“It was great when we didn’t see Rivera out there in the ninth,” [Washington’s second baseman, Jose] Vidro said. “It was like, ‘Oh, man, we got a pretty good chance now.'”
(Washington Post)

Chien-Ming Wang was everything the Yankees hoped he’d be on Sunday afternoon. He gave them length–pitching into the ninth inning–was efficient as well as effective. Beautiful, right? The Yankees led 2-1 and the ‘Nats were down to their final two outs. Alex Rodriguez (2-2 with two walks) crushed an RBI double to left in the eighth to put New York ahead. But Mariano Rivera was unavailable. With Ron Villone and Scott Proctor warming in the bullpen, pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson rolled a ground ball through the right side for a base hit. And then Wang made a mistake. Perhaps it was a sign of fatigue, but he hung a sinker–his 107th pitch of the game–to the powerful Ryan Zimmerman who promptly smacked the ball over the left field fence. Nats 3, Yanks 2.

And with that, the Nationals took weekend series in front of the largest baseball crowd RFK has ever seen. Wang walked off the field and threw his glove. It was as emotional as I’ve ever seen him. As he sat on the bench, Joe Torre and then Ron Guidry both tried to console him. Wang pitched a fine game, and was everything he needed to be, minus one pitch. You can’t fault him for that. In my mind the goat of the weekend was Shawn Chacon, who pitched miserably with a seven-run lead on Saturday.

Ah, but there is no use crying over spilt milk. What’s done is done. The Yanks head to Philadelphia for three against the Phillies starting tonight. Wang’s performance could be a success in the long run. There should be plenty of offense in the coming series and the Bombers may need all the help they can get from their pen, who got a much-needed day of rest on Father’s Day.

Okay, so it isn’t exactly that hot. I mean, it will get hotter this summer, but I want to save the “Hotter than July” headline for a later date. So today gives a Neil Simon reference (and believe me, that’s not something you are likely to see often around these parts). It am mighty steamy here in the Bronx this morning, and I can only imgaine what it is like down in Washington D.C.

It’s gunna be a schvitz-a-thon for sure.

Chien-Ming Wang takes the hill for New York today and the Yanks are praying he can go at least seven innings if not more. Farnsworth won’t be available out of the pen today, and I doubt that we’ll see Rivera either. Slim pickings as far as healthy, rested relievers go. So it’ll be up to Wang and the offense to lead the Bombers today. How about another good day from Rodriguez and Damon? And Cano…wait, it seems like he has a good day every day. No matter who does well, so long as the Yanks can pull out a victory, we’ll take it.

Let’s go Yan-Kees.

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Without further ado, let me wish a happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. I hope you feel proud. I’m not a father but I recognize that it is one of the most demanding (and ultimately rewarding) jobs you could ever have. Keep up the good work, men. There aren’t a lot of great fathers or male role models out there, especially for young boys, so keep up the good work, fellas.

Pat Jordan, a writer who has never been anything less than brutally honest, particularly when writing about himself, has a piece about his old man in the New York Times magazine today. Be sure and check it out. Perhaps it will make you appreciate the relationship you have with your pop even more.

The Yankees designated journeyman pitcher Aaron Small for assignment just prior to Saturday’s game. “This is the hardest demotion I’ve ever had to face,” said Small, who had an improbable, storybook, 10-0 season in 2005. But Small’s chariot has unsentimentally turned back into a pumpkin this year. By all accounts, Small is a swell, likable guy. Here’s wishing him success no matter where he winds up. The bottom line is, no matter what happens from here, nobody can take away what Small did last season. Yankee fans will always appreciate him for his efforts.

“As bad as you can get,” manager Joe Torre said.
(Associated Press)

I brooded and pouted throughout most of Friday night’s game. It was the first time since last season that I felt sure the Yanks would lose in an ugly, frustrating manner. Well, they pulled it out and waited for Saturday afternoon to make Yankee fans ill. Thanks to a wonderful offensive afternoon from Johnny Damon who had four hits, including two doubles and a grand slam, the Yanks led 9-2 after four-and-a-half innings. Alex Rodriguez added two hits–a solid line drive single to center and then a monstrous two-run homer to straight away center–but nine runs would not be enough. Tbe Nats rallied to win 11-9.

Mariano Rivera was eventually saddled with the loss but a lion’s share of the blame for this one falls on the shoulders of a highly ineffective Shawn Chacon. When he walked Alfonso Soriano on four pitches to start the bottom of the fifth, man, I just started to think the worst. For my money, this was the worst loss of the year. Fortunately, they play another one in less than 24 hours, cause for all of the good things that happened offensively for the Yanks today, this one ended fugly ugly. A regrettable, unfortunate loss if there ever was one.

Still, the Yanks have a chance to win the series on Sunday. The bats are alive, now they really need some length from a starting pitcher. Paging Mr. Wang. Whatta ya hear, whatta ya say, bro?

On a warmy, muggy evening in the nation’s capital, the Yankees appeared poised to lose the opening game of a three-game series against the Nationals. The Bombers would leave thirteen men on base on the night, as Alex Rodriguez struggled again–striking out with two men on in the seventh and then again with the bases loaded in the eighth. But the Yanks were saved by good ol’ Bernie Williams. Williams had a sorry arm as a center fielder and now has an almost embarrasingly poor one as a right fielder–the Nationals scored their fourth and fifth runs by testing it. But Williams collected four hits, including a double and a solo home run in the top of the ninth which gave the Yanks the lead for good. Williams traditionally heats up when the weather gets warm and he’s now got his average up to a respectable .286.

Mariano Rivera was forced into the game in the eighth inning after Kyle Farnsworth left the game with back spasms (early word has Farnsworth missing the rest of the series in Washington). Rivera retired all five men he faced to earn the save. It was a long, frustrating game to watch, but hey, a win is a win and the Bombers will take it. Final score: Yanks 7, Nats 5, before the largest baseball crowd RFK has seen since baseball re-opened for business in DC last year. Some old friends, Nick Johnson and Alfonso Soriano hit well for the ‘Nats in the loss.

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The last time the Yankees played a ballgame in Washington, D.C. was September 30, 1971. Jim Acker gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth to cap a comeback by the Senators, who had trailed 5-1 after five in their final game in Washington. With the Yankees trailing 7-5 in the top of the ninth, Felipe Alou and Bobby Murcer grounded out only to have the Senators’ fans pour onto the field forcing the game to be forfeited to New York, giving the Yankees a winning record of 82-80. The next year the Senators would play in Texas as the Rangers, swapping divisions with the Milwaukee Brewers. Both the Brewers and Rangers would finish in last place.

Thirty five years later the Yanks are back in DC and back in first place (a game up on both the Red Sox and Blue Jays), but the Washington club, wearing red caps that match those of the 1971 Senators, is still awful.

The Nationals don’t do anything particularly well, and their two best players are a pair of former Yankee prospects, Alfonso Soriano, who is just two behind the injured Albert Pujols for the major league lead in home runs with 23, and Nick Johnson, who in his peak age-27 season has yet to miss a game due to injury for the first time in his career. Nick the Stick is hitting a robust .309/.436/.554 and has walked nine times more than he’s struck out.

The Nationals actually have a fairly dangerous top five in their order, with Soriano inexplicably leading off and followed by Jose Vidro (hitting .309 with a .365 OBP, but virtually without any power), Johnson, 21-year-old phenom Ryan Zimmerman (on pace for 44 doubles, 22 homers and 100 RBIs), and the combative and injury-prone (read: undesirable) Jose Guillen. Guillen has an unimpressive stat line, but has gone 5 for 13 with two doubles, a homer and three walks since being activated following a stay on the DL due to a hamstring injury.

Of course, things drop off a cliff after the five spot. The last three men in the Washington line-up are lead by Royce Clayton’s .259/.315/.339. They’re so bad that when Livan Hernandez pitches he’s the best of the last four hitters in the Nats’ lineup. The Nats’ bench, meanwhile, is filled with multi-position players, but other than Daryle Ward, whose likely just enjoying a small-sample surge, none of them can really hit.

Then again, the Nats play in one of the most extreme pitchers parks in the majors, which is why their weaker hitters look so darn awful, and why their unexceptional pitching staff appears to be loaded with solid individual performances. The top three in their pen, closer Chad Cordero and righty set-up men Jon Rauch and Gary Majewski have done the job, as have rookie starters Shawn Hill and Michael O’Connor and rookie ROOGY Saul Rivera. What’s more, Ramon Ortiz, who was dreadful pitching his home games in the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark last year, has been on a solid streak of late that has included three games at RFK but also three on the road, while former Yankee farmhand and Expos DL mainstay Tony Armas Jr. has been both active and effective and is still just 28 years old. Last year’s ace John Patterson is due to come off the DL soon and the Nats response just might be to deal innings eater Livan Hernandez. He may be their best bottom of the order hitter, but he’s their worst starter.

So things are looking slightly up for the Nationals. They have real owners at long last and plans for a new ballpark. Jim Bowden has hired Davey Johnson as a special advisor to save him from himself. Johnson and Zimmerman are a fantastic pair of corner infielders in their 20s, they’ve got a crop of young pitchers who are contributing to the big club, and to top it all off, Alfonso Soriano is taking walks. Yes, the 30-year-old converted second baseman who entered this season with a career rate of one base on balls per 22.23 plate appearances has been taking ball four once every 12.62 trips this year.

Tonight the Yanks send Jaret “Five Innings Are Just About” Wright to the mound to face 25-year-old righty Shawn Hill. The Canadian Hill made his major league debut with the Expos in 2004, pitched terribly and then missed all of 2005 following Tommy John surgery. Back in action this year, he excelled in eight starts for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators, made one triple-A start and was then called up to replace Zach Day in the rotation. He’s since made three starts for the Nationals, all of which have been quality, but two of which have resulted in hard-luck losses. In the two he’s made at home, Hill has allowed just one run on seven hits over 14 innings.

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I don’t have much to say about yesterday’s 8-4 loss to the Indians. Moose had his first truly bad start of the year, with the Indians six-through-eight hitters doing the bulk of the damage. The offense tried to come back thanks to homers by Alex Rodriguez and Bernie Williams, but Aaron Small and Ron Villone put the game further out of reach and Rodriguez struck out with men on the corners in his next trip to add fuel to a very nasty fire.

The most compelling things about the game for me were Melky Cabrera’s first career home run–Melky was batting righty and appeared to get under a pitch up in the zone which just cleared the left field wall around where he made “the catch” (check the highlights, it could be a while before he hits another)–and Matt Smith’s appearance in the seventh inning in which lefties Travis Hafner and Ben Broussard both battled him for identical eight-pitch walks (swinging strike, foul strike two, ball one, foul, ball, ball, ball) prompting a two-out mound visit by Ron Guidry, after which Smith got Ronnie Belliard to fly out on two pitches to strand both runners.

In other news, it’s almost two weeks old now, but I only recently stumbled across this article by Yahoo!’s Jeff Passan on the Yankees’ infamous 1991 number-one draft pick Brien Taylor. While it borders on rubbernecking at times, I found the article compelling and somewhat timely given the recent draft and the influx of homegrown players on the Yankee roster (ten of 25, not counting Crosby and Proctor, who came over from the Dodgers as minor leaguers).

The Yankees will visit two more of their home grown stars this weekend in Washington, but I’ll have more on the Nats, Nick and Sori later today. For now, I’ll share this on the Nationals’ recently fired bullpen coach John Wetteland, courtesy of The Griddle. Apparently the 1996 World Series MVP was having a bit too much fun with his charges out in the pen (who include former Yanks Mike Stanton and, until a recent DL stint, Felix Rodriguez) and former MLB discipline czar and current Nationals manager Frank Robinson didn’t appreciate that.

Despite being arguably the American League’s best pitcher thus far this season, Mike Mussina has pitched in a lot of hard luck. If you don’t believe me, consider the fact that he and Randy Johnson have the same number of wins despite the fact that Moose’s ERA is more than two and a half runs better than Unit’s. Indeed, in his last start he lasted seven innings, allowed just six baserunners and struck out seven, but earned a loss as four of those six men scored and the Yankee bats could only muster up two runs in his defense. The Indians have scored just one run over the last two nights, and with Moose facing off against Cliff Lee (5.12 ERA, 1.44 WHIP) the sweep would appear to be in order, but for some reason my confidence is low. Then again, this team hasn’t given me any reason to doubt them thus far.

With Derek Jeter having played the field the last two days and Bubba Crosby having homered to lead off the Clippers’ contest last night, Bubba has been activated and Nick Green (I swear he really was on the roster for the past week) has been designated for assignment. Having Bubba’s legs and glove around for the Yankees upcoming six games under NL rules should be handy. I can envision a reoccurring late-game strategy that has Bubba running for Giambi, then moving into right field while Andy takes over at first and hits in the right fielder’s spot, or better yet, hits in the pitchers spot and a new reliever hits in the right fielder’s spot. Throw in Kevin Thompson as a righty foil to Bubba’s leftyness (though I’d prefer to see Kevin get a few starts, that would make Bernie the righty bat off the bench, which would be fine) and the Yankees have a pretty solid bench for their second interleague stint of the year.

Meanwhile, despite being hit on the elbow by Jason Johnson’s pitch last night, Jorge is back in the day game after the night game, with Joe Torre posting the same line-up as last night (no start for Kevin today). Hey, it worked last night!

Jack Curry has a fun piece on our boy, ‘Lil Soriano, who is swinging some kind of big stick for the Nationals this year. Soriano and Nick Johnson will face the Yanks this weekend in Washington.

Randy Johnson pitched an excellent game last night at the Stadium against the Indians as the Bombers moved into first place in the AL East with a 6-1 victory. But the game will be remembered for Johnson getting tossed for throwing the ball at Eduardo Perez in the seventh inning. You remember Perez, the guy who beat Johnson about the face and neck last year when he was with the Devil Rays. It was the old eye-for-an-eye as Johnson was “protecting” his teammate Jorge Posada, who had been plunked the inning before. No matter what you think of such machismo, the move can only win Johnson favor in the Yankee clubhouse. You could also argue that Johnson getting thrown out when he was pitching so well–and against as good a line up as Cleveland’s–was foolish. Regardless, the Yankee bullpen did a fine job and the “What were you thinking?” headline will have to wait for another day.

The rumpus began when Jorge Posada was hit in the right elbow by a Jason Johnson pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Yankees had a 3-1 lead at the time (thanks to RBI’s by Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano and a solo dinger by Johnny Damon). Posada started to walk away from home plate but as he moved towards first he started riffing at Johnson. It didn’t seem that Johnson was intentionally trying to hit Posada, but Yankee hitters have been getting drilled a bunch lately, and it was the veteran catcher–who has always had a good dose of the red ass in him–who finally freaked. Posada was in enough pain that he couldn’t grip a bat and was removed before the game concluded. Both benches were issued a warning. Whether or not the incident bothered Johnson, he would not make it through the inning. Robinson Cano to hit into a double play–the only time Cano was retired (he had three more hits and swung the bat with authority all evening). But then Williams doubled to the opposite field before Andy Phillips smacked a two-run dinger to extend the lead to 6-1.

The Big Unit recorded one out in the seventh before throwing way inside to Perez. The pitch did not hit him but it was considered intentional. Perez was heated and the teams meakly emptied out of their dugouts but there was no brawl. As Johnson walked off the field the crowd gave him an ovation. Joe Torre was automatically ejected as well. Johnson appeared more comfortable than usual last night, throwing strikes early in the count and staying ahead of the hitters. He struck out six and didn’t issue a walk. I thought the Big Unit missed his location at least four times in the first inning but he only allowed one hit. After that, Johnson settled into a good groove. Again, no small feat against the potent Cleveland line up.

Andy Phillips made the first play of the game when he stabbed a Grady Sizemore ground ball and then raced to first, beating the speedster for the out. Phillips came up limping ever so slightly as he may have jammed his foot sliding into the bag. But that was nothing compared with the aches and pains that Phillips will be feeling after he recorded the final out of the game. Victor Martinez lofted a foul ball to the right side and Phillips gave up his body–his airness!–diving into the stands. It was a scary-looking play at first. Not as reckless as Jeter’s famous dive into the stands against the Red Sox, but along those lines. Yes, it was terrific that Phillips made the catch, but he fell hard, banged his chin against a seat and tweaked his back a little something. With the Yanks playing their next two series in National League parks, they cannot afford to lose Phillips (particularly with Giambi–who returned last night and hit a double–still banged up).

It was one of those nights where even the potentially damaging plays worked out for New York. It also reflects just how poorly things are going for the Tribe right now. Today gives Mikey Moose in an afternoon matinee. Joe Torre said that Posada will not be playing today. It is muggy in New York and we are supposed to see showers. But even if the game is delayed some, I think they should get it in.

Call the doctor, this ain’t gonna be pretty.

After showing signs of improvement in his three previous starts (18 1/3 IP, 14 H, 9 R, 3 HR, 8 BB, 20 K, 1.20 WHIP, 4.42 ERA, 2-0), Randy Johnson spit the bit in his last outing against a weak-hitting Oakland A’s team. With that start–which included the first homers of the year for Bobby Kielty and Antonio Perez (the latter of whom remains 1 for 31 off the rest of the league this year)–my hopes of Johnson finding his old form this season have been crushed like yet another hanging slider. To make matters worse, the Indians are the current employer of Mr. Eduardo Perez, the lefty-killer who brutalized Johnson while with the Devil Rays last year. Perez has faced the Unit more than any other Indian over the course of his career and is hitting .296/.387/.778 against him with four dingers in 31 plate appearances. Run and hide, Yankee fans. Run and hide.

On the flip side, facing the Tribe’s big Johnson, the 6’6″ Jason, could be just what the doctor ordered for Alex Rodriguez, who is 9 for 20 with a trio of taters against the former Oriole and Tiger. Jason’s been every bit as bad as Randy this year, but unlike with the 42-year-old in pinstripes, there are reasons to be optimistic about the 32-year-old with Chief Wahoo on his cap. Again, the hope lies in a trio of starts. In Jason’s last three outings he’s done this:

18 IP, 20 H, 7 R, 1 HR, 5 BB, 9 K, 1.39 WHIP, 3.50 ERA, 1-2

Okay, so that’s not great, but it’s a whole heckuva lot better than his overall 5.71 ERA and a damn sight better than his 9.13 mark from May. Hey, maybe the grass is greener on the other Johnson, but the combination of Jason’s relative youth, his suddenly extreme ground ball tendencies, and the fact that the one guy in the Yankee line-up who owns him is all kinds of mixed up at the plate right now (thanks in part to the mooks who have been booing him of late) makes me more willing to believe that Jason Michael (not to be confused with left fielder Jason Michaels) is going to right his ship tonight than that Randall David is.

Either way, there will be more than one run scored tonight, I can guarantee that. And I’ll be there to see the bloodletting. Last year I wrote about taking my 67-year-old boss to his first Yankee game (which just happened to be the game after Alex Rodriguez smacked three dingers off Bartolo Colon). Tonight the same crew will be taking the now-retired Ray to his second game at the big ballpark in the Bronx. Here’s hoping we won’t be wishing we were at last night’s 1-0 gem. Hey, at least the weather is better. Uh, it will be better, won’t it?

So I go for Chinese with a motley crew of old New York Giants fans last night in my neighborhood and by the time I get home, Mariano Rivera is on the mound and the game is in ninth inning. And it was barely 9:30. Is this the American League or what? Chien-Ming Wang pitched a terrific game as did Cleveland’s Paul Byrd. Robinson Cano’s solo shot accounted for all of the scoring as the Yanks won 1-0. A nice victory on a night that saw several brilliant pitching performances around baseball (including Doc Halladay, Chris Carpenter, Jared Weaver, and of course, the great Schilling-Santana duel).

On Friday we learned that the A’s disappointing season has largely been the result of injuries and massive offensive outage. The A’s then proceeded to sweep the Yankees, scoring an average of 5 2/3 runs per game.

Tonight the Yankees open a three-game series with the American League’s second most disappointing team, the Cleveland Indians. So what’s Cleveland’s problem? It isn’t injuries, only relief pitcher Matt Miller currently resides on the Tribe’s disabled list. It isn’t offense, the Indians have rivaled the Yankees for the major league lead in runs scored all year (both teams have scored 359 runs thus far, though the Indians have needed one more game to reach that total). What does that leave?

That’s right, pitching. Only five teams in baseball have allowed more runs than the Indians, the Brewers and post-Mazzone Braves in the NL and the terrible trio of Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Kansas City in the AL. One reason for that is that in the AL only those three embarrassments and the major-league worst Twins have less efficient defenses than the Indians, who are in a very bad way on both sides of the ball at third (ol’ buddy Aaron Boone) and second (the erratic Ronnie Belliard) and will be in right field as well as soon as Casey Blake’s bat crashes back to earth.

Curiously, the fact that two of the Tribe’s four infielders have had their gloves turn to stone hasn’t had a tremendously negative effect on extreme groundballer Jake Westbrook, but extreme flyballer Cliff Lee has been having a rough go of it. Meanwhile, new addition Jason Johnson has doubled his groundball rate and seen just about every other number on his stat sheet (save for Ks and homers) shoot up as well.

C.C. Sabathia continues to progress toward being a true ace, and Bob Wickman continues to get the job done in the ninth, but elsewhere things are, if you’ll pardon the term, thin. The three best bullpen ERA’s after Wickman are Rafael Betancourt’s 3.57, Jeremy Guthrie’s 4.63 and Rafael Perez’s 0.00, the last representing a single inning’s work. Other than those four and Sabathia, the only man on the staff with an ERA under 5.00 is Jake Westbrook. Guillermo Mota has been a flat disaster, closer of the future Fernando Cabrera has struggled with wildness, and would-be fifth starters Fausto Carmona and Jason Davis have been just plain hittable.

Still, as bad as things might look, that offense counts for a lot. In fact, the Tribe’s Pythagorean record is four games better than their actual mark and would rank them just a game and a half behind the Yankees in the East or all alone in first in the West. Cleveland has a supply of reinforcements in the minors. If things don’t shape up soon, expect to see some of them in Cleveland as we approach the All-Star break and the trading deadline.

Paul Byrd, the other big pitching addition for 2006, will take the Yankee Stadium hill for the Tribe tonight. The Yankees handled Fraiser pretty well in last year’s ALDS (though that fact was obscured by Randy Johnson’s own failings in Game 3). That’s reassuring as Byrd has settled down after a rough April to turn in quality starts in five of his last seven outings. Opposing him will be Chien-Ming Wang, who finally turned in a solid outing against the Red Sox in his last turn.

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I caught portions of the Rangers-White Sox game on ESPN last night and dag, Steve Lombardi, you read my mind.

Do you think that Joe Torre is giving Andy Phillips an unreasonably hard time?

At Yankee Stadium, it doesn’t much matter that Bernie Williams is no longer a star player. Williams is cheered for just about everything he does well and is forgiven for his short-comings. He’s earned it, so it has been a pleasure to watch Yankee fans show their appreciation for Williams this year. Not everyone is so lucky. According to Peter Botte in the Daily News:

“Bernie will make an error and they’ll cheer him when he comes up (to bat). For the guys who get booed off the face of the earth, I’m sure they feel it’s unfair, but that’s the way it goes,” [manager] Joe Torre said Sunday. “Bernie’s just never changed. From the first day I met him 11 years ago, to now, and he’s made a ton of money . . . but this man has never changed one bit.”

…”He’s just never felt he was entitled to something. I told him one time that he was a leader here and I think I stunned him,” Torre said. “He’s always been very honest and an elegant individual to me. He’s been a regular player and a great player in postseason and it’s always the ‘aw-shucks’ stuff all the time. But I think he’s enjoying this a lot.”

Williams tells Tyler Kepner how influencial Don Mattingly was for him during the early ’90s:

“He taught me a piece of advice that I take even to this day,” Williams said Sunday. “He said to me: ‘I don’t really care what you do the night before or the week before — when you come to the field, you come ready to play. Mentally ready to play. You’ve got to be all there. You can’t worry about maybe I don’t feel too good today, or I don’t feel 100 percent. You’ve got to go like: dude, get it done.'”

Almost 2,000 times now, Williams has taken the field, with aches most fans never hear about. He estimates that players are in top shape only 25 percent of the time. The other days are a grind, Williams said, but it is important for young players to see veterans playing hurt.

“It has more of a positive influence than you would ever know,” he said.

The Kepner article is worth checking out just to see the photograph of Williams when he was a young major leaguer. He’s rocking the Dorkasaurous Rex glasses and everything.

Here is another reason why I admire and appreciate Godzilla Matsui.

No soup for Moose, and none for Shawn Chacon, Melky Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez or Kyle Farnsworth either as the Yankees dropped two more over the weekend to Oakland. Joe Torre held a player’s only meeting before Sunday’s game. Johnny Damon, who was critical of the team’s play after Saturday’s game, felt the effort was better yesterday, though the Yankees couldn’t come away with the win.

Randy Johnson got served by the A’s on a windy, and ultimately wet, Friday in the Bronx. He not only got hit by the A’s good hitters but by their scrubs as well. It was another frustrating outing for Johnson, whose famous temper got the better of him. Johnson sulked during the game and then again later on to reporters. According to Tyler Kepner in the New York Times:

In a crowded ballpark, long before the rain came, the ranting of one angry pitcher pierced the air. Randy Johnson’s fury could be heard in the second deck of Yankee Stadium last night, and his distraction was obvious to everyone.

Johnson was trapped in an endless fourth inning, and he was screaming at the plate umpire, Chad Fairchild, after throwing a ball to Oakland’s Jason Kendall. When Jorge Posada tossed it back, Johnson swatted at the ball with his glove and watched it dribble onto the grass.

Johnson had lost control of himself and the game. After the outburst, he simply turned away from Fairchild on calls he did not like.

…”I’m not going to sit out there when I think a strike’s a strike,” Johnson said. “A lot of times I’ll ask a little more low-key, like a lot of other pitchers, but when I’m out there walking guys and I think some borderline pitches are strikes … “

Johnson did not finish the thought, suggesting that reporters talk to Posada for his opinion. “Maybe I was wrong,” Johnson said. “I don’t know.”

By the middle innings, hot dog wrappers and debris were swirling all around the park. Down 6-1, the Bombers climbed back in the game, on the strength of Jason Giambi’s three-run home run. Giambi’s dinger came against Brad Halsey after an hour-and-a-half rain delay. They closed the score to 6-5 but Oakland’s pen shut the door in the eighth and ninth. The Bombers made it fun for those who stayed but they came up just short. These feel like games they are going to win even if that isn’t always the case. Final score: A’s 6, Yanks 5.

The two teams go right back at it this afternoon on the Fox Game of the Week. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, no soup for you. Mike Mussina is on the hill for the New Yorkers, which is very definitely a good thing. Mussina has been terrific all year and is coming off his worst game of the season. Let’s hope he’s sharp again today.

Later this evening I’m going to be talking about Curt Flood and my book “Stepping Up” at the Coliseum book store in midtown Manhattan (42nd street between 5th and 6th, right across the street from Bryant Park). Actually, I’m the opening act for Rob Neyer, who’ll be there promoting his new book, Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Blunders.” Talk about a good dude to open for, right? I know Neyer a little bit, he helped do some research for my book, and he’s always been a good guy with me. It starts at 6:00 and should be fun. If you are in and around the city and don’t have anything going tonight, roll through, it’d be great to see you.

Having just taken five of seven from two of the three best teams in the American League other than themselves, including the league’s most surprising and best team, the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees now have seven games against the league’s two biggest disappointments, the Oakland A’s and Cleveland Indians, two preseason playoff favorites whose records currently sit just below .500. Exactly what’s gone wrong in Cleveland (it certainly hasn’t been Casey Blake and Ben Broussard, who appear to have been traded to an alternate universe for their more talented evil twins) we’ll examine on Monday. As for the A’s, the answer is rather simple: injuries and a nearly complete offensive breakdown.

On offense Eric Chavez is putting together his best season and Nick Swisher has broken out to make Chavez’s production seem tame. Frank Thomas has stayed relatively healthy and, despite a .234 average, has put up on-base and slugging numbers befitting his Hall of Fame talents. But everyone else has been a tremendous disappointment.

Consider these stats:

Bobby Crosby: .291 OBP
Dan Johnson: .335 SLG
Jason Kendall: .327 SLG
Mark Ellis: .302 OBP

A knee injury put Milton Bradley on the DL for more than a month, creating playing time for this:

Jay Payton: .266 OBP
Bobby Kielty: .320 SLG

And now Mark Ellis is on the DL, putting this in the line-up:

Marco Scutaro: .191/.290/.255

That doesn’t even bring into account futility infielder Antonio Perez, who’s single against the Yankees in mid-May remains his only hit of the year in 35 plate appearances, 16 of which have resulted in a strikeout.

If not for Swisher, Chavez and Thomas, the A’s would be the worst offensive team in baseball. As it is, they’re the third worst in the AL, with only the lowly Devil Rays and Royals below them

Then there’s the pitching. Their young ace, Rich Harden, has made just six starts, the same number as replacements Kirk Saarloos and Brad Halsey. Harden is currently on the DL for the second time this year, this time with elbow problems that some believe could end in Tommy John surgery, which would be a huge blow to the franchise. The two A’s relievers with the best ERAs, Justin Duchscherer and Joe Kennedy, are also on the DL having thrown just 28 2/3 innings between them (by comparison, Scott Proctor has thrown 40 1/3).

Among the healthy, Joe Blanton has disappointed, posting a 5.60 ERA thus far. Meanwhile scheduled fifth starter Esteban Loaiza, one of four ex-Yankees on the A’s staff, has been both hurt and terrible, posting a 6.39 ERA in just five starts.

Tonight the Yankees face one of the few A’s to keep his head above water, 25-year-old Dan Haren. Haren has essentially repeated his 2005 season exactly save for a nicely improved walk rate. Indeed, in the last meeting between these two teams, Haren pitched a one-run, six-hit, no-walk complete game gem to beat . . . well look at that, tonight’s starter, Randy Johnson.

For all of his struggles, the Yankees have won Johnson’s last three starts and the Unit himself appears to be coming around some, having struck out eight in two of those three games and pitched six scoreless innings in the other. Here’s hoping he can take advantage of the week underbelly of the A’s lineup and doesn’t give Thomas anything to hit.

Derek Jeter will sit out yet again, but is expected to start tomorrow. Curiously, Torre has swapped Cairo and Cabrera in the order. Otherwise, with Jorge back behind the plate to catch the Unit, Andy Phillips is back at first base, and Bernie remains in right.

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