Before we even get started, let me tell you one thing. I’m not going to complain about the Yankees’ lack of hitting with runners in scoring position, mainly because that’s like complaining that the sun is rising in the East. Even without that issue, there’s plenty to discuss here, and several issues to chew on, so let’s get at it…

Things couldn’t have started out better. Derek Jeter quieted the raucous Baltimore crowd with a line drive single to right center off rookie Wei-Yin Chen to lead off the game, and the suddenly dynamic Ichiro followed by reaching on a questionable error to set the Yankees up with two men on, no one out, and the heart of the lineup due.

The papers will be awash this morning with doomsday headlines about Alex Rodríguez and damning statistics on the ineptitude of the offense, but A-Rod came to bat in the first inning and laced an absolute seed just a few feet to the right of second base. The infield defense was pulled around to the left as it usually is for A-Rod, but even positioned close to the bag, second baseman Robert Andino only had time for a quick step and a dive. He snared the line drive, then flipped to second to double off Jeter. Had that ball been just two or three inches to the left, a run would’ve been in and a rally would’ve been rolling with the hottest hitter on the planet due up next.

As it was, there were suddenly two outs and a man on first, A-Rod was still a dog, and the Yankees still couldn’t hit when it counted. It’s a game of inches, you know. But then Robinson Canó dug in and ripped a laser of his own off the base of the wall in right field. Always one to push the edge of the envelope, third base coach Robby Thompson windmilled Ichiro around third, but the relay throw from Andino appeared to have him dead to rights. But as Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters took the throw and lunged to make the tag, Ichiro took a right turn. He avoided the tag, but missed the plate by several feet, skittered counter clockwise around the dish, then leapt in the air like a cat to avoid Wieters’s second attempt before finally tagging the first base side of home plate. It was so much work it probably should’ve been worth two runs, but the score was only 1-0. Even so, it was a start.

This was Game 2, so naturally Andy Pettitte was on the mound for the Yankees, and naturally he was dominant early on. How good was he? He retired the first eight batters like this: fly out, ground out, backwards K, pop out, ground out, strikeout, fly out, ground out. He made a tough pitch to the ninth hitter, but it was too tough, as Andino broke his bat and lofted a base hit over second base. Then things got sticky.

Nate McLouth knocked a clean single to center, then J.J. Hardy walked on four pitches to load the bases for Chris Davis, a left-hander who had struggled against Pettitte in his career. After taking ball one, Davis poked a single to right to score two, and the Orioles suddenly had a 2-1 lead, just as they did in the third inning of Game 1. (An interesting note here: Nick Swisher actually came up with a good throw to third, one that Jeter could’ve cut off but chose instead to let go. He couldn’t have known this, but Hardy had rounded second a bit too aggressively, and had Jeter cut off that throw where he stood atop second base and then looked for the tag, Hardy would’ve been out before McLouth would’ve been able to score with the second run. No shortstop in his right mind would’ve cut that ball off, but it’s the type of play we’ve come to expect from Jeter in October. Not this time.)

And so the inning continued. Adam Jones bounced a grounder deep into the hole at short, forcing Jeter to range far to his right. Jeter and A-Rod, as well as Hardy running from second, probably all realized the only play would be at third. As a result, Hardy was digging hard for the bag and didn’t notice when the ball rolled just under Jeter’s glove. A-Rod was giving his best decoy at third, waiting for a throw that would never come, so Hardy also didn’t notice his third base coach furiously waving him in. He pulled up at third, much to Jeter’s amusement. Wieters popped up the first pitch he saw, and Hardy never scored. The inning was over.

The Yankee hitters, meanwhile, weren’t scoring, but they were making Chen work hard. It looked like that strategy might pay dividends in the top of the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out after Mark Teixeira singled, Russell Martin walked, and Curtis Granderson singled.

(Speaking of Granderson, TBS showed a revealing statistic during his first at bat. (And speaking of TBS, their coverage is bordering on unwatchable. Cal Ripken and John Smoltz have fallen into the trap that awaits most postseason announcers: they make a point and then react as if they’ve discovered penicillin. I watched large chunks of Game 1 with the mute button engaged. During Game 2, Ripken even tried to tell me that switch hitters used to regularly bat left-handed against Pettitte to counteract his power cutter, even though I’m fairly certain this never happened. That was Mo.) But back to Granderson. Peep this: When he puts one of the first two pitches in play, his batting average is .405, slugging percentage .767. After that the numbers drop to .190/.425. Ouch.)

But we were discussing the fourth inning, and the bases loaded buffet awaiting Eduardo Nuñez. He came to the plate needing just a quality out to tie the game, but imagine what a simple base hit would do. With his pitch count mounting, every fan in the park on edge, his entire home nation of Taiwan having called in sick to watch their countryman’s first playoff appearance, this was clearly a critical moment for Chen. A base hit would likely give the Yankees the lead and fill Chen’s head with doubt as the lineup turned over and Jeter, Ichiro, and A-Rod readied for their turns at bat. The game would open up, and the series would close.

But that’s not how it happened. Nuñez popped out, Jeter grounded to third, and the inning was over. Late Monday night Curt Schilling and John Kruk gushed about Chen’s game plan and execution, but I kept wondering if they had watched the same game I did, and I think Jeter’s reaction might’ve been similar. When he was asked about Chen after the game, the Captain was clearly suppressing a grin as he generously allowed, “He was hitting his spots.” It reminded me of an interview Kobe Bryant gave after the Lakers lost a tough playoff game to the Phoenix Suns. When asked if Raja Bell had given him some trouble, Kobe simply laughed. “Raja Bell? Raja Bell?” More laughter. “No.” Jeter was more diplomatic, but the message was the same.

What can’t be denied, however, was that Chen made it into the seventh inning, which is probably more than the Orioles had hoped for. Now trailing 3-1, the Yankees mounted a rally as Nuñez poked a ball into short right center and hustled it into a double, then came home on a Jeter single to cut the lead back to one at 3-2. After Ichiro forced Jeter at second and Darren O’Day came in to strike out A-Rod for the second day in a row, Buck Showalter chose to bring in Brian Matusz to walk the HHOTP and face Swisher with two outs and the tying run on second. I’m guessing Showalter wasn’t worried. Swisher entered that at bat with a 1 for 33 career postseason mark with runners in scoring position, and a career 1 for 19 against Matusz. Predictably, he popped out to left.

And then came the eighth inning, perhaps the most frustrating frame of the night for me. Teixeira led off with a rocket that looked ticketed for the left field corner and a sure double. But McLouth hustled over to cut it off, and the hobbling Teixeira was forced to stay at first. Here’s how the rest of the inning should’ve played out: Brett Gardner pinch runs for Teixeira and remains in the game in left field; Ichiro moves to right field; Swisher comes in to play first. Gardner steals second (because if he doesn’t, why exactly is he on the post season roster?), then Martin can either bunt him over or take a shot to right field. Assuming this works, Granderson needs only produce a fly ball to tie the game.

But Joe Girardi wasn’t interested in any of that, so he let Teixeira sit at first base as Martin and Granderson struck out and Nuñez popped out. The game wasn’t over, but it certainly felt like it. Baltimore closer Jim Johnson worked the ninth inning and smartly set down Jeter, Ichiro, and A-Rod in order, leaving Canó in the on-deck circle.

You have to admit, it was a nice way for 2012’s final game at Camden Yards to end. Orioles 3, Yankees 2.

[Photo Credits: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images (1); Patrick Semansky/AP Photo (2&3); Nick Wass/AP Photo (4)]

Over at ESPN, here’s Jeff MacGregor on Derek Jeter:

Jeter is our sphinx, as fixed and inscrutable as those marble lions in front of the New York Public Library.

Eighteen seasons, 3,304 hits. Who knows how many starlets. Captain Intangibles in the City of the Damned. To reasonable people from anywhere else, New York is crazy, a bughouse — an asylum, a hive, a slice of 99-cent pizza falling on a pair of $1,600 shoes. It’s bike messengers and violinists, grime and Champagne. It’s a Babel, a bad dream, a siren, a grinding of the teeth. It’s that smell. It’s horse carts and nightclubs and town cars and bridges. It’s Trump and Jay-Z, The Times and the Post, three-card monte and the stock exchange. It’s a Korean bodega in a Greek neighborhood run by 4 guys from Yemen. It’s what America used to be before focus groups got hold of it.

But New York makes sense to New Yorkers. Our cops and firefighters all look and sound like cops and firefighters, and the daily parade up and down the avenue of our actors and junkies and account executives is straight out of central casting. The ballplayers all look like ballplayers and first among them is Derek Jeter. As much a part of the mind’s skyline as the Flatiron or the Waldorf; as much a part of the tri-state subconscious as every car commercial they’ve ever bounced off your skull. Even if you hate baseball, he’s as permanent an impermanence as most New Yorkers can imagine.

The only question is for how long?

[Photo Credit: Bags]

Mike Trout should win the American League Most Valuable Player Award. His bat, glove and legs produced more runs for the Angels than any other player did for their team in 2012. And it wasn’t particularly close.

However, the decision to award Mike Trout the MVP over Miguel Cabrera is not as cut and dry as WAR-touters would have you believe. A three win bulge for Trout makes this an open and shut case to them. There are several factors that bring Cabrera back into the discussion. Unfortunately for us, many of them suck.

The Tigers made the playoffs! Fine, but the Angels won more games against much tougher competition.

Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown! Awesome, but ask the ghost of Ted Williams if the Triple Crown guarantees the MVP Award.

Miguel Cabrera has been so good for so long, he deserves an award! Players who are “so good for so long” get into the Hall of Fame. There’s no need to manufacture an MVP award they don’t deserve.

Give Trout the Rookie of the Year Award. If he’s not a fluke he can do it again next year! Yes, they will give him the ROY and no, that has nothing to do with the MVP award.

These invalid arguments may be the loudest on Cabrera’s side, and that’s a shame because there are some valid ones that we haven’t heard much of yet. I will state in advance that I don’t think these arguments cover the gap, but I do think they make it close enough that a Cabrera MVP Award would not be the miscarriage of justice that Fangraphs and other such sites will claim it is.

Games Played

Trout’s massive production came in only 139 games. Cabrera compiled his Triple Crown over 161 games. Some would argue that this is an argument for Trout, since greater than or equal to production over a shorter time necessarily implies a greater rate of impact per game. However, showing up counts. It’s not Trout’s fault that he was left in the Minors to start the season, but he wasn’t there to help the Angels as they stumbled through April.

A player in the lineup can change the result in many ways. Most commonly, by the statistics we measure and discuss all the time. But what about a game where Cabrera goes 0-4 but works the pitcher over for 20 high stress pitches? Perhaps Prince Fielder could be the benificiary of a fat pitch in one of his plate appearances as a result. How many pitching changes were made in games this year just because Miguel Cabrera loomed in the on deck circle? How many fastballs were called because Mike Trout was leading off first base? A player of this quality influences the course of the game whether he is padding his WAR total or not.

The point being that a player can generate negative WAR in a game and still impact that same game in a very positive manner by doing things that WAR does not measure. A player who is not on the roster cannot.

Or imagine the Tigers play the Angels in a four game series. Cabrera hits four home runs in the series, one in each game. Trout stays in AAA for the first three games of the series and then comes up and hits two home runs and steals two bases in the final game. Trout’s overall value may be equal to or greater than Cabrera’s especially per game, but Cabrera’s ability to impact four results is superior to Trout’s ability to impact one result.  Since each result is a discrete event, production tomorrow does nothing to address today’s game.

Cabrera was able to impact 161 games on Detroit’s schedule. That’s the most important point in his favor.

Roster Creation

Mike Trout is an excellent defensive out fielder and Miguel Cabrera is a terrible defensive third baseman. This difference goes a long way to creating the WAR gap in Trout’s favor. And it should. Trout’s superior defensive ability can and should be used to differentiate these two players. However, once we dig into the reason Miguel Cabrera is playing third base, I think we can cut him a little bit more slack than raw comparison would dictate.

I am reminded of the excellent Red Sox teams of 2003-2008. The Red Sox won two World Series and a lot of games during this period; you might have seen the pink hats. As they did this, Manny Ramirez hit a ton in the middle of their lineup and was a putrid defensive player. Manny Ramirez may have been better served as a DH. But the Red Sox certainly would not have been better served, because they already had David Ortiz there. The Red Sox paired two of the best hitters of the generation and rode them to glory. Manny Ramirez’s ability to put a glove on his hand and stand in front of the Green Monster was essential to this plan. Yes, his poor play out there cost the Red Sox some runs and should count against him in our analysis of him as a player. But looking at the team overall, and what they accomplished and why, mitigates some of those negatives.

The Tigers, as the A’s are no doubt shaking about right now, have a similar pair of hitters. The only reason Prince Fielder is on the team is because Miguel Cabrera can put a glove on his hand and stand next to third base. When we look at all the runs that Miguel Cabrera’s poor defense cost the Tigers this year, we should also ask if the Tigers would have done it any other way. When a player would have been better off individually playing one position, but made a move which enabled the team as a whole to be better (or to pursue the course of action which the team envisioned would give them the best chance to win, regardless of outcome) we should not hold the totality of his negative defensive value against him.

Trout’s a better defensive player than Cabrera. That should go into the discussion. But if we just say Trout is+X and Cabrera is -Y, that’s not fair either.

September

As the races tightened in September, Miguel Cabrera had an insane month and Mike Trout had a good one. From September 1st to the day the Angels were eliminated from the playoffs, Trout hit .283/.397/.500. From September 1st until the day they clinched the Central, Cabrera hit .330/.395/.688 (and Fielder, on the team because of Cabrera’s flexibility, hit .308/.410/.567).

If we think of a baseball game, the late innings are more important than the early innings because there is less time to make up for any changes in the score. Leverage of the late innings is higher than leverage of the early innings, and this is why Mariano Rivera should pitch the late innings of the closest games. The same goes for a season. The games in September have higher leverage attached to them than those games in April because there is less time to make up any changes in the standings. So we do have to give Cabrera a little bump for his late season heroics. Not because of the result (see above) but because of the timing of his individual contribution.

I have read a lot arguments saying that production in April counts as much as production in September and that giving Cabrera credit for his strong finish isn’t warranted. To that I say bringing up April hurts Trout much more than September. I’ll give Cabrera some credit for producing so much in September, but in my mind that’s a much smaller bump than the other factors above.

We started out talking about a 10.4 WAR player versus a 7.2 WAR player. To keep the discussion in the same units of measure, I’d say this more like a debate bewteen a 10 WAR player and an 8 WAR player.  I ding Trout a little bit for missing too much of the Angels schedule and I give Cabrera a little bit of a break for playing third base so poorly because it enables Prince Fielder to be a Tiger. I’d still vote for Trout, but it’s close enough to bring up the topic to the guy on the barstool  next to yours.

10/2 11:48 PM
Alex Belth:

Holy shit that was great.

Hey, I don’t mean to be greedy but in name of superstition and not fucking with a good thing if you are available to recap tomorrow’s game that’d be awesome. If not, totally understand and no problemo.

10/3 8:35 AM
Jon DeRosa:

I can do it.

That was probably the most calm extra inning Red Sox game I’ve ever experienced. I just never felt like they were a threat to score.

10/3 8:55 AM
Alex:

I wish I could have felt the same.

Dude, such a HUGE game for our man Hiroki tonight. I want so badly for him to do well.

10/3 9:02 AM
Jon:

Not to jinx him, and he might be a little gassed right now, but he’s going to rip through these guys pretty easily. They really have few decent hitters in that lineup. And the Yankees are going to destroy whatever comes their way.

This is going to be an 8-1, 9-2 type game like Monday.

10/3 9:28 AM
Alex:

That would make me very happy.

***

I had one of those nights tonight. Laundry and the Yankee game is a full slate at this time of year. A visit from the sore throat fairy, weird and time consuming things happening with credit cards, and then to top it all off, at 9:30 PM my wife gets an email that her very important 8:30 AM flight (she’s presenting at a conference) has been cancelled and she’s been rebooked to Friday. All the turmoil and panic floating around here, and not one ounce caused by the Yankees.

After a season on the brink, the Yankees gave us one night off. And it was glorious. Take a couple of days now and watch the Orioles and the Rangers in Stress Fest 2012, ie the Wild Card game. There sure was a lot of stress involved trying to avoid the stress of that game.

Another 95 win team. Another American League East Division crown. We’ve criticized this team more than most other Division champions, and often deservedly so, but there were times when they deserved more praise than we gave them I think. Like we were holding it back because we weren’t really sure how good they were. Turns out they were pretty damn good.

Top Photo via AP/ Frank Franklin II, Bottom Photo via Getty Images / Al Bello 

It isn’t love if it’s easy. Home-run binges, clutch hits and flawless closers put happy bubbles in the brain.

It isn’t love if it doesn’t hurt. A division clincher in mid-September is a breezy balm.

It isn’t love if your eyes are dry. It’s just a game, after all.

It isn’t love if your pulse is flat and blood is settled. The level head is free of passion.

It isn’t love if you never want to give up.

It isn’t love if you give up.

***

I thought I wrote all that for us when they were going to lose. To help us get psyched for tomorrow. But now after watching him draw one of the grittiest walks I’ve ever seen, Paul O’Neill 2000 World Series gritty, I think I wrote it for Francisco Cervelli.

The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox in a game that tested the very fabric of fandom, 4-3, in 12 innings. The Orioles also won. They beat the Rays in a tough-as-nails 1-0 duel in Tampa, so that means the Yankees have clinched at least a tie for the American East crown. Even if everything goes to pot tomorrow, the Yanks get to go head-to-head with the O’s in Baltimore on Thursday to decide things once and for all.

But everything is not going to go to pot tomorrow.

This game served as an unpleasant reminder of every single RISP frustration we experienced as fans this season. Mark Teixeira would have earned a place next to Javy Vazquez in Yankee infamy had they lost this game. He came up with a man on third and less than two outs three times. He registered five outs in those at bats and drove in zero. I felt awful for him, even as I cursed him to burn for eternity. The Yankees left runners on all game. Much like their loss in Toronto, but with more on the line, they came up small when even medium would have done the job.

Joe Girardi deemed Ivan Nova too risky to start this game and wisely opted for David Phelps instead. Phelps put in 5.3 solid innings before giving way to the bullpen. He left down 2-1 thanks to Teixiera’s woes with RISP. It stayed that way through many torturous innings. The Yankees seemed sure to break through almost every inning, and then they wouldn’t.

After Brett Gardner got picked off / caught stealing to end the eighth, the Yankee closer came on to pitch the ninth. We’re not expecting Mariano Rivera anymore, and that’s sad in itself, but when Soriano coughed up a looping homer to James Loney to push the bulge to 3-1, Mo’s absence was shining.

Curtis Granderson led off the ninth with a single off Sox closer Andrew Bailey. Girardi sent up Raul Ibanez to bat for Eduardo Nunez. Ibanez, who has only 91 hits this year, but about 40 HUGE ones, lashed a 1-2 fastball into the short seats in right. Bailey caught too much of the plate, but it was mostly a fantastic job by Ibanez of staying down through the ball and yanking it just high enough to be a homer.

With one out, Derek Jeter doubled and the Red Sox intentionally walked Swisher to get to Arod. Alex put up a wonderful at bat, even got jobbed on a call, and still worked a walk. Bases loaded. Bobby Valentine called on Mark Melancon, owner of a 6.44 ERA, to get Teixeira. I never, for one second, entertained the thought that Teixeira would fail to drive in the winning run. It was the perfect redemption to his horrid night.

Melancon worked carefully, but after several pitches and another questionable call (the ump was wide all night long according to Cone), Melancon threw the kind of pitch that is no doubt responsible for his 6.44 ERA. It was right down the middle, belt high, and Teixeira saw it clearly. But his timing was off. He swung too late and extended too far and what should have been devastating contact was broken lumber. His bat exploded and the ball popped into shallow center. Robinson Cano followed, failed to hit, failed to hustle and the threat was over. Raul Ibanez’s inspirational homer seemed like it happened a year ago and I felt like the Yankees were losing a game they had just tied.

It stayed tied for a few more innings. Rafael Soriano may not be Mo, but it was damn gutty of him to come out for his second inning and hold the line. Derek Lowe chipped in with two good innings. The Yankees didn’t do much for awhile, but Swisher’s two-out hit in the 11th brought Alex up again with a chance to win it. Alex crushed a ball to the gap, but as we have well noted, those shots fall short these days and Ellsbury did a heckuva job to run it down. Kay was fooled, but I doubt the fans watching on TV were.

I got up from the living room and retreated to the kitchen to pack tomorrow’s lunch. It was the top of the order for the Red Sox and Derek Lowe is not good. I took extra care cutting off the crusts and washing the apple. I packed it away in the fridge and knew it was time to face the music.

The game was still knotted at 3, Cervelli was up, down 0-2 in the count with two outs. Michael Kay talked about what a tough year it had been for Cervelli. He had been the “forgotten man” – left to languish in AAA all season as another guy took his job backing up Russell Martin. Chris Stewart might be a little better than Cervelli, but by not by enough to make that an easy situation to accept. I thought about a homer, but it didn’t seem possible.

Cervelli fought all the way back to work a walk. Curtis Granderson followed by taking four straight balls. And Raul Ibanez deflected a fastball into left field. It was a harmless roller and if Boston had an infielder anywhere near it, they would have thrown the lead footed Ibanez out by plenty. But there was no one there. If Francisco Cervelli did not touch home plate I would have forgiven him. He was flying.

Photos by AP & Getty Images via ESPN.com

I spent much of the weekend being pissed off at the Red Sox, who couldn’t win a single game against the Baltimore Orioles. Not one. In my irrational state of mind I even wondered if there might be some foul play at work. After all, what better way for Boston to get at the Yanks than by rolling over three days in a row in Baltimore?

With this poison still working its way through my system, I sat down to watch the Yankees and Red Sox on Monday evening, and it all became clear as soon as the Boston lineup flashed onto the screen: Pedro Ciriaco, Daniel Nava, Cody Ross, Mauro Gomez, Ryan Lavarnway, Jarod Saltalamacchia, Danny Valencia, Che-Hsuan Lin, and José Iglesias made up the Red Sox starting nine, and three of those guys ended the night hitting less than .200.

CC Sabathia was on the mound for the Yanks, and he showed no mercy. As he was slicing and dicing through Boston’s makeshift lineup (Dustin Pedroia was out with an injured hoof, and Jacoby Ellsbury was on the bench suffering from the 24-hour-lefty-on-the-mound flu), I missed the old Red Sox. Do you remember what an event these series were? Do you remember how every pitch carried with it the weight of the world and a world of possibilities?

I miss the swagger of Pedro Martínez, the horror of Manny Ramírez and David Ortíz, the robotic fierceness of Jonathan Papelbon, the impossible smugness of Josh Beckett, and even the nauseating arrogance of Curt Schilling. I miss the way Jason Varitek would tuck his batting helmet beneath his arm as he crossed the plate after hitting a home run, and the way Kevin Youkilis would slide his hand up and down the shaft of his bat as if he were, well, you know.

I hated all of that, but now I miss it like crazy. These Red Sox? About as compelling as milk. So even as CC was busy dismissing one anonymous BoSock after another, I couldn’t help wondering what this series might’ve been like. Worse than that, when the Yankees sent 13 men to the plate in the second inning to score nine runs and put the game on ice, my heart didn’t beat any faster.

Robinson Canó led off the inning with an absolute monster home run that ricocheted off  the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar a mere 446 feet from home plate, becoming just the second player in four years to turn the trick. Three batters later Curtis Granderson laced a two-run homer into the second deck in right, and before the cheering stopped, Russell Martin backed him up with a homer of his own for a 4-0 Yankee lead.

Canó came up later in the inning and rocked a double to right center, scoring two more runs. A quick word about Canó. Even though some have criticized him this season and accused him of playing below his ability, it should be remembered that people whispered the same things about Roberto Clemente, probably for the same reason. Canó finished the game 3 for 5 with a home run and two doubles, giving him a total of 48 two-baggers and 31 homers on the season. Not bad.

Following Canó was Mark Teixeira, playing in his first game in weeks. He had struck out in his first at bat against Boston starter Clay Buchholz, but he liked something he saw from the new Boston pitcher, Alfredo Aceves, and quickly jumped on it. It was a no-doubter; the ball leapt off Tex’s bat and settled in the second deck. If Teixeira can get his swing together in time for the playoffs (or keep it together), the Yankee lineup is suddenly much more formidable.

Nothing much happened the rest of the way — a solo home run from Nava and a sacrifice fly from Saltalamacchia accounted for the Boston scoring — save for the bottom of the eighth. I’ve always loved watching players get their first hit, so I was thrilled for Melky Mesa when his two-hopper found its way into center field for his first career hit and RBI (Eduardo Núñez scored easily from second). Mesa started clapping and smiling half way down the line, and the Yankee dugout exploded behind him as they officially welcomed him to the major leagues with their cheers and good natured ribbing (Eric Chávez jokingly yelled for him to be sure to touch first base). The smile never left his face during that eighth inning.

The 10-2 Yankee win combined with a Baltimore loss gives the Bombers a tie with Texas for the best record in the league and a luxurious one-game lead in the American League East. I expect that they’ll take care of business on Tuesday and Wednesday. You can count on it.

[Photo Credit: Kathy Willens/AP Photo]

During his post game interview following his second start back from the disabled list in Minnesota on Monday night, Andy Pettitte shook his head and laughed. “I’m definitely a work in progress,” he admitted. If you missed the game and just caught that self-deprecating response, you might’ve assumed Pettitte had struggled, something like four runs in five innings and maybe a loss. Not quite.

Pettitte threw 88 pitches over six strong innings, allowing just seven hits and a walk while striking out three. He didn’t allow a run.

Looking at those numbers on the morning after, Pettitte looks brilliant, but he struggled in the first inning. He gave up consecutive singles to open the game, walked Josh Willingham to load the bases with one out, and momentarily fell behind the dangerous Justin Morneau. But he did what we’re used to seeing from Andy Pettitte, what we saw as far back as Game 5 of the 1996 World Series. He battled. He eventually retired Morneau with a 91-MPH fastball dotted on the outside corner, then induced a ground ball from Ryan Doumit to end the inning. It had taken 22 pitches, but he had escaped.

That first inning had been tenuous, but Pettitte had actually been working with a 3-0 lead. Derek Jeter had opened the top of the first with a walk, then raced around to third on a double from the blistering hot Ichiro. Robinson Canó brought one run home with a ground out to short, but then Nick Swisher crushed a ball off the facing of the upper deck in right center field for a muscle-flexing homer and a three-run Yankee cushion. As it turned out, that would be all that Pettitte would need.

Even so, Curtis Granderson gave him another run in the fourth as he rocketed his fortieth homer high into the right field stands. Granderson has become a disturbingly one-dimensional hitter this season, but as frustrating as his all-or-nothing approach can be, it’s hard to criticize a guy who’s hit forty home runs in consecutive seasons, a feat accomplished by only four other players in the long and homer-filled history of the Bronx Bombers. There was Jason Giambi in ’02-’03, and then the three usual suspects: Mickey Mantle (’60-’61), Lou Gehrig (’30-’31), and a guy named Babe Ruth (’20-’21, ’23-’24, ’26-’32). Is it just me, or is it kind of shocking that Alex Rodríguez isn’t on that list?

Pettitte, meanwhile, was straight dealing. After that shaky start, he set down the side in order in the second, used a double play ball to to escape a two-hit inning in the third, watched as Granderson and Russell Martin combined for a phenomenal play to throw out Doumit at the plate to end the fourth, yielded a harmless single in the fifth, then set down three straight in the sixth to finish his scoreless evening. Pettitte just might be the best September call-up in Yankee history, and he definitely looks ready to assume his usual spot starting Game 3 in the playoffs.

Raúl Ibañez and Eric Chávez added solo home runs in the frame after Pettitte’s departure, giving the Yanks a 6-0 lead in the seventh inning and enough of a cushion that the rest of the game seemed unnecessary. There were really just two things of note: things got a bit messy for the bullpen as they yielded three runs in the final two innings, and Derek Jeter singled with one out in the ninth to keep his hitting streak alive at 18 straight games.

At this point in the season, any win makes for a good day, but this 6-3 win meant more than just a half game in the standings. Pettitte has thrown eleven shutout innings since his return from the disabled list, and suddenly the Yankee rotation of Sabathia, Kuroda, Pettitte, and Hughes looks ready to carry the team through these final nine games and into the playoffs. The Yankees won’t clinch the American League East until the weekend, but I think we’ll look back on this game and realize this was the night it was won.

[Photo Credit: Jim Mone/AP Photo]

The Yankees announced that Andy Pettitte was coming back to the rotation on May 8th.  The Yankees ripped off 31 wins against 15 losses before he got hurt. They announced he was coming back from injury on September 13th. They have gone 6-1 since then. So that’s 37-16 with the notion that Pettitte is on the staff. And 49-47 without him.

From a logical point of view, Pettitte’s presence – and quality – deepens the staff and, just as crucially, lengthens the bullpen. So we should expect the Yankees to perform better than usual when he’s healthy and effective. The rest is just dumb luck.

But given the fact that they’re playing must-win games every day for the remainder of the season, I need something more than logic and dumb luck to hold onto. Andy Pettitte’s the good luck charm that turns this ordinary team into a powerhouse. If they win it all, that’s why. If they don’t well, we know it was all foolishness anyway.

Don’t worry…’bout a thing.

[Photo Credit: Bags]

It was the fifth inning and the Yankees were in trouble. CC Sabathia had protected a 1-0 lead since the second (in itself a minor miracle) but that lead was history. The Rays now led 2-1, had the bases loaded, and, if the root canal wasn’t painful enough sir, here’s a kick in the shin with a steel-tipped boot: Evan Longoria was at the plate with nobody out.

Sabathia threw a tub of junk at him and up 0-2 in the count, got Longoria to bounce to third. Alex Rodriguez, whose leather was strong and supple in all the right places tonight, charged. He had everything in front of him: the ball, the third base bag, the runner racing home and Longoria breaking for first. He had a fraction of a second to decide what to do and three options, none of them perfect.

He could fire home and prevent the run from scoring. That would keep the score 2-1, and with David Price on the mound for the Rays, every run is precious. But the bases would still be loaded and there’d only be one out. He could step on third and sling the ball across the diamond hoping for a double play. He’d concede a run but he’d give Sabathia the chance to end the inning with an out. Or he could step on third and still try to cut the run off at the plate. The degree of difficulty on that play is absurd. The runner might beat the throw home anyway, and to make a perfect throw, on the run, with no angle… and the catcher still has to block the plate and make the tag.

Alex chose the 5-3 double play and I immediately thought two things: 1) Good for you Alex. You are showing belief in your team that you can score a couple of more runs in this game. 2) The Yankees probably just lost this game.

The Yankees never did take the lead again, but it would be inaccurate to say they lost the game there in the fifth. No, the Yanks had some runs in their tank tonight. Curtis Granderson homered off David Price. Eduardo Nunez ripped a single off the leg of third base umpire Jerry Meals. The bad news is that it was clearly going to be a double. The good news is that it hurt. The bad news outweighed the good news unfortunately, because had the inning played out the same way with Nunez starting at second, he scores the tying run. As it was, he was rounding third when Elliot Johnson dove to snag Arod’s dribbler. It was ticketed for right field, but the ball was in no hurry to get there.

The Rays padded their lead in an especially disheartening fashion. CC Sabathia, if you remember from opening day, is supposed to have some kind of Jedi mind trick in place when pitching to Carlos Pena. Pena drew a crucial walk in the three-run fifth and led off the seventh with an infield single. Neither was as loud as the grand slam from April 6th, but CC’s inabilty to retire Pena was a big part of another loss.

Elliot Johnson tried to bunt Pena to second, only CC jumped on the bunt and erased the lead runner. Yay. Johnson stole second and scored by a whisker on a two out single to center. Fuck. Pena would never have scored on that hit. B.J. Upton hit a tall homer in the eighth. It was 5-2 and all those close decisions that would have made this an agonizing loss didn’t seem to matter so much.

Then Derek jeter pounded a single into the right field corner and Alex Rodriguez hit a vintage 2007-era blast to left and made the score 5-4. Oh it’s an agonizing loss again, that’s better. The Rays turned a bloop, a steal and an ghastly error by Nunez into an unnecessary insurance run and made the final score 6-4.

In the seventh, Ben Zobrist squared up a high fastball right down the middle from Sabathia and stroked a blue dart back through the box. It was a bad pitch, but Zobrist didn’t miss it. He also didn’t try to do too much with the high heat. The Rays scored a vital run with two outs. In the eighth, Curtis Granderson tapped a grounder to second with two outs and the tying run on second and go-ahead run on first. It was a lousy swing, but it was also an excellent pitch, a strike, but low and away where Granderson couldn’t get good wood to it. The Rays got the vital out and protected their slim lead.

It’s not that simple, but it’s not that complicated either.

The Yankees have not won a game that they have trailed in the eighth inning (or later) all year long. This wouldn’t matter so much except that they’re behind in the eighth and ninth almost every night these days. Tonight they trailed 6-1 with two outs in the top of the eighth and looked deader than disco. Alex Rodriguez stroked a double. Eric Chavez and Russell Martin worked gutsy walks around an RBI single from Curtis Granderson. Pinch hitter Chris Dickerson faced the erratic Pedro Strop with the bases loaded and took four straight balls to push the tying run to second. Ichiro Suzuki bounced a game-tying single to right.

The Yankees had just completed their most important comeback of the season and sent out the best of their bullpen in the bottom of the eighth. David Robertson quickly got ahead of Adam Jones 0-2 and went for the kill with his great curveball. But that pitch is gone. When he attempted to throw it to Jones, it slipped out of his hand and he nearly plunked him in the noggin. I thought he needed to go right back to curve because a) no way Jones is looking for a curve when he just gagged one so badly, and b) might as well see if he’s got any feel for it whatsoever for the rest of the outing. Instead Martin called for a fastball up out of the strike zone. Robertson put it on a fucking tee. I threw batting practice for fifty kids today, mostly underhand, and I didn’t throw a pitch that hittable.

After Adam Jones homered, Robertson kept sucking. He let up a single and another homer before he spun dizzily into the showers. In a show of solidarity, Boone Logan let up another homer as soon as he got in there. Robertson’s stats aren’t as good as last year, but I don’t think we had any business expecting that kind of year again. He’s still been pretty good. It’s his timing that has been so shitty. Robertson’s 4-0 record last year has turned into a 1-6 tally this year. That swing in the standings has been crippling for the Yankees.

In the fourth inning of this game, when I finally tuned in, David Phelps allowed the first three batters of the inning to hit the ball a combined 1200 feet. It was just dumb luck that two of them ended up as outs. The third was a homer by Robert Andino which made the score 5-1 and officially designated Phelps outing as “dogshit.”

The Yankees have played the Orioles four times recently, with the division title clearly on the line, and the Orioles would have swept all four if Pedro Strop could throw a few strikes. Even with Strop screwing things up for them, the Orioles have kicked the Yankees asses in three of the four games. They crushed three homers tonight on their way to an easy win. Strop made things complicated, so they smacked three more to win comfortably, 10-6.

The Orioles have looked the bully in the eye and found out he’s not so tough. The Orioles are playing great baseball and I can’t think of any reason why they would stop. I’m usually ok with the phrase “may the best team win.” But the best team is usually the Yankees.

Every opening I came up with for tonight’s 5-2 loss to the Rays was depressing and cheap. The Yanks have played poorly, blown a big divisional lead and I was ticked. But I stopped myself and tried again. I remembered this isn’t the finish line.

If this collapse coincided with the end of the season, like it did for the Red Sox and Braves last year, then we could thrash and roll about all night. However, there are 27 games left and it’s now a flat-footed tie with Orioles. If they come up short in this sprint, we’ll have plenty of time to hash out why they weren’t good enough this year. In the meantime, maybe they’ll get mad, play well and win.

We don’t know if it will happen that way, and by the look of things, the chances aren’t that great. But it could and we should keep watching and hoping like the fans of the other, less pre-destined, teams.

I didn’t come to this outlook on my own. I woke up this morning to mouse clicks followed by a small voice repeating “Yes!” I figured my son was at the computer checking baseball scores, just down the hall from my room. The problem with that is I knew that the Pirates lost yesterday afternoon and I knew my son knew this, too. I pulled myself out of bed to see what he was celebrating. He sat there dangling his feet and grinning like he just heard about Cookie Crisp cereal. I pulled up over his shoulder and asked him what he was doing.

“Checking out the olden days,” he said. He had clicked all the way back to June. The Pirates won a lot of games in June, so he was thrilled. It didn’t seem pathetic either, like it is when I hole up with Baseball-Reference.com and swaddle myself in past glory each time the Yankees get bounced from the Postseason. I think he just wanted to see the whole picture of the season rather than dwell on their most recent disappointment.

The 2012 Yankee team has access to something better than this. There are some guys that could play better and some guys that could get healthy. If it all happens that way, I think they’re the best team over the last 27 games and I hope their records indicates that. If it doesn’t, well, my son wouldn’t mind if we joined him rooting for the Pirates.

As for the game I have only one thought. After the Yanks went down 3-2 in the third, they sent 21 batters to the plate for the rest of the game. Three over the minimum over the final six innings. I am sure some will credit the Rays pitcher Alex Cobb with grabbing the lead and not letting it go. And some will blame the Yanks hitters for tightening up and failing to execute when they fell behind. I don’t know which is correct, so I hope the Yanks load up on both lead-holding and come-backing for these last 27 games. Find out where the O’s and Rays are shopping.

The stillness of New York at the end of the summer.

And a passage from E.B. White’s Here is New York:

“There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something…Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion. ”

Picture by Bags. 

Yankee ace CC Sabathia had two runs in one pocket and a ray of sunshine in the other. He didn’t have the world’s greatest defensive performance behind him, but the runs and the sunshine should have been enough against the lowly Blue Jays. It wasn’t nearly. The Jays beat the Yanks 8-5, took the series, and if you watched all the games without knowing the standings, you’d be shocked to learn that the Yankees were on top and the Jays were on the bottom.

I was at the game with my family and for two innings, we lived the ideal day at the ball park. Unobstructed views for the wee ones, shade, and the Yankees kicking ass. I noted it, but I should have savored it. My kids began melting down approximately five minutes before Sabathia did and it never really got any better. We ended up leaving the stadium in storm of tears, trailing by a run in the seventh.

By the time we got home, my kids had straightened things out, but the Yankees never did get it together. I didn’t properly appreciate the Yankees 2-1 win yesterday. In the face of this series chucking loss, the 2-1 win seems like an oasis of pleasure.

Losses on TV make me want to spill a thousand words. Losses in person just make me shrug my shoulders. It’s so obviously a game of action and execution when you watch it live. It’s not the scripted drama I tend to make it when I watch on TV.

Can’t say much for this series except the Blue Jays clearly outplayed the Yankees and deserved their two wins. The Yankees will be in first place for several more days at least. It could stretch for the rest of season. Despite the evidence on the field lately, I think it will.

Photo by Rich Schultz/AP

The Yankees won a taut, low-scoring affair with a big performance by a starting pitcher, some good defense and a solid bullpen. As long as you don’t have to answer any follow up questions, that’s our story for this game, OK? The Yanks can win close ones. All is well, everything will be OK from this point on, yada, yada. This 2-1
victory over the Blue Jays was the huge sigh of relief that the team needed after Monday’s disappointment. Got it?

Phil Hughes was good for the second straight game – a Yankee-Stadium-Special his only blemish. Never mind that he was up 1-2 on the hitter, and that the hitter was someone named Adeiny Hechavarria, who may or may not have discovered the silent “V”. It was Hechavarria’s first career home run, though I wonder if he’ll be fined in Kangaroo court for smiling – I’m not sure opposing batters are allowed count Hughes and Nova homers for personal milestones.

The Yankee offense jumped out to an early lead, that’s good right? Should it matter that the pitcher the Blue Jays sent against them is so lost this year he’s walked 5.1 batters per nine innings? He walked eight Tigers in his last start. He shut the Yanks down for seven innings.

But that’s not the whole story, because for Ricky Romero to have a shut-down game this year, something else must be at work. And yeah, there it is, the Yankees had recent re-acquisition Steve Pearce batting cleanup. Russell Martin batted fifth. Russell Martin, who may not be the fifth best hitting catcher in the Yankee system, was the fifth best hitter the Yanks could send out there tonight.

The game threatened to tilt in a tricky sixth inning, but the quick reactions of Robinson Cano saved the day. De-Fense, that’s important, right? Hughes walked the first two hitters and Adam Lind tried to order another Special, but the kitchen was all out of meatballs. He skied it to the wall in the right field corner. The tying run moved to third with one out. Yunel Escobar stung one Willie-McCovey style right to second. Cano snared and fired to third to catch Rasmus dancing by himself. The double play balm soothed those nagging doubts that began to appear.

If someone does start asking follow-up questions, like “why was that game against that pathetic team so damn close?” Or  “can you imagine a team like the Yankees fielded tonight winning many future games?” you just say, “how about that Red Sox trade?” And cross your fingers.

Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty

It’s dead in town this week. August dead in New York City is a beautiful thing. Only a few days left.  Summer is almost over.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

[Pictures by Bags]

Love and Happiness Loop (Monty Alexander)

[Photo Credit: Bags]

Bartolo Colon, you’re up. Who will be next?

[Picture by Bags]

What’s the last book you bought on the street? I can’t remember myself, but I know I picked something up this spring. My cousin found a copy of Pauline Kael’s State of the Art on a brownstone stoop near his home in Brooklyn earlier this year and sent it to me. Twenty minutes after he found it a thunder storm hit. Book would have been ruined. I’m glad it’s got a good home here in the Bronx.

[Picture by Bags]

Derek Jeter jumped the first pitch of the game like a spring-loaded mouse trap. It was a fastball, of the let’s-get-ahead-in-the-count variety from Francisco Liriano, and by the time Jeter’s bat sprung through the strike zone, all that was left was a bloody stump. The ball sliced through the twilight and cleared the fence with ease. I worried that the game had just yielded it’s marquee moment, making the prospect of the ensuing nine innings rather daunting.

Derek Jeter’s resurgence has been well noted around these parts and much of our focus as been on the future. How many more hits can he get? How many more contracts? It’s been the best part of the season. Well here’s something encouraging: In Derek Jeter’s career from 1998-2009, he slugged under .400 in two consecutive months just three times (September 2003-April 2004, May-June 2006, April-May 2008). From May 2010 to June 2011, Derek Jeter has slugged under .400 for eight consecutive months. In the last eight months of play, he’s been over .400 six times.

I don’t mean to say we should expect vintage Jeter for any extended period of time, but at least we can guess that the Ceti-eel that crawled into his aural canal, wrapped itself around his cerebellum and sapped his strength for 2010 and half of 2011 has died and been expelled. Probably through the nasal cavity with a mess of blood and pus. If Jeter stops hitting for power in 2013, we’ll know it laid eggs.

About the other nine innings… I don’t want to alarm you, but Ivan Nova let up a few extra base hits. A double and a triple. A solo homer. A grand slam. That’s another thing that’s so encouraging about Jeter’s re-found power, he’s slugging over .400 without the benefit of facing Ivan Nova. Nova has allowed the most extra base hits in the league and watching him pitch several times this year, I’m not going to bother fact-checking that statement. It just reeks of truthiness.

Francisco Liriano matched up with an umpire that wouldn’t give him a millimeter, let alone an inch. I figured the Yankees would recognize this and walk around the bases. But apart from Mark Teixeira and Andruw Jones, nobody was interested in that approach. Liriano made it through six innings. Almost any other Yankee team in the last fifteen years would have knocked him out in the fourth.

The Yankees lost 7-3 and were reduced to staring at the scoreboard and hoping the Royals would eke out a run against the Rays. The Royals came through and won 1-0 in ten innings. A sigh of relief for the Yanks, I guess. Four games seems a lot bigger than three, but it’s not really.

Photo via AP/Charles Rex Arbogast