Top 10 of 2008

These are top 10 Yankees stories for the year MMVIII (it's not just used for Super Bowls ya know). We could have ordered 7-10 differently, but this is what we came up with.

1. Goodbye, old friend
There's no question that the number one story was the final season in the storied Yankee Stadium that we all grew up with. Yes, there have been different manifestations of the current park, but the games were all played on the same hallowed ground.

The Yankees did a pretty great job, (player replicas not withstanding), of commemorating the year with patches on their uniforms, a somewhat cheesy Stadium countdown meter, a spectacular Old Timer's Day, and a great final night ceremony.

As for the final game itself, the Yankees won 7-3. Andy Pettitte picked up what could be his final win in a Yankees uniform. Derek Jeter gave a heartfelt speech to the crowd after the game and the Yankees took a farewell lap around the Stadium.

The new place will be great, but we'll miss the old one too.

2. I'm in Charge Here
With his health not what it once was, George Steinbrenner turned over the day-to-day operations of the ball club to his sons, Hank and Hal. Hank emerged as the mouthpiece, often shooting from the hip without thinking, but as the year progressed, it became obvious that Hal was the son who was really running the show.

3. Show me the money!
This holiday season was, hopefully, highlighted by the gifts that keep on giving. The Yankees played Santa Claus for CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, giving them contracts that will help them to form the nucleus of the ball club for years to come.

4. Seeing Stars
The Yankees hosted their first All-Star game in 31 years on July 15. Mariano Rivera recorded the final outs of the 9th inning, but it took extra innings before the AL won. The big story, though, was Josh Hamilton's incredible display in the prior night's home run derby.

5. A Different Joe
It was a new year all around, as Joe Girardi became the first manager other than Joe Torre to take the helm of the Yankees since 1995. Girardi had his ups and downs. He admittedly made a number of mistakes, particularly in his reporting of team injuries to the press and his lack of rapport with the veterans on the team.

6. A Big Loss
Bigger than any game, was the loss of long-time Yankees player and broadcaster Bobby Murcer to brain cancer. Bobby was our man growing up, and proved to be an even better person off the field than on. His courage during his illness was inspiring.

7. Bernie Comes Home
After being disappointed by not being offered a guaranteed contract for 2007, Bernie Williams disappeared from sight. He still showed up at various fund raisers from time to time, but he was nowhere to be found when it came to anything basebal-l related.

But that all changed on September 22, when as part of the pre-game hoopla for the final Stadium contest, Bernie Williams emerged, in uniform, from the dugout to a raucous reception from the crowd.

8. Big Trouble for American League Hitters
It took Mike Mussina 18 seasons and it came down to the final game of 2008, but Moose finally got his first 20-win season. Defeating the Red Sox in Fenway Park, Moose finished off a renaissance year that turned out to be his last. It took him a while to make the official announcement, but Moose had already decided this season would be his last before the season had even started.

9. CashMoney
Brian Cashman said he wanted to be back. The Steinbrenner boys said they wanted him back. But the Yankees played the entire season with a lame duck GM. Then on the final day of the season, Cashman signed a new 3-year deal that will keep him on as GM through 2011.

10. Voiceless
The final season in Yankee Stadium was not the same, because its longtime voice was not there. Bob Sheppard had taken ill at the end of the 2007 season and was too weak to work any of the Yankees games in 2008. He did make a pre-recorded announcement for the final home game and Derek Jeter used a tape of the "Voice of God" to announce all of his at-bats. Here's hoping Mr. Sheppard returns in 2009.

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To the Moon Alice

The Minnesota Twins' Justin Morneau walked away with the Home Run Derby trophy last night, but the Texas Rangers' Josh Hamilton walked away with the crowd and the television viewing audience.

Though he had clearly tired in the final round, Hamilton put on an unbelievable display in the contest's first round. Not only did he hit 28 dingers (eclipsing then Phillies' Bobby Abreu's 24 in 2004), but most of them were tape measure shots. Hamilton said he'd like to try to be the first one to hit a ball out of a Yankee Stadium (Josh Gibson legends aside), and he came awfully close. One shot hit high atop the back of the right-center field bleachers, stunning everyone watching.

Hamilton also hit the back of the black-painted bleachers in center and hit several moon shots to unsuspecting fans well up in the upper deck in right field. He hit for what seemed like 3 hours as one ball after another easily left the park. At one point commentator Joe Morgan (who was probably muttering this guy's not as good as Johnny Bench) thought he had finally made an out and the ball landed in the upper deck.

Hamilton's story has been well documented by now and you will here more about it again tonight. But he also made the classiest move of this gala by bringing along 71-yr old Clay Counsil, who threw batting practice to Hamilton when he was growing up. Counsil was nervous, but it didn't show as he poured in one strike after another (54 pitches alone in the first round) and Hamilton hit one after another into the seats.

Chris Berman wasn't even overly obnoxious. All in all, it was a great show.

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Yankees Slam Brakes on Skid

Back in the day George Steinbrenner would fire off some garbage in the press as his way of motivating the Yankees. Then the Yankees would go out and win and George would take credit for motivating the troops. Yesterday Hank Steinbrenner said "we had better start scoring runs". Hopefully he's not as delusional as his Dad, because the Yankees went out and put forth their biggest run explosion of the season in an 18-7 pasting of the Texas Rangers.

The Yankees had lead 5-3 on Jason Giambi's 13th career grand slam, but Sidney Ponson served up 2-run home runs to Milton Bradley and Chris Davis in the 6th, so the Yankees trailed 7-6 entering the 7th. Rangers manager Ron Washington brought in Warner Madrigal, making his major league debut, to start the inning. It will be a debut that Madrigal will try to erase from his memory banks.

Bobby Abreu lead off the inning with a ground double to left and Alex Rodriguez followed with a walk. Giambi pushed his RBI total to six when he hit a pitch up the alley in left-center for a 2-run double to give the Yankees an 8-7 lead. Jorge Posada followed with an RBI double into the right field corner and advanced to 3rd base on Robinson Cano's single. Wilson Betemit's ground out to Ian Kinsler scored Posada, with Cano moving to 2nd base on the play. The first out of the inning, but the inning was far from over.

After Cano moved to third on a wild pitch, rookie Brett Gardner picked up his first major league hit and RBI when he singled through the right side. He received a huge ovation from the crowd, which included his parents and family. Gardner stole 2nd base and came around on Johnny Damon's single to left, easily beating the off-line throw from left fielder Brandon Boggs.

Washington left the kid in to take one for the team, and/or destroy him mentally. Two batters later Abreu walked and A-Rod followed with an opposite field, cherry on the sundae, 3-run home run. It was A-Rod's 535th career home run, putting him in sole possession of 14th place on the all-time list, one behind Mickey Mantle. The Yankees would add two more runs off of Jamey Wright in the 8th inning, showing that, at least for one night, the slumbering offense was back to life.

Ponson blew two leads in the game. After Cano's RBI double gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the 2nd, Ponson gave it right back in the top of the 3rd inning. Michael Young tied the game with an RBI double, and then he and Kinsler scored on Josh Hamilton's 2-run single.

Really Big Sid was charged with 7 runs on 9 hits over 5 innings, proving once again that he is NOT a long term solution.

News and Notes

Edwar Ramirez (2-0) picked up the win after pitching a stellar two innings, striking out three.

Derek Jeter singled in his final at-bat, but has just 5 hits in his last 25 at-bats.

As the temperatures rise, so does Robinson Cano's batting average. After hitting .151 in April, Cano surged late in May to hit .295, then .287 in June, and so far is 4-9 in 2 games in July. His average has climbed up to .248.

Prior to the game, Joe Girardi presented Alex Rodriguez and Jeter with their Silver Slugger awards, for having the highest average last season at their respective positions.

July 2, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Texas	0	0	3	0	0	4	0	0	0		7	9	2
NY Yankees	0	1	4	0	1	0	9	3	X		18	16	0

Texas	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Kinsler, 2B	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	.323
Young, SS	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	.288
Vazquez, SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.314
Hamilton, CF	3	1	1	2	2	0	0	.308
Bradley, RF	4	1	1	2	0	1	2	.320
Catalanotto, DH	3	1	3	0	1	0	0	.291
Davis, C, 1B	4	1	1	2	0	0	3	.316
Ramirez, M, C	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.150
Boggs, LF	2	1	1	0	2	0	0	.257
Duran, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	.188
Totals	33	7	9	7	6	5	13
BATTING 2B: Catalanotto (15, Ponson), Young (23, Ponson). HR: Bradley (17, 6th inning off Ponson, 1 on, 0 out), Davis, C (3, 6th inning off Ponson, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Kinsler; Young 2; Hamilton; Bradley 4; Catalanotto 4; Davis, C 4; Boggs. RBI: Young (45), Hamilton 2 (82), Bradley 2 (51), Davis, C 2 (7). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ramirez, M; Duran. GIDP: Bradley; Davis, C. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING E: Kinsler (16, fielding), Duran (5, fielding). DP: (Kinsler-Vazquez-Davis, C).

Texas	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mendoza	4.2	4	6	1	2	0	1	4.64
Benoit	1.1	0	0	0	3	0	0	5.60
Madrigal (BS, 1)(L, 0-1)	0.1	5	6	6	1	0	0	162.00
Wright	1.2	7	6	6	1	0	1	4.63

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	6	3	3	2	0	0	2	.320
Jeter, SS	5	1	1	0	1	0	3	.279
Moeller, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.254
Abreu, RF	5	3	2	2	1	0	3	.284
Rodriguez, 3B	3	4	2	3	2	0	0	.321
Gonzalez, 3B-SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.173
Giambi, DH	4	2	2	6	0	0	1	.268
Posada, C	3	1	1	2	1	0	1	.293
Molina, C	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.233
Cano, 2B	5	1	2	1	0	0	4	.248
Betemit, 1B-3B	4	0	1	1	1	0	2	.267
Gardner, CF	4	2	1	1	1	0	2	.100
Totals	41	18	16	18	7	0	20
BATTING 2B: Cano (18, Mendoza), Abreu (19, Madrigal), Giambi (13, Madrigal), Posada (12, Madrigal). HR: Giambi (18, 3rd inning off Mendoza, 3 on, 2 out), Rodriguez (17, 7th inning off Wright, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Damon 3; Jeter; Abreu 3; Rodriguez 5; Giambi 6; Posada 2; Molina; Cano 3; Betemit; Gardner. RBI: Cano (35), Giambi 6 (52), Posada 2 (22), Betemit (14), Gardner (1), Damon 2 (37), Rodriguez 3 (47), Abreu 2 (55). 2-out RBI: Cano; Giambi 4; Posada; Rodriguez 3; Damon; Abreu 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Betemit; Cano 2; Gonzalez. GIDP: Jeter. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (2, 2nd base off Wright/Ramirez, M). FIELDING DP: 3 (Cano-Betemit 2, Cano-Jeter-Betemit).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ponson	5.0	9	7	7	3	1	2	4.18
Ramirez (W, 2-0)	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	3.10
Farnsworth	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0	3.89
Hawkins	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.86

Ponson pitched to 4 batters in the 6th.

WP: Madrigal.
HBP: Giambi (by Mendoza).
Pitches-strikes: Mendoza 88-49, Benoit 31-14, Madrigal 26-15,
Wright 42-24, Ponson 83-50, Ramirez 30-20, Farnsworth 24-13, Hawkins 9-7.
Ground outs-fly outs: Mendoza 10-4, Benoit 3-1, Madrigal 1-0,
Wright 3-2, Ponson 6-7, Ramirez 3-0, Farnsworth 1-1, Hawkins 1-2.
Batters faced: Mendoza 23, Benoit 6, Madrigal 7, Wright 13,
Ponson 24, Ramirez 7, Farnsworth 5, Hawkins 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Benoit 3-1, Wright 1-1.
Umpires: HP: Dale Scott. 1B: Ron Kulpa.
2B: Dan Iassogna. 3B: Bill Hohn.
Weather: 81 degrees, clear.
Wind: 12 mph, Out to RF.
T: 3:37.
Att: 52,659.

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Yankees Fall Flat to Rangers

It's one thing when you get beaten by Oliver Perez. It's another when the Scott Feldman and the Texas Rangers hold you to one run. That's exactly what happened last night when the Yankees wasted another good start from Mike Mussina and lost to the Rangers 2-1.

Mussina was excellent again, pitching on short rest after his start against the Pittsburgh Pirates last Thursday was called after 2 innings. He limited the Rangers to 5 hits in 6 innings of work and struck out 8, including Milton Bradley three times (Bradley would later get the Golden Sombrero).

But the Yankees couldn't must anything against Feldman save for a solo home run by Alex Rodriguez that rocketed in the Monuments area in left-center field. The Yankees only had 3 more hits off of Feldman in 3.2 innings and none the remainder of the game against the Rangers pen.

The Yankees had the first chance to score when Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi drew back to back walks to start the 2nd inning. But Jorge Posada flied out and Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera both grounded out. The Rangers took advantage of the good fortune and broke the scoreless tie in the 3rd.

Ian Kinsler, who leads the American League in extra base hits, stroked a 1-out double, and two baters later, came home on Josh Hamilton's RBI single. It was Hamilton's major league leading 80th ribbie.

The Rangers scored what proved to be the game winner in the 4th, when rookie David Murphy walked, moved to 2nd base on Marlon Byrd's slow grounder, and came home on rookie Chris Davis' double to the gap in right-center.

A-Rod's 534th career home run came with one out in the 4th and the Yankees later put the tying run on 2nd base when Posada doubled with two outs. But Cano grounded out to Michael Young at shortstop to preserve the lead.

The Yankees also stranded the tying run at 2nd in the 6th, after Brett Gardner picked up his first career stolen base, and at 3rd base in the 7th when Jason Giambi tripled with two outs. But Derek Jeter and Posada both failed in those clutch situations.

C.J. Wilson retired the Yankees without incident in the 9th to extend the Bomberless Bombers losing streak to two games. They've also lost 5 out of their last 7 games.


News and Notes

Derek Jeter's streak of 29 straight games of reaching safely ended with an 0-4 night.

Josh Hamilton's 80 RBI are the most at the end of June since Carlos Delgado, then of the Blue Jays, had 89 in 2003.

Brett Gardner was 0-3 with a stolen base in his MLB debut and showed off his blazing speed. He was removed for pinch-hitter Johnny Damon in the 8th inning.

Jason Giambi's triple was the 9th of his career.

Mike Mussina is 0-2 in his last 2 starts, despite allowing just 6 earned runs in 14 innings pitched. He's struck out 12 in the two games combined. Last night's start was the 519th of his career.

June 30, 2008

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

Texas	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Kinsler, 2B	5	1	1	0	0	1	1	.321
Young, SS	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	.285
Hamilton, RF	3	0	1	1	1	0	2	.312
Bradley, DH	4	0	0	0	0	4	5	.318
Murphy, LF	2	1	0	0	2	0	2	.270
Byrd, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.245
Davis, C, 1B	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	.333
Saltalamacchia, C	4	0	1	0	0	2	1	.215
Vazquez, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.320
Totals	33	2	7	2	4	10	16
BATTING 2B: Kinsler (26, Mussina), Davis, C (1, Mussina), Young 2 (22, Mussina, Veras). TB: Kinsler 2; Young 5; Hamilton; Davis, C 2; Saltalamacchia. RBI: Hamilton (80), Davis, C (4). 2-out RBI: Hamilton. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Murphy; Vazquez; Bradley; Byrd. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING CS: Saltalamacchia (1, 2nd base by Ramirez/Molina).

Texas	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Feldman (W, 2-3)	5.2	4	1	1	3	3	1	4.38
Francisco (H, 7)	1.1	0	0	0	0	2	0	3.66
Guardado	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3.18
Wright (H, 10)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.60
Wilson (S, 18)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.58

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner, LF	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
a-Damon, PH-LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.315
Jeter, SS	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.280
Abreu, RF	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.283
Rodriguez, 3B	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	.322
Giambi, 1B	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.263
Posada, DH	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.286
Cano, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.242
Cabrera, CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.244
Molina, C	3	0	1	0	0	2	0	.228
Totals	30	1	4	1	3	6	10
a-Grounded out for Gardner in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Posada (11, Feldman). 3B: Giambi (1, Feldman). HR: Rodriguez (16, 4th inning off Feldman, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Rodriguez 4; Giambi 3; Posada 2; Molina. RBI: Rodriguez (44). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera 2; Cano; Jeter; Posada. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (11, 2nd base off Feldman/Saltalamacchia), Gardner (1, 2nd base off Feldman/Saltalamacchia). CS: Abreu (5, 2nd base by Feldman/Saltalamacchia).

NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Mussina (L, 10-6) 6.0 5 2 2 2 8 0 3.87 Ramirez 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.33 Veras 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2.84 Giese 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.32

WP: Veras. IBB: Murphy (by Veras). Pitches-strikes: Feldman 105-60, Francisco 18-11, Guardado 0-0, Wright 11-7, Wilson 13-9, Mussina 103-68, Ramirez 9-7, Veras 24-10, Giese 10-5. Ground outs-fly outs: Feldman 9-4, Francisco 2-0, Guardado 0-0, Wright 2-0, Wilson 2-1, Mussina 2-8, Ramirez 1-0, Veras 0-2, Giese 1-2. Batters faced: Feldman 23, Francisco 4, Guardado 0, Wright 3, Wilson 3, Mussina 25, Ramirez 3, Veras 5, Giese 4. Inherited runners-scored: Francisco 1-0. Umpires: HP: Dan Iassogna. 1B: Bill Hohn. 2B: Dale Scott. 3B: Ron Kulpa. Weather: 80 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 14 mph, In from LF. T: 3:04. Att: 53,045.

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Yankees vs. Rangers - June 30

Brett Gardner makes his major league debut tonight and he's right in the lineup, in the lead off spot. Johnny Damon gets a night off as Gardner mans left field with Mike Mussina on the mound.

Here's tonight's lineup courtesy of Peter Abraham:

Gardner LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C


Mike Mussina (10-5, 3.93) has faced only a handful of the current Rangers, most notably, Michael Young (-35, .257 3 RBI) and Frank Catalonotto (26-59, .441 2 HR 10 RBI). Moose is 17-12, 3.76 in 35 career starts against the Rangers.

The Rangers have the major leagues leading RBI man in Josh Hamilton, who has been bothered by some nagging injuries lately. It's overshadowed the all-star type season from pending free agent Milton Bradley, who's hitting .323-16-49 with a 1.056 OPS.

Scott Feldman (1-3, 4.60) has faced just four Yankees, none for more than 1 at-bat. He's pitched just one-third of an inning and has allowed 3 runs.

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Interleague Weekend Recap

This past weekend we had the second set of interleague games in the 2008 battle of the AL vs. the NL.

Red Sox vs. Reds

This was the first time the Red Sox were playing in Cincinnati since the 1975 World Series. The Reds rubbed that in a little by having their World Series trophy on hand and showing highlights. But the Red Sox would take 2 of 3 this time around. Jay Bruce and Adam Dunn homered on Friday to help lead the Reds to their sole victory of the weekend, 3-1. Kevin Youkilis and Coco Crisp hit back to back home runs to take Saturday's contest 6-4 in 10 innings after Jon Papelbon allowed a game tying home run in the 9th to Edwin Encarnacion. No such trouble on Sunday as Crisp homered again, drove in 4 and Josh Beckett dominated in a 9-0 win. AL:2 NL:1

Rangers vs. Mets

The Willie Randolph death watch continued, but the Mets took 2 of 3 to help their skipper keep his job for now. The Mets won the opener on the dominant performance of Oliver Perez, who also drove in 2 runs in the 7-1 win. Saturday's game was rained out, so the two teams split a twinbill on Sunday. The Mets 8th and 9th inning rallies fell short in game 1 as the Rangers hung on 8-7. Robinson Cancel's pinch-hit 2-run single snapped a 2-2 tie in the 6th to give the Mets the nightcap, 4-2, and a series win. AL:1 NL:2

Cubs vs. Blue Jays

The Blue Jays took the opener on Friday 3-2 behind the pitching of A.J. Burnett and back to back home runs by Matt Stairs and Scott Rolen. Then Burnett told the press how he wouldn't mind playing for the Cubs and listed all of his friends on the team. We think there's a good chance J. P. Ricciardi will send him somewhere. Jason Marquis and Ted Lilly pitched the Cubs to wins in the latter two games of the series, 6-2 and 7-4. Reed Johnson got some revenge against his old team with a 3-run home run off former mate Roy Halladay in Saturday's game. AL:1 NL:2

Marlins vs. Rays

The battle of Florida went to the Rays, who took 2 of 3 at the Trop. Eric Hinske and Dionner Navarro drove in 2 runs each to win the opener 7-3, which also marked the return of closer Troy Percival. Luis Tiant threw out the first pitch on Saturday and watched Matt Garza dominate in a 4-1 Rays win. No fisticuffs with Navarro this time either. Ricky Nolasco came within one out of his first career complete game as the Marlins salvaged the finale of the series, 9-3. Nolasco struck out 12 in throwing 132 pitches. Wes Helms and Mike Jacobs hit 3-run HRs. AL:2 NL:1


Braves vs. Angels

Despite a rash of injuries to their starting rotation and freak injury to Chipper Jones, the Braves took the first 2 games of the series before the Angels salvaged the finale last night. Jo Jo Reyes beat John Garland on Friday, 5-2, with the help of that household name Gregor Blanco, who drove in 3 runs. Charlie Morton won his first major league game in defeating Ervin Santana and the Angels 9-4. Mark Texeira drove in 3 and Brandon Jones hit his first major league home run. Joe Saunders became the fifth 10-game winner when he lead the Angels to a 2-0 win. Casey Kotchman's home run accounted for all the runs. AL:1 NL:2


Dodgers vs. Tigers

Look out the Detroit Tigers are on the move. The Tigers built off their 3-game sweep of the White Sox with a 3-game sweep of the Dodgers. Armando Galarraga got things going on Friday by throwing 7 innings in the Tigers 5-0 win. Marcus Thomes and Magglio Ordonez homered. Thames and Miguel Cabrera went deep on Saturday as the Tigers outscored LA 12-7. Brad Penny was tagged for 7 runs in 3-plus innings. Nate Robertson tossed 6 shutout innings as the Tigers held on in the finale 5-4. Thames homered for the 3rd straight game and Brandon Inge went yard too. AL:3 NL:0


Pirates vs. Orioles

The O's took 2 of 3, starting with a 9-6 win on Friday after trailing 6-1. The Orioles honored members of the 1979 team, including former Yankees Scott McGregor and Grant Jackson, that beat the Pirates in the World Series after being down 3 games to 1. The Orioles trailed 7-6 in the 9th inning on Saturday after Adam Laroche hit a 2-run home run off closer George Sherrill. But Oscar Salazar hit his first major league home run since 2002 to tie it and Ramon Hernandez singled in the game winner. The O's came from behind yet again on Sunday, tying it in the 9th on Brian Roberts 2-run home run, but LaRoche's RBI single gave the Pirates a 5-4 win in 10. AL:2 NL:1


Padres vs. Indians

The Indians outlasted the Padres and the rain in a 9-5 win on Friday. Grady Sizemore homered twice in the game, 5 hours apart. The Padres took the middle game of the series with an 8-3 win in 10 innings. Tony Clark drew a bases loaded walk to break the 3-3 tie and then Kevin Kouzmanoff put the game away with a grand slam. The Padres won their threw back uglies. The Indians took the rubber game of the series behind a dominant performance by C.C. Sabathia (8 IP 10 K). Ben Francisco hit an early 3-run HR off of Greg Maddux, who dropped to 3-5. AL:2 NL:1


Twins vs. Brewers

The Twins scored 19 runs in the first two games. Friday night was a big game for Twins starter Kevin Slowey. 8 innings of 5-hit ball for the win and 2 hits and 2 RBI at the plate in a 10-2 win. Russell Branyan homered off of Joe Nathan in the bottom of the 9th to tie Saturday's game at 4-4, but the Twins struck for 5 runs in the 9th, 4 of them coming home on Michael Cuddyer's triple. It was 4, because Cuddyer scored too on Mike Cameron's throwing error. Cameron helped make up for it with a 2-run home run in the series finale as the Brewers got a good performance from Seth McClung and the bullpen in a 4-2 win. AL:2 NL:1


A's vs. Giants

The battle of the bay wasn't much of a contest as the A's swept the 3-game series at Pac Bell Park. The A's pitching dominated the series, allowing just 4 runs. Omar Vizquel accounted for the only Giants run in the opener by stealing home. Greg Smith and three relievers allowed just 5 hits and Jack Cust drove home 2 runs in a 5-1 A's win. Rich Harden topped Smith's performance with 6 innings of 1-hit, 9 strikeout ball in a 4-0 win on Saturday. Matt Cain struck out 11 in taking a tough loss. The A's finished things off yesterday with a 5-3 win lead by a strong start from Dana Eveland and Eric Chavez's 3-hit 2 RBI day. AL:3 NL:0


Rockies vs. White Sox

The suddenly struggling White Sox, coming off a 3-game sweep by the Tigers, thought they had turned things around when they rallied for a 5-4 win on Friday. Juan Uribe delivered the game winning 2-run single in the 7th. But four Rockies pitchers limited the Chisox to 3 hits on Saturday and both runs scored on White Sox errors in a 2-0 Rockies win. The Rocks took the series with a 5-3 win on Sunday as Aaron Cook won his 10th game. The White Sox had a chance in the 9th against closer Brian Fuentes when they loaded the bases with 2 outs. Joe Crede hit a pop up to shallow left that left fielder Matt Holliday and shortstop Carlos Quintanilla converged on. The ball went in and out of Holliday's glove, but the quick thinking outfielder caught the ball with his bare hand to end the game. AL:1 NL:2


Nationals vs. Mariners

This is the series that ultimately helped end Bill Bavasi's tenure as GM of the Mariners. The Nationals swept the M's in Seattle with tennis like scores- 7-6, 5-2, 6-2. AL:0 NL:3

Royals vs. Diamondbacks

A surprise here as the Royals took 2 of 3 including a 12-3 pasting in game 2. The Diamondbacks only win came on Chad Tracy's walk off home run to break a scoreless tie in the 10th inning of game 1. David DeJesus hit a grand slam and drove in 5 to take the finale 8-3. AL:2 NL:1

Final tally - AL: 22 NL: 17

In the lone intraleague series the Cardinals took 2 of 3 from the Phillies despite losing 20-2 on Friday.

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