The Daily Yankeeland - 10/28

Needless to say the conclusion of the World Series was put off until Wednesday night due to more crappy weather in Philly. And even that is in doubt, with a 20-30% chance of rain all day and a game time temperature expected to be 33 degrees.

Yahoo's Jeff Passan takes Bud Selig and MLB to task.


Meanwhile back on the Yankees, and ex-Yankees beat...

Brian Cashman spoke to MLB's Anthony DiComo about Joba Chamberlain's DUI arrest.

Ken Davidoff sat down with former Yankees coach Don Zimmer to discuss the surprising success of the Rays.

Mike Mussina's agent Arn Tellem says his client still has not decided whether or not to continue his career.


And around the rest of MLB:

The Cubs hot corner man Aramis Ramirez has won the Hank Aaron Award.

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols garnered the Roberto Clemente Award.

The Angels picked up their 2009 options on Vlad Guerrero and John Lackey.

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The Pennant Race - 8/25

Walk-off home runs affected a couple of pennant races yesterday. With the Dodgers having already lost to the Phillies, 5-0, the Diamondbacks had a chance to increase their lead in the NL West. But Padres' outfielder Jody Gerut had something else in mind: a 2-out, 2-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to give San Diego a 4-2 win. The game featured a good duel between starters Jake Peavy and Dan Haren.

Meanwhile, over in the AL, the Twins led the Mariners 2-1 in the ninth inning, but faced with a first and third and no-out situation, they elected to play for the double play. They got it when Jeff Clement bounced into a 6-4-3 twin killing. That sent the game into extra innings where Adrian Beltre decided it in the eleventh inning with a 2-run home run off of Jesse Crain.

While the Diamondbacks remained three games ahead of LA, the Twins fell into second place in the AL Central, one game behind Chicago. That's because the White Sox split a pair of 4-3 games. The first was the completion of a game suspended nearly four months ago in Chicago. The Orioles and White Sox were tied 3-3 when the game was stopped on April 28 in the 11th inning. It would take three more innings yesterday before the Orioles' Luis Montanez knocked in the go-ahead run.

In the regularly scheduled game, Jim Thome's sixth inning home run snapped a 3-3 tie and the White Sox held on to the 4-3 lead. Thome's home run was number 535, putting him one behind Mickey Mantle on the all-time HR list.

The Mets maintained their half-game advantage over the Phillies behind another dominant performance from Mike Pelfrey. The right-hander became the first Mets pitcher to throw consecutive complete games since 1995. Pelfrey is 10-2, 2.90 since the managerial change at Shea. He got plenty of offensive support in the 9-1 Mets win last night as Carlos Delgado hit a pair of 3-run home runs. Since July 1st, Delgado has 14 home runs and 45 RBI in 49 games.

Brett Myers tossed seven shutout innings in the Phillies' 5-0 win over the Dodgers. Myers is 4-1, 1.24 over his last six starts. Last year's NL MVP, Jimmy Rollins, is trying to get his game back in gear and last night helped his cause. A double, triple, walk, two RBI, and a run scored. Manny Ramirez has hit his first LA mud slide- he's in a 5-24 skid.

The Cubs blasted the Pirates 12-3 behind a 3-run blast from Aramis Ramirez and four RBI by Kosuke Fukudome. Ramirez has three home runs and 10 RBI in his last three games. Ted Lilly won his 13th game, beating Jeff Karstens, who looked more like his real self (3 IP, 5 ER). The Brewers were idle, so the Cubs' lead was increased to 5 games.


Other News

The Indians have been out of the race for a long time, but kudos to them for not giving up their season. Their 4-3, 10 inning win over Detroit last night was their eighth straight. Grady Sizmore homered twice in the game, making him only the second Indians player, along with Joe Carter, to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season. He has an excellent chance to join Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, and Alfonso Soriano as the only members of the 40-40 club.

The Twins got some bullpen help yesterday, acquiring lefty reliever Eddie Guardado from the Rangers for minor leaguer Mike Hamburger. There was no side of fries.

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The Pennant Chase - 8/15

NL EAST

Look out, the Mets train is steam rolling along. They're now in sole possession of first place after beating the Nationals for the third straight night. Meanwhile the Phillies were swept by the Dodgers in a four game series.

Oliver Perez struck out eight in six-plus innings and Carlos Delgado continued his torrid second half with his 26th home run as the Mets rolled to a 9-3 win. After practically being left for dead through the end of June, Delgado hit .357 with 9 home runs and 24 RBI in July. He's added 3 home runs and 9 RBI in 12 games in August.

The Phillies meanwhile managed only 2 hits off of Hiroki Kuroda in seven innings. Manny finally went hitless, but Matt Kemp stepped up with his 14th home run of the season. On the bright side, the Phils got another solid outing from Brett Myers.

NL WEST

The Dodgers couldn't break their first place tie with Arizona though, as the Diamondbacks topped the Rockies 6-2. Dan Haren won his 13th game with help from home runs by two of the Chrises, Young and Burke.

The Diamondbacks sent catcher Wilkins Castillo to the Reds as part of the Adam Dunn deal.

The Dodgers reportedly put in a claim on Ronnie Belliard to keep him from going to the Diamondbacks, who are in need of a second baseman after the season-ending injury to Orlando Hudson.

NL CENTRAL

The Cubbies extended their lead over the Brewers to 4.5 games with an 11-7 win over the Braves. Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano homered to back Ted Lilly's pitching. Lilly almost incited a brawl when he hit Yuniel Escobar on the arm. There were no ejections though the benches emptied. The pitch was thought to be retribution for Soriano being thrown out the night before. Ramirez also had to leave the game with a bruised hip.

Mark Kotsay went 5-5 for Atlanta and became the second Brave, (Albert Hall was the other), to hit for the cycle.

Jake Peavy outpitched Ben Sheets as the Padres edged the Brewers 3-2. The Cardinals kept pace with a 3-0 behind Todd Wellmeyer's seven and two-third innings of 3-hit ball.

AL EAST

Tampa lost Troy Percival to the DL again, but after blowing a ninth inning lead they beat the A's 7-6 in 12 innings. Percival's leg injuries will make the Rays look elsewhere for a closer next season.

Dice-K and the Red Sox pounded the Rangers again, 10-0, after putting 9 on the board in the second inning.

AL CENTRAL

The White Sox moved a full game ahead of the idle Twins with a 9-2 pasting of the Royals. Chicago outscored KC, 22-2, in the three game series. The Chisox tied a major league record in the sixth inning when Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexi Ramirez, and Juan Uribe connected for four consecutive home runs. Hawk Harrelson must have wet his pants.

The Twins meanwhile claimed Jarrod Washburn off waivers from the Mariners in an effort to block him from going to the White Sox. The Tigers claimed Raul Ibanez from the Tigers- for what reason we have no clue. Neither team was able to work out a deal though, and both players will stay put. A really poor job by the M's in their handling of Washburn. They could have dumped his contract on the Yankees quite easily.

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