Mr. August

Winfield is Mr. May. Reggie's got Mr. October. And Derek snagged Mr. November. It's time to officially tab Andy Pettitte as Mr. August. The Yankees left-hander continued his late Summer mastery with a dominant 7 innings in a must 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. The victory enabled the Yankees to gain a game in both the AL East and Wild Card races, as both Boston and Seattle lost.

Pettitte improved to 5-0, 2.06 this month, by limiting the Angels to 1 run, an Orlando Cabrera home run, and 5 hits. He struck out 6 and walked just 2 in a 95-pitch effort. And this time around the Yankees hitters made sure there would be no late inning heroics by the Halos.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 7th, the Yankees put runners on the corners with 1 out. Melky Cabrera came up with the first clutch hit of the night, ripping a John Lackey delivery for an RBI single through the right side. Lackey retired Johnny Damon but Derek Jeter delivered a big 2-out single for a 3-1 lead. on a fly out, Jeter was thrown out trying to advance to 2nd on the play to end the inning.

The Yankees put the game away in the 8th. Bobby Abreu sent Lackey to the showers with a long home run, his 15th, to dead center field. Scott Shields replaced Lackey and continued his poor performance since the All-Star break. After a walk to Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui ripped a double into the right field corner, and both runners came home on Jorge Posada's double to left. Posada was 3-4 on the night to raise his average back to .336. Melky Cabrera rounded out the inning's scoring with a liner just out of the reach of shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

After Robinson Cano's RBI single in the 8th, the Yankees turned the game over to Joba Chamberlain, who merely went out and struck out the side. He did allow 1 single, which was quite charitable. Oh, and he hit 100 mph on the radar gun, prompting oohs and ahs from the crowd. Maybe more amazing is that Vlad Guerrero was right on it and fouled it back.

...

Mariano Rivera pitched the 9th to get some work and allowed 1 run, though 2 of the 3 hits he allowed were bloopers. He also struck out 2.

Andy Pettitte is now 68-33 in his Yankees career following a loss. He's now 44-16, 3.32 in all the Augusts of his career.

The win was number 1,150 for Joe Torre, pushing him past Casey Stengel for sole possession of 2nd place on the all-time Yankees wins list.

Joba Chamberlain's performance continues to make fans push for the Yankees to get rid of the so-called "Joba Rules". He's now struck out 14 batters in 8 innings pitched.

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Tonight's Lineups (8/22)

Andy Pettitte needs to play the stopper role once again with John Lackey going for the Angels. You think the Yankees were bad last night. The Rangers beat the Orioles 30-3 in the 1st game of a doubleheader.

Here are tonight's lineups.

Yankees

J. Damon lf
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui dh
J. Posada c
R. Cano 2b
W. Betemit 1b
M. Cabrera cf

Angels
R. Willits lf
O. Cabrera ss
V. Guerrero rf
G. Anderson dh
H. Kendrick 2b
G. Matthews Jr. cf
M. Izturis 3b
R. Quinlan 1b
J. Mathis c

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Mike Mussina was 4-0, 2.84 in his 4 starts prior to his scheduled start against the Tigers last Friday. Those numbers were completely irrelevant to me, and probably, most Yankees fans. There was no reason to be excited about the next Mussina start. And sure enough, against two formidable lineups, Mussina got his head handed to him.

Last night it was like the Angels pre-game batting practice never ended as they raked Mussina all over the yard en route to an 18-9 rout. Mussina got blasted for 7 runs and 7 hits in just 1.2 innings. Every ball, hit or out, was hard hit. I think I actually heard the ball scream on one line drive. The Yankees actually managed to get within 7-5, but then the bullpen fared no better than Mussina.

Garret Anderson had a career night, homering twice and driving in 10 runs. His 2-run double in the 1st gave the Angels a quick lead. Alex Rodriguez hit his 1st of 2 home runs in the 2nd to cut the lead in half, but the Angels battered Mussina in the 2nd.

Maicer Izturis lead the inning off with a single and Howie Kendrick followed with a double, one if his 4 hits on the night. Jeff Mathis entered Monday's game with only 8 RBI before driving in 3. He added 2 more to that total with a 2-run double for a 4-1 lead. Mussina actually retired the next 2 hitters before giving up back to back RBI doubles to Vlad Guerrero and Anderson. When Gary Matthews Jr. singled home Anderson, Joe Torre finally gave Mussina the hook.

Kelvim Escobar must have nodded off from sitting on the bench so long, because he walked Jose Molina and Melky Cabrera to start the top of the 3rd. Derek Jeter got one of his patented singles to right to load the bases and Bobby Abreu brought a pair of runs home with a double. Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui came through with RBI ground outs and suddenly the Yankees were back in the game at 7-5. But it was not meant to be.

The Angels quickly loaded the bases against Ron Villone in their half of the 3rd and went ahead 8-5 when Villone issued his 3rd walk of the inning to Figgins. Torre sent for Edwar Ramirez and the kid retired the first two hitters he faced - a sac fly by Orlando Cabrera and a strikeout of Guerrero- but Anderson took him deep for a game breaking 3-run home run.

With the score 14-5 in the 6th, Anderson added insult to injury with a grand slam off of Sean Henn. The Yankees got their final runs in the 9th when Wilson Betemit, who entered for Jeter in the 7th, belted a 3-run HR, and A-Rod hit his 42nd and 2nd of the night.

...

Wilson Betemit continues to make a case for himself for playing time at 1st Base over Andy Phillips. He now has 3 HR and 15 RBI in just 32 at-bats, and a .937 OPS.

Joe Torre planned on giving Alex Rodriguez the day off on Wednesday, but considering the two losses and A-Rod's 3 HRs in 2 nights, he had better reconsider.

Garret Anderson's 10 RBI make up 1/5th of his season total of 50.

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Tonight's Lineup (8/21)

Mussina vs. Escobar

Yankees

M. Cabrera cf
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui lf
J. Giambi dh
R. Cano 2b
A. Phillips 1b
J. Molina c

Angels
C. Figgins 3b
O. Cabrera ss
V. Guerrero rf
G. Anderson lf
G. Matthews Jr. cf
C. Kotchman 1b
M. Izturis dh
H. Kendrick 2b
J. Mathis c

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Blue Print for Failure

When Alex Rodriguez hit a bullet into the left field seats last night to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead, I had no reason to think the Yankees would win the game. You might ask, "why is that?". But if you have been watching the Yankees play the Angels on the west coast during the Joe Torre era, you just nod your ahead in agreement, because you know exactly what I'm talking about.

The players change, but the outcome is the same. Take a lead, blow a lead. Come from behind, tie or take a lead, blow the game. Go to bed angry at around 1 a.m. or later. Last night, we shut it down when the Angels took a 6-4 lead in the 7th. This way we saved ourselves the joy of watching Jorge Posada tie the game in the 8th with a 2-run home run, only to lose the game in the 10th, 7-6.

When I put ESPN on this morning to watch the score crawl on the screen, I would have been truly stunned to see a Yankees win. But when the score came up, I nodded my head knowingly. Thank goodness I didn't waste my time.

The most worrisome thing that came out of last night's game was the lack of control by Phil Hughes. The Phil phenom walked 5 hitters in 6.1 innings. His fastball was 92-93 mph and straight, and was often off line. He allowed only 4 hits, but the walks got him into trouble twice.

With 1 out in the 2nd, Gary Matthews Jr. hit one back through the box that eluded the outstretched glove of Robinson Cano. Sarge Jr. busted it for 2nd and got himself a hustle double. Hughes then proceeded to walk Casey Kotchman and Howie Kendrick to load the bases. Catcher Jeff Mathis hit a rope into the left field corner for a 3-run double and and Angels lead.

The Yankees cut the lead to 3-2 on a Hideki Matsui triple and an RBI ground out by Jorge Posada, but as usual, the Yankees struggled against a pitcher they haven't seen much of. In this case that was rookie Dustin Moseley. The Yankees did jump on the Angels middle relief in the 6th. Chris Bootcheck gave up a single to Bobby Abreu to start the inning, and then A-Rod launched his 40th HR of the season.

Hughes allowed a lead off single to Kendrick in the 7th and retired Mathis on a deep fly to center, but walked Reggie Willits to put the tying run in scoring position. Torre sent for Luis Vizcaino, who asked his manager for the day off on Sunday due to a tired arm. Apparently he needed more than 1 day off. Chone Figgins singled sharply to center to tie the game and Orlando Cabrera followed with a bullet to right for the lead. The Angels added an insurance tally on Vlad Guerrero's ground out.

Posada's home run off of Justin Speier sent the game to extra innings, but it didn't last long. Kendrick and Ryan Budde stroked back-to-back doubles against Sean Henn (2-1) to give the Angels another late night win.

Darren Oliver picked up his victory of the year. Angels manager Mike Scioscia was booted in the 8th inning for arguing balls and strikes.

...

Chone Figgins continues to kill the Yankees. In 36 career games, he's hitting .318-2-16 with 9 steals, 13 walks, and 24 runs scored.

A-Rod's 504th career home run was his first since hitting a pair against Cleveland on August 11.

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Going Back to Cali

The Yankees are going to have to keep playing hard and keep winning if they want to make the post-season. This week could have a big say in the outcome. Before going to Detroit for 4 games (who makes up these ridiculous schedules?), the Yankees face a big test with their nemesis, the LA Angels. The Angels just split a 4 games series in Boston that either team could have won, but both team's bullpens blew leads.

The Yankees were swept in a May, 3 game series the last time they visited Anaheim. The Yankees took 2 of 3 at home in July, and scored 26 runs in the 2 wins. This time around, the Angels will be facing a much tougher team than they did in either of those previous meetings. Tonight's 1st game is huge with tough right-handers, Kelvim Escobar and John Lackey started the next 2 games for the Halos.

Pitching Probables

Monday - Phil Hughes (2-1, 4.44) vs. Dustin Moseley (4-2, 4.84)
Tuesday - Mike Mussina (8-8, 4.76) vs. Kelvim Escobar (13-6, 2.68)
Wednesday - Andy Pettitte (10-7, 3.80) vs. John Lackey (15-7, 3.32)


To add some depth to their Triple-A outfield, the Yankees signed veteran Jose Cruz Jr. to a minor league contract. The 11-year veteran has played with 8 different teams in the last 8 years, and was released earlier this month by the Padres.

Sunday's NY Daily News had a great article on Joba Chamberlain and his Dad, Harlan. It's a must read.

The NY Post's Phil Mushnick, never shy to criticize, ripped ESPN in today's column concerning the handling of Phil Rizzuto's death. Mushnick, felt, and rightly so, that ESPN radio used the Scooter's passing as a chance to self promote by having Joe Morgan, who barely knew him, as a guest with Michael Kay.

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Yankees End 1st Half on a It Is High, It is Far, It is Gone, Note

The Yankees ended the first half of the season on a very high note, belting 3 home runs in a 12-0 pasting of their arch nemesis, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in California in the Western Hemisphere - or whatever the hell they're calling themselves now.

Ervin Santana had beaten the Yankees 4 times in the regular season, and had topped them in the decisive game of the 2005 ALDS. But it was all Yankees today as Santana's 2007 struggles continued.

Melky Cabrera, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez stroked consecutive 1-out singles to give the Yankees a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st inning. Hideki Matsui then put the game immediately out of reach with a 3-run upper deck home run, his 11th of the season, and 3rd in the last 5 games.

Chien-Ming Wang fought of some early control problems and his perpetually torn finger nail to throw 6.1 scoreless innings. Mike Myers, Scott Proctor, and Luis Vizcaino combined for the final 2 2-3 innings as the offense continued to pour it on.

Santana started the 4th by hitting Jorge Posada with a pitch. Bobby Abreu followed with a single to right and Robinson belted another 3-run HR, this one off of the foul pole just below the upper deck. It was Cano's 6th of the season, with half of them coming in the last 6 games.

After Andy Phillips doubled and Johnny Damon drew a walk, Angels' manager finally sent for reliever Chris Resop. Melky moved the runners up with a sac bunt, but they had to hold as Jeter grounded out for the 2nd out. But that brought A-Rod to the plate and he loves Angel's pitching. When Resop hung a breaking pitch, A-Rod jumped on it, sending a few rows back in the seats in left for the Yankees third 3-run HR of the game, and a 10-0 lead. It was A-Rod's 30th of the season and number 494 for his career, putting ahead of Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff.

Miguel Cairo added a tack on 2-run double in the 7th, but this game was all about the long ball and great pitching.

...

The Yankees bounced back from Saturday's fielding nightmare and played an errorless game in the field. Wang has not allowed an unearned run in 39 starts. That's the most by any pitcher since unearned runs were charted beginning in 1913. Wang's victory was his 6th straight. He's now 36-15 in his career.


A-Rod's 30 HRs are the most by a Yankee at the All-Star break since Roger Maris' 33 in the magical 1961 season. He also now has 1,433 RBI, which puts him ahead of Yogi Berra for 55th all-time.

Proctor finished the 1st half tied for the league lead in appearances - no shock there.

The Yankees go into the break having won 5 of 7 games and 2 straight series.

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This Afternoon's Lineup

Ervin Santana vs Chien-Ming Wang

Andy Phillips returns to the lineup after sitting out 2 games with a sore neck.

Angels R. Willits lf
C. Figgins 3b
O. Cabrera ss
V. Guerrero rf
G. Matthews Jr. cf
C. Kotchman 1b
G. Anderson dh
M. Izturis 2b
J. Molina c

Yankees
J. Damon dh
M. Cabrera cf
D. Jeter ss
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui lf
J. Posada c
B. Abreu rf
R. Cano 2b
A. Phillips 1b

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Yankees Bobble One Away

Baseball is about chances. Taking advantage of those that come along. The Yankees didn't make it happen yesterday and the Angels took advantage of sloppy play by the home team to pull out a 2-1 win 13 innings.

Howie Kendrick lead off the 13th win a line double to the left wall off of Luis Vizcaino (4-2). Jose Molina failed to put the sacrifice bunt on and quickly fell behind 0-2. With the count evened up, Jorge Posada made a curious choice of pitch location. Molina was obviously trying to hit the ball to the right side to move Kendrick to 3rd. So why was Posada set up outside? Vizcaino did his job hitting the target, but Molina stuck the bat and hit a sharp grounder to the right side. Miguel Cairo made a diving stab, but bobbled and lost the ball as he got up. His hurried flip was well behind Vizcaino and rolled to the Yankees dugout, allowing Kendrick to score easily from 3rd. Cairo was given a double error on the play, his 2nd and 3rd of the day, and boosted the team total to 5 on the afternoon.

The Yankees had a chance to come back against Francisco Rodriguez (2-2) in the bottom of the 13th, but this game was about failed chances. With one out, Cairo attempted to redeem himself by ripping a single to left and stealing 2nd. A high fastball eluded Molina and went to the backstop for a passed ball, allowing Cairo to reach 3rd. Johnny Damon walked to put runners on the corners with just one out.

But Melky Cabrera was clearly overmatched against K-Rod and struck out for the 5th time on one of the right-hander's tough breaking pitches. Joe Torre may have been second guessing himself after the game for choosing not to put on a squeeze play, safety or otherwise. That left it up to the Captain, but Jeter grounded out to Kendrick to send the fans, who had arrived early for old-timers day, home unsatisfied.

The Yankees took a 1-o lead off Angels' starter John Lackey on 2nd inning doubles by Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu. But the Angels quickly tied it up against Yankees' starter Roger Clemens when Garret Anderson doubled and came home on a couple of ground outs, Jeff Mathis picking up the RBI.

....

Clemens went 8 innings for the 2nd straight start. In those 16 innings, he's allowed just 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and has struck out 7.

Lackey struck out a career high 11 batters. The Yankees struck out 14 times in all.

Alex Rodriguez, who went 0-4 with a walk and 3 strikeouts, announced after the game that he would be attending Tuesday's All-Star game in San Francisco and hoped to play.

After Friday's 14-9 scorefest, the two teams went just 16-90 and left 33 men on base.

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Yankees Outslug Angels 14-9

A Yankees lineup with A-Rod is a lot better than a lineup without him, especially when the Yankees starter and bullpen allow 9 runs. Alex's 29th HR helped push the Yankees past their nemesis, the LA Angels, 14-9 in front of a raucous Yankee Stadium crowd.

The Yankees seemed to have the game in hand early, battering Angels' starter Bartolo Colon for 7 runs in 2 plus innings, and Andy Pettitte pitching for the Bombers. But Pettitte, who was absolutely thrashed against the Oakland A's last Sunday, wasn't much better last night. He allowed 5 runs through the first 5 innings, but with a 9-5 lead, Joe Torre stuck with him in the 6th.

But Robb Quinlan lead off with a single and scored on Gary Matthew's double. Garret Anderson's infield single was misplayed by Miguel Cairo allowing Matthews score, and ended Pettitte's night. Torre decided to throw Edwar Ramirez into the mix, because Luis Vizcaino was unavailable due to a bruised knuckle on his pitching hand. But K-Ram was not nearly as effective as he was in major league debut.

After Macir Itzuris drew a walk, Jose Molina bunted the runners over. K-Ram k'ed the slumping Reggie Willits, but left a fastball up in the zone and Chone Figgins singled up the middle to tie the game at 9-9.

Chris Bootcheck came on for the Angels in the home half of the 6th and walked Johnny Damon. Damon stole 2nd and advanced to 3rd on Melky Cabrera's single to center. When Matthews bobbled the ball, Damon quickly raced home with the go ahead run. Two batters later, A-Rod hit a frozen rope that landed in the left field seats about 2 seconds after he hit it for a 12-9 lead. The home run was career number 493, tying him with Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff on the all time list.

Scott Proctor saved the game and K-Ram when the rookie allowed a lead off double to Orlando Cabrera in the 7th and later hit Quinlan. After throwing a wild pitch, Proctor struck out Matthews and Anderson to finish the Angels off. K-Ram was awarded the victory, his first major league win. Not a bad week for the rookie.

Mariano Rivera started warming up in the bottom of the 8th but sat back down after Cabrera and Derek Jeter delivered RBI singles to increase the lead to 14-9. Ron Villone pitched a 1-2-3 9th to give the Yankees their 4th win in the last 5 games.

~~~

The Yankees had a season high 19 hits with Cabrera, Cano, Posada, and A-Rod getting 3 each.

The Yankees had a run wiped off the scoreboard when 3rd Base ump Doug Eddings ruled Cano missed 3rd base.

Andy Phillips was in the original lineup but wrenched his neck fielding a ball during batting practice, and was a late scratch.

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Tonight's Lineups (7/6)

Angels R. Willits rf
C. Figgins 3b
O. Cabrera ss
V. Guerrero dh
R. Quinlan 1b
G. Matthews Jr. cf
G. Anderson lf
M. Izturis 2b
J. Molina c

Yankees
J. Damon lf
M. Cabrera cf
D. Jeter ss
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui dh
J. Posada c
B. Abreu rf
R. Cano 2b
M. Cairo1b

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Yankees vs. Angels Preview

The Yankees just finished up taking 3 of 4 from their favorite whipping boys, the Minnesota Twins. The Yankees have had their way with the Twins in both the regular and post-seasons for several years now. But this weekend the Yankees become the Twins and the Angels become the Yankees. The Halos have been kicking our butts for some time now, including the 2002 and 2005 division series. This is NOT the series the Yankees needed in trying to get back on track as the All-Star break approaches.

Pitching Probables

Friday - Bartolo Colon (6-4, 5.79) vs. Andy Pettitte (4-6, 3.77)

Colon started like a house afire. After being shut down early in '06 due to arm problems, Colon didn't make his first start this season until April 21. After his 1st six starts, Colon was 5-0 with a 3.69 ERA, but he has struggled since. In his 7 starts since mid-May, Colon has just one win while posting a 7.91 ERA.

You can bet Alex Rodriguez will do everything he can to get into tonight's lineup. A-Rod is 20-45 (.444) with 8 HRs and 17 RBI in his career against Colon.

Andy Pettitte is coming off of one of the worst outings of his career. He didn't make it out of the 2nd inning this past Sunday, allowing 8 runs (7 earned) to the Oakland A's. In 20 career starts against the Halos, Pettitte is 11-6, 3.79.

Saturday - John Lackey (11-5, 3.04) vs. Roger Clemens (2-3, 4.26)

Prior to Saturday's game, the Yankees will host their 61st annual Old-Timers Day. Paul O'Neill will be making his 1st appearance as will Ken Griffey Sr., Jess Barfield, and Homer Bush. Also on hand will be Diane Munson, widow of The Captain, Helen Hunter (Catfish's widow) and Billy Martin Jr.

Some of my best memories as a kid were going to the Old Timer's games in the early 1970s. Amazing how many legends were there then and how few are left now. But Yogi and Whitey will be there. It's unlikely that we will see the Scooter.

When the nationally televised game starts on FOX at 3:55, Lackey will be making his 11th career start against the Yankees. The big right-hander has struggled, going 4-6, with a 5.35 ERA, compared to his career ERA mark of 3.91. Derek Jeter (.333), Johnny Damon (.333) and Melky Cabrera (5-10) have all enjoyed success against him.

Roger Clemens is coming off of his magnificent start on Monday, in which he limited the Twins to 2 hits over 8 innings. He really needed it after 2 very poor starts prior to it. Clemens is 25-8, 2.40 in 41 career starts against the Angels. This is an Angels team though that boasts one of the most productive lineups in baseball.

Sunday - Ervin Santana (5-9, 5.35) vs Chien-Ming Wang (8-4, 3.58)

Santana is teetering on the edge of not being part of the Angels rotation. With Joe Saunders available, the other Johann Santana (he changed his name) went 28-16 in his first two full season in the majors. But the league is hitting .284 against him this year and he's already allowed 21 HRs, matching his total for the entire 2006 season. The Yankees have yet to solve him though as Santana has won all 4 of his career regular season starts while posting a 3.47 ERA. Derek Jeter has had the only success, going 5-10 with 2 HRs.

The Wanger is coming off a strange 7 shutout innings start in which he really did not look that good. That busted fingernail on his pitching hand really seems to be effecting him and the Yankees hope that the time off during the break will help it to heal. He has had one career start vs. the Halos, and was on the losing end after allowing 3 runs in 8 innings.

~~~

Doug Mientkiewicz and Darrell Rasner will be heading to Tampa next Monday to begin a rehab assignment. As previously mentioend, Phil Hughes will be doing likewise.

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Bedeviled Again

Was there any doubt, albeit with the worst called 3rd strike in history, that the Yankees wouldn't rally for a win on Saturday? Was there any doubt that they wouldn't on Sunday either. You take the combination of the Angels, who the Yankees just can't seem to beat, add in a team that has no grit, no fire, and basically sucks at the moment, and it all adds up to another loss and another game further back in the loss column.

Mike Mussina looked like a man on his last leg, or in his case, his last arm, in his last 2 starts. Yesterday he had what it took against a free swinging Angels that was off-balance all afternoon. In fact he struck out the first four batters of the game for the 2nd time in his career. Everything was great until Mussina was removed from the ball game.

Wil Nieves, who had 1 hit this season entering Sunday's action, had a pair of RBI singles and the Yankees lead 2-1 after 6. After striking out Gary Matthews Jr. to start the 7th, Mussina's 95th pitch was ball four to Casy Kotchman. Joe Torre called on Scott Proctor, who in the grand tradition of the 2007 bullpen, threw grease on the fire.

Howie Kendrick doubled into the left field corner to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Torre decided to keep the infield back, conceding the tying run to not allow a bigger inning. The only problem is that the ball has to be put in play for that to happen.

Proctor walked Mike Napoli to load the bases. Then pinch-hitter Erick Aybar had a tremendous at-bat, finally walking to force in the tying run. One thinks after giving up a double and back-to-back walks, a call to the bullpen may be in order. But Joe Torre can mismanage as well as anyone and he left Proctor in one batter too many. Chone Figgins drew another walk to force in yet another run and the Yankees were in a 3-2 hole. Torre finally sent for Brian Bruney, who surrendered a sac fly by Reggie Willits before ending the inning.

Trailing 4-2 in the 9th, the Yankees tried to mount a rally against Francisco Rodriguez. Bobby Abreu lead off with a walk and pinch-hitter Jorge Posada followed with a single. Johnny Damon's ground out moved both runners up, giving the Yankees 2 shots to tie the game. Though Nieves had been removed from the game when Damon pinch-hit, Torre HAD to go to a pinch-runner with the incredibly slow footed Posada on 2nd. And of course he didn't.

Melky Cabrera's hard liner to right nearly went over the Tommy Murphy's outstretched glove. Instead Abreu scored and Posada moved up to 3rd. That left it up to the captain. Derek Jeter had a hard fought at-bat against K-Rod, but finally flied out to deep right-center to end the ball game and drop the Yankees to just 1 game from the basement.

~~~

Derek Jeter had his 19 game hitting streak end on Saturday, but came right back with a hit in Sunday's game. He's had a hit in 40 of 42 games.

Robinson Cano doubled to extend his streak to 11 games.

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Yankees vs. Angels Preview

The Yankees face another test this weekend when the Los Angeles Angels come to The Stadium. It would be nice to get some more momentum going after winning 3 of the last 4 from the Mets and Red Sox. But the Angels have proven to be a pain in the ass in this decade. In addition to the playoff eliminations in 2002 and 2004, the Yankees, with 2003 being the exception have pretty much sucked wind against the Halos since 2000.

2006 4-6
2005 4-6
2004 4-5
2003 6-3
2002 4-3
2001 3-4
2000 5-5

Luckily for the Angels, they play in the weak AL West, where its going to be between them and the A's for the division title. Texas and Seattle pretty much stink and won't be much of a factor.

Outside of Vlad Guerrero, there's not a whole lot going right for the Angels when they're at the plate. On top of that, regulars Garrett Anderson, Chone Figgins, and Howie Kendrick have all spent significant time on the DL. Anderson is still out and Figgins (.133, 3 steals) appears to not be fully recovered from the fractured fingers he injured in spring training.

Bartolo Colon won his first 5 starts before losing yesterday's game. A-Rod will certainly miss him facing him - he's hit .444-8-17 in just 45 at-bats. John Lackey is the ace of the staff with 7 wins and a 2.38 ERA.

Brendan Donnelley, long a mainstay of the Angels pen is now in Boston, but Francisco Rodriguez and Scott Shields still form quite a 1-2 punch (though Shields has struggled at times this season).

Probable Pitchers

Friday - Jered Weaver vs. Tyler Clippard
Saturday - Kelvim Escobar vs. Chien-Ming Wang
Sunday - John Lackey vs. Mike Mussina

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