When Womack managed to reach to start that frame, and then stole second with no outs, and the Yankees 1-2-and-3 batters, Jeter/Cano/Sheffield, could not even advance him to third, I took that as a bad sign.

And, in the next inning, once Palmeiro homered, I thought to myself, even more, “They’re going to lose this game” – even though the score was 4-3 in favor of New York at that time.

And, two innings later, when Tom Gordon did his thing in the 8th to allow the O’s to tie the score at four, I was convinced further that “They’re going to lose this game.”

And, of course, in the bottom of the 10th, as soon as Roberts made contact, I said to myself “They’re going to lose this game” – and I was right.

The Yankees are now just a half-game out of 4th place. Further, even if they play lights-out ball for the rest of the season, reaching 90 wins is going to be an uphill task. And, it’s a very, very, steep hill.

I hope Part II of the meeting in Tampa goes well tomorrow.

Personally, I’ll take this as a chance to voice my displeasure of the balk rule. Yes, I know it’s been on the books for like-forever. But, I think it’s one rule that you could ditch and it would add to the game rather than take away from it. Why shouldn’t a pitcher be able to deceive a runner? Isn’t that what they do with the fake throws to 2nd and 3rd?

In any event, it was a good day to win, beat the team in front of you, and post the “W” while the Red Sox were getting beat up at Fenway. (By the way, thanks for the “tip” tonight in Fenway Christopher Trotman. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.)

But, here’s the deal: The Yankees cannot afford to let these uplifting wins in the last two games fool them. They are not turning a corner now, etc. Why? Because they did not turn it around after their 10-game winning streak, like we thought it was turning at that time. Nor did they turn it around after their 5-game winning streak, like we thought at that time. And, they did not turn it around after their 6-game winning streak, etc.

Therefore, two wins in a row, while nice, is just like treating a broken leg with an aspirin. It’s not going to properly heal and will remain a serious matter of trouble.

The Yankees still need to address the issues with why this team is where it is at this junction of the season.

Tomorrow is a big day for the Yankees. The “eight highest officials” in Yankeeland will meet in Tampa for a meeting at 3:30 p.m. to discuss the team. I hope they’re going to look past the last two nights and make the right calls on what’s needed – and then go do it.

I know that Big Stein said the other day that it’s all in Torre’s “lap” now – but, that’s not right. It’s in the lap of the one and only true Yankees “Boss” – the mack daddy of turtlenecks, G.M.S. the 3rd. Brace for impact.

Despite the last ugly loss being one of those where you call it one of the most painful ones of the year, pushing aside all the previous stinging losses, along comes another loss to make the last one now seem like the second to most painful one………

But, that nice comeback in the final frame changes everything – for one night, at least. It sure makes facing the Mets fans at work a tad easier tomorrow AM. (Of course, the Red Sox fans will still be loaded for bear and firing at will.)

Best way to describe this feeling on the win tonight: It’s like when you were back in school, and you totally screwed up and did not prepare for something big due that day, and you’re sweating bullets over the pain that’s coming your way when you arrive………and, just then, when you get to class you discover that the teacher called in sick and you have new life for another day.

I’m sure there are more than a few in the Yankees organization who now feel like they’ve been granted another day with the game outcome this evening. If the 4-3 score had held up, given the way the Yankees played in the first eight frames tonight, it would have been a much different morning on Monday for some, no question.

Here’s the big question for me on this game: When was the last time that the Yankees used three pinch hitters in a game during the month of June where all of them came into the game before the first out of the seventh inning? Do you think that Torre was feeling some pressure to win this game?

To the current state of the Yankees, well, it’s obviously very bad right now. Most recently, you have a terrible 12-game road trip. It’s the one from hell. Then, you come back and win six in a row. However, you follow that by losing 3 of 4 against what might be the worst team in baseball – and you probably should have lost all four – and then you let the Mets come in to your house and play flat for the first two games of a three game set.

But, this is nothing new. We’ve been down this road a few times this year – where the Yankees string together some wins, and it’s looking good, and then they’re garbage, playing the lowest of low brand of baseball. It’s a cycle that they have not been able to stop.

Yet, by some miracle, the Yankees are not 10-something games out of first – despite these long stretches of poor play. And, even though many Yankees fans are starting to become apathetic about the team’s chances this season, there is still a chance that they can get back into this thing……if they start playing better and are able to maintain that level of play for the remainder of the season.

But, how to they do that? If you ask me, they need someone to come in, take control, and rally the team. Since the salaries on this roster do not exactly permit many changes on the players-side, it has to be a change in field management.

Is this fair to Torre? No. It’s not his fault that Brown and Wright were busts and the best answer to that is Henn. It’s not his fault that the team thought Bubba Crosby could play second-string CF in the majors and when that failed they were forced to play guys in the OF who have no business being there. It’s not his fault that he has to carry players on the roster to just cover for a one-dimensional players like Womack and Giambi and that prevents him from carrying other players that might help him win games. And, there’s more – too much to keep listing.

Nonetheless, in baseball, since you cannot fire the players, you fire the manager. It’s what they do. Yes, it’s no lock that a change will work. But, you can either try – and attempt to turn this around and no longer be the $200 million laughingstock of baseball. Or, you can stand pat, and keep doing what you’ve been doing all year to date – which is nothing – and let this thing die a long, slow, painful death on the vine.

And, if you choose the latter, just watch – lots of Yankees fans out there will pull up their interest stakes and do something else with what is a good portion of their summer disposable leisure time. Is that a good thing? No, it’s bad for the team. Absence makes the heart forget.

Let Yankees fans go from July to March without anything to keep their interest in the team and you’ll see that many of them will not be interested in the team again until they see that it’s a legit winner. Front-runners be they? Sure. But, that’s the way it works. Just check Yankees attendance, from 1987 through 1991, and then compare that to 1999-2004.

Think it over Big Stein. What, right now, is the best move for your business? Then again, what do I know? Maybe I have this all wrong? After all, I thought the Yankees were going to have a very good season this year.

And, guess what……..Sean Henn gets the start tomorrow!

Oh, and, by the way, the Red Sox are now in 1st place.

Ever see the movie Blade – Trinity? There’s a scene where the character Hannibal King runs into a room with a dog and he says something – then he sees two more dogs and says something else. That’s kind of my reaction to tonight. I said the “something” when the last out of the game was made tonight. And, when I saw the finals for the Sox and O’s on ESPN.com afterwards, I said the “something else.”

The “something” is a four-letter word followed by the word “me.”
The “something else” is that same four-letter word, followed by the words “me sideways.” I think you can figure it out.

Worse, many of those 14 losses came from teams like the Devil Rays, Royals, and Brewers. Guess what? Despite the recent series sweeps of the Pirates and Cubs, the Yankees have been a bad baseball club this month. Even more depressing, New York was a bad team in April (10-14) as well. So, this season to date looks like this:

April: 10-14
May: 17-10
June: 10-11

And, most of the credit for May should probably go to the bad play of the Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners, more so than towards the positive credit of the Yankees. Obviously, whatever the Yankees are doing this season, it’s not working.

Think about it. The highlight of this game was clearly Jason Giambi finally bunting for a hit against the shift (in the 9th) after what seems like years of everyone saying he should do it. This is what it has come down to – looking for scraps on the floor to find something that could be used for good. There’s an expression to describe this act. It’s called garbage picking. As Yankee fans, this is what we have been reduced to this year. Garbage picking for scraps that are signs of hope, etc.

Lastly, am I the only one who noticed that Torre’s phone in his office was ringing during the post-game interview on YES? Any guesses on who was calling?

You know, part of me wants to say that Pavano actually pitched a good game up until that 1-2 pitch to Green in the 7th. But, the reality of today is that Carl allowed 2 homers this afternoon to guys who really should be in Triple-A (and that cost him and the Yankees the game). I’m beginning to come over to the side that Pavano is basically a number four type starter and he’s going to run hot and cold (and last year was a fluke year for him in that he was more hot than cold).

More importantly, how soon until Sturtze’s arm falls off? Torre is a killer to pen men, no question. How Rivera has survived all these years is a miracle. Actually, if Mo had remained a set-up man in 1997, maybe he would have been cooked by 1998?

One week ago, I wrote that the Yankees magic numer was five. By this, I meant “If they lose more than 5 games over the rest of this month, it will be bad news.”

Well, it’s now down to three with seven games to go. They better win tomorrow.

To me, the beauty of this game is that the Red Sox are playing a game in Cleveland, and the O’s are in Toronto, and at some point they both look up at the out-of-town scoreboard and see the Yankees are losing, getting pounded 10-2, to the Devil Rays and the game is half over in New York.

And, then, on SportsCenter tonight, or when they read the morning paper tomorrow, those same Sox and O’s are going to see that the Yankees won this game, 20-11.

Message, sent.

By the way, I actually did feel sorry for Travis Harper in the 9th. Shame on Lou to let him take that pounding. Bring in a fielder to pitch if you want to toss the game at that point. It was obvious that Harper had nothing. Why let him get undressed like that?

Tune in tomorow for the news on Randy Johnson.

Two quick questions:

1. Can somebody tell Casey Fossum that Cosmo Kramer wants his hair back?
2. Why, oh why, is Tony Womack batting second in the Yankees line-up night-after-night?

Speaking of line-ups, batting Posada and Giambi, the kings of swing-when-you-should-take and take-when-you-should-swing, back-to-back in the line-up kills a rally quicker than it takes to go from “A” to “B” in the alphabet.

Lastly, something came to me in the game tonight that I hope teams don’t see. I saw it when Carl Crawford had that huge lead off first in the top of the sixth. When teams with speed play the Yankees, and Giambi plays first, base runners should take an uber-monster lead off first base – so huge that it screams for the pitcher to throw to first. And, when the pitcher does throw to Giambi, the runner should take off for second – because Giambi will never be able to make the throw to second in a fashion to get the runner. It’s a gimmie, every time. Just watch and see if someone picks up on it. For all we know, maybe that’s what Crawford was trying to do tonight?

What this win today does, for me, is that it gives Sean Henn a lot less pressure tomorrow. This is not like it was seven weeks ago. The team has just won six in a row, and, in the start following Henn, the Yankees have the Big Unit ready to go.

It will be interesting to see how Henn handles this great opportunity.