This one was easy to stay up for – and worth it. The Big Unit shoots down King Felix. For those keeping track, this is two gems in a row for Randy Johnson after his meeting with Doc K. And, with A-Rod making great plays, and liners being caught, I really thought we might see a no-no tonight. In any event, the “W” is the important thing.

And, to be fair, Felix Hernandez looked great tonight. He might be the next Pedro Martinez – or he could be the next Dwight Gooden? Or, he may be the next Roger Clemens – or he could be the next Steve Avery? There’s no way to call it – but, I know every team in the majors right now would love to have him and take their chances.

While I have no way to prove this, I called the Sheffield homer. On the pitch before it, Hernandez came up and in to Gary and Sheff shot him that look. I said to myself – here comes the bomb now, and it did.

I wonder if anyone else thought what I was thinking when that fan ran on the field. Did Kay and Justice on YES not speculate that those were the cremated remains of a person – just because they didn’t want to go there? (I’m not saying that I know they were ashes – I’m just guessing at this moment.)

It’s great to hear that El Brujo is joining the team tomorrow. He could be a sleeper addition to the post-season roster.

Lastly, tough night for Tino, huh? A whiff, two DPs and an “E” on a pop-up. Not exactly clip material for his Yankeeography.

So, there will be no waking up to happy endings today. Actually, I peeked last night – so, I ended up getting the bad news earlier than usual. One of my dogs had to go at 2:40 am EST. So, when I got up to let her out, I put on ESPN News and saw the final score on the scroll.

If getting up in the middle of the night to let the dog out isn’t enough to tick you, seeing a Yankees loss, knowing that it drops them another game out of first, on top of that chore sure does the trick. Well, at least New York still leads in the Wildcard this morning.

To me, this game came down to two players: Ichiro and Bernie Williams.

Ichiro got the big 2-out three-run homer in the 2nd to make it 5-0. If Chacón is able to make a pitch there and get him out, it’s a whole different ballgame from that point.

Also, Bernie came up in the 1st with the bases loaded and one out and popped up – failing to drive in at least one run. Then, in the 3rd, with runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs, Bernie whiffed and did not help that situation at all. On the night, Williams had 6 LOB. You need the 5th batter in your line-up to do better in those situations.

If you think about it, Sheffield was really missed tonight. With him in there, Bernie’s not batting 5th.

Anyway, even without Sheff, just give Bernie a single in the 1st to drive in two and take out the Ichiro homerun and then it’s a 5-5 game going into the bottom of the 5th – even with all of Chacón’s command issues.

Unit better be golden tonight.

And, Bellhorn needs a haircut.

Boston had just about already won. The Yankees were losing 4-2 and their game was heading into the bottom of the 5th. It was about midnight. So, I went to bed. And, this morning, I woke up to a 7-4 Yankees win.

Now, that’s a way to start your morning right.

That shot in the elbow is doing wonders for Giambi, huh? And, I credit Torre for saving this game, yanking Princess & The Pea Mussina as quick as he did – rather than let the game get out of hand. And, of course, Lucky Charm Small to the rescue.

Also nice to see Matt Lawton HR on the day that Katrina ripped the roof off his house. It shows that he’s able to focus. That’s good to have in a player.

Nice to see Giambi come out of his month-long funk today in a big way. And, don’t look now, but, in each of his last 5 starts, Al Leiter has allowed 3 ER or less, going between 5 and 7 IP each time.

And, yes, I know that Love Child was doing his thing in the 9th – but, it was sofa king we todd ed that Gordon was getting loose at the end of this game.

So, now, the Yankees become the Kings of Wishful Thinking. Four at Safeco and three in the other Beane-town. It would be nice to see a five and two record out of this trip.

The highlights of this road-run should be Wednesday night, Unit vs. Sidd-x Finch-dez, and then the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Chacón vs. Zito (on ESPN at night).

Yankees Baseball.

Attagirl Aura!
Attagirl Mystique!

Folks, this is why you never leave a game early.

You never expect something like this to happen, but, when it does, and you saw it, the feeling is indescribable.

So, since I saw it, albeit on TV, I’m speechless and have nothing to say.

Therefore, for now, I’m just gonna keep grinning.

Memo to Unit: For the remainder of this season, four days before each start, please spend 30 minutes talking to Joe Kerrigan.

Twelve days ago, I suggested that Bernie has to stay in the line-up until he stops hitting. I’m glad that he was playing tonight. Could he be the go-to guy? If he does, it’s going to help him in terms of his next contract.

OK, the-uh-uh Yankees win. So, why were they playing Liza at the Stadium tonight, at the end of the game, and not Frank? What’s up with that?

10:49 am EST: Today’s prediction is that Sheffield is going to have a big day at the plate, and that the only Blue Jay to give Chacón much trouble will be Hillenbrand. And, the Yankees win.

Then again, I’m Oh’fer two in my last two day-game predictions. So, what do I know?

Bummer. The Yankees were so close to going 15 games over .500 for the first time this year. Now, they will have to win two in a row to get there. I’m wondering if it will ever happen.

This is the second time in his last five starts where Mussina was humming along and then imploded at just about the half-way mark of the game.

Well, Moose did get to keep the ball from tonight when he notched the out that marked his 3,000th career inning. I guess that’s the important thing for him – keeping track of his personal milestones.

Many say there’s a reason why Mussina has never won 20 games in a season. And, they say that he’s never been a true ace. And, they say that he’s not Cooperstown material. And, games like this one just add another log to their fire.

Hopefully tomorrow’s game will be better. I’m calling it The Battle of the Vowels – Chacon v Chacin. Let us all hope that “O” is the winner.

I actually stopped watching the game tonight as soon as it was 9-zip. The other day, I had picked up The Punisher on DVD at Target for ten bucks. So, I thought this was a good time to watch that instead of the game. The star is Thomas Jane – who played Mantle in 61*. It was pretty cornball – but it had enough suspense at times, and humor at others, mixed in with the requisite amount of guns/cars/explosions that you would expect from this type of flick to keep your attention.

There was even a Yankees reference in one line when The Punisher says:

“Upset? I used to get upset when I got a flat tire. I used to get upset when a plane was delayed. And, I used to get upset when the Yankees won the series. So, if that’s upset, how do I feel now? If you know the word, tell me, because I don’t.”

Maybe the word is “That-feeling-when-Mussina-spits-the-bit“?

If you missed this game, click here to experience what it was like watching it.

A great effort from Leiter. Yankees down by two in the 6th – get one there to cut the lead and another in the 7th to tie. They fall behind again in the 8th by one and come back in the bottom of that frame with one more to tie again (on a big Bernie hit). They allow another in the 9th to fall one back again – and then score two in the bottom of the 9th to win – the first run on a Godzilla HR to tie and then with the GWRBI coming with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the batter (who just happened to be Felix Escalona!).

I did not see the post-game on YES – so, I have no idea if this was confirmed, but, on the replay of the Matsui HR in the 9th to tie the game, when they showed the Yankees dugout, I’m pretty sure that Jeter said to A-Rod “I told you.”

How cool is that?

I’ve said it once, and I said it a second time, and I’ll keep beating the horse for a while more…..it’s great to see someone, like Wright, who goes about his work with some passion.

Tonight was important – and this date is now important as well. Thanks to the outcome of tonight’s game, the Yankees now control their own post-season eligibility destiny.

New York is now tied for first in the AL Wildcard standings (with the A’s and Indians) and 2.5 games ahead of the Twins. There are 39 games left to the season.

In a nutshell, all the Yankees have to do is play better baseball over those final 39 games than the A’s, Indians, and Twins – and they will be in the post-season. Will it be easy? No – not at all. But, now, the Yankees, assuming they win, and very often, only have to worry about what they do – and not what the other teams are doing. And, that’s good.

Having control over yourself and your fate is a very basic, yet extremely important, human need. That’s no longer an issue for this Yankees team. The control now is theirs – and it’s up to them to keep it.

OK, first the good news:

A). The bullpen should now be well rested for the four game set against the Blue Jays.

B). Oakland lost.

Now, on to the bigger tickets from today………

This was a bizarre game for Randy Johnson. He allows only 4 total hits in 7 of the 8 innings that he threw – and then in the one big inning, the 4th, he allows 6 hits, including 4 homers, for six runs. And, the dingers allowed were interesting – the first on a low pitch, the second on a high pitch, the third on a low pitch and the last one on a pitch high and wide and probably out of the strike zone.

Even Johnson was confused – after the game he offered up quotes like “I have no idea” and “I don’t have an explanation” and “I can’t put a finger on it” when asked about that big fourth inning for Chicago.

After losing seven in a row, maybe it was just the White Sox day this afternoon? Look at Contreras. Here’s a guy, when he was with the Yankees, despite being built like King Kong and having electric stuff, would choke and soil himself every time he pitched against the Boston Red Sox and things got tight in a game. Yet, today, against the Yankees, he was able to get tough every time he was in a jam – and there were a few spots in this game where he could have lost it, as he allowed 11 hits in 8 innings pitched. Go figure.

Yes, this was a tough one because the Yankees now lose a game in the standings to the Red Sox (who won). But, I truly believe this was one of those games that was not meant to be a win.

Think about it. Say Johnson only allowed two runs in the 4th – instead of six. That wouldn’t matter because the Yankees only scored two runs today. Or, say the Yankees picked up that run in the top of the 4th that they should have plated. And, give them another run here and another one there. Then, New York would have scored five runs today. But, then that would not matter because Johnson allowed six runs.

When you don’t score much, and allow the other team to score a lot, it’s just not your day. Best thing the Yankees can do is just try and shake it off and get ready for the next game.

This is why it would not bother me at all to face the White Sox in the post-season. The Yankees can play with them any day.

OK, I was totally wrong about Shawn Chacón last month. In fact, if he keeps doing what he’s been doing, he might just be the one to lead the Yankees into the post-season. I just hope the Yankees didn’t let him run up his pitch count too much today.

Lastly, it was interesting to see the other side of El Duque show up today. I’ll always like the guy for what he did for the Yankees in the past – but, the boy can fly off at times – no question.

Nobody likes to hear it, because it’s dull, but the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same – pitching. – Earl Weaver

Although, I confess, given the way the Yankees bullpen has been performing lately, just for a change of pace, with the hope that it brought some luck, once Mussina was out of the game, and the Yankees fate tonight was left to the pen, I switched from WOR to WGN (in the bottom of the 8th).

Gosh, those guys on WGN are huge homers and incredible bores. But, I had to take one for the team tonight.

Just finding a way to get it done…….

What the Sam Hill is going on here?

The only thing that I can figure tonight is that this is The Curse of Hurricane Frances at work.

During the series in New York which followed Hurricane Frances last year, from September 6th through the 9th, the Yankees came out looking like bad guys (not having a heart for the D-Rays “situation”) to many in the world – even though it was not warranted.

That was the last time that Tampa Bay and the Yankees faced each other last season. And, now, this season, Tampa Bay has defeated New York in nine of the thirteen games that they have played so far this year – including these stunning losses the past two nights.

Yes, that is correct – the Yankees have played four series so far this year against the Devil Rays and they have not won a single one of those sets – nada, zip, zero, zilch.

And, Team Torre still has to face Piniella’s Posse six more times this season. New York would need to win all six of those games to finish one game over .500 for the season against Tampa Bay.

The 2005 New York Yankees, looking back, looking forward, …. and out-played by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

If the Yankees do not make the post-season this year, their poor play against Tampa Bay this season will be a huge factor behind that event.

Some may elect to look at this game today and say “Mo blew it.” However, that does not work for me. There are two reasons, in my mind, why this game was lost. They are:

1. Torre’s blunder in the 11th. The game is on the line and you choose to go with Embree and Proctor? Yes, I know that Gordon and Rivera were used. And, yes, I know that Sturtze has been used a lot lately. But, why not Aaron Small the minute that Mo was done? Embree and Proctor are just lucky to be on a big league roster now – based on their performance this season. No way should they be used in a big, game on the line, spot. While this is not “Jeff Weaver in the 2003 World Series” big, it’s a large mistake by Torre.

2. Horrid execution by some key members of the Yankees offense. Tonight, in the 2nd inning, the Yankees had the bases loaded with no outs and two-three-four in the line-up due up. A grounder, whiff, and another grounder later, there were three outs and no one scored. In the 5th inning, New York had a runner on second with one out and could not get him home. Worse, in the 6th inning, the Yankees had a runner on second with no one out and the next three batters were retired without a whimper. If New York had plated just one of these four runners in prime scoring position then the Mo homer in the 9th means nothing.

When you play bad baseball, and your manager pulls a rock, it’s very hard to win. I wonder if Big Stein was watching this one too?

TCOB Baby.

Jaret Wright looked just as I expected tonight. I still see that guy who cares. That counts in my book. (And, he’s not afraid to pitch inside too.) Now, if only he could get rid of that chaw…….

On the bad side, Giambi is now 1 for his last 21. Actually, since the news broke on Rafael Palmeiro, Jason is batting .205 and his Slugging Percentage is .385. Something there? I hope not.

And, tonight, just for the fun of it, Schilling blew a save and lost his third game since coming back as a “closer” last month. While it’s still far this meaning anything to the AL East, it’s always nice to see it happen.

You know, Bernie has a really bad game last Wednesday, and, since then he’s been getting big hits. Is it his time of the year or a salary drive? Who cares? Ride him while he’s hot. I’d DH him until he cools off. Maybe he could go on a run like Giambi had in July? That would never hurt.

It was nice to see Chacón get the win today. But, what I found interesting and a tad concerning was the way that Barajas hit him. It makes me wonder if batters who have seen him for a while get to know him too well. It’s something to file away until Shawn starts to see AL teams for the second and third time.

So, what happened in Boston today? The Bosox are finally losing a game, and to a good team, and the rains come and wash it out before it’s official. No matter. That’s just the new Fenway magic doing its thing. And, as far as the Yankees should be concerned, it means nothing.

Only two things matter at the moment to the Yankees. First, going down to Tampa and beating the tar out of the Devil Rays. Nothing outside of a sweep in the next three days is acceptable – or, so it should be to Team Torre. Second, New York needs to maintain their great position in the Wildcard chase. With the A’s loss today, the Yankees are now just two games back in the loss column in the Wildcard Standings – with 46 games left to play. They must either hold that slot, or better it, nothing else – until they assume the lead. And, back to point one above, sweeping Tampa Bay will ensure that, at least for the next three days.

Some bad things happened in the Yankees game today. Rivera blew a save for the first time in about one-third of a calendar year. Sheffield let a ball drop out of his glove – although he recovered for a force out at second. Earlier in this season, these types of things may have been enough to sink the ship.

But, good things happened today as well. A-Rod hit a ball to the moon early in the game and made a great play in the 11th to save the game – a play, by the way, that he never would have made earlier in the year. Mussina, the start after throwing 120-something pitches, pitches into the 8th inning today. Bernie went boom. And, Lucky Charm Small gets the win.

And, the win is the important thing. Both the A’s and the Angels went on to win today – and the Yankees needed to keep stride. That’s all it’s about these days – just win. No points off for style. All that matters is the “W” at the end to stay in the Wildcard chase.

I think, from now on, when Leiter is scheduled to pitch, I’m not going to start watching that game from the start. I’m just going to wait two hours, turn on the TV, and then pick up the game in the 5th inning.

Sixty-plus pitches in the first two innings. Gosh, he is painful to watch.

It was pretty interesting to see Shawn Chacón come in for the 8th. Actually, it’s not a bad idea. Given where the Yankees are, and what they need to do to win the Wildcard, I think I would have every starter be on guard now two days before their next start and say “You might have to pitch an inning today.” An extra inning from a quality pitcher each game would help. But, I just cannot see Mussina signing on to that – not in a minute.

Sheff really scared the heck out of me with that catch on the final out. For a guy (me) who loved the snatch-catch with Rickey, that off to the side thing that Gary picked up last year is just too risky.

I see that Schilling hung on and Boston won again tonight. Big deal. Who cares? They could win every game left this season – as long as they lose in the post-season. The bigger news is that, as this is penned, both L.A. and Oakland are losing their games. Com’on Twins and M’s – let’s win today!

If you ever wondered what it would be like to go on a date with a super model who had acute halitosis, tonight’s game, from the Yankees fan perspective, gives you a taste of what that would be like…it’s a needed win, no question, and that’s exciting, but, there were some parts related to the experience of watching this game that were just a total turn-off.

In any event, bottom line, it’s goal met tonight in my eyes – with the “W” the Yankees do what they need to do in terms of Wildcard Standings position. That’s good.

It’s a darn shame that Big Stein cannot clone Mo.

If Leiter gets knocked out early tomorrow, that would be terrible after the amount of pitchers the Yankees used today in the last 4 innings of this game. If ever there was a time that the Yankees could use a 16-5 laughter win, tomorrow would be it.

11:16 am EST: Freddy Garcia has been a much better pitcher on the road this year (2.81 ERA on the road vs. 5.01 at home) to date.

But, he’s been rocked since July 1st – with an ERA over 5 since that date. Also, lefties seem to do OK against him – much better than RH batters.

I’m calling for another gift from Young Kitty and a Yankees win today, say, by the score of 6-4.

Ouch.

And, I’m not talking about the guy who took the header from the upper-deck.

This one hurts.

Jose Sexual-Congressing Contreras.

I can’t even write about it. I have to go find a pillow to punch.

With his victory this evening, adding to his career total, Mike Mussina gets to enter Walt Whitman High School and earns the right to sit next to Karen Valentine. How sweet is that?

Unless my eyes are going – which is always possible – this is the first time this season that the Yankees won a game by the score of 3-2. Wow.

Don’t get me wrong, with the current state of Yankees pitching, I still cannot shake the feeling that the only way the New York will finish 1st this year, now, is if Fenway Park catches fire, burns to the ground, and the Red Sox have to play all their remaining games on the road. But, that said, at least for one game, tonight, it’s great to have a nice, crisp, Yankees win to soak in.

When I was around 10-years-old, I remember my best friend at time, Joey, saying to me “There’s nothing better to fall asleep to than a baseball game.”

And, the game today, to me at least, was one of those perfect set-ups for a ballgame induced nap – comfy couch, hot Sunday afternoon in August, and some pretty benign (for the most part) middle innings. Zzzzzzz……..and, then, just enough noise in the 9th to wake you up before the missing the end of the game. And, a happy ending with the Yankees holding on for the win.

Leiter, 102 pitches, 51 strikes and 51 balls. I’m still not sold – but, what choices do the Yankees have these days when guys like Chacon and Small are they best chances for a good pitched game?

Up next, the very annoying Ozzie Guillen. Call me crazy, but, I’m expecting at least one benching clearing brawl in this series. And, you know what? That’s not always a bad thing to happen to a team in a race for first.

There was so much talk today on YES about Johnson’s stuff, and all the hits that he’s given up off the slider, because of its lack of bite, etc., that it brought cause for me to look up some stuff.

The good folks at Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) keep track of everything. And, according to their stats, last year, Randy Johnson’s average fastball was 93.6 MPH. This mark was good for 2nd in the NL – just behind Roy Oswalt at 94.0.

Now, many times on YES, you hear things like “We’re still waiting to see that consistent 98 MPH heater from Johnson.” But, the staff at BIS also track number of pitches thrown at 95+ MPH. And, even though Johnson was 2nd in the NL for “average fastball speed,” he failed to crack the Top Ten in the NL last year for “Most Pitches Thrown at a Speed of 95+.” (In fact, current Yankee Felix Rodriguez threw 469 pitches at 95+ last year in the NL – good for 8th in the league.)

This all tells me that last year, when he was a great pitcher, Unit was basically a 94 MPH thrower – and not someone who consistently hit 97 or 98 on the gun. So, should we be shocked that he’s not hitting the high-90’s this season?

The team at BIS also tracks the Top Ten for “Highest % of Pitches Thrown” – like fastballs, curves, etc. And, last year, Randy Johnson led the NL in “Highest % of Sliders Thrown” with a mark of 41.1%. No one else was close to this mark and most others in the Top Ten were at around 20%. (In the AL, the highest mark for the league last year was 29.8% held by Jon Lieber – and most of the other AL pitchers in the Top Ten were around 20%.)

Based on this, I want to suggest that Unit called on the slider too many times last year and now it’s burnt – just like the year that Pettitte threw too many cutters and then the pitch lost its sharpness the following season.

Therefore, in the end, what we see now is what we’re going to get this year from Johnson – a heater in the low 90’s and a slider that is beat up. And, the dreams of Yankees fans, those that included Randy Johnson going 25-4 in 2005 and leading the team to a ring, are going to be just as busted as the Big Unit’s slider.

Lastly, regarding the 1st and 3rd move today where the runner on 3rd scored after the pitcher threw to first with a pick-off attempt, well, expect to see that play put on every time now when Giambi is playing first. Can you just imagine how much fun Johnny Damon is going to have with that when he’s on 3rd (with a runner on 1st)? I’m already getting sick just thinking about it.

Reports have Jeter and Sheffield being fine with each other. The Yankees win. It looks good that Boston will lose tonight – it’s 7-0 Twins and the Sox have 3 outs left as this is penned. And, this means New York will be a game closer to first.

What can I say about Aaron Small? What I can say is that this should not be happening. If you look at RHP from baseball history, in the same age range as him, with the same amount of big league innings under their belt, with the same results as Small has logged to date prior to this season, I cannot find one story of a guy who would go on to do well for a team, like the way Aaron is doing now for the Yankees.

Granted, I did not look forever – but, I looked for a while.

What we’re seeing now is the potential birth of a three-headed cow from the union of house cat and a man from Mars – meaning, this is something that is just not supposed to happen.

Gosh, baseball is great.

I was at a work function last night in Hoboken (at the City Bistro). I decided to duck out a little early and got to my car just at the start of the bottom of the 7th.

Listening in, as the Indians took the lead, and hearing the recap of the game to that point (and, this was all before the top of the 9th), I’m thinking to myself:

“OK, Leiter walks every batter that he sees the other night and can’t make it out of the 3rd. Moose is lights out yesterday and then, for no reason, implodes and gives up a bucket of runs. Cano’s bunting with two strikes and muffing plays. And, tonight, Giambi and Matsui make two bad plays and Embree walks a guy that he had no business walking…………..what is this? Is this 1919? Are these the White Sox and not the Yankees?”

And, then, A-Rod and Giambi save the game. Thank goodness – because to drop another game back would have been a huge nail in the coffin.

I saw in the ESPN.com recap that “During the bottom of the sixth, New York’s Randy Johnson, armed with a dustpan and broom, assisted one of the bat boys in sweeping the dugout floor.”

I’m sorry that I missed that. I loved watching that bat boy work in the first two games (that I saw). Yes, he looked like the son of Hideki Irabu. But, the kid is one hard worker. Always nice to see.

17 days ago, the Yankees were in 1st place. Now, they’re 4.5 games out of first. Maybe it’s just me, but, things are heading in the wrong direction.

Lots of bad looks on the Yankees faces today. I suspect that something is up.

Robinson Cano had a nightmare of a game tonight – an absolute bomb of a game. What is interesting is that he was scheduled to be on a noon chat on ESPN.com today, but, reportedly, “MLB called a mandatory meeting so he had to push back.”

I cannot help but wonder if this meeting is somehow tied to the Yankees testing last week?

I have a bad feeling. I’m going to watch the post-game now on YES to see if I can pick something up.

If it was up to me, Al gets just one more start now to determine if he stays or goes.

Given the date today, it would have been nice to see the Captain come through in the clutch during the 9th with a hit to tie the game. But, it was not to be for the Yankees tonight.