So Hiroki got tagged in the first and then hit by a line drive in the calf in the second. He was removed from the game in the third and the word is he won’t miss his next start but the Orioles had all the runs they’d need as they earned a 6-3 win. Some nice pitching by Adam Warren and three hits by Curtis Granderson, including his first homer of the year, were the highlights for the Yanks who have today off.

[Photo Credit: Robb Carr/Getty Images]

So Phil Hughes wasn’t terrible at all despite giving up two solo homers to our old pal Chris Dickerson. Yanks couldn’t hit last night that’s all, but it wasn’t just them, the Orioles’ pitching was impressive and the home team got a much-needed win when Nat McLouth hit a game-ending home run in the 10th inning.

Final Score: Orioles 3, Yanks 2.

Two extra-inning games, one for the O’s, one for the Yanks. Fair enough.

[Photo Credit: AP]

They are becoming a thing now. Time to start grabbing for “the narrative” (is there a more irritating contemporary term?). These grittsy, gutsy Yanks are the anti-Yankees. Just wait ’til the superstars return, then they’ll fall into the gutter. Give Vernon Wells 600 at bats! Start Overbay over Teixeria!

Beyond the silliness that accompanies this kind of run, there is the real satisfaction of watching these Yankees play above expectations (at least according to many of the pre-season predictions). Of course it’s early, and we’ll see how keen the Bandwagon is on the current Cinderellas when they inevitably turn back into pumpkins in the heat of summer, but also: we’ll take it. And there are reinforcements on the way.

Last night, the Yanks remained calm and kept themselves in the game despite C.C. Sabathia giving up a lead. Travis Hafner hit a game-tying solo home run in the 9th and Wells had the go-ahead double in the 10th (Hafner added an RBI single). The bullpen, which has been the team’s great weapon so far, nailed down a terrific 6-4 win over the Orioles.

Happy? You bet.

Chad Jennings has the notes.

[Photo Via: In His Grip]

The Yankees have more injuries? No, it’s true, I swear.

This time it’s Andy Pettitte (minor) and Chris Stewart (troubling). Chad Jennings has the notes. The Mariners beat the Yanks 3-2 last night and it was one of those nights were the Cinderella Bombers looked as if they were morphing back into a pumpkin. Brett Gardner, Ichiro, Jayson Nix all had lousy at bats in big spots.

Bummer. And now they host a Blue Jays team that is hitting the crap out of the ball. Could be a long weekend.

Phil Hughes got his tits lit tonight to the tune of seven runs in less than an inning of work. Our old chum, Raul Ibanez, hit a grand slam against him–and later hit another one–as the Mariner’s sailed to a 12-2 beat down in the Boogie Down.

Nothing but hurt feelings for the teetering Hughes.

Let’s just move on, shall we?

[Illustration by Paul Kuczynski]

When I waited tables in my early twenties I used to fly into a rage near the service bar of the restaurant anytime I got under-tipped. But there was a veteran waiter who would look at me and say, “How many times have you made triple tax?” And that was the end of it. I shaddap.

Let’s keep this mind mind when the Yanks start losing, when things stop going their way. Because right now, they are catching all the breaks. Top of the 8th inning, runners on first and second with one out, and a ball is smoked up the middle. But instead of going into center field and the game being tied, Jayson Nix caught it and stepped on second for the double play. Or say the third strike call that Mariano got against Michael Morse in the 9th. The ball was a foot inside–it wasn’t even close to being a strike–but Mo got the call and his 16th save of the season.

C.C. pitched a decent game, he kept them in it once again, and Robinson Cano got the big game-tying hit in the 7th. Lyle Overbay drove in the go-ahead run a few batters later with an sac fly and the Yanks won again.

Yes, this has been a fun week. Something to remember when things inevitably go south.

Final Score: Yanks 4, M’s 3.

[Image Via: Adara]

The second game saw the tables turned with the Yanks nursing a 1-0 lead for the first six innings. They broke it open with six runs in the seventh inning, good enough to earn the split before heading home (and the daunting task of facing King Felix tomorrow night).

Final Score:  Yanks 7, Indians 0.

Chad Jennings has the notes. With more from Mike Axisa over at River Ave Blues.

[Photo Credit: Elliott Erwitt]

Justin Masterson out-dueled David Phelps as the Indians beat the Yanks in about 2 1/2 hours this afternoon in Cleveland. Masterson went the distance and a Jason Kipnis solo home run in the first was all the scoring. Tidy.

Final Score: Indians 1, Yanks 0. 

Game 2 will start shortly after 3 p.m.

Never mind the disappointment:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Howhof]

Boy, Hiroki Kuroda handled the Royals’ hitters on Sunday. Gave up a run in the first and another in the eighth; otherwise, they didn’t give him much trouble and hit a lot of ground balls. Kuroda is a pro, man. His time in New York will be brief (even if he does return next year which seems unlikely), but we’ll remember him with fondness for his professionalism and effectiveness.

Robinson Cano (10) and Vernon Wells (9?!) wasted flat sliders from Ervin Santana in the third–both were shots–and Wells added an RBI single in the fifth. That was more than enough. Mariano faced three batters in the ninth (a single; ground ball double play..on the first pitch, thank you very much; fly out to right), good for his fifteenth save and the Yankees’ fifth straight win.

Final Score: Yanks 4, Royals 2.

I was too young to remember Ali in his prime, or even Dr. J. I watched Bird and Magic and then Jordan, so I know from watching greatness, admiring it, even when–in the case of Magic or Jordan–I rooted against it. But I’ve never rooted for anybody as great as Mariano Rivera. After the game was over last night and Rivera had recorded his 14th save of the season I tried to articulate my feelings when it hit me–I don’t have any idea of what it’s like to watch Rivera as a Yankee-hater. Every time I’ve seen him pitch, I’ve wanted him to succeed.

With Rivera, discussions of the value of a closer compared with the value of a starting pitcher or an everyday player are mind-numbingly boring. And they miss the point. Sure, his numbers provide their own proof and satisfaction (Looking at Rivera’s post-season statistics is like watching a parade of zeroes). But greatness is a singular thing Rivera’s aesthetic brings a touch of myth to the discussion. Mike Francesca was right when he dubbed Mo “The Great Mariano,” a nod to Hemingway and “The Great DiMaggio.” With Rivera, we’re talking a modern myth: The Silver Surfer.

More than any player I’ve ever rooted for, Rivera makes me appreciate the moment, the now. This has something to do with the dramatic nature of his position, coming in a the end of the game, but also his stubborn calm–I’m always reminded of the phrase “mulish imperturbability,” which James Agee used to describe Buster Keaton.

There’s an old sports writer’s cliche that says it is easier to write about the losers than the winners because winning isn’t that compelling. How do you explain what Rivera does? He chalks his gift and success up to the Lord and what can you do with that? We can dream up our own theories but they amount to the same thing: He’s blessed by something deep and profound. We  know he works hard and appears to posses humility.

Last week he told reporters:

“When you respect the game of baseball, you respect everything that comes with baseball–the guys that are my peers, the other teams, you have to respect them…You’re not bigger than the game. You’re finished and the game will continue, so take into consideration, you always will keep that line and say humble. Because the game will always be bigger than you. Always. So it’s nothing you can do that will be better than the game.”

He’s said things like this for years and he seems sincere, even though we can never pretend to know a public figure intimately by what they say for print. We do know that opponents flock to him as if he were a Holy Man like this scene a few weeks back against the Blue Jays.

And we know that his pitching motion is as beautiful and fluid as any that we can remember. Dr. J once said, “When you reach a level of greatness, there’s a certain added element that goes into making it look easy.”

What we can do is talk about what it means to watch such a performer, how they give us a sense of assurance and peace in our imperfect and unpredictable lives. For Yankee fans, that feeling goes away at the end of this year. There will be other great players, more artistry to come, but nobody will ever do it quite like this.

[Photo Credit: David Zalubowski/AP]

Ah, what to do with Phil Hughes. He was back to his mediocre self last night. Yanks gave him a 4-0 lead and he coughed it up and later gave him a 10-5 lead and he gave up another run. He got the win but the start was a regression for Hughes. He was picked up by Shawn Kelley who was dynamite, facing seven batters and striking out six.

The star of the game was the offense, led by Lyle Overbay who had two doubles and a home run. The Yanks had 16 hits in all–it was one of those “All Too-gether-Now” nights, made even more enjoyable by the announcing team of Ken Singleton and David Cone. A fine Friday night indeed.

Final Score: Yanks 11, Royals 6.

[Image Via: This Isn't Happiness]

All Praise Mo.

Final Score: Yanks 3, Rockies 1.

Prior to the game the buzz was all about Joe Girardi and that funky, Tony LaRussa lineup he threw out for Wednesday’s tilt with the Rockies. Starting pitcher David Phelps was in the eighth spot, and catcher Austin Romine was ninth. Girardi’s explanation made a little bit of sense — he anticipated using a left-hander to pinch-hit for Phelps at some point, and with Brett Gardner and Robinson Canó at the top of the lineup, he didn’t want to have three lefties in a row. Also, he said he liked that after the lineup turned over, he’d have two hitters in front of Canó. Of course, he could simply bat Canó third like any sensible person would, but none of it really seemed to matter as much as the media wanted it to.

What did matter, was that the top of the lineup produced two runs early and young David Phelps pitched one of the best games of his brief career. Gardner led off with a bloop single down the line in left and — brace yourself — stole second on the first pitch to Canó. Canó later flied out, but when Vernon Wells followed with a shot into the seats in left, the Yanks were up 2-0.

As for Phelps, he found some trouble in the second inning when rising star Wilin Rosario (the loan bright spot on my struggling fantasy team, by the way) smacked the first pitch he saw into the gap in right center for an easy double and first baseman emeritus Todd Helton followed that with a homer to right to tie the score at two. After that? Smooth sailing for Phelps as he retired thirteen of the next fifteen batters, yielding just a walk and a single to finish six strong innings. No one will ever see Phelps as a top of the rotation guy, but I’d love to pencil him as the fourth starter for the next five years.

I have to admit that I fell asleep for the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth, so wasn’t until a few minutes ago when I looked at the play-by-play that I missed something eventful. First, the Yankees have someone named Preston Claiborne; he pitched a scoreless seventh. Second, and this is the big news, the Rockies took the unorthodox step of using two pitchers at once, bringing in the Rex Brothers for the eighth. Not surprisingly, they used their advantage to set the Yankees down in order.

The ninth inning was all about Vernon Wells. He led off with an infield single, then took for second a few pitches later on what looked to be a busted hit and run. He should’ve been out by about a yard, but shortstop Juan Herrera dropped Rosario’s throw, and Wells was in scoring position with no one out. Lyle Overbay worked a walk, Ichiro bunted them over to second and third, Lance Nix walked to load the bases, but Travis Hafner struck out, leaving things to pinch-hitter Brennan Boesch with two outs. Boesch hit a grounder to third, apparently ending the threat, but Nolan Arenado double-clutched before making the throw, and Boesch was able to beat the play by an eyelash, allowing Wells to score the go-ahead run.

The Great One came on to pitch the ninth, which means the recap would normally end here, but Girardi was up to his old tricks again. When he sent Hafner to hit for Chris Nelson in the top of the ninth, he lost his third baseman. He could’ve kept Hafner at third, except that the Pronkster hasn’t thrown a ball in a major league game since 2007, nor has he played anywhere in the field aside from first base. So with Jorge Posada retired and Francisco Cervelli on the disabled list, Girardi did the only thing he could do — he put Wells at third. (If he doesn’t play Rivera in center before the year is out, I’ll be sorely disappointed.)

Naturally, the second batter of the inning bounced a ball to third. From the upper deck, I’m sure Wells looked like any other third baseman as he ranged comfortably to his left, fielded the big hop, and fired to first for the out. Perhaps he’ll get the start on Wednesday afternoon.

Rivera did the rest, notching his twelfth straight save. Yankees 3, Rockies 2. (Here’s something to watch for. It’s early, but the way this team is constructed, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Rivera actually topped his career high of 53 saves from back in 2004. Then he’d walk off into the sunset with a Cy Young Award, just like Koufax. Wouldn’t that be poetic?)

[Photo Credit: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images]

I live smack in the middle of the N.L. West, but it’s still a complete mystery to me. There’s nothing at all impressive about the San Francisco Giants, except that they’ve won two of the past three World Series. For all the talk of the Dodgers and their cable deal (and their payroll) becoming the Yankees of the West, they’re floundering in last place. There’s no more beautiful city in America than San Diego, and yet the Padres haven’t been able to reel in an interesting free agent since they bagged Garvey in 1983 and added Gossage and Nettles in ’84.

And then there are the Colorado Rockies. With a lineup devoid of superstars, unless you count Todd Helton, who seems to have been playing since the Jurassic era, the Rockies have somehow found themselves at the top of this, the strangest division in baseball.

In many ways, the Rockies must’ve felt like they were looking in a mirror when the makeshift Yankees trotted out onto the field on Tuesday night. Remember when Jim Leyland famously referred to the Yankees’ fearsome 2006 lineup as Murders’ Row and Robby Canó? Well, last night’s group looked like Robinson and the Seven Dwarves, with starter Hiroki Kuroda batting ninth in the National League park.

With Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, and Alex Rodríguez all in Tampa and Kevin Youkilis also on the shelf, it’s a wonder the Yankees haven’t simply raised the white flag for the season. It’s been an admirable effort, and at times it’s even been fun to watch, as they’ve kept things together through these first six weeks. On Tuesday, though, they raised the white flag.

Kuroda wasn’t exactly brilliant, but he was certainly good enough to win as he cruised through the first five innings, allowing just three base runners over those opening frames. The Yankees, meanwhile, weren’t doing much more than pestering Rockies starter Jorge de la Rosa with more stolen bases (4) than hits (3), and the game was a scoreless tie as Colorado came up in the home half of the sixth.

The inning started innocently enough as Kuroda needed just two pitches for the first two outs, and when he gave up a single to Jeff Rutledge with his fourth pitch of the frame, there was certainly no cause for concern. Some people might have questioned my earlier statement claiming the Rockies had no superstars, and they would’ve cited Carlos González in their argument. But since I wouldn’t have recognized González if he had been watching the game with me from my living room couch, I’m not ready to elevate him to that elite level. Even after he deposited a Kuroda fastball into the right field seats, I still won’t do it. He’s a good player, I’ll give him that.

And that, essentially, was that. Sure, there was some hope when Brett Gardner pinch hit in the seventh and led off with a walk, but that hope started to fade as Gardner sat on first, refusing to steal second even though he had already watched Lance Nix and Chris Stewart (Chris Stewart!) pull off the trick. It disappeared completely when Colorado’s prodigal son ended the inning by grounding into a double play.

There will be games like this for these Yankees, and if we’re really honest with ourselves, we should be less surprised by games like this than when they somehow rack up seven or eight runs. But who knows? Maybe that surprise is coming tonight.

Rockies 2, Yankees 0.

[Photo Credit: Justin Edmonds/Getty Images]

It was uncommonly beautiful in New York today, one of those days that the weatherman likes to call one of the ten best days of the year. Watching the Yankees on an HD TV, the colors and sharpness created an almost surreal hyper-realism.

Another pretty good game in a good series, too. The A’s won 5-4.

Tough day for Andy Pettitte as Brian Heyman reports:

“It’s a struggle,” Pettitte said. “The issue is everything. Everything I’ve got to do as a starting pitcher, I’m not able to do right now. … My release point is floating around a little bit. … It’s been a long, long time since I haven’t had a feeling for my pitches.”

Pettitte is good at being brutally frank when it comes to self-assessments.

“My cutter is nonexistent right now,” Pettitte said.

Joe Girardi said he wasn’t going to make a big deal out of two bad starts. Pettitte is just hoping to find a steady release point in a hurry.

“I wish I could tell you something hurt,” Pettitte said. “But I feel good.”

I wish I could be more expansive but I kept nodding off which added to the dreamlike quality of the afternoon. I was up in time to watch the end of a thrilling OKC-Memphis game and plenty awake to watch the Knicks take one in the nuts against the Pacers at the Garden.

Then I stretched, took a shower, changed clothes and took a good, long walk.

[Photo Credit: J. L. Russell]

Phil Hughes pitched his best game of the year, Chris Stewart and Lyle Overbay hit solo home runs (Overbays was a bomb) and Mariano Rivera was the last man standing–though he didn’t earn a save–as the Yanks beat the A’s yesterday afternoon, 4-2.

Smiles all around.

Today gives another afternoon game and Game 1 of the Knicks-Pacers, which proves to be dramatic, dumb, aggravating, and other clumsy adjectives to describe hardship and pain.

But first, listen to this:

“Fallin’”–Teenaged Fan Club with De La Soul

[Photo Credit: Katherine Squler]

The Yanks were ahead by a run in the bottom of the eighth when Brett Gardner lead off with a single. The game slowed down considerably as he plotted to steal second, which he eventually did, and made it. Then he stole third, too, but still, the Yanks couldn’t bring him home. The inning seemed to take forever–pitch-outs, visits to the mound, failed bunts–and all the planning and counter-planning didn’t amount to a thing.

In the ninth, Mariano Rivera gave up a single to start the inning. The next batter hit a line drive up the middle as the runner on first took off for second. Watching on TV, I saw that the ball was well struck, and knowing that the runner was moving, I sighed, seeing the inevitable: first and third, no out. Instead, Robinson Cano, who was shaded up the middle, caught the ball and walked casually to second where he tagged out the helpless runner. Dumb luck is all. Dumb luck.

Mo struck out the next guy–the ending was routine at that point–and the Yanks had an unspectacular but pleasing 5-4 win.

Not a bad way to start a day off.

[Illustration via Rotomangler]

The sun hung up through the early evening begging for some baseball to be played. Anyway, that’s what I thought. One boy wanted to race scooters with a legion of cohorts. The other wanted to dig for buried treasure – gold, jewels, something ancient. “If it’s valuable, we can sell it and become rich and famous.” I stood with the bat on my shoulder. Baseball had to wait.

We heard the bracing cough before we came through the door. Pregnant to popping and sick with cold and fever, my wife was holed up in bed. We shut her door and proceeded towards bedtime with the boys taking advantage of me when they could, as always. The Yankees were already in the second inning, I guessed.  Baseball would have to wait some more.

“The laundry bag looks like a ghost,” Henry said. He has chosen a bedtime story about a boy who imagines monsters for three nights in a row and he’s mastering the racket. Last night is was a painting of a giraffe that’s been stationed on his wall since before he was born. The Yankees must be halfway to a win by now.

When I came out to warm up Chinese food and watch the game, I found my wife stretched out on the couch. “All I want to do is to fall asleep with the TV on,” she said. I didn’t have the heart to suggest a ballgame and I figured I would try to catch the ninth if Mariano was pitching. But to my surprise, she already had the TV switched to the Yanks and Astros.

I came in just as Kuroda found his groove and the Yanks scored some runs. Kuroda was as terrific as you can be after being terrible for a few innings. The first part of the game must have been a sluggish affair with all the base runners and walks.

David Robertson had one of those innings where he looks like the best pitcher in baseball but lets up two runs including a big homer. He absolutely blew the Astros away except for when the Yankee shift turned a ground out to short into a single. He had his chance to strike out Chris Carter, just about any kind of pitch in any spot would have done it, but the one Robertson threw unluckily hit Carter’s bat and ended up 20 rows deep.

Mariano had a night a little bit like mine. He was all set to go when Robertson hit Carter’s bat, but then the Yanks added a whole bunch of insurance in the ninth. Eduardo Nunez had an especially nice game and Ichiro and Hafner chipped in as well. Mariano sat back down, figuring it wasn’t his night. But Shawn Kelley got touched up and the score got close enough for Mariano to earn a save with one sweet strikeout, 7-4.

Winning is always worth the wait.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images via ESPN

And sometimes you just get your ass kicked…which is how he went down last night.

Final Score: Astros 9, Yanks 1. 

Mac’s got the details if you’re interested.

The Wife an I celebrated our anniversary this weekend so I was away from a computer for the past day. We did watch a bunch of the game yesterday–as well as most of the exciting (and exasperating) Bulls-Nets game.

You know, what? The Wife is the love of my life. We had a great time.

Here’s a Yankee thought: C.C. Sabathia’s got a ton of heart, man. Maybe there’s a better word for it, maybe “heart” is a cliche, but he’s had a couple of starts this year where he hasn’t had his best stuff but he’s still given the team length. Hasn’t complained about it, just gone out there and emptied the tank for his team. Yesterday, he went eight innings and got the win. He’s the man.

Today, we missed the game entirely but caught the highlights and hot damn–a four-game sweep of those upstart Jays? Sheeeeeit. Not bad for a bunch of broken-down, overpaid chumps, huh? Just enough hitting–how sweet is it when you win a game with just four hits? And a nice job by the pitching staff capped off by another tidy outing for The Great Mariano.

Final Score: Yanks 3, Jays 2.

A fine weekend, indeed.

“Talkin’ Bout Hey Love”-De La Soul

[Photo Via (the ever great) This Isn't Happiness]