Dice Rolls Lucky 7

Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a masterful seven innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 2-0 win over the Tampa Rays in game one of the ALCS.

Matsuzaka tossed six innings of no-hit ball before Carl Crawford led off the seventh inning with a single to right field. Trailing 1-0, Cliff Floyd followed with a single to center to put runners on the corners with no one out. But Matsuzaka retired Dioner Navarro on a fly to shallow left, struck out Gabe Gross, and hen got Jason Bartlett to bounce out to escape the jam.

Terry Francona went to the pen with a 2-0 lead in the eighth after Matsuzaka gave up back to back singles, sandwiched around a wild pitch, to Aki Iwamura and B.J. Upton to once again put runners on the corners with no one out. Lefty specialist Hideki Okajima got Carlos Pena to fly out to shallow right on a 3-0 pitch, and Justin Masterson came on to induce an inning ending double play ball from Evan Longoria.

The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead against Rays starter James Shields in the fifth inning when Jason Bay drew a lead off walk and moved to third base on Mark Kotsay's double. Jed Lowrie's sac fly brought home Bay to break the scoreless tie.

The Sox then added a big insurance run in the seventh inning. Dustin Pedroia reached on a one out single off of J.P. Howell and stole second base. David Ortiz followed with a walk, and Kevin Youkilis ripped a low liner to left that glanced off the glove of a sliding Crawford, allowing Pedroia to score. Joe Maddon sent for Grant Balfour, who immediately hit J.D. Drew to load the bases. But Balfour got out of further trouble by striking out Bay and retiring Kotsay on a fly out.

Jon Papelbon came on in the ninth inning for the Red Sox, retiring the side in order to pick up the save.

Box Score

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The Pennant Race - 10/2

Three of the four playoff series got underway yesterday, with some good games right off the bat.

Cole as Ice

It may have only been his second career playoff game, but Cole Hamels looked like Whitey Ford yesterday for the Phillies. Hamels limited the Brewers to just two runs over eight innings as the Phillies beat Milwaukee, 3-1.

Brad Lidge may have been 41-41 in save situations this season, but we still don't trust him in big spots. His performance yesterday did nothing to change that. Lidge struck out the side, but not before allowing a run on two hits and a walk.

Game 2 is tonight with CC Sabathia facing off against Brett Myers.


Loney Slams Cubs

It's a managerial match up of ex-Yankees managers. Joe Torre in his first year with the Dodgers and Lou Piniella in his second season with the Cubs. The Cubs sent 17-game winner Ryan Dempster to the mound in game one and things looked good as Chicago led 1-0 through four innings.

But James Loney, who was 3-4 in his only other playoff experience, hit his first career playoff grand slam to give the Dodgers the lead for good. Manny Ramirez added a solo shot for good measure, as did Russell Martin.

Dempster struggled with his control, walking seven Dodgers, while Dodgers starter Derek Lowe allowed two runs in six innings of work for the win. The series continues tonight at Wrigley with Chad Billingsley facing Carlos Zambrano.


Manny Who?

Everyone knows Jason Bay is very talented, but when you're in a deal for Manny Ramirez, you don't get a lot of attention. That may change after last night, when Bay's 2-run home run put the Red Sox ahead and catapulted them to a 4-1 win.

The Angels had taken a 1-0 lead in the third inning against Boston starter Jon Lester, but Bay made his first playoff appearance a memorable one, hitting a John Lackey pitch over the left field wall.

Lester breezed through seven and the Red Sox gave Jon Papelbon room to work with, scoring a pair of runs off of Scot Shields in the ninth. The series continues on Friday night with Dice-K facing Ervin Santana.

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The Pennant Race - 9/10

We're back from vacation, tanned, rested, and ready to get back to full posting. The races in four of the six divisions continue to be exciting. The Angels have a magic number of two to clinch the AL West, and the Cubs aren't losing any ground, because the Brewers are losing as much as the Chi-town team.

Things have really gotten crazy out in the NL West. The Dodgers lost eight straight in August before winning their final two of the month. They've since won seven of their first eight games in September to, remarkably, pick up five games on the Diamondbacks. LA has gone from 2.5 games out to 2.5 in front. Last night they trailed the Padres 2-0 in the sixth inning when Manny Ramirez's solo home run ignited a comeback. Andre Ethier drove in four runs, including a back breaking 3-run double in the ninth inning.

The Diamondbacks meanwhile lost for the 12th time in 15 games. Chris Snyder hit a game tying, 2-run home run in the ninth against Giants closer Brian Wilson, but Eugenio Velez singled in the game winner in the home half of the ninth.

The Blue Jays continue to muck up contending team's plans. Yesterday they out pitched and out hit the White Sox in a doubleheader sweep to extend their winning streak to 10 games. A.J. Burnett won his 17th game in the opener, allowing just one hit over seven innings in a 3-1 Blue Jays win.

The Jays won the nightcap 8-2 behind seven strong innings from Jessie Litsch and three home runs. News also got worse for the White Sox, already without Carlos Quentin, when Paul Konerko went down with a sprained MCL. He'll be further evaluated today.

The Twins took advantage of the White Sox double demise with a 7-2 win over the Royals. The victory moved the Twins back to within one game of the AL Central lead. Justin Morneau continued his run at another MVP award with his 23rd home run and RBI, 118 and 119.

When Jason Bay hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning last night, it appeared the Red Sox would overtake Tampa for first place in the AL East, but the Rays had more up their sleeve. Dan Johnson took Jon Papelbon deep for a game tying home run in the ninth. One out later, pinch-hitter Fernando Perez and Dionner Navarro stroked back to back doubles to give the Rays a 5-4.

Troy Percival came on in the ninth and faced a two out challenge when pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury stole second base and moved to third base on Navarro's throwing error. But Percival got Coco Crisp to pop out to end the game and push the Rays lead back to 1.5 games.

10-8. Important numbers in the NL East. The Mets blew a 5-2 lead to the Nationals and then had to rally from an 8-7 deficit to beat Washington, 10-8. Carlos Delgado went from first half boos to second half chants of 'MVP' with games like last night's in which he slugged two home runs.

The Phillies trailed the Marlins 9-1 before rallying behind Ryan Howard's 41st home run. They fell short though and the Marlins emerged with a 10-8 win, dropping the Phillies 2.5 games behind the Mets.

The Cubbies struggles continue. They led the Cardinals 3-0 last night before Albert Pujols hit a game tying 3-run home run in the sixth inning. The game would remain tied until the ninth when pinch-runner Bo Ryan came home with the winning run on Caesar Izturis' grounder. The victory moved the Cardinals to within 4.5 games of the Brewers in the NL wildcard race.

The Cubs didn't lose any of their lead though as the Brewers rallied back from a 4-1 deficit, only to lose to the Reds, 5-4, in 11 innings. Ray Durham hit the game tying 3-run blast in the seventh. The Brewers remain 4.5 back of the Cubs in the NL Central, while maintaining their 3.5 game lead over the Phillies in the wildcard.

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The Giambino Saves the Day

Jason Giambi has been the Giamnoshow in big spots for over a month, but today he single-handedly provided the Yankees offense in a must needed 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. The victory moved the Yankees back to within six games, which still sounds insurmountable, but is better than being eight games out, of Boston in the wildcard race.

The Yankees trailed the Red Sox 2-0 with two outs in the seventh inning, when Cody Ransom doubled off Boston starter Jon Lester. Joe Girardi sent up Giambi to pinch-hit for Jose Molina, even though he knew Terry Francona would counter the move with lefty specialist Hideki Okajima. But Giambi made Girardi look like a genius when he hit a laser over the center field wall for a game tying home run.

Then with two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded against Justin Masteron, Francona sent for his closer Jon Papelbon to face Giambi. Again, Giambi came out on top, singling to center for the game winning run.

The game was a classic pitcher's duel as Mike Mussina and Jon Lester put up goose eggs until the fifth inning. But with one out, Jed Lowrie reached on a single and Mussina hit Alex Cora. Jason Varitek, who has struggled at the plate all season, singled to right to score Lowrie with the game's first run. A second Red Sox run would score on yet another mental mistake by Robinson Cano. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a potential inning ending double play ball to Cano, but instead of taking it to the bag himself, he flipped the ball to Derek Jeter, whose throw to first base was not in time to double up the speedy Ellsbury. Cora scored on the play for a 2-0 lead.

The Yankees put two men aboard in the second inning on one out singles by Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu, but Alex Rodriguez struck out for the first of three times on the day, and Xavier Nady grounded out. In the sixth, Damon was hit by a Lester pitch and Jeter reached on another single to put two aboard with no one out. But fly outs by Abreu and Nady, sandwiched around an A-Rod foul out, led to a chorus of boos and no runs.

Mussina was pulled after seven innings and 113 pitches. Brian Bruney got the first out in the eighth and then Girardi sent for Damaso Marte to retire David Ortiz. Mariano Rivera then retired Kevin Youkilis, for a three pitcher, three out scenario. Rivera retired the side after a Jeter error in the ninth to earn his fourth win.


News and Notes

Derek Jeter was 3-4 and 6-13 (.462) in the series to raise his average to .297.

Brett Gardner pinch-ran for Xavier Nady in the ninth and stole his sixth base in as many attempts. Gardner was 37-46 in steal attempts for Scranton.

Phil Hughes had a much better outing for Scranton Wednesday night, picking up the win in a 3-2 game with Buffalo. Hughes allowed allowed 2 runs on 6 hits in 6.1 innings pitched, with 1 walk and 7 strikeouts.

August 28, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0		2	5	0
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1		3	8	1

Boston	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Ellsbury, CF	4	0	0	1	0	1	2	.262
Pedroia, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.317
Ortiz, DH	2	0	0	0	2	1	1	.265
Youkilis, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.316
Bay, LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	.293
Kotsay, RF	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.289
Lowrie, 3B	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.295
Cora, SS	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	.269
Varitek, C	3	0	1	1	0	1	1	.225
Totals	31	2	5	2	2	6	16
BATTING 2B: Kotsay (18, Mussina). TB: Pedroia; Kotsay 2; Lowrie; Cora; Varitek. RBI: Varitek (37), Ellsbury (39). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cora 2; Kotsay 2; Ellsbury. GIDP: Bay. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Cora (1, 2nd base off Mussina/Molina). CS: Ellsbury (8, 2nd base by Mussina/Molina).

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	.311
Jeter, SS	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	.297
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.296
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	3	4	.307
Nady, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	4	.327
1-Gardner, PR	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.189
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.266
Matsui, DH	3	0	0	0	1	2	0	.307
Ransom, 1B	2	1	1	0	0	1	0	.750
Rodriguez, I, C	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.280
Molina, C	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.228
a-Giambi, PH-1B	2	1	2	3	0	0	0	.251
Totals	32	3	8	3	2	10	12
a-Homered for Molina in the 7th. 1-Ran for Nady in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Ransom (1, Lester). HR: Giambi (27, 7th inning off Okajima, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Jeter 3; Abreu; Nady; Ransom 2; Giambi 5. RBI: Giambi 3 (81). 2-out RBI: Giambi 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Nady 2. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (6, 2nd base off Masterson/Varitek). CS: Jeter (4, 2nd base by Lester/Varitek). FIELDING E: Jeter (11, throw). DP: (Cano-Ransom).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina	7.0	5	2	2	2	6	0	3.41
Bruney	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.35
Marte	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.24
Rivera (W, 5-5)	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.50

IBB: Matsui (by Masterson).
HBP: Ransom (by Lester), Damon (by Lester), Cora
(by Mussina), Youkilis (by Mussina).
Pitches-strikes: Lester 119-78, Okajima 16-11, Masterson 26-12,
Papelbon 3-3, Mussina 113-73, Bruney 2-1, Marte 2-1, Rivera 15-10.
Groundouts-flyouts: Lester 3-8, Okajima 0-2, Masterson 0-1,
Papelbon 0-0, Mussina 7-7, Bruney 0-1, Marte 1-0, Rivera 2-2.
Batters faced: Lester 26, Okajima 4, Masterson 5, Papelbon 1,
Mussina 28, Bruney 1, Marte 1, Rivera 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Okajima 1-1, Papelbon 3-1.
Umpires: HP: Gary Cederstrom. 1B: Fieldin Culbreth.
2B: Jim Reynolds. 3B: Tim Timmons.
Weather: 80 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 10 mph, R to L.
T: 3:21.

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Terry Francona Gets it, Jon Papelbon Does Not

Props to Terry Francona, who is batting Derek Jeter in the 2nd spot tonight, despite the fact his own number 2 hitter, Dustin Pedroia, is in the lineup.

"A Derek Jeter deserves to hit at the top of the order -- in a place like this especially," said Francona, who chose Jeter for that spot over Dustin Pedroia, who hits second for Francona's Boston Red Sox. "This is Dustin's, in my opinion, not his last All-Star Game, but it's his first All-Star Game.

"Sometimes getting people in their proper place ... what they've done for the game also means something."

The same kind of class is obviously lost on the Red Sox goon-faced closer Jon Papelbon. He feels that he, and not Mariano Rivera, should close out tonight's All-Star game.

"If I was managing the team, I would close. ... But I'm not managing the team," Papelbon said yesterday.

Papelbon acknowledged Rivera's accomplishments, calling him the greatest closer in history. So what's his case?

"By winning the World Series and having our manager here," he said.

Though Francona wouldn't reveal his plans, Joe Girardi has a hunch what will happen.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who is on Francona's staff for the game, believes it will be Rivera in the ninth.

"Terry is a very classy guy and a very wise man," Girardi said. "I just have a feeling."

Some people get it and some people are self absorbed whiny bitches.

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Bananas for a Split

Pardon the bad pun. We're back after a little R & R, which in this case stands for lazy & listless. Okay, so they aren't "R" words, but who cares. Just needed a little time away from the blogosphere. But boy do we have a lot to talk about now.

Let's start off with the Yankees-Red Sox games of the last 2 days. A remarkable set of games that enabled the Yankees to split the 4-game series. And it was a HUGE split after losing those first two.

We'll work our way backwards starting with last night. Yankees got jump started in the 2nd inning when Alex Rodriguez took Sox starter Tim Wakefield deep for a 1-0 Yankees lead. It was home run number 536, tying Mickey Mantle for 13th place on the all-time home run list. The fans went crazy, even Madonna, who shall be known as Mad-Rod from this day forward.

The Red Sox countered with 3 off Joba Chamberlain in the 5th inning. The little gnat Dustin Pedroia delivering a 2-run single to put Boston ahead. We don't often (as in never) agree with Joe Morgan, but he hit the nail on the head last night. With the game tied 1-1, two and two out, Chamberlain had a full count against Jacoby Ellsbury. He twice shook off Jose Molina, who wanted him to throw a fastball. Instead Chamberlain threw a breaking pitch for ball four and one of the hottest hitters in baseball, Pedroia, had an ideal hitting situation. Chamberlain is way too inexperienced to be shaking off a veteran like Molina. That last part is our theory not Morgan's, but we'd bet he'd agree.

The teams exchanged runs, which put the Yankees down 4-2 entering the 7th inning. A-Rod led off with a single and one out later, Jorge Posada singled off reliever Javier Lopez. That brought up Robinson Cano, who hit ripped one to right. The ball kicked around a bit allowing both runners to score and Cano to pull into third with a game tying triple.

We take issue a bit here with Joe Girardi here for not having Melky Cabrera try to squeeze home Cano. Melky's swung the bat better the last few games, but he's still nowhere close to firing on all cylinders. Melky put the ball on the ground and Cano, running on contact, was easily out at the plate. Molina then struck out to end the inning.

Mariano Rivera walked the tight rope in Saturday's save- more on that later- but was back on target last night. He did have to face Manny Ramirez in the 9th with two out and the go ahead run on 3rd base, but Manny never took the bat off his shoulder, looking at three straight called strikes. Mo mowed them down in the 10th and then it was the Yankees turn to face the Sox closer.

Jon Papelbon has been good, but not as good as last year. Cano took him back up the middle for a lead off single and Melky laid down a perfect sac bunt. Papelbon blew fastballs easily past Wilson Betemit for the 2nd out, but then got into a battle with rookie Brett Gardner. The kid finally hit one back up the middle, just off the glove of a diving Julio Lugo and past Pedroia, who was backing up on the play. Cano raced home with the winning run and the Yankees had themselves a mighty fine win.


Back to Saturday's chaos. A magnificent performance from Mike Mussina, who was screwed out of an All-Star selection, but more on that later. He was great once again, throwing six shutout innings, allowing 4 hits, one walk, and striking out 5.


The Yankees had scored in the 2nd on an RBI single by Melky Cabrera and a sac fly in the 6th by Brett Gardner (not a bad weekend for him). Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth pitched a stellar inning each, which brought things to the 9th and Mariano Rivera. And that's when things got a little crazy.

J.D. Drew started the 9th with a single back up the middle. Rivera then hit Manny Ramirez, and just that quickly, Boston had the tying men on base. Mike Lowell poked a single to right to cut the lead in half, with pinch-runner Brandon Moss stopping at 2nd base. Mo then hit Kevin Youkilis, which nearly caused us to spit our shrimp francese across the restaurant (made sure to get a seat with a view of the bar TV), to load the bases with no one out.

"Moose doesn't deserve not to win this" played over and over in our minds. But then Mo went back to being Mo. Coco Crisp took a weak hack and struck out. Jason Varitek, AL All-Star, yeah we'll get back to that later too, popped up to first. So it came down to Julio Lugo and he was no match for "The Great Ree-Vare-uh", as John Miller likes to say. Strike 3, ball game over, Yankees win...yeah, you know the drill.

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Red, White, and Boo

After the Yankees lackluster performance in Thursday's 7-0 loss to the Red Sox, the Yankees held a team meeting. Joe Girardi, Johnny Damon, and Derek Jeter laid it on the line. Get better soon or a lot of us could be elsewhere. The Yankees played with a lot more fire on Friday, but the results were no different. The Red Sox rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees 6-4.

The game turned on a bizarre play in the 3rd inning. The Red Sox had pushed a run across and had two on with one out. Kevin Youkilis hit a deep drive to left field off of Darrell Rasner. Damon raced back to the wall, leaped, and had the ball in his glove. That was until he hit the wall and the ball popped out. But instead of going over the wall for a home run or falling immediately back into the field of the play, the ball laid precariously on top of the wall for a few moments. When it finally did roll back into play, it took the assistance of a fan to point out the ball to Damon, who was momentarily dazed and confused. Youkilis made it to 3rd base with a game tying triple and Damon had to leave the game with a sprained acromioclavicular joint in his left shoulder.

The Yankees had taken a quick lead against Josh Beckett in the 1st inning. Damon led off the game with a double and one batter later Bobby Abreu drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez then lashed a line drive to left field to score both runners as Abreu just beat the throw home. The relay enabled A-Rod to move to third and he scored easily on Jason Giambi's fly out to center field for a 3-0 lead. But the Yankees wouldn't do much against Beckett the rest of the day.

The Yankees did have a chance in the 4th, loading the bases with 2 outs, but Jose Molina grounded out to Mike Lowell to end the inning. Then Lowell took advantage in the top of the 5th against Rasner. Red hot Dustin Pedroia led off with a single and one out later Manny Ramirez followed suit. Then it was Lowell, the one-time Yankees prospect, belting a 3-run home run a few rows back in the left field seats for a 6-3 lead.

Boston set up man Hideki Okajima has not been lights out like he was last year and the Yankees built a rally against him in the 7th inning. Melky Cabrera singled and Molina followed with a base on balls. After Brett Gardner bounced into a force out, Derek Jeter walked to load the bases. But Okajima retired Abreu on a pop out and Manny DelCarmen came in to get A-Rod on an inning-ending ground out as the skies opened up with a torrential downpour.

The game resumed after an 88-minute rain delay and the Yankees would have one more shot after a botched call by the umpires. With a man on and 2 outs in the 9th, Jeter lined Jon Papelbon's pitch to center field. Coco Crisp made a diving back hand grab for the final out, only it wasn't. The catch was ruled a trap (TV replays would show otherwise) and Jeter had himself an RBI double. That gave Abreu a shot as the tying run and he nearly made it happen. But his deep drive to center field fell into Crisp's glove about five feet shy of the 408-ft sign in center field.


News and Notes

Mike Port, VP of Umpiring, said discussions would take place to figure out the proper rulings on Youkilis' ball.

“The guess is that if it had stayed there, it would have been a home run because it had broken the front plane, but we’ll discuss it with supervisors in the next few days,” he said. “The great thing about this game is that after 100 or more years, you still see things that may not have happened before.”

The Yankees and Red Sox wore alternate caps with the team's logos intertwined with red, white, and blue. It's thought to be the first time the Yankees have ever worn an alternate piece of clothing.

Jason Varitek wore a red, white, and blue chest protector that will be auctioned off for charity.

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Let me Pitch to Manny

It was words to that effect that doomed the Yankees yesterday. Clinging to a 2-1 lead over the Boston Red Sox in the bottom of the 6th, Joe Girardi went out to the mound speak with Mike Mussina (1-2). The Red Sox had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs and Manny Ramirez at the plate. Ramirez had already homered in the 4th inning, but with 1st Base open and Kevin Youkilis on deck, Mussina chose to pitch to Ramirez. It was a big mistake.

Ramirez's 2-run double to right-center put the Red Sox ahead for good and they want on to a 4-3 win in Fenway Park. But not before a 2-hour and 11-minute rain delay interrupted the 8th inning. Hideki Okajima retired the first two men he faced in the inning, but walked Melky Cabrera and gave up a first pitch single to Bobby Abreu. Terry Francona called for his closer, Jon Papelbon, to face Alex Rodriguez. But the rains came to stop play.

The tarp was initially taken off after a short delay, but quickly put back on when radar showed more storms in the area. A game that had started at 3:55 p.m. EDT, finally resumed at 8:31. After much speculation over who had the bigger advantage, pitcher or batter, Papelbon blew A-Rod away on strikes with 3 pitches. The Yankees went down in order in the 9th, but not without a little non-game related drama.

The rocket scientists over at the FOX network switched to the start of a NASCAR race in the middle of Robinson Cano's 2-out at-bat. It sent viewers scrambling to find the FX network, and many missed the end of the game.

Josh Beckett (1-1), making his 2nd start of the season, was spot on for much of the game. He allowed just one hit through the first 5 innings, and it could very well have been an error on Dustin Pedroia instead. The Yankees finally got to him in the 6th when Jose Molina lead off with a single. Rather than bunt, Girardi had Alberto Gonzalez swing away, and the shortstop rewarded his manager's confidence with a single to left field.

Johnny Damon's sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, and both came home on Melky Cabrera's sacrifice fly and Beckett's wild pitch for a 2-1 lead. But then not all decisions work out well.

News and Notes

For the 2nd straight season, Johnny Damon is struggling at the plate. His 0-3 yesterday left him just 8-41 (.195) on the season.

David Ortiz's frustration was evident on his face yesterday. The Red Sox slugger went 0-4 and is just 3-43 (.070) with 1 home run and 3 RBI. Terry Francona has not ruled out a day off to try to get Ortiz going.

Derek Jeter has resumed baseball activities, but is not close to returning to the lineup. He took grounders yesterday, but they were hit right to him.

Jorge Posada isn't ready to get back behind home plate either. He feels better, but is only throwing every other day.

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.195
Cabrera, CF	2	0	0	1	1	1	0	.267
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.310
Rodriguez, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	1	2	.289
Giambi, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.080
Posada, DH	4	1	1	0	0	2	0	.250
Cano, 2B	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.188
Molina, C	3	1	1	0	0	1	2	.345
Gonzalez, SS	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	.364
Totals	30	3	6	2	2	9	7
BATTING 2B: Cano (2, Beckett). TB: Abreu; Posada; Cano 3; Molina; Gonzalez. RBI: Cabrera (5), Cano (2). 2-out RBI: Cano. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Damon; Molina; Rodriguez. S: Damon. SF: Cabrera. GIDP: Giambi. Team LOB: 4. FIELDING Outfield assists: Abreu (Varitek at 2nd base). DP: 2 (Mussina-Gonzalez-Giambi, Cano-Gonzalez-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (L, 1-2)	5.2	8	4	4	0	1	1	4.15
Bruney	1.1	1	0	0	2	1	0	0.00
Hawkins	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.60

Boston	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Ellsbury, CF-LF	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	.250
Pedroia, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	2	.271
Ortiz, DH	4	0	0	0	0	1	4	.070
Ramirez, LF	4	2	2	3	0	0	1	.277
Crisp, CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.296
Youkilis, 3B	4	0	2	1	0	0	0	.317
Drew, RF	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.387
Varitek, C	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.270
Casey, 1B	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	.263
Lugo, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.256
Totals	30	4	9	4	2	2	10
BATTING 2B: Pedroia (3, Mussina), Ramirez (6, Mussina). HR: Ramirez (2, 4th inning off Mussina, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Ellsbury 2; Pedroia 3; Ramirez 6; Youkilis 2; Varitek. RBI: Ramirez 3 (11), Youkilis (6). 2-out RBI: Ramirez 3; Youkilis. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ramirez; Drew; Pedroia. GIDP: Ortiz; Drew. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING SB: Ellsbury (1, 2nd base off Mussina/Molina). FIELDING DP: (Pedroia-Youkilis-Casey).

Boston IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Beckett (W, 1-1) 6.2 5 3 3 1 5 0 6.35 Delcarmen (H, 2) 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.68 Okajima (H, 3) 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 Papelbon (S, 4) 1.1 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.50

WP: Beckett 2. Pitches-strikes: Mussina 71-51, Bruney 25-15, Hawkins 6-6, Beckett 88-55, Delcarmen 4-3, Okajima 9-4, Papelbon 26-19. Ground outs-fly outs: Mussina 9-6, Bruney 1-2, Hawkins 1-2, Beckett 7-8, Delcarmen 0-0, Okajima 1-1, Papelbon 1-0. Batters faced: Mussina 22, Bruney 7, Hawkins 3, Beckett 25, Delcarmen 1, Okajima 4, Papelbon 4. Inherited runners-scored: Bruney 1-1, Delcarmen 1-0, Papelbon 2-0. Umpires: HP: Paul Nauert. 1B: Jerry Crawford. 2B: Tom Hallion. 3B: Brian O'Nora. Weather: 57 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 12 mph, R to L. T: 2:49 (2:11 delay). Att: 37,461.

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Catching Up

So here's some of what what went on since last Thursday, which we probably slept through at the time.

Don't speak out of line, punk

Hank Steinbrenner and John Henry had their little goofy slap fight last week, which for the most part was in good fun. Then one of the Red Sox resident goons (we don't mean like hockey goon, but have you seen this guy's face?), Jon Papelbon had to open his big mouth.

I don't know if he's trying to stir things up or not. I sure as hell don't care, because he sure as hell hasn't stepped foot on a baseball field. He needs to just stick to pencil-pushing, I guess."

Well Hank couldn't let the little pissant off without a shot back of course (can you tell yet how much we don't like Papelbon?)

"Being insulted by Papelbon is like being attacked by a mouse."

"John Henry and I traded a couple of jabs good-naturedly," Steinbrenner told the Post. "So now, all of a sudden, this player, this 20-something kid who really doesn't know his way in the world, comes out with a personal insult. There's no excuse for that.

"It was nothing personal against John [Henry], nothing personal against Larry [Lucchino], nothing personal against [Terry] Francona, nothing personal against the team or the fans. It was just a general comment that is the truth. I respect the Red Sox and their fans, but the Yankees are the most popular team in American sports. Ask Jerry Jones in Dallas, he'll tell you that. That's why they want to do business with us. So it's just a fact."

Okay, maybe not Hank's best work, but not bad. Papelbon tried to let it go, but couldn't resist.

"Whatever, dude," Papelbon said. "Obviously by that comment he's trying to start something. I'm not gonna get into it back and forth. I mean, I said that because I honestly believe it. People nowadays, whether it be reporters, ESPN analysts, guys that don't play the game, don't understand what it's about. What the grind is about, what the clubhouse is like.

"I don't know why he would take it that way. I'm saying, guys that have never been on the field don't have the right to speak their mind about things that they don't know about. I'm not insulted by what he said."

Whatever, dude.

By the way, that's just about the exact face Yogi made when he grumbled at us at his museum. He really did.

Source: Hartford Courant

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