Cool conga night for the line-up. The Yankees 7-8-9-1 hitters, Swisher/Cabrera/Pena/Jeter, were on base 10 times, combined, via a hit or walk in this one. That, plus a gutty hang-in there job by A.J. Burnett for seven innings, gives New York a win in this one. Always nice to beat those Angels…

So, the Yankees end up going 12-10 in the month of April. And, they close the month sitting just two games back of the Blue Jays and Red Sox who are tied for first in the A.L. East. Not too shabby. Just imagine how much nicer this would be if not for that three game set last weekend up in Fenway…

When Alba-la-no-no was pitching in the 9th, did David Cone, in the YES booth, really say something like ‘Sometimes you think you’re gonna cruise in a game like this, and, before you know it, they start talleywackering you around….’?

Now, that was a first! I’ve never heard a Yankees broadcaster, on the air, use the word “talleywacker.” Awesome.

By the way, nice game for Joba in this one.

Getting back to “firsts,” did someone really pull a fire alarm at Comerica during the game? I’ve been watching baseball since 1973 and I’ve never seen that before…as far as I can remember.

Speaking of false alarms, it looks like Jack Black might be back. Rock on.

Tonight belongs to Phil Hughes. Wow. What a difference a year makes!

This evening, Phil Hughes faced 23 Tigers batters and retired 18 of them. All told, Hughes went 6 innings in this game, throwing 99 pitches (with 58 being strikes), and he allowed zero runs. Last time I checked, you can’t do better than allowing zero runs. So, Hughes was real good today.

But, more so, what impressed me was the quality of Phil Hughes’ pitches in this game. Here’s what I saw via the YES coverage:

• A fastball in the range of 91-93 MPH
• A cutter in the range of 86-88 MPH
• A curveball in the range of 72-75 MPH

Now, I know that many Yankees fans don’t believe the YES gun – claiming that it’s slow. So, once this game was out of hand, I went over to MLB.com’s Gameday and they showed me just about the same MPH marks for Hughes (as YES). The only difference was that Gameday called Hughes’ cutter a “slider.” (Big deal. Same difference.)

It was very nice to see Hughes’ fastball in the range of 91-93 MPH tonight. According to the Yankees’ Brian Cashman, that’s where Hughes’ fastball should be, in terms of speed, and that’s where it wasn’t recently. (According to Fangraphs, in 2007, Hughes average fastball was 91 MPH, and, in 2008, his average heater was 91.2 MPH. So, this backs up Cashman’s point about Hughes’ fastball being below expectations the last two seasons.)

Again, Phil Hughes was very impressive today – sans a few hanging curves – and he fully deserves another turn in the rotation. And, that should come on Sunday, May 3rd, at Yankee Stadium, on “Cap Day,” against the Angels and Joe Saunders. I’m very much looking forward to seeing that one – and what Hughes does to follow up on this evening.

Now that I think about it, this game might be the best one that Hughes has thrown in the bigs outside of that game of May 1, 2007. Yup, he was that good.

Lastly, Mark Melancon is still looking like a younger, skinnier, and blonder, Roger Clemens to me. Am I the only one seeing that?

It’s on to Detroit and the 2009 debut of Phil Hughes on Tuesday. Sure, call me a pessimist, but is there anyone who would be surprised to see Verlander shut down this tired, non-athletic, old team on Monday, especially after the Fenway butt-kicking? Zero runs in 7 innings sounds about right for Verlander. And with Damon’s shoulder barking, the bench just got worse. I’ll have the codeine on hand if Giradi and Cashman put Berroa at 3rd again.

Going forward, the Yanks have to sparse out the pen and add some bench depth. The idea of Berroa or Gardner as pinch hitters surely has the rest of the league laughing hysterically. Where is Juan Miranda? Where is Oscar Gamble?

In the end, Verlander went seven today against the Yanks – allowing 7 hits, no walks, zero runs and punching out seven. Hey, Phil, nice call on this one!

O.K., on the glass is half-full-front, the Yankees didn’t have to use their bullpen today and the game was over in 139 minutes.

I can just hear General Maximus Decimus Meridius now: At least give me a clean death… a soldier’s death….

Well, 139 minutes and having to burn just one pitcher is pretty quick and clean, right?

But, as Bob Marley sang: Don’t worry ’bout a ding, ’cause every lil’ dings gonna be all right…

Prince Philip returns tomorrow for the reboot of his coronation as the Yankees savior. And, it’s what the people want to see. Should be fun. It’s something to look forward to…and something to take the focus off another loss, today, in this game.

I happened to be in Penn Station today from 4:30 pm ET until 5:00 pm ET. And, it was an interesting time to be there. The place was loaded with people wearing Mets gear, Rangers gear, and NFL jerseys. Actually, it was a bit of a zoo. It seems that the Mets game, Rangers play-off game, and Day Two of the NFL Draft all unloaded near the same time.

Related, there were many fans of the Mets and Rangers on my train back to New Jersey this evening. From the reactions of those decked out in their team’s shirts and caps, you could not tell if they were coming home from a win or a loss. It wasn’t until I came home, and caught ESPN, that I learned that the Mets dropped a game to the lowly Washington Nationals (getting whipped, 8-1) and the Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals (setting themselves up for a Game 7, after being up 3-1 in their playoff series).

Funny, I’m now sitting here with steam coming out of ears because the Yankees got swept by the Red Sox, during three April games in Boston, and those fans on the train earlier this evening seemed pretty cool, calm and collected. Does that say something about me, them, or both of us?

In any event, hey, I’m sorry. But, the Yankees blew a win on Friday. They got their fannies kicked on Saturday. And, they were out-played in this one. New York lost every which way you can in these three games.

When you live and die with this stuff, how can you not come away from three losses like these with your feathers in a bunch?

Related, it’s a series outcome like this, against the Red Sox, that shows us that Hank and Hal Steinbrenner are, indeed, nothing like their father George.

And, I know that many, many, Yankees fans feel that this is an excellent thing.

Me? Right now, I’m not so sure…

Hank and Hal, after this set at Fenway, will probably react like those Mets and Rangers fans on my train today. But, Big Stein? Well, I suspect, in his prime, “The Boss” would be steamin’ away like me…

Is that the wrong thing to do? Maybe. Yet, nonetheless, this venting fan wouldn’t mind some company/empathy from the people in charge of the team he roots for…you know…a little solidarity from the Brothers Stein.

So, Hank, Hal, whaddaya say? You guys have an pulse, whatsoever? Let’s see it.

Before the start of this series, I was asked by NESN.com to answer some questions about the Yankees and these games against the Red Sox. Here’s a clip from that Q&A:

NESN.com: What are the keys for the Yankees to winning the three-game series at Fenway Park?

Steve Lombardi: The Yankees starting pitchers all need to go at least seven innings and provide a decent start. If the Yankees’ pen is coming into the game in the sixth inning or earlier, that’s trouble for New York. And the Yankees pitchers have to be careful with Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay, while also not allowing David Ortiz to wake up this season when the Yanks come to town.

So, how was that for soothsaying?

Let’s hope that Andy Pettitte has his “A” game on Sunday night. Right now, the Yankees need that…and then some.

Dunno why, in this one? But, the vibe was there.

Maybe it was all those runners the Yankees left on base during the game? Going four for nineteen, in the end, with runners in scoring position is ugly.

Maybe it was Joba Chamberlain throwing as many balls, just about, as strikes today, and pulling Houdini Act after Houdini Act to dodge a cave in?

Maybe it was seeing Mo Rivera come into a game in the 8th inning during the month of April?

Whatever it was, as we entered the bottom of the ninth, and having that hearing footsteps feeling, I fully expected Bill Mueller to come out of retirement and bat for the Red Sox in that frame against Rivera…

I guess that Jason Bay is the new Bill Mueller, huh? I will say this: Bay impressed the heck out of me with his homerun trot this evening. That is how a professional rounds the bases in a spot like that one. The dude truly earned my respect there.

And, when Damaso Marte entered the game, you knew it was just a matter of time…

I guess Damaso Marte is the new Paul Quantrill, huh? Sure, Flash, Conie and Kay in the YES booth were congregational singing about Marte being pumped up, and looking like a new man, etc. But, I knew…again, I had a feeling…that it was just a matter of time.

And, then, Kevin Youkilis provides the crusher.

Lovely. Just effing-a-lovely with a cherry on top.

Burnett verus Beckett tomorrow. Let’s hope that A.J. has the game of his life for the Yankees. It couldn’t come at a better time.

Moving on to the game. Forget Sabathia’s numbers. He’s a bad April pitcher and that Kurt Suzuki homer was a close call. If CC is this bad in his next two starts, then I’ll start to get nervous.

Give the credit for this game to the boys from Santo Domingo and El Cercado: Melky Cabrera, Edwar Ramírez and especially José Veras. Without their efforts, this one is probably an “L” for the Yankees. And, given the nature of this game – the extra innings, sloppy play, etc. – it would have been a painful loss to have…the day before an off-day in front of a series at Fenway Park. It’s much better, this way, with the “W” – and allowing that to ruminate in Yankeeland until Friday night in Beantown.

In the end, it was another close win this season for the Yankees – with Andy Pettitte having a big hand in it. (More on Pettitte’s night to follow.)

It was interesting to see the A’s Andrew Bailey in this game. Just the other day, I was reading Cormac Gordon’s nice feature on Bailey. Speaking of A’s pitchers, I got a huge smile this evening seeing Josh Outman’s old-school socks. Attaboy Josh. I’d love to see that look make a comeback.

Back to Andy Pettitte. The big lefty went seven innings this evening without walking or whiffing a batter. When was the last time a Yankees starting pitcher went 7+ innings in a game with zero walks and zero strikeouts? You have to go back all the way to October 6, 1991 when 17,863 fans were on hand at Yankee Stadium to see the Yanks’ starter, Dave Eiland, do that trick. Yup, that’s the same Dave Eiland who is now the Yankees pitching coach. Man, that’s a long time ago.

Strange game for A.J. Burnett. On the plus-side, he went 6 1/3 IP allowing just 3 hits and 3 runs. However, he only struck out two and he walked seven. What was up with Sabathia, Chamberlain and Burnett in their last starts? Combined, the three pitched 16 2/3 innings and walked 17 batters. That ratio is not going to work for too long. Then again, yeah, I know…Dave Eiland is busy trying to fix Worm Killer Wang at the moment…and, one problem at a time, please…

The ‘Sado pinch-homer today was huge. Was it a homer? I watched all the replays that they showed on YES, and, to me, the umpires made the right call. At the worst, in my opinion, if there was no fan messing with the ball, then it hits the top of the wall and skips into the seats – and that’s a homer. And, perhaps, again, in my opinion, if there are no fans there the ball just sails over the top of the wall and lands in the first row for a homerun. But, I didn’t see anything that would have suggested that the ball would be caught or stayed in the park, if there were no fans there. So, touch ‘em all, Jorge Posada, this Bud’s for you!