On a gorgeous early autumn day in New York the Yankees beat the Rays, 5-3. It was another close one–the Rays had the tying runs on base in the ninth before Rafael Soriano got the final out–but no complaints here. Bitching at this point of the season when your team wins is unseemly.

The story of the day was Ivan Nova who was terrific. He gave the Yanks the kind of performance they’ve needed from CC Sabathia. Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez hit back-to-back home runs against James Shields early, Derek Jeter added an RBI single later on, and Alex Rodriguez drove home an insurance run with an RBI base hit in the eighth.

Yes, today was good in Yankeeland.

Head on over to the ol’ Lo Hud for more.

[Photo Credit: Alex Trautwig/Getty Images]

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.

In three games against the Red Sox, the Yankees went 2-34 with runners in scoring position. They won two of those games which gives you an idea of just how bad the Sox are. That they didn’t sweep them is proof how how unstable the Yanks are.

Oh yeah, both hits with runners in scoring position came from Derek Jeter. His bloop double in the seventh gave the Yanks the slimmest of cushions and Phil Hughes did the rest, with some help from Boone Logan, David Robertson, and Rafael Soriano. Hughes was outstanding, never mind Boston’s anemic line up. Like David Phelps last night, Hughes delivered.

The Yanks win, 2-0 and remain tied for first with the Orioles.

Exhale.

[Photo Credit: Joel Zimmer]

It ain’t easy. The Yankees held a 5-3 lead going to the bottom of the ninth tonight. Rafael Soriano was on the mound. Minutes earlier, Nate McClouth pegged a line drive off the right field fence down in Baltimore to give the Orioles a 3-2 win over the Rays. Because, as we all know by now, the Orioles don’t lose one-run games.

Cody Ross, Bobby Valentine and coach Jerry Royster had all been thrown out of the game in the bottom of the eighth when Soriano’s 3-2 slider was called strike three. The pitch was low though it may have crossed the plate in the strike zone. It was enough to make Ross, and Valentine go batshit crazy.

The biggest concern for Yankee fans, however, was that Derek Jeter left the game with an apparent ankle injury after hitting into a double play to end the top of the eighth. Early word has it as a bone bruise in his left ankle with Girardi saying Jeter will try to play tomorrow (he’ll have to be unable to walk to stay out of the game).

So Soriano gives up a solo home run to Jared Saltalamacchia. He gets the next two outs and then botches a ground ball putting the tying run on base. Then Jacoby Ellsbury hits another one right at Soriano. He fielded it this time, underhanded the ball softly to first, and the Yankees had the game, 5-4.

Curtis Granderson hit two long home runs, Robinson Cano had a two-run shot over the Monster, Nick Swisher had a couple of hits, and David Phelps pitched a fine game. Best start of his career. The first part of the game sailed by, the last half was plodding, a typical, Yankee-Red Sox affair.

We exhale for now.

[Photo Credit: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images; Elise Amendola/AP ]

Who knows if this is rock bottom or not but if Saturday night was a punch to the stomach this one here’s a kick to the balls.

The Yankees put the first two men on base, scored one, then left the bases loaded against Jon Lester in the first inning. They went 1-637 with runners in scoring position tonight and got what they deserved against an inept Red Sox team when they couldn’t score more than three runs and the Sox won it on a base hit in the 9th inning.

I’d recap the game but most of you saw it and reliving it would just angry up the blood. Going to be hard enough to fall asleep as it is.

Sox 4, Yanks 3; O’s 9, Rays 2.

We’re tied again.

The Yankees have not won two games in a row since August 14-15th. Believe it.

The Yanks staked Freddy Garcia to a 5-0 lead but he couldn’t get out of the fourth inning. Joba Chamberlain relieved Garcia after the veteran allowed three runs. Then Curtis Granderson hit a pinch hit home run to give the Yanks some breathing room. Next time up, he blooped a single to left field, driving home two more. And to cap it off he hit a two run double later in the game. Three-for-three, five RBI, now, that’s the way to bust out of a slump. Alex Rodriguez continued to look good as does Russell Martin. Robbie Cano and Derek Jeter had terrific games.

And it helped make this one a laugher as the Yanks cruised, 13-3.

It precisely the way to respond to last night’s loss. Mark Teixeira is going to have an MRI tomorrow, will miss the series this week in Boston, and I’m guessing much more. Still, the news today was good–Joba Chamberlian, Boone Logan and Corey Wade put in quality work and the offense did the rest.

Onward and upward.

[Pictures by Bags]

The Yanks have two reliable starters–C.C. Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda. Neither have been terrific of late and right when the team needs them the most. This especially true of Sabathia who has been their Little Big Man. Tonight, a win would put the Yankees two games ahead of the Orioles with a chance to make it three tomorrow. But Sabathia did not pitch like an ace, giving up five runs in 6.1 innings. The Orioles hit three home runs against him.

Meanwhile, the Yanks scored a run in the first and a run in the second against Joe Saunders but then he tantalized them with an effective combination of change-ups and breaking pitches (his fastball topped out at 87-88 mph), retiring ten in a row at one point. Yankee hitters just missed hitting home runs and they struck out in key situations. Example: they had men on first and second with one out in the sixth when Russell Martin whiffed and Curtis Granderson, you guessed it, struck out too.

Nick Swisher is 0-for his last-23, 2-38.

Mark Teixeira was called out on a close pitch against Pedro Strop with one out in the eighth. It was a full count and the damn pitch looked outside. I don’t know about you but I was screaming from my couch at home. Ken Singleton, ever the diplomat, said on the YES broadcast that it was too close to take.

Alex Rodriguez crushed the first pitch he saw from Strop, a fastball, over the center field fence for a homer and when a 1-1 breaking ball to Robinson Cano looked outside Rodriguez started yelling from the dugout at the ump. Cano walked and Russell Martin got ahead, 3-1, fouled off a fastball right over the plate, just a little too high to do anything with, and then lined a base hit, off another high fastball, to right center.

That put runners at first and third and ended Strop’s night. Brian Matusz relieved him and faced Curtis-5-for-his-last-42-Granderson. Eduardo Nunez pinch running for Martin. A ball, a called strike, a ball, then a fastball over the plate and Grandy got under it: a harmless pop up to the catcher.

Fail.

In the ninth, Ichiro singles to left to open the inning against Jim Johnson. Eric Chavez singles to left on the first pitch he saw.

Hey, Now.

Jeter and nerves a plenty round my way. Does he bunt? The Orioles play the infield in. He bunts…and gets a base hit.

Swisher. Bases loaded, nobody out. Soft ground ball to short, too slow for a double play. Run scores, 5-4. The relay throw to first bounced and Mark Reynolds made a nice play to field it and stay on the bag. They just get Swisher.

Ball one in the dirt to Teixeira. Fastball low, 2-0. Change up, up in the zone, outer part of the plate and good for a called strike. Fastball, same spot, called strike two. Curve ball, fouled off, barely. And then, a sinker. Teixeira hits a soft grounder to second, they go to second for the first out. Teixeira hobbling down the line dives head first into the bag and beats the play. Easily.

And Jerry Meals calls him out.

Orioles 5,  Yankees 4.

During this string of poor play, this has to count as one of the most dispiriting losses. It went from disappointing to infuriating.

The ump may have cost them a chance to win at the end but the majority of this one rests on Sabathia’s shoulders. There’s no way to soften it, unless he’s pitching hurt, which is a possibility, who knows? Regardless, he’s supposed to be The Stopper, The Ace, and right now, he’s a Grade A Dud.

As a side note, Sabathia hit Nick Markakis in the thumb with a pitch. Markakis left the game and was later seen in the dugout with his hand wrapped. Buck Showalter came over and gave him a hug. He’s a likable player and a damn good one too. But Markakis is out six weeks, and man, you hate to see that.

There was pain to go around tonight, even for the winners.

[Photo Credit: Brechtbug]

The Orioles had runners on second and third with just one out in the bottom of the first inning tonight and it was easy to imagine the score being 2-0 in no time. But then Robinson Cano made a beautiful, sprinting catch in center field–followed by a strong, one-hop throw to the plate just in case–to save Phil Hughes’ ass. Matt Wieters got ahead 3-0 and here-we-go-again is what I was thinking But he swung at the next pitch and lined out to center and what do you know, today is a new day.

Russell Martin put the Yanks on the board in the fourth with a three-run homer to left and Steve Pearce nailed a two-run shot before the inning was over. Then Alex Rodriguez hit a long home run in the fifth (his 300th as a Yankee) which gave the vistors a 7-0 lead.

The O’s chipped away of course. Adam Jones hit a three-run homer against Hughes in the sixth, Robert Andino hit a solo shot against Cody Eppley in the seventh, and Manny Machado hit a line drive dinger against Rafael Soriano in the ninth.

By that time, however, it was too little too late. The Yanks scored an insurance run in the top of the inning and about the only ball hit to left that didn’t find it’s way into the seats came when Nate McClouth robbed Nick Swisher of a two-run homer in the ninth. Swisher had been 0-17 on this road trip and he could only smile at his dumb luck.

Fortunately, for the Yankees, it didn’t matter. Maybe he’ll save a couple of hits or three for tomorrow.

Yanks back in sole possession of first for now.

A good, much-needed win. Oh, and it should also be noted that David Robertson faced two batters in the eighth and retired them both. Jones took him deep last night but went down on three pitches this time: an overhand curve that buckled his knees for a called strike, and then two sweeping curves, breaking low and away, swung on and missed. Wieters hit a long line drive on the first pitch he saw but it fell harmlessly into Curtis Granderson’s glove for the third out.

Final Score: Yanks 8, O’s 5.

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.

Matt Moore pitched like Sandy Koufax to start the game tonight, struck out six of the first nine batters he faced. But in the fourth, Alex Rodriguez hit a hard RBI double and Russell Martin followed with a two run double of his own. Funny moment when Rodriguez was batting. A pitch landed in the dirt and Rodriguez waved his arm for Jeter to run to third. It was a gut move and the wrong one. The ball didn’t roll far enough away. Immediately, Rodriguez caught himself and held up his hand. Jeter cracked up, so did Rodriguez and then he cracked the double.

But Hiroki Kuroda couldn’t hold the lead as the Rays tied it 3-3, and then 4-4 after Martin’s solo homer put the Yanks ahead.

The Yanks took the lead for good in the seventh on a throwing error by the second baseman Elliot Johnson. A sacrifice bunt by Jayson Nix put runners at second and third with one out. Infield in, Jeter, who had three hits so far, hit a tapper to second and Johnson threw it away. Both runners scored.

Boone Logan got two outs in the bottom of the inning while Jeter made a nice over-the-shoulder catch to end the inning (came up limping some, too). Then David Robertson and Rafael Soriano shut the damn door.

Final Score: Yanks 6, Rays 4.

Yeah, and the Orioles lost.

It wasn’t easy but it was a win. And for one night we can exhale.

[Photo Credit: Estera Lazowska]

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.

It’s wasn’t a blow out, the Yankees did not embarrass themselves, but they still found themselves on the losing end of another ballgame at the Trop. The Rays had a few RBI bloops and bleeders that proved to be the difference as they beat the Yankees, 4-3. Alex Rodriguez managed a soft single but didn’t look strong in his first game back, Ichiro Suzuki continues to strikeout and has almost become an automatic out.

Robinson Cano, well let’s just say his lack of pep on certain plays–like the go-ahead single in the eighth–doesn’t not reflect well on him (though on second thought, there is an explanation…)

The Yanks hit the ball hard against James Shields but most of those hard hits were right at defenders. Shields deserves credit too, almost everything he threw was off the plate and he pitched deep into the game. It was a tough-minded performance.

Painful loss, but then again, every loss is painful at this time of year. The Orioles made it hurt but good as they won and now trail the Yanks by just one game.

Tomorrow, the Bombers turn their eyes to Fab Five Freddy Garcia.

Hang tight, they haven’t choked anything away yet, and strap in: this is going to be a wild month.

[Photo Credit: Tomorrow Started; Chris O’Meara/AP]

Forget digestion, forget relaxation, forget peanuts, crackerjack and all that “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” good timey horseshit. The Yankees gave their fans all the agita we could handle and then some Sunday afternoon. It began with Phil Hughes, who couldn’t hold a humble 3-1 lead and was rounded off by no hitting, a lousy bullpen, and poor managing.

Hughes coughed up the lead in the sixth when Mark Reynolds–yeah, Tom Brunansky’s left ass cheek–hit his second home run of the day. The first one was a bomb. Second one was no cheapie either.

Jeter, Swisher, Cano, nobody hit on this homestand. Ibanez and Andruw Jones are automatic outs these days. Cano, in particular, looks like he takes at bats off. He shanked a throw in the eighth inning that underscores his lack of concentration.

This was an exasperating loss for the Yanks whose lead over the Orioles is down to two. They haven’t shit the bed yet, there is a long way to go, and plenty of time to stop playing like they were sponsored by Chico’s Bail Bonds, but right now…they stink.

Final Score: Orioles 8, Yanks 3.

[Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images]

About the best thing that can be said for the Yankees through the first six innings today is that they weren’t trailing by more than they were. Curtis Granderson left the game with an injured leg and was on his way to the hospital for an MRI with the score 3-1, the lone Yankee run coming on a solo homer by Robinson Cano.

Cano just missed another homer too in the sixth inning, too.

The Wife and I were in the car, driving across Sixth Avenue on Eighth Street, listening to John and Suzyn on the radio. Sterling gave it the ol “It is high, it is far…” only to report that the ball was caught. It took everything in me a) not to crash the car into a pedestrian or b) scream at the top of my lungs and frighten my Bride. If I’d been alone who knows? Instead, I calmly clicked the radio off and said, “That man is irresponsible.”

Cano was fantastic in the field, too, turning a wonderful double play and making a tough over-the-shoulder catch.

The reason the Yanks were fortunate is because David Phelps walked the world. But the O’s couldn’t take advantage. Then, in the seventh, the Yanks had an unlikely rally. With one out, Steve Pearce singled for his first hit as a Yankee. Russell Martin flew out and then Jason Nix fell behind 0-2. We were still in the car, now on the West Side Highway driving home, and with each ensuing pitch I called the strike out that never came. Instead, Nix walked. That brought up Eduardo Nunez–remember him?

Don’t hack at the first pitch, don’t hack at the first pitch.

So he hacked at the first pitch, a fastball and drove home Pearce. Then, a new pitcher, and Ichiro waled. Bases loaded for Jeter. We were home now but stayed in the car knowing we couldn’t miss what came next. So it’s 0-2 with the quickness but the Captain worked the count full and walked. Game tied. Fist bump with The Wife.

By the time we got upstairs and turned on the TV they were replaying SS J.J. Hardy’s error which allowed the go-ahead run to score. Go figure that, especially since Hardy is a good fielder. David Robertson pitched a clean eighth and Rafael Soriano mowed ’em down in the ninth and the Yanks won, 4-3.

Feels about as big a win as they’ve had all year.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. We will take it.

Out boys got their asses handed to them by the surging Orioles tonight at the Stadium. Mark Reynolds, the reincarnation of Ron Kittle’s nutsack, hit a two-run home run against Hiroki Kuroda, made two beautiful plays in the field, and hit another dinger against Derek Lowe.

It was more than enough.

Yanks had a couple of chances to score and didn’t do chiggiddy boom bam with them (Nick Swisher struck out four times). A solo homer by Curtis Granderson in the ninth is all that kept them from being shut out. The Yanks are a flat team since they played the Rangers a few weeks back and are paying the price for their ineptitude. The O’s now trail the Yanks by two.

Final Score: O’s 6, Yanks 1.

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

The bullpen was the story on Sunday. Rafael Soriano was hit in the hand by a line drive in the ninth inning but seems to be okay.

Yanks okay too as they beat the Indians, 4-2. Mike Axisa has the happy recap over at River Ave. Blues.

Hard Luck Hiroki Kuroda hit the first batter he faced last night, walked a guy and gave up a three-run homer. That was all the runs the Indians would score and wouldn’t you know it, it was enough to beat the Yanks–3-1 was the final.

It’s a game that is too frustrating to recall in detail. It’s Sunday morning now and thinking back on it too much would just needlessly angry up the blood. The Yanks had their chances.

Here’s the game in a nutshell: Top of the sixth, Jeter singles, Swisher walks, Cano singles. Bases loaded, nobody out. Teixeira hits one to dead center, deep part of the park. Ball reaches the warning track. Jeter scores, Swisher and Cano tag. Okay, nice enough. Then Chavez hits a bullet line drive but it’s right at the third baseman. Bad luck. Martin hits a shot to deep right field, but again, to the warning track. Bases loaded, nobody out, next three guys hit the ball well. One run.

Moving on.

[Photo Credit: Kurt Nimmo]

I was at Citifield last night. Yes, even after Fat Guy did his Fruit Loops impression.

Spent the entire game like a dildo, checking Twitter on my phone as this improbable Red Sox-Dodgers trade unfolded. And checking Gameday to see how the Yanks were doing. Only looked up to see a pitch being thrown so that a foul ball didn’t come my way and hit me in the noggin.

Yanks won, as you all know. Derek Jeter got hit in the helmet and was pissed off. C.C. Sabathia pitched well, Nick Swisher’s two-run homer was the difference and Rafael Soriano had a Johnny Sweatgland How-Do-You-Spell-Relief? 9th inning, putting the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out. He got out of it, no runs allowed, the Yanks won, the Rays lost, and the Red Sox are about to get ride of close to $300 million headaches.

Otherwise, it was a dull night. Oh, yeah, Mets lost.