Say what you want about Leo Mazzone’s ineffectiveness as the Baltimore Orioles’ pitching coach thus far this season, but the Braves, who won their division 14 straight times (not counting the strike year of 1995) with Mazzone rockin’ in their dugout, are about to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1990 when Mazzone was hired mid-season to be the Braves’ pitching coach. And the reason the Braves are languishing in dead last place below the mismanaged Nationals and post-fire sale Marlins? Yup. It’s the pitching.

The only NL teams to have allowed more runs per game than the Braves are the Brewers and Pirates, while the Atlanta bullpen’s 5.06 ERA is essentially tied with the Reds’ (5.07) for the worst in the NL and second worst in baseball (the Royals’ pen is on a whole other level of suck). What’s most dispiriting about the Braves’ pitching is that there’s not a large range of performances there. Other than failed closer Chris Reitsma’s 9.11 ERA (now on the DL), and swing-man Lance Cormier’s 6.23 on one end and new closer Ken Ray’s 2.80 on the other, everyone on the current roster falls between Chad Paronto’s 3.80 and Jorge Sosa’s 5.18. Yes, John Smotlz and Tim Hudson fall toward the low end of that spectrum, but neither has been the stopper this team needs. Absent that kind of ace, the Braves have been on a dramatic downward spiral all month. After pulling out of a losing April to finish May three games over .500, the Braves have gone a staggering 4-19 in June, low-lighted by a ten-game losing streak that was snapped by the Devil Rays on Friday. Indeed, before that weekend series in Tampa the Braves were 2-18 in June.

It’s the end of an era in Atlanta. John Smoltz, the only man other than manager Bobby Cox and Mazzone to have participated in all fourteen playoff appearances, is a free agent after this season and has said he would accept a trade. Andruw Jones, who has been with the team since he was a teenager in 1996, Cox and GM John Schuerholz are all signed through 2007 only. Could be Chipper Jones, signed through 2008 with a 2009 option that will likely vest itself, will be the last man standing. I for one welcome the release of the Braves’ grip on the NL East division, but with the end finally here, the fact that this team only won one Championship and failed to reach the World Series in their last six postseasons leaves even me with an empty feeling.

That said, here’s hoping the Yankees party like it’s 1999 and sweep the Bravos over the next three games. Robinson Cano is not in the line-up tonight due to the left hamstring injury he suffered yesterday while running out a double, though early reports are that he will not have to go on the DL. Instead, Joe Torre gives Miguel Cairo the start at second, but sullies his lineup by batting Miggy second once again. Jason Giambi, who missed the first game of yesterday’s double-header with a bad back played last night and is back in there tonight. Bubba Crosby gets the start in right as Tim Hudson and Randy Johnson give the Yankees their second marquee pitching matchup in as many days.

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Courtesy of Rich Lederer (via Lee Sinins I suspect), dig this:

W    SO
1  Cy Young          511   2802
2  Walter Johnson       417   3509
3  Christy Mathewson      373   2502
4  Warren Spahn        363   2583
T5  Roger Clemens        341   4506
T5  Tim Keefe          341   2521
7  Steve Carlton        329   4136
T8  Nolan Ryan         324   5714
T8  Don Sutton         324   3574
10  Greg Maddux         325   3101
11  Phil Niekro         318   3342
12  Gaylord Perry        314   3534
13  Tom Seaver         311   3640
14  Bert Blyleven        287   3701
15  Ferguson Jenkins      284   3192
16  Randy Johnson        271   4448
17  Bob Feller         266   2581
18  Bob Gibson         251   3117
19  Frank Tanana        240   2773
20  Mike Mussina        233   2500

Blyleven and Tanana are the only retired fellas on the list who are not in the Hall of Fame.

Bobby Blue Bland? Bob Klapisch recalls his infamous clubhouse incident with Bobby Bonilla over at The Baseball Analysts. An excellent read, Klap illustrates why modern athletes often prefer to be cautious and boring. Sure beats having to deal with a goon like Bonilla.

Tyler Kepner profiles the Yankees’ best pitching prospect Phillip Hughes today in the New York Times. Don’t miss this one.

After playing in front of more than 53,000 in the afternoon, the Yankees and Marlins performed in front of less than 7,000 last night. Now that’s a kind of crowd the young Marlins are familiar with. It almost seemed as if the Yankees themselves forgot there was a second game yesterday as they fell to the Marlins, 5-0. The Bombers are the last team in the majors to get shut out this season. Jason Giambi made two errors which led to three runs, nobody could get anything going offensively, and to make matters worse, Robinson Cano came up lame with a hamstring problem in his left leg. Early reports do not tell us how serious the injury is, but it was the most remarkable event of the game for the Yanks. Cano has been exceptionally durable so far this year and it would be a tough loss if he is lost for an extended period of time.

Anibal Sanchez, the former Red Sox who went to Florida in the Josh Beckett deal this past winter, made the most of his major league debut for the Marlins and successfully kept the Yankee hitters off-balance. (The Bombers scored two runs over both games.) With runners on second and third and one out in the sixth, Bernie Williams ripped a line drive to the right side of the infield. It was snagged by the first baseman and was the last batter Sanchez would face. It was also the closest the Bombers would come to staging any kind of rally. It was a dream come true for Sanchez, who was called-up just for this one start.

Mike Mussina was just this much better than his counterpart Dontrelle Willis on a rainy Sunday afternoon in the Bronx, as the Yanks beat the Florida Marlins 2-1. Moose notched the 2,500th strike out of his career and pitched a nice game–he was particularly crisp early. Johnny Damon drove in both New York runs, Kyle Farnsworth got the blood a-boiling in the eighth, and Mariano Rivera earned the save in the ninth. Cliff was out there in the bleachers. If we’re lucky and he’s not too beat when he gets home, we’ll get his take on what was a well-played game.

I was supposed to be there myself but my plans fell through. Instead, I spent most of the day in the kitchen. I made a couple of different tomato sauces (garlic, olive oil, parsley, crushed red pepper, zucchinni and tomatoes with fresh thyme, and the other one, onion, butter, olive oil, eggplant, pancetta, crushed red pepper, tomatoes and fresh basil) for my brother who is on the DL and needed some kitchen help, a ratatouille with roasted potatoes for Em’s weekly grub (she does the laundry), and then the project: a dozen jars of jam from fresh strawberries that Em and I got upstate yesterday. The best strawberries are only around for a couple of weeks each June and we got some good beauts. My Ma used to make jams when I was growing up. I haven’t done it much myself but it’s not hard and man, oh, man, how I love good jam. Em helped out with the canning–she’s a cracker jack with that kind of thing–and so while I know that the game featured several sparkling defensive plays, I caught most of them as replays, running in from the kitchen.

The second game of this Day-Night doubleheader kicks off at 8:00 pm. However, due TV restrictions, the game will not be televised in many parts of the country. (Man, I wish I had a clever Gil Scott Heron line.) Apparently, it will be televised in New York (thanks for the knowledge Mr. Kabak). The Red Sox were rained out today while the Blue Jays lost to the Mets. It’d be gravy if the Yanks can win another one, but I wouldn’t count on it. Not with Chacon on the hill. These Marlins are scrappy. But one never knows does one?

Let’s Go Yan-kees!

The Marlins kicked the ball around like they were Chico’s Bail Bonds in the first inning last night (actually it was two players who accounted for three–should have been four–errors), but escaped only down 3-0. They tied the game swiftly and hung around for the rest of the evening. It was a very warm in New York and it rained steadily during the middle innings. Chien-Ming Wong pitched well, though he wasn’t nearly as impressive as he was in his previous two outings. Kyle Farnsworth did what he does best–give Yankee fans indigestion–as the Marlins crept closer in the eighth. But Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth as the Yanks held on for a 6-5 victory. Alex Rodriguez, Andy Phillips and Jorge Posada each had three hits, and Jorge had three RBI as well. The Yanks remain two behind the streaking Red Sox who won again last night. The Blue Jays, however, fall to four games out of first, after their loss to the Mets in Toronto.

Today is hot and it is very dark outside. Looks like Old Timer’s Day could be a warsh out. The regular game is scheduled to start in the late afternoon, but it could be pushed back to this evening, cause man, it sure feels like the skies are going to open up and drench New York City. Hopefully, they get it in. Enjoy!

One of the big stories this offseason was the Marlins’ second fire sale in the past decade, but buried beneath the outrage was the fact that the Marlins actually made a large number of smart baseball decisions in purging their roster of aging, overvalued players while stocking their system with prospects. Now, in last June, the team everyone had written off over the winter is in third place in the NL East, three games ahead of the perennial division champion Braves, and sports a Pythagorean record just a hair shy of .500.

That’s impressive enough, but what’s been even more impressive is how this team has gelled. Don’t look now, but the Marlins have gone 20-7 since May 22 including a 10-game winning streak that was halted on Wednesday and climaxed with a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays last weekend. The secret to that recent success has been pitching. The Marlins have held their opponents to less than three runs in 13 of those 20 wins and allowed more than three runs in just three of those 20 victories, a 5-4 win over the Cubs, a 6-5 win over the Braves, and last night’s 8-5 victory over the Orioles.

So who are these guys? Here’s a quick look at the Marlins’ rotation along with their ages and 2006 salaries:

Dontrelle Willis, 24, $4.35 million

You know D-Train, he was the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year and just missed out last year’s Cy Young. ‘Nuff said.

Josh Johnson, 22, ML minimum ($327,000)
Replacing: Josh Beckett, 26, $4.325 million

Drafted by the Marlins in 2002, Johnson was solid in double-A last year and finished the season with four appearances for the Fish. This year, without the benefit of a stint in triple-A, he’s posted a 2.01 ERA while striking out 7.93 men per nine innings in nine starts. Josh Beckett, meanwhile, has a 5.09 ERA and just 7.41 K/9 for more than ten times Johnson’s salary in Boston, while trading Beckett netted the Fish their starting shortstop, top pitching prospect Anibal Sanchez, and two other minor league arms, one of whom, Jose Garcia, has joined Sanchez in double-A and just may be pitching his way past his more highly touted teammate.

Ricky Nolasco, 23, ML min.
Replacing: Al Leiter (retired) and 23-year-old Jason Vargas, the latter of whom is starting for the Marlins’ triple-A club with good peripherals, but an ugly ERA.

Nolasco came over from the Cubs in the Juan Pierre deal along with Sergio Mitre and Renyel Pinto. The 25-year-old Mitre was in the rotation until he hit the 60-day DL with inflammation in his pitching shoulder. The 23-year-old Pinto did not allow a run in four big league innings earlier in the year and is pitching very well save for a high walk rate in triple-A Albuquerque. Nolasco turned in a strong season in double-A last year and has posted a 3.15 ERA in 60 innings for the Fish thus far this season with a solid 6.45 K/9. Pierre, meanwhile, is hitting .242/.290/.306 for the Cubs, fulfilling my prediction of a Womackian future for the 28-year-old who is pocketing $5.75 million of the Cubs greenbacks for his services.

Scott Olsen, 22, ML min.
Replacing: A.J. Burnett, 29, $55 million/5 yrs

The left-handed Olsen, like Johnson, is a home grown product who pitched well for the double-A Carolina Mudcats in 2005. A strikeout machine in the minors, the 22-year-old Olsen has struck out 7.79 men per nine innings with the Fish in twelve starts this year and held hitters to less than a hit per inning, but has struggled some with his control, resulting in a 4.70 ERA. Burnett, meanwhile, has made just three starts for the Jays thus far this year due to repeated problems with his surgically repaired pitching elbow. In those three starts, Burnett has a Beckett-like 5.06 ERA thanks in part to his surrendering four home runs in 16 innings.

Brian Moehler, 34, $1.5 million

Moehler, tonight’s starter, was retained as a budget rate, league-average insurance policy. He’s not held up his end of the bargain, posting a 6.29 ERA while allowing 97 hits in 73 innings.

From that alone this fire sale thing doesn’t look too shabby, does it?

The trend continues around the diamond. The best player the Marlins traded this offseason was 34-year-old Carlos Delgado, who is still owed $52 million over four years, only $7 million of which the Fish picked up in the deal. In that trade they acquired not only pitching prospect Yusmeiro Petit, but 25-year-old first baseman Mike Jacobs, who tore the cover off the ball in 100 at-bats for the Mets last year (.310/.375/.710) and is representing this year with a .269/.357/.486 line and ten homers as the Marlins’ first baseman.

They dumped an overrated and overpaid ($10 million over two years) 30-year-old Luis Castillo on the Twins for a pair of minor league arms and handed the second base job to 26-year-old minor league free agent Dan Uggla, who had lit-up the Southern League with the Diamondback’s double-A franchise in 2005. Uggla has the early lead in the NL Rookie of the Year race, hitting .313/.366/.532 with 13 homers while playing a Gold Glove-level second base.

At shortstop the Beckett deal netted them 22-year-old Sox prospect Hanley Ramirez, who caused a sensation over the first two months of the season before a recent slump that is strangely in synch with his team’s winning streak torpedoed his numbers. Ramirez was hitting .340/.417/.484 with 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts on May 23, but has hit just .139/.187/.257 since then. Still, that deal not only netted them those three aforementioned pitching prospects in addition to Ramirez, but it allowed them to unload 32-year-old Mike Lowell’s contract ($25.5 million over three years left), thus opening third base for their 23-year-old future Hall of Famer, Miguel Cabrera. The Marlins wisely recognized the fact that it would be easier to find viable corner outfielders than a third baseman that can hit like Frank Robinson or Albert Pujols (Cabrera’s top two PECOTA comps).

In Cabrera’s place in right field the Fish have installed 22-year-old home-grown prospect Jeremy Hermida, who is hitting a solid, if somewhat powerless .286/.385/.429. The good news is that at 22, Hermida has time to develop his power stroke. In the opposite pasture, the Marlins finally found a home for 27-year-old former catching prospect Josh Willingham, who has hit.268/.352/.470 and will be activated from the disabled list for this weekend’s series.

With those six stacked at the top of the line-up, of whom only Cabrera at the insane low price of $472,000 is earning more than the league minimum, the Marlins have installed 27-year-old veteran Miguel Olivo behind the plate for the modest sum of $700,000 and have been able to give 25-year-old Reggie Abercrombie an extended look in center. Of the six rookie Marlins in the everyday lineup, only Abercrombie has failed to rise to the occasion, but given the success of the others, they’re able to remain patient with the man they, perhaps erroneously, still hope is their center fielder of the future.

So maybe the bench is a bit thin (Helms has pop, Amezaga can play anywhere, Borchard and Ross once had promise and are still in their 20s, Treanor is a holdover) and the bullpen is a bit of a hodgepodge (veterans Borowski and Herges, 2005 A-ballers Martinez and Tankersley, holdover Messenger, rookie Logan, and the truly off-the-radar Fulchino), but you have to commend a team that’s able to purge $60 million in active payroll and tens of millions more owed in subsequent seasons, get 3 ½ years younger as a team and actually improve its long-term outlook in the process. Willis and Cabrera are young enough that they will peak along with the new crop of players, rather than ahead of them. It may have looked ugly this offseason, but with the Braves having finally tumbled off their perch and the Mets relying on a crop of old fogies (Pedro, Glavine, Trachsel, El Duque, Wagner, Valentin, ex-Marlin Cliff Floyd and 2005 Marlins Delgado and Paul Lo Duca), these Fish just might surprise a lot of people in a few years. If so, one might have to wonder if the Marlins have stumbled upon a new method of small-market management in which a Championship is followed by a fire sale which leads directly to another Championship within the decade, repeat. Remember, Burnett and Derrek Lee were picked up in the post-1997 purge, as was Preston Wilson who was flipped for Pierre, and Ed Yarnall who was flipped for Lowell, while Josh Beckett was drafted second overall in 1999 after the Marlins finished 1998 with the worst record in baseball (the expansion Devil Rays got the number one pick). Also, don’t forget that the Marlins won two Championships in their first eleven years of existence, while no other expansion team has ever won more than two titles (Mets, Blue Jays) and seven expansion clubs of equal or older vintage are still looking for that first ring. Kinda makes you think, don’t it?

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Inspired by Catfish Stew, here’s a list of my least favorite Yankees from the last twenty years:

25. Tim Stoddard Stoddard was 6’7″, 250 pounds and looked like Wally Walrus from the Woody Woodpecker cartoons. What’s not to like about that? Well, Wally was the bad guy in those cartoons and Tim posted a 6.38 ERA out of the Yankee pen in 1988 earning his release that August. Worse yet, Stoddard was all the Yankees managed to get in return for Ed Whitson, who would surely make this list if I extended it back further. Just a series of unpleasant memories there.

24. Xavier Hernandez The Yankees began to turn things around in 1993 with the additions of Paul O’Neill, Jimmy Key and Wade Boggs. Going into 1994, Hernandez was supposed to be part of the solution as a young (28) rubber armed reliever who had just turned in two excellent seasons for the Astros. Plus his name started with an X. How cool is that? Turns out his arm wasn’t really made of rubber after all and those 207 2/3 innings over two seasons in Houston resulted in a 5.85 ERA in his lone season for the Yanks, which was itself cut short by injury in late July. I suppose I should have blamed Houston manager Art Howe, but I was less enlightened then. Speaking of which, it didn’t help that the Yanks dealt no-hit fan favorite Andy Stankiewicz (“Stanky the Yankee”) to get Xavier.

23. Rich Dotson One of many Stump Merrill-era hurlers on this list (a term I use for those lean late-’80s, early ’90s years regardless of whom the manager was, Dotson, for instance, never actually pitched for Merrill). The Yankees sent fan favorite Danny Pasqua to the White Sox in the deal to acquire Dotson. In his only full year with the Yanks, Dotson posted a 5.00 ERA (79 ERA+ in those days) and things got so bad the following season he was released in June . . . only to resign with the White Sox! It was a trick! We wuz robbed! Dotson, of course, pitched better for the Chisox over the remainder of the 1989 season than he ever had for the Yankees, but at least he had the decency to burn out after that. Oh, it bears mentioning that Dotson wore his hat high on his head so it boxed up in front. Some players can pull that off. Dotson couldn’t.

22. Terry Mulholland Believe it or not, the Yankees were just Mulholland’s third team, though he was already in his early thirties back in 1994. Mulholland’s offenses are similar to Hernandez’s. Thought to be part of the solution in 1994, he was so very much part of the problem, struggling to stay in the rotation and posting a 6.49 ERA, which remains his worst single season ERA more than a decade later.

21. Randy Keisler With his jug-handle ears and bulging eyes, Keisler looked ready to crap himself on the mound and when he pitched like crap he had the nerve to bitch about being sent back to Columbus. Normally I’d sympathize with a young player’s gripes about getting a fair shot with Steinbrenner’s Yankees, but a) keep your mouth shut rook and make your statements on the field and b) Keisler, who made his major league debut at age 24, was such a hot prospect the Yanks just flat released him after he missed the 2003 season due to injury.

20. Carl Pavano I was ready to like Pavano despite the ridiculous contract the Yankees gave him, but once what was supposed to be a minimum DL stay last June turned into a full calendar year of inaction amid rumors of the Yankees questioning Pavano’s fortitude, he’d hung himself with the rope I was prepared to give him. He’d rank higher, but there’s still time for Meat to redeem himself.

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Jaret Wright was not able to pitch deep into last night’s ball game, but he threw up zeros for the five innings he did pitch. He also put some good wood on the ball and drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to deep left field. Ron Villone, Scott Proctor, Kyle Farnsworth and finally Mariano Rivera each pitched scoreless innings as the Yanks beat the Phillies 5-0. Miguel Cairo, Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano led the offense. Bobby Abreu whiffed three times for the Phils and Wright struck out Ryan Howard twice as well. Cole Hamels allowed two runs over seven innings and was impressive for Philadelphia (he mastered Jason Giambi all night). The victory gave the Yanks a 3-3 record on the road trip. The Bombers return home to face the Marlins (Old Timer’s Day is this Saturday), Braves and Mets in the final home stand before the All-Star break.

Thanks to ol’ buddy Arthur Rhodes, all that stands between the Yankees and a series win in Philadelphia and a split of their southern dip in the NL is Cole Hamels. A tall, slender lefty, the 22-year-old Hamels is the posterboy of pitching prospect hype, having gone 11-3 with a 1.54 ERA, 208 strikeouts and just 88 hits in 152 innings over his first three professional seasons. Of course, all but the final 19 innings in that stretch occurred in A-ball. And then there’s the fact that he only made four starts in 2004 due to issues with his pitching elbow.

Hamels started this season back in the Florida State League, but was so dominant he was jumped straight to triple-A, where after three even more impressive outings he was promoted to big league rotation. After holding the Reds scoreless across five innings while striking out seven in his first turn, Hamels looked rather human against the Brewers in his next start, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks in six and a third while striking out five. He then landed on the 15-day DL with a strained left shoulder. Hamels only missed the minimum and has made three starts since returning to action. The good news for the Phillies is that the control issues that have plagued him on occasion throughout his career and over his first two starts (9 BB in 11 1/3 IP) seem to have gone away (5 BB in 14 1/3 IP in June), but his overall results have not responded in kind. Hamels beat the Diamondbacks in his first start off the DL, but lasted just 5 2/3 innings and struck out just two. In his next start he struck out eight, but lasted just five innings and yielded four runs on six hits while taking a loss against the Nationals. In his last turn he was summarily beaten about the head and neck by the Devil Rays, who touched him up for his first two big league homers allowed and a total of six runs (five earned) on seven hits against just three Ks in 3 2/3 IP.

Is Hamels hurt? Was he rushed? Is he just a tad overrated to begin with?

It’s unlikely that we’ll find the answer to any of those questions tonight as he goes up against Jaret Wright, who’s five-inning limit should at least be properly motivated tonight when he’s pulled for a pinch-hitter. After a consistent streak in May in which Wright allowed no more than three runs in no less than five innings for six straight starts, Wright has allowed a total of nine runs across his last ten innings. Given his ugly peripherals, it seems reality has caught up to the Yankees’ fifth starter. I wouldn’t expect to see that trend reverse in the hitters’ haven that is Citizen’s Bank Park. Let’s just hope he keeps enough men off base that he can pitch around “Blastmaster” Ryan Howard. I’ll be covering my eyes during those at-bats.

I really enjoyed the second season of HBO’s “Entourage,” mostly because when it comes down to it, the show is about the ties that bind guys together. We may not be living in an age where athletes are especially revealing or candid with the media, but all we have to do is watch the games, particularly the action in the dugout, and we can get an idea of how men get along with one another. You can get a better impression of Derek Jeter’s personality by watching how he interacts with his teammates than you ever will from what he tells reporters. I was thinking about this last night after Mariano Rivera batted in the ninth inning. It reminded me of something Roger Angell once wrote (in his collection, “The Summer Game”):

“We (nonathletes) had never made it. We would never know the rich joke that doubled over three young pitchers in front of the dugout; we would never be part of that golden compnay on the field, which each of us, certainly for one moment of his life, had wanted more than anything else in the world to join.”

We may never be entirely “in” on the joke, but we can enjoy watching the players be the insiders. Since we as fans are all drawn together by baseball, we make up our own “in” crowd. And just as many of us will never get to know what it’s like for them on the inside, most players don’t know what it is like to be an obsessive fan. However, we are all drawn together by a mutually shared experience. And companionship–or just plain ol’ good comapany–is a beautiful thing.

Very afraid.

“Mo’s in the game, man,” said Derek Jeter, when asked if he was worried. “Mo doesn’t give up many hard hit balls, let alone home runs. When Mo’s in the game you’re thinking it’s over, no matter who’s up.”
(Hartford Courant)

It feels like the Yankees have been playing catch-up ever since they blew a 9-2 lead last Saturday in Washington D.C. The Bombers fell behind early last night, but hung tough in a see-saw affair down in Philly, eventually pulling ahead against their old friend Arthur Rhodes. Mariano Rivera pitched two innings to nail down the save as the Yanks beat the Phils, 9-7.

Mike Mussina retired the first two hitters in the bottom of the first and then gave up a single to Bobby Abreu and a walk to Pat Burrell. Mussina was furious at the ball four call to Burrell and not only glared in at the home plate umpire but he started lecturing him too. The umpire took off his mask, which didn’t help matters. “No, it wasn’t low,” complained Mussina, who rarely displays as much irritation as he showed here. It was like a professor being incorrectly corrected by a student in front of the entire class, and Mussina’s feathers were clearly ruffled. His next pitch–the first to Ryan Howard–was absolutely crushed into the right field upper deck. It was almost comical. Ryan looks like the legendary New York rapper KRS-ONE, whose moniker used to be the “Blastmaster.” I think it’s appropriate to pass that nickname onto Howard, who would go on to homer in his next at bat against Mussina too.

The Yanks tied the game at three, thanks to RBI singles from Bernie Williams and Kevin Reese and a solo dinger from Jason Giambi. (Old man Bernabee went 5-5, two doubles and three singles…how about that?) Reese’s bloop single to left in the third inning was particularly enjoyable as he slapped at a pitch way out of the strike zone (with the pitcher on deck there was no way he was going to get a good pitch to hit, so he made the most out of a bad one). Howard put the Phils ahead with his two-run blast in the fourth. Jorge Posada popped a solo homer in the sixth and Alex Rodriguez tied the game with an RBI ground ball single in the seventh. That man Howard was at it again in the bottom of the inning as he drove in two more runs (giving him seven RBI on the night) on a triple off of a flat breaking ball from southpaw Mike Myers.

Arthur Rhodes pitched well against the Yanks on Monday night but would not record an out on Tuesday. Bernie Williams reached on an infield single, Miguel Cairo (in for Cano) walked and then Melky Cabrera slapped a single to right driving in a run and putting runners on the corners. It was an impressive at bat for Cabrera who had been 1 for his last 19 going into the inning. Cabrera fell behind in the count but fouled a few pitches off before going the other way with the pitch. Damon was next, and he lifted a fly ball to center field, enough to tied the game for sure. But Aaron Rowand was playing too shallow and the ball sailed over his head. It appeared as if Damon thought it was a routine fly out. He did not run hard out of the box but turned the jets on and when all was said and done wound up on third with a triple and two RBI. Damon scored on Derek Jeter’s single and the Yanks had a two-run lead.

Rivera pitched an easy eighth inning and even got a chance to hit in the top of the ninth. It was the first regular season at bat of his career (he is 0-3 in post-season play). Joe Torre huddled with him before Rivera grabbed a helmet–Jeter’s as it turns out. Torre was probably telling him not to swing. Rivera could barely hide a smile as he walked to the plate. Rivera took the first pitch for a strike and then took two mighty cuts before returning to the dugout. Jeter and Jorge had big smiles for Mo upon his return.

In the bottom of the ninth, Chase Utley blooped a one-out single to right. After Rivera struck out Abreu on a very hittable pitch–Abreu was immediately vexed because he knew Rivera had gotten away with one–pinch-hitter Dave Dellucci blooped a single to left, setting up a boffo confrontation with the Blastmaster. The Philly fans, who had been tame for much of the evening, came alive. But the fight was over before it really even begun. Rivera threw Howard a cutter, and the young slugger tapped it to second base for the final out of the game. The Blastmaster had a tremendous night, but in the end, it was Rivera and the Yanks who came away with the win.

From Ken Rosenthal’s latest:

Maybe Yankees left-hander Randy Johnson is coming around. He has produced quality starts in four of his last five outings, and teammates are noticing his willingness to make adjustments; Johnson is pitching to both sides of the plate and becoming less predictable in his patterns. Johnson says he is watching more video than at any point in his career, and working as hard at his mechanics as he ever has before.

Our pal Mike Plugh takes a look at the state of the Yankees.

There is more on Alex Rodriguez via No Maas, Was Watching, and the Lo-Hud.

“We’re two games out, and we feel we should be up,” said Johnny Damon, who had an infield hit in five at-bats. “We’ve had a lot of games this year where we just came up a little short. We’ve got to do a better job with runners in scoring position.”
(Hartford Courant)

For the second consecutive game, the Yanks were involved in a pitcher’s duel. Again, they came up short, as Brett Meyers struck out 11 and the Phillies beat the Bombers, 4-2. For his part, Randy Johnson pitched very well in defeat. A one-out boo boo in the fourth by Robinson Cano (scored as a hit, but a play that should have been made), followed by a walk to Chase Utley set the stage for Pat Burrell’s line drive double to left. Aaron Rowand later added an RBI double and Kyle Farnsworth’s wild pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth (which just so happened to strike David Bell out) led to another run.

It was all Philadelphia would need. The Phillies were able to get out of big jams when they needed to, and were aided by two wonderful diving plays–one by Abraham Nunez, who robbed Randy Johnson of a game-tying single, and another by Jimmy Rollins, which helped preserve the lead in the seventh.

In all, it was a frustrating night for the Yankees, an even more frustrating time for Yankee fans, but as my writing partner Cliff pointed out, this was a well-played game. Unfortunately, the Bombers have lost 8 of their last 11 games. New York left 11 men on base but some credit must go to Philadelphia’s pitchers. Jason Giambi had three hits including a solo home run, and Alex Rodriguez had a double and two walks. Melky Cabrera is in the middle of a growing slump (he’s 1 for his last 18), and Joe Torre will most likely give the kid a rest. The Bombers have now lost three in a row.

No Relief

According to Tyler Kepner:

Octavio Dotel’s comeback was stalled Sunday when he felt discomfort behind his right elbow while playing catch. Dotel, who had reconstructive elbow surgery last June, was found to have tendinitis. He was pitching for Class AAA Columbus and had been aiming to join the Yankees this weekend. Instead, he will report to Class AA Trenton on Thursday to throw on flat ground. “Of course I worry about it,” Dotel said. “Tommy John surgery is not an easy surgery.” Dotel said the doctor who performed the operation, James Andrews, assured him tendinitis was normal and not a cause for alarm. … The Yankees released the veteran right-hander Scott Erickson.

Despite all of the upheaval on their roster, the Yankees have been alarmingly consistent thus far this year, avoiding slumps, but also failing to go off on any dazzling winning streaks. The Yankees have lost more than two games in a row just twice this year (a fact they hope will remain true after tonight), with both losing streaks having maxed out at four games. On the flip side, they’ve won more than three in a row just three times, with two five-game winning streaks, one four-gamer and just one other of as many as three in a row.

The Phillies’ season has followed a very different course. They started the season losing six of seven, then from the end of April to mid-May won 13 of 14, beginning that run with a nine-game winning streak. That was immediately followed by a five-game losing streak and coming into Sunday’s game against the Devil Rays, the Phillies had lost eight of nine. That last spell included a six-game losing streak that was snapped with an 8-5 win yesterday.

The Phillies’ big problem is starting pitching. Randy Wolf hasn’t thrown a pitch all year, Jon Lieber is currently on the DL, lefty phenom Cole Hamels has also spent time on the DL, while the current version of the rotation includes reliever Ryan Madson and rookie Scott Mathieson, who was in the Florida State league last year. The only Phillie starters to take all of their turns thus far this year have been Brett Myers and Cory Lidle. The result is a rotation that has been the second worst in baseball, just barely allowing fewer runs per start than that of the neighboring Baltimore Orioles.

Good thing then that the Philadelphia bullpen has been so strong. The Phillies’ 3.25 Bullpen ERA has been the best in baseball thus far this year, with ex-Yankee Tom Gordon leading the way with 18 saves, a 1.61 ERA and 17 hits, 8 walks and 37 strikeouts in 28 innings. Behind Gordon the Phillies have a strong pair of veteran LOOGies in Rheal Cormier and old Yankee whipping boy Arthur Rhodes. The problem is that this pen is built to win now (Rhodes is 36, Gordon is 38 and Cormier is 39), but the Phillies have a losing record and are 9.5 games behind the NL-best Mets. Good thing there’s not much competition for the NL Wild Card (the Phils trail the unlikely Reds by three).

Curiously, given the extreme divergence in performance between their starters and relievers, the Phillies are a terrible defensive team (third worst defensive efficiency in the majors) playing in an extreme hitters park. The primary offenders on defense are Utley and Howard on the right side of the infield (Bell and Rollins have been excellent on the left) and, to a lesser degree Burrell and, believe it or not, Aaron Rowand in the outfield. I’m not sure what’s going on with Rowand, save for having seen about eleventy zillion replays of that catch against the Mets during which he broke his face on the chain link fence in center, but it is interesting to note that Rowand’s Rate stats haven’t been as strong as one would expect over the past three seasons, with the former World Champion rating as simply average in both 2003 and 2004.

Today the Phils send their best starter, Brett Myers, against Randy Johnson, who rebounded from a tremendously discouraging start against the A’s to enjoy one of his best starts of the year last time out only to get tossed for throwing at old nemesis Eduardo Perez with one out in the seventh inning. Myers, meanwhile, had turned in ten-straight quality starts before getting mugged in his last two starts by the Mets and Nationals, resulting in a combined line of 5 2/3 IP, 16 H, 12 R (11 ER), 1 HR, 2 BB, 5 K.

The Phils typically have four fantastic hitters in a row in their line-up in Utley, Abreu, Burrell and Howard. Fortunately for Johnson and the Yankees, three of them are lefties. The right-handed Burrell, however, will bear some watching tonight.

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By the way, I know I’m a day late with this, but No Maas linked to a moving Newsday article about Andy Phillips and his wife’s struggles with cancer that is well worth taking a look at.

Brainiac.