again. This time, Posada hit one out to dead center, good for his 19th tater of the season (he also has 79 RBIs).

About the only drag for the Yanks was the performance by Kyle Farnsworth, who gave up a couple of runs in the ninth. Fortunately, the Bombers are winning without Mariano Rivera, who isn’t expected to begin throwing a ball around again until tomorrow at the earliest. According to Sam Borden in the News:

“We’ve been winning some games without him but no one is delusional enough to think we can do that in the future,” [manager, Joe] Torre said. “He could go out and pitch right now. What we’re trying to do is alleviate the discomfort. He’s very important to us. The ability to get it all the way well is our priority.”

Meanwhile, the Yankees’ future DH, Godzilla Matsui went 1-3 in his first rehab game since busting his wrist. In all, it was a fine night to be a Yankee fan wouldn’t you say?

Will the Yankees pull out what should be a gimme series win tonight, or will the make like the Twins and White Sox before them and drop the three-game set to the Kansas City Spoils? Randy Johnson goes against Runevlys Hernandez to decide. Randy was excellent in his last start at home against Detroit, though his line is distorted by a two-run homer he gave up in the ninth inning with a 6-2 lead. Runelvys, meanwhile, is another one of those all-over-the-map Royals pitchers. Once considered a bright light in a youth-driven Royals rotation (check one of my earliest posts on the BRB), he is now a 28 year old disappointment with weight problems. But then he has won three of his last four and posted this line against the Blue Jays and White Sox in his last two starts: 15 IP, 12 H, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 BB, 7 K. Let’s see, the Yankees mind-blowing offense got shut out last night and the execrable Hernandez has allowed just one run in his last 15 innings? That dam’s gotta break tonight, no?

Ray Negron knows that he is blessed. In the spring of 1973, when Negron was 16, none other than George Steinbrenner, the Boss himself, caught the teenager tagging an “NY” logo on the outside of Yankee Stadium. Instead of pressing charges, the Boss gave Negron a job as a batboy. Negron has been around the game ever since. He was drafted in the second round by the Pirates in 1975 but couldn’t hit enough to play pro ball so he returned to the Yankees where Billy Martin and Steinbrenner kept him busy. When Reggie Jackson arrived in ’77, Negron became the superduperstar’s personal assistant away from the park. “Reggie used to say that if he was the King of New York, then I was the Prince of the City,” says Negron.

Negron was the one person who was close with Reggie, Billy and George during the most volatile days of the Bronx Zoo, making him a unique figure in Yankee history. After Jackson left New York, Negron tried his hand at acting, and later became a player agent, working first in Japan and then back in the States. He was the only minority GM in the short-lived Senior League in the late eighties. But he’s perhaps most recognizable as an advisor to both Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden, the man who helped broker deals to bring the erstwhile Metropolitans to the Bronx in the mid-nineties. Negron’s biological father was a physically abusive alcoholic, and his two younger brothers are addicts as well. Subsequently, he has specialized in drug counseling. Negron worked for John Hart in Cleveland and then Texas as a player liason–he was especially close with Roberto Alomar and Juan Gonzalez–before returning to the Yankees last year.

Negron appreciates how much his chance meeting with the Boss has helped shape his life. He is committed to sharing his success story, speaking often at local schools and hospitals. Last week, Negron released the first in a series of children’s books he plans to write on topics like racism and drug abuse. The first title, The Boy of Steel, is a story about a young cancer patient who enjoys a magical experience at Yankee Stadium. Featuring large color illustrations, it is an ideal gift for any kid who loves the Yankees. Keep it in mind on your holiday shopping list this year. It’s for a good cause, as all the profits will be distributed to various charities.

The Yankees put an unlucky thirteen runners on base last night, but couldn’t get a single one of them home. Against Kansas City starter Jorge de la Rosa, they stranded men in the second through fifth innings, including runners at first and second with one out in the second and third and a lead-off double by Melky Cabrera in the fifth. In the sixth, with a blister forming on the middle finger of his pitching hand, de la Rosa surrendered a one-out single to Alex Rodriguez, got Posada to ground out for the second out, then walked Robinson Cano on four pitches (amazingly Cano’s second walk of the game; even more amazingly those two walks to Cano were the only free passes de la Rosa issued last night).

With Tuesday night’s implosion still fresh in his mind, Royals manager Buddy Bell was forced to go to his bullpen. Smelling blood, Joe Torre went to his bench and sent up Jason Giambi to hit for Craig Wilson. Bell brought in hard-throwing righty Todd Wellemeyer, who got ahead of Giambi 1-2, then bounced a pitch past catcher John Buck. Rodriguez took off for third, but the ball ricocheted right back to Buck, who threw to third where Mark Teahen dropped the tag on Rodriguez’s back foot for what should have been the third out as his front foot had sailed high and clear of the bag. However, third base umpire Greg Gibson, who erroneously called David DeJesus safe at home on Tuesday night despite the fact that DeJesus appeared to miss the plate entirely on his slide, called Rodriguez safe. Giambi then creamed Wellemeyer’s next pitch, but hooked it foul, doing the same two pitches later, this time sending the ball into the upper deck far down the right field foul line. Having twice been too quick on his pitch, Giambi then failed to catch up to a Wellemeyer heater, striking out to end the Yankee threat.

Having found a good thing, Bell stuck with it. Wellemeyer stranded Aaron Guiel, who doubled for Nick Green, at third in the seventh by striking out Derek Jeter. He then stranded a four-pitch lead-off walk to Bobby Abreu in the eighth by striking out Alex Rodriguez on three pitches, then getting Posada to hit into a double play. In the ninth the Yankees mounted their biggest threat of the night, loading the bases on a four-pitch walk to Giambi, a Melky Cabrera single and, after pinch hitter Bernie Williams struck out, an infield single by Johnny Damon, but Wellemeyer once again struck out the Yankee Captain, this time on three pitches, to end the game.

Give the offense’s futility, it was largely insignificant that Mike Mussina showed some rust by giving up four runs on eight hits in five innings despite excellent control (67 percent of 86 pitches for strikes and four Ks against just one walk in five innings). Moose was driven from the game in the sixth by a lead-off homer by Emil Brown. Brian Bruney finished the inning on eight pitches.

In the seventh, Joe Torre brought in the latest September call-ups. Andy Cannizaro made his major league debut as a defensive replacement for Aaron Guiel/Nick Green, but was later robbed of a chance at his first plate appearance when Torre turned to Bernie during the Yankees’ ninth-inning rally. Sean Henn, who made three ugly starts for the Yanks last year and has since been converted to relief after an injury plagued season with the Clippers, pitched the seventh, giving up a lead-off double to Andres Blanco then two booming flies that drove Blanco home.

Finally, Octavio Dotel, who apparently does still work here despite pitching just one inning in the past week and a half, worked the eighth. Dotel started his inning by striking out Mike Sweeney on three pitches, but the last skipped by Posada allowing Sweeney to reach base. Dotel then walked Emil Brown to put two on base with none out, but recovered to retire the next three men on eight pitches.

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Mike Mussina returns to active duty tonight to take the ball against the Royals. Mussina has now hit the disabled list in the second half of each of the last three seasons. In 2004, Moose missed nearly a month and a half in July and early August with elbow pain. After returning, it took him three starts to get up to speed, after which he dominated in six September starts (3-1, 2.14 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 9.00 K/9, 4.20 K/BB). Last year he missed the first three weeks of September due to more elbow issues, returning in time to make just two final regular season starts, the first good but not great, the second awful, with nearly identical results in his two ALDS starts.

This year it wasn’t his elbow, but a nagging groin injury that pushed Mikey Moose to the DL, and rather than three weeks or a month and a half, he’s missed just the minimum 15 days. The way the schedule pans out, Mussina, who has been stuck at 13 wins since July 30, could make as many as six more regular season starts (ain’t that always the way for Moose). That should be plenty of time for him to pitch himself back into a groove for the postseason, while feeling the benefits of the two-week respite. You see, Moose had a 5.14 ERA in August that was less the result of any gaudy runs-allowed totals than his increasing inability to go deep into ballgames due to both the groin and general inefficiency.

Opposing him tonight will be lefty Jorge de la Rosa, whom the Royals acquired from Milwaukee at the deadline for Tony Graffanino. De la Rosa is a hard thrower who strikes out a fair number of batters, but also walks more than his share and is thus in his fourth organization at the tender age of 25. After being converted to starting while in the Red Sox system in 2002, the Brewers put him back in the pen last year with disastrous results (8.08 BB/9). This year they used him as a swing man, giving him three starts, until the Royals mercifully took him and his 8.60 ERA off their hands. He’s since made six starts for the Royals which have been a total mixed bag, but without much upside. His first AL start–6 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K vs. Texas–remains his best. Of course he’s pitched on irregular rest almost every time out (though not tonight), which may have something to do with the fact that he was just coming off the DL due to blister problems when the Royals acquired him. Dayton Moore must have gotten one hell of a scouting report on this guy.

Pos on Jetes, Klap on Abreu.

“I tell you, I’ve been here a month and a couple of days, and I’ve seen some crazy things,” said Bobby Abreu, who broke a 5-5 tie with a double to deep center. “This team has come back at any time, no matter what.”
(Tyler Kepner, N.Y. Times)

Well, it was just a matter of time, I guess. The Yankees left runners on base in the first six innings last night in Kansas City and had just one run to show for it. They were retired in order in the seventh and then broke out for ten runs against the Royals’ bullpen in the eighth, turning a 5-1 deficit into an 11-5 lead. The final score on “Star Wars” night in KC: Evil Empire 12, Royals 5. Chien-Ming Wang was not great though he did not pitch poorly either (Wang was victimized by a botched double play and a missed call at the plate in the sixth). Luke Hudson was what they like to call “effectively wild.” His hard change-up was particularly sharp and he struck out ten Yankees. He also brushed a few Yankees back. In the third, Hudson knocked Jeter down with a pitch around the shortstop’s noggin; after shooting Hudson a dirty look, Jeter lined the next pitch right back through the box, into the pitcher’s body. You can only dream about stuff like that.

But KC’s bullpen was awful in the eighth and the Yankees pounced. Forty-four pitches were thrown, ten runs scored, and when all was said and done, the Yanks remained nine ahead of Boston, who beat the White Sox in extra innings last night at Fenway Park. The magic number to clinch the division for the Bombers stands at 17. I wonder if Giambi and Damon partied with any Wookiees after the game.

Mike Mussina returns tonight, while Hideki Matsui will play in Trenton tomorrow.

When the Yankees last played Kansas City, the Royals were a historically bad ballclub. When the team bus pulled up at Yankee Stadium back in late May, the Royals had a .222 winning percentage. Had they kept up that pace, the Royals would have surpassed the 1916 Philadelphia Althetics as the worst team since the arrival of the twentieth century.

Of course, they weren’t really that bad. Their Pythagorean record at the time was .261 and by June 15 they had indeed pulled their actual record up to .262, which would merely have been sixth worst since 1901. Since then, however, Royal baseball has been a whole new ballgame, as the team has played at a comparatively world-beating .466 clip.

So what changed? Well, most obviously, they fired general manager Allard Baird and replaced him with former Atlanta Braves assistant GM Dayton Moore at the end of May. Not that Moore can really be said to have been responsible for having turned the team around on his own. During his first month on the job, Moore reinstated Mark Teahen at third base, acquired Joey Gathright from the Devil Rays, claimed Todd Wellemeyer of waivers from the Marlins, bought Brandon Duckworth from the Pirates, and restored tonight’s starter Luke Hudson to the rotation.

Teahen has been a revelation, hitting .318/.390/.568 with 16 homers, 58 RBIs while being a perfect 8 for 8 on the bases and playing outstanding defense, but the other moves have had minimal impact. Gathright has hit just .234/.319/.291 and been caught in five of his eleven steal attempts. Wellemeyer leads the Royals pen with a 3.98 ERA (ouch), but has walked more than he’s struck out. Duckworth posted a 6.11 ERA before landing on the DL. In fact, the 29-year-old Hudson has been the second most successful of Moore’s initial fixes, going 7-2 since his recall despite a 5.01 ERA.

But then, it’s not fair to judge Moore on his short-term results. The Royals are such a bankrupt organization that there’s very little anyone could have done with them mid-season. Rather, Moore has been the early beneficiary of a few lucky breaks, such as the 24-year-old Teahen exceeding the expectations he’d previously failed to live up to, and David DeJesus and Mike Sweeney getting healthy. That said, he does deserve credit for bringing in first baseman Ryan Shealy from the Rockies, who has since hit .312/.363/.456. With Shealy and DeJesus replacing injured underperforming vets Doug Mientkiewicz and Reggie Sanders, Sweeney replacing the underutilized Matt Stairs, and Teahen replacing miscast utility man Tony Graffanino, the Royals have shown signs of life on the field, sweeping the Red Sox in early August and going 4-2 over their last six games against Wild Card contenders Chicago and Minnesota. In Kansas City such signs of life are a major accomplishment.

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While a distinct autumn chill has been felt in New York for much of the past week, Sunday was a reminder that summer isn’t quite over yet. It was a brilliant afternoon, sunny but not hot, and Yankee fans were treated to a 10-1 romp in the park over the Twins. Combined with a Red Sox loss, the Bombers now lead the AL East by nine games. The only Twins run came when Torii Hunter blasted a 3-0 fastball off starter Darrell Rasner in the second inning. Otherwise, Rasner, who has pitched well in the minors this season, had a fine outing in just his second big league start (and his first in pinstripes), allowing just four hits over six innings.

As for the offense, Robbie Cano, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez and Bobby Abreu all had three hits. Rodriguez crushed two home runs–one into the black–and added an RBI single. The Twins’ centerfielder thinks Rodriguez is pretty okay. According to Larry Brooks in the Post:

“They showed every bit of why they got A-Rod. The way he hit the ball today was not even right,” Hunter said after Rodriguez had pounded a solo shot in the fifth to the right-center bleachers and then a three-run blow in the seventh into the black. “It’s not even human. He’s not human.

“Why dwell on the negative? You know what he can do. Why even dwell on what he did? He’s not human, but he’s going to have his slumps. He is one of the best hitters and might be the best hitter on the team.

“If y’all don’t want him, we’ll take him. How about that? If you don’t want A-Rod, we’ll take him. Well, we can’t afford him. Give him to us, and y’all pay the salary.”

Abreu tied a career-high by hitting three doubles. The most impressive came when Abreu led-off the bottom of the seventh and fouled the third pitch of the sequence off his lower leg. Abreu hobbled around the plate and eventually, Joe Torre and trainer, Gene Monahan came out to look him over. Abreu stayed in the game, and after taking ball two, slapped a ball into the gap in right center field. The ball was not that deep but Abreu turned-on-the-jets and beat the throw to second. He slid into the base head first and had to hang on to the base so as not to come off the bag entirely. It reminded me just a little bit of Paul O’Neill’s desperate double in Game 5 of the ALDS back in 1997. The fans appreciated his hustle and gave Abreu a nice ovation as he came out of the game for a pinch-runner. After the game, Torre hoped that Abreu would be fine, adding, “He looked pretty good going from home to second.”

Just about everything the Yankees did yesterday looked pretty good. They even had promising news to report about Hideki Matsui, who will play a rehab game this Wednesday in Trenton. We could see the return of Godzilla as soon as sometime next week. Bam.

The Yanks lost a rain-shortened contest 6-1 yesterday afternoon, despite the best efforts of rookie Jeffrey Karstens, who allowed just two runs, one on a solo Torii Hunter home run, in seven innings. Today the Yankees throw another rookie to the wolves in Darrell Rasner. Because I’m on my way to the game and on my way out the door, here’s what I wrote about Rasner when it was announced he’d start today.

Rasner looked sharp in a lone relief appearance for the Yankees back in that first loss to the Tigers in May, utilizing a nasty curve. He then landed on the 60-day DL with a sore pitching shoulder. After a brief rehab stint in A-ball in which the threw 13 innings across four starts, he was activated and optioned down to Columbus where he started this past Monday, allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings, striking out five and walking none.

Rasner made his only other major league start for the Nationals last year in his major league debut. He ran into trouble in the third inning of that game and got an early hook, but then followed that appearance with 4 2/3 scoreless innings out of the pen in which he allowed just one hit and walked none. Of course that’s all tiny sample stuff, but in the minors, the 25-year-old Rasner has shown mid-rotation potential, displaying good control, a solid strikeout rate, and a knack for keeping the ball in the park. A good outing on Sunday could put him in the conversation for next year’s rotation.

Opposing Rasner will be 22-year-old Twins rookie Matt Garza, who was drafted out of Frezno State in the first round (25th overall) just last year. Garza has steadily improved across his four big-league starts, though his competition has also been progressively weaker in each one.

I can only imagine what must have been running through a Minnesota Twins fans’ mind last night as they watched Alex Rodriguez hit two homers and a bases loaded RBI single–“This is the guy who is supposed to stink?” Now batting .282 with 29 dingers and 99 RBI, Rodriguez, according to my pal out west, Rich Lederer, “is having one of the best seasons for a bum in recent memory.” Rodriguez had that good look back last night–even when he grounded into a double play his second time up, his frustration inspired confidence, instead of a “here we go again” feeling. Lee Jenkins reports in The New York Times:

“He looks more comfortable,” Manager Joe Torre said. “I’m pleased and everybody else is pleased, too, because he makes a huge difference.”

After Rodriguez’s first home run, the fans at Yankee Stadium begged him for a curtain call, but he did not respond. After his second, in the seventh inning, they begged again. Only when Torre told Rodriguez to acknowledge the cheers did he walk to the top step of the dugout and wave his helmet.

“Unless Joe tells me to go, it’s not in my nature,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t feel comfortable doing that.”

The Yankee third baseman was not the only offensive star–Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu had three hits apeice too, as the Bombers rolled over the Twins, 8-1 on a rainy night in the Bronx. Corey Lidle got ahead of hitters consistently and tossed six shutout innings. Meanwhile, the Twins committed three errors and played a sloppy game.

The rain held off enough for them to get the game in. The swirling winds made virtually every fly ball to the outfield an adventure. Late in the game, Jorge Posada hit a line drive to center field. On the crack of the bat, Torii Hunter turned and ran to the spot where he thought the ball would land (Charles Euchner has a fascinating chapter about how outfielders track fly balls in his book, “The Last Nine Innings”). When he looked up, he discovered that the ball had dropped in behind him by a good 20-30 feet. “Wow,” was all he could say.

It’s actually not raining right now, but the winds are fierce. Not exactly an ideal day for playing ball, forget about sitting in the stands. Both Cliff and I will be at the park tomorrow. Hopefully, the weather will improve some by then.

Jason Giambi was back in the line-up but Mariano Rivera was unavailable and, as Kevin Kernan reports in the Post, the Yankees are holding their breath that their star closer will be okay come October. However, it is possible that both Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield could return before all is said and done. A dizzing proposition, for sure.

After starting the season 17-24, the Twins moved 22-year-old lefty über-prospect Francisco Liriano from the bullpen into the rotation on May 19. They then played .500 ball over their next twenty games before catching fire in mid-June, winning 18 of 19 games, 15 of which came against National League teams, specifically the Dodgers and the four weakest teams in the NL Central. After dropping a pair of series to the Royals and Rangers, they again went on a tear after the All-Star Break, winning 12 of their first 14 games of the second half, a stretch that concluded with a three-game sweep of the White Sox.

Those streaks obviously weren’t all Liriano’s doing, but the decision to move Liriano into the rotation was a lynchpin for the team, which started the season with Tony Batista at third, Juan Castro at shortstop and with plans to carry Ruben Sierra. Not long after Twins got wise on Liriano, they dumped Batista (.236/.303/.388), Castro (.231/.258/.308), Sierra (5 for 28 with one extra base hit and four walks) and Kyle Lohse (7.07 ERA), replacing them with Nick Punto (a surprising .307/.383/.405), Jason Bartlett (finally living up to his minor league track record with a .342/.409/.447 line), Jason Tyner (ditto, hitting .314/.343/.346 in place of the injured Shannon Stewart’s .293/.347/.368 in left field), and, of course, Liriano (12-3, 2.19 ERA, 10.74 K/9). Add in a tremendous two months from Justin Morneau (.387/.415/.719 with 18 homers in June and July) and you get a Twins team that went 42-17 (.712) from May 19 until July 28.

It was that later date when Liriano suffered a hard luck loss against the Tigers after which he complained of pain in his pitching elbow. He’s made just one abbreviated start since then and the Twins have gone 18-13 in his absence. That’s a .580 record, an almost exact match with the team’s overall record, but a considerable drop from the dominant two months in which Liriano took the hill every fifth day, and not enough to push them past the White Sox, who currently sport a .586 winning percentage.

Once again, Liriano has been the lynchpin as the team has started to regress without him. Brad Radke, who has said he will retire after this season, has been pitching with a torn labrum and a shredded rotator cuff, figuring there’s no reason to save his arm. It worked in August, when he posted a 2.48 ERA, but his shoulder is deteriorating faster than expected and didn’t respond to his latest cortisone shot. As a result, Radke won’t start Saturday, and could be done for the season, and thus his career. That’s bad news for a rotation that’s still without Liriano and is still carrying tonight’s starter Carlos Silva, who has a 6.50 ERA on the year. While rookies Boof Bonser and Sunday’s starter Matt Garza appear to be rounding into shape, Scott Baker, who will take Radke’s turn tomorrow, has been on the Richmond express all year and sports a 6.93 ERA in 12 starts.

To make matters worse, the offense is experiencing some correction, with MVP candidates Morneau and Joe Mauer cooling off and Punto coming back to earth. It doesn’t help matters that Luis Castillo sprained his ankle and could miss the entire series this weekend. Thus, despite the continued excellence of Johan Santana and the bullpen (which has added dominant rookie Pat Neshek to the Big Three of Nathan, Rincon and LOOGY Dennys Reyes), the recent surge of surprise clean-up hitter Michael Cuddyer (.311/.398/.594 in August), and last night’s addition of Phil Nevin (who will replace the Rondell White’s miserable .215/.242/.308 at DH), I’m just not convinced that this team can overtake the White Sox, despite the two teams being tied in the loss column, without getting Liriano back, and soon.

The latest report from Will Carroll is that Liriano is throwing “sneaker sessions” (meaning he’s throwing off a mound, but in sneakers rather than cleats, the unproven theory being that the reduced traction also reduces effort and strain on the arm) and could return mid-month. Unless Bonser and Garza maintain their improvements and Nevin hits like he did in Chicago rather than the way he didn’t in Texas, that might not be soon enough

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