Recycling A Thirty-Six Year Old Bad Idea

Except this one somehow worked out...

Something referred to as "Brett Tomko" allegedly threw a complete game, 5 hit shutout last night. Against the Rangers. In Texas, knocking the Rangers 4.5 behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card. Multiple sources have confirmed this outlandish tale, however I remain skeptical and will be reviewing the game via MLB.tv shortly for anything suspicious.

Since picked up by the A's, The Artist has gone 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA in 6 starts with only one poor outing, striking out 22 while walking 6. I guess he had a right to be all bitchy about not being "given a fair shot".

It was his 100th career win, which might be somewhat impressive if he didn't have 102 losses.

Just to review, Tomko gave up 12 earned runs in 20.2 innings (5.23 ERA) with the Yankees, mostly in relief, which is theoretically easier than starting and had a tiny BABIP of .230. But since moving to Oakland and pitching solely in the rotation, 36 year old Brett Tomko, owner of a 92 career ERA+ has also given up 12 runs, but in 36.2 IP for an ERA two and a quarter runs lower. He's won 4 games for a team that has gone 13-13 over that time. Damn you Billy Beane!

If I was John Sterling, I'd say "I'll tell you what, that's why you just can't predict baseball!!11!" but instead I'll just pose the rhetorical question, "What the fuck?".

Recycling A Thirty-Five Year Old Bad Idea

Good morning Fackers. This is Herb Washington. More specifically, this is Herb Washington's 1975 Topps baseball card, to which our black and white policy here does absolutely no justice (check the color photo here). You may notice that Washington's position on the card is listed as "pinch runner". He is the only man in the 59 year history of Topps baseball cards to have such a position listed on his card.

Washington was a track and field star at Michigan State University in the late sixties and early seventies. He hadn't played baseball since high school, but that didn't deter colorful Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley from signing him to be his "designated runner" in 1974. The A's used six different players as a pinch running specialists during the mid-70s, but Washington was the most famous amongst the six, and was the only one of them to never register a plate appearance nor appear in the field defensively.

In 1974 and 1975, Washington appeared in 105 games for the A's, scored thirty three runs, stole thirty one bases and was caught stealing seventeen times (64.6% SB). He appeared in five post-season games in 1974 without scoring a single run or stealing a base, getting caught stealing in both his ALCS appearances and getting picked off first as the tying run in the ninth inning of Game Two of the World Series.

So why do I bring up one of Charlie Finley's several unorthodox innovations some thirty-five years later? Well, because as I mentioned in yesterday's game preview, the Yankees added Freddy Guzman to the 40 man roster and recalled him from Scranton. Ostensibly, Guzman is an outfielder, but according to Joe Girardi's pre-game comments yesterday, he is now in the mix for the post-season roster as a pinch running specialist.

I'm trying to remain level-headed about this for the moment. With less than three weeks left in the season and relatively comfortable leads in both AL East and homefield races, there isn't any major harm in giving some lesser known quantities a look - even if that quantity is 28 years old and not really a prospect. And while in principal I don't like DFA'ing young unproven commodities (not to mention the PTBNL the Yankees still owe the Orioles from the initial deal) for guys that haven't appeared in the Big Leagues in two years and have washed out of five different organizations since then, losing Anthony Claggett shouldn't be that big of a deal - I just hope he gets an opportunity elsewhere to get his career ERA under 30.00.

However, unless Freddy Guzman proves to be baseball's version of The Flash, can cut the bag perfectly, read every pitcher flawlessly, and get incredible jumps off the pitcher and off the bat each time, I have no interest in him being on the post-season roster.

Giving a guy a look when you have a 40 man roster and essentially are playing with house money is one thing. Carrying a guy as one of twenty-five when each game pushes you closer to the ultimate goal or going home is quite another. Each of one of those post-season roster spots is precious, and they should be filled in such a manner as to optimize a team's chances of winning. Despite Freddy Guzman's considerable speed, he is not a good baseball player and his shortcomings in the other aspects of the game are not made up for by his ability to run from base to base really fast.

I understand that the Yankees have an excellent line up from top to bottom, and that the center field spot will likely be the only one to ever need a pinch hitter. I realize that resident speedster Brett Gardner may occupy that CF spot from time to time and that pinch hitting for him would remove his considerable speed from the game. I realize that Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui are likely to require a pinch runner from time to time. As Brett Gardner reminded us last night, I realize all too well that despite its inherent risks, there are certain points in the game where a stolen base can be exceedingly valuable. I realize that if the Yankees finish with the best record in the league and choose the "A" schedule for the ALDS that they'll only need three starting pitchers and can likely afford to carry an extra position player. But none of that means Freddy Guzman should make the post-season roster.

Freddy Guzman has appeared in 37 MLB games since 2004. He has stolen five bases and has been caught three times. In 95 plate appearances he has hit .213/.263/.281. He has an astounding 25.1 UZR/150 as a center fielder, but given that he's played the equivalent of 18 games there, sample size is a huge issue.

In 2,174 AAA plate appearances since 2003, Guzman has hit an unimpressive .266/.337/.356 and has stolen an impressive 250 bases in 296 attempts (84.5%). In four (four!) AAA stops this year he's swiped 45 in 54 attempts (83.3%) and has hit .223/.272/.294 in 381 PA. Without adjusting for park, that triple slash line has a Major League equivalent of about .194/.236/.251 with 38 SB in 48 attempts. For comparison's sake, Braves pitcher and former Yankee Javier Vazquez is hitting .194/.231/.242 this year and he's only about the fifteenth best hitting pitcher in the NL. In other words, save for on the bases, Freddy Guzman has no discernible value, and given the importance of offense and defense relative to base running, his excellence in this one facet of the game does not justify his presence on the roster.

I imagine the Yankees will carry 11 pitchers in the post-season, potentially even 10 in the ALDS . That would leave them with a five or six man bench. Gardbrera, Jose Molina, Eric Hinske, and Jerry Hairston Jr are mortal locks for four of those spots. Candidates for the remaining spot(s) include Ramiro Pena, Shelley Duncan, potentially even Francisco Cervelli, Juan Miranda, or any number of players at Scranton not currently on the 40 man (Austin Jackson, Kevin Russo) who are superior to Freddy Guzman.

While the remaining options certainly don't offer the speed Guzman does, several of them are not slow and offer value that Guzman does not. Pena is a sure handed fielder, provides another middle infield option for substitutions in blowouts, can play the outfield in a pinch, and is no slouch on the bases. Duncan could be a weapon off the bench against a left handed relief specialist and can the play OF corners or first. Miranda could be a dangerous bat against right handed pitching.

Guzman would be a waste of a roster spot. The Yankees will have sufficient pinch runners in the back-up center fielder, Hairston, and (hopefully) Pena. All of them offer value beyond speed on the bases. If the Yankees insist upon carrying someone strictly as a pinch runner, maybe they should consider Edwar Ramirez - at the very least he could eat up a few innings too if a game were to get out of hand.

Yanks Sweep Angels!

A one game sweep is still a sweep in my book. Well, when the Yankees win, anyway. There's no such thing as a must-win game when you are leading a team by 4 in the loss column for home field advantage, but the Yanks certainly wanted this game more than they have most of the ones they've played in recently. Rightly so, the Angels are 20-34 against them since the beginning of the 2004 season.

It certainly helped that Joba Chamberlain put forth his first respectable effort as a starter since July 29th in Tampa. He uncharacteristically didn't walk a batter in four innings while allowing 4 hits and striking out 2. Three of those were only singles but the other was a solo HR on a 2-2 curveball to Vlad Guererro in the 2nd. That was the only run Chamberlain surrendered and he appeared to be working more quickly on the mound, throwing 41 of his 67 pitches for strikes.

Both Alfredo Aceves and Phil Hughes gave up a run in relief. Aceves' put the Yanks in a 2-1 hole in the 5th and Hughes allowed the Angels to tie the game at 3 in the 8th. The Yanks picked both of them up by scoring 2 in each of the corresponding bottom halves of the inning. It could have been more in the 5th but the Yanks gave away two outs via a Derek Jeter sac bunt and a Melky Cabrera baserunning blunder in which he not only ran in Chone Figgins before he caught the ball, he got hit in the junk in mid-air trying to avoid it.

Mark Teixeira was the man of the night on the offensive side of the ball. He singled, doubled and tripled off the wall in center on an odd play where he both complained that there was catcher's interference and Torii Hunter lost his shoe attempting to make the catch.

Joe Girardi's new toy, Freddy Guzman, made his Yankees debut, pinch running for Jorge Posada in the 8th inning and advancing form 1st to third on a single.

It was one of those tight games where one team times their hits a little bit better. The Angels were 0-9 with RISP while the Yanks were 2 for 9.

Since it was a make-up game and the stands were much emptier than they would have been under normal circumstances, there wasn't much of a "playoff feel" despite being tightly contested and relatively important given the standings and the date. It was certainly a confidence builder for the Yanks though, giving them a chance to take the season series against the Angels for the first time since 2003 when they head out to Anaheim next Monday.

Game 145: Day Tripper

The Angels made their only scheduled trip of 2009 to the Bronx back at the end of April, starting a four game series on a Thursday. The Yanks took the first two, including one of their 13 walk off wins during the Friday night game, before the Halos took the Saturday contest behind journeyman starter Matt Palmer on Kentucky Derby Day. Sunday's series finale was rained out, leaving us with today's make up.

That weekend in early May however was not the last time these two teams met. The Yankees traveled to Anaheim for a three game weekend series just before the All-Star break and completely mailed it in, getting swept despite leading each game at some point. Fortunately, that series marks the last thing remotely resembling a speed bump this season, as the Yanks have gone 41-14 (.745) since.

Joba Chamberlain will oppose Jered Weaver in today's game. Joba has faced the Angels once, on July 10th this year, allowing 10 baserunners, 5 runs, 4 earned, in 4.1 innings. This will be his fourth intentionally truncated start; with any luck he'll be able to get through four innings today and be able to do it something resembling a reasonable pitch count. After a rough first inning his start last Wednesday, Chamberlain had an effective last two plus innings, retiring the final eight batters he faced. He'll look to build on that tonight.

Weaver has faced the Yankees twice this year and is 1-0 with 1.08 WHIP despite a 5.25 ERA over 12 innings of work. For his career, he's 4-1 in six starts against the Yanks but carries a 5.82 ERA against them. For the season Weaver is 15-5, leading his club in starts, innings, wins and strikeouts, and is second amongst Angel starters in ERA. He and John Lackey are the only Halo rotation members with an ERA lower than league average. He's been outstanding over his last three starts: 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 17:3 K:BB over 19.1 IP.

The Yankee bench will be a little more crowded tonight, as the Yankees did what I thought they wouldn't do, and recalled outfielder Freddy Guzman. Peter Abraham speculates that the Yanks are giving him a look as a potential post-season pinch running option. Not only do I think that's a bad idea, I don't even know if it's possible since Guzman was not added to the 40 man roster until today. To make room for him, Anthony Claggett was designated for assignment, becoming the third young, if unspectacular, pitcher the Yanks have DFA'd this year in order to make room for inferior talent. I imagine the Pirates will scoop him up just as they did to Steven Jackson and Eric Hacker. Scranton's already decimated roster is down two more bodies, but they will have Ian Kennedy available to start Game 2 of the IL Finals on Wednesday.

After today's little day trip, the Angels travel to Boston for three then on to Texas for three more. All of that is good news for the Yanks, as they're guaranteed to reduce their various magic numbers by at least one for all six of those days, whether it be to clinch a playoff spot, to clinch the AL East, or to clinch homefield throughout the playoffs. Counting tonight, the Yanks have four more games against the Angels this year. Given their troubles at The Big A over the last several years, it would be awfully nice if the Yanks can beat up on the Halos and ensure they have homefield throughout the post-season.



Bonus version with Jimi Hendrix

Tried to please her, she only played one night stands
Tried to please her, she only played one night stands, now
She was a day tripper, Sunday driver, yeah!
It took me so long to find out, and I found out

Jack Morris, Drama & Pitching To The Scoreboad

At one point during Friday's game, Michael Kay trotted out a concept commonly uttered throughout baseball, "pitching to the scoreboard". He and Al Leiter went back and forth in praise of Jack Morris, the unofficial mascot of said scoreboard pitching, saying ridiculous things like "If Jack's Morris's ERA was higher, it was because he wanted it to be higher" and "if you scored two runs, he'd hold the other team to one".

I think most people who are statistically inclined instantly dismiss the concept of pitching to the scoreboard, but it's the type of idea that would be quite tedious and time consuming to disprove. Luckily, a couple of people informed Joe Posnanski that the topic was being thrown around on the Yankees broadcast and he took a crack at breaking it down:

To pitch to the score, you would need to have your team score the runs FIRST before you gave them up, right? I mean, if you give up seven runs, and your team scores three in the ninth to win, you didn’t pitch to the score did you? No, your team saved your butt. In order to pitch to the score, your team would have to score eight runs and then you would be thinking, “Well, la la la, I can give up some runs now.” Does this make any sense to anyone?

Joe takes a quick look at Morris' record in games in which his team scored one or two runs, and (surprise!) finds that he was 5-49 with one run of support and 12-37 with two runs. He contrasts this with Burt Blyleven, who has the reputation of not being nearly as adept at pitching to score despite a lower career ERA, and finds that Blyleven had far better records in both situations.

The reason I find this interesting has nothing to do with Jack Morris; I was 8 years old when he threw his last pitch. It's that one of the things that makes baseball endlessly interesting but seemingly no one wants to admit is that, despite your best efforts, you can't really control when you succeed and fail. The difference between a flyball and home run is often a few millimeters on the bat or a fraction of a second. Guys hit home runs on pitches out of the strikezone. It's not a perfect science.

If you look at WPA, which measures the leverage at the time of each at bat, you'll see that the leaders fluctuate every year. If there is such a thing as "being clutch", it certainly isn't an indelible part of someone's character or else the same people would be atop that list each season.

Like he so often does, Posnanski really nails this point:

There’s something about the long season of baseball that encourages players to believe in jinxes and superstitions and breaks evening out, something about the days turning to weeks turning to months that inspires this closely held belief that players don’t succeed because of talent or luck or even hard practice but because of character, because of a certain courage or gallantry or substance of the soul.

Part of this the collective ego-stroking you're likely to see in any elite fraternity. The fact that these guys have all risen to the top, passing hundreds of people at every level from tee ball on up makes them extremely special. It's easy to see why they feel this way. But the in the effort to find story lines, the media propogates these ideas and inner fortitude of the players is far overrepresented as a factor in success.

Sports are often described in terms of drama. A dramatic play, a thrilling climax, a heroic performance, a storybook season. However, watching sports is infinitely better than a fictional play or movie because they unscripted and unfettered. There's no need to infuse them with contrived plot twists and ascribe the players with heroic character traits. But don't try to tell that to Michael Kay and Al Leiter.

Minor League Round Up

We don't give as much attention as we should to the minor league system here. With today being a slow day for us and the minor league seasons winding down, here's a look at a few things going in the Yankees system:

• AAA Scranton won their semifinal playoff series against Gwinnett County (Braves) three games to one and will now face Durham (Rays) for the Governor's Cup. Despite having half their roster in the Bronx right now, Scranton is looking for their second consecutive International League title, as they beat Durham in the final last year. Top pitching prospect Zach McAllister made his AAA debut in Game 4 of the semis, and picked up the win in the clincher. The best of five championship series begins tomorrow.

• AA Trenton fell short in their push for a post-season berth, getting eliminated Labor Day weekend during the final series of the regular season. Trenton's elimination is somewhat functional for the organization though, allowing them to redistribute Trenton's roster to other levels, particularly AAA, where help is needed.

• High A Tampa is tied 1-1 in the best of five Florida State League Finals against Charlotte. In a surprise move, Ian Kennedy was activated to pitch Game 1 of this series. He was due to throw a simulated game that day anyway, so apparently the organization decided to let him face live hitters instead. He went two scoreless innings, giving up a hit and recording a K. Next stop for him is the Arizona Fall League as he returns from his aneurysm.

• Low A Charleston did not qualify for the post-season.

• Short-season Staten Island is in the New York-Pennsylvania League finals. The best of three series against Mahoning Valley (Indians) begins tomorrow.

• The Rookie League Gulf Coast Yankees lost their one game semi-final against the Marlins.

Paging Doctor Goodwin

My buddy Frank spotted this rather amusing typo in the Post yesterday on our way down to the Giants game.

You guys remember Dwight Goodwin, don't you? I believe he used to play left field for the Yankings and the Vets.

And check out this guy who was sitting in front of us in section 306.

He spent 90% of the game standing up and gesturing wildly to the people behind him. I believe that by buying patterned shirt of your favorite NFL team, you thereby agree to attend every home game and act like a douchebag. Fun times though, as the Giants won by a final score of 23-17 even though they outplayed the Redskins by far more than that. Eli Manning looked sharp, completing 20 of his 29 passes to his new receiving crew. We also walked away with roughly 3 of the calendars and towels they were giving away at the door per person. The only bummer is that rookie wideout Hakeen Nicks is out for a couple of weeks with a sprained foot.

I'm still recovering from yesterday, so content may be a little fluffier than usual around these parts. Bear with me.

My Friday Night

Good morning Fackers. In the very first post I ever authored for Fack Youk, I recounted a brief meeting I had with Kevin Youkilis prior to attending the game in which Manny Ramirez hit his 500th career home run. That night, he became the twenty-fourth member of that exclusive club.

Witnessing that was the most historic event I attended in person since the very first game I ever went to: Phil Rizzuto Day at Yankee Stadium, where Tom Seaver won his 300th career game, becoming the seventeenth member of that exclusive club.

Friday night I was fortunate enough to be in the park for something that wasn't quite as historic as either of those two events, but was thoroughly more enjoyable, even if I did spend a large portion of last week making the argument that Derek Jeter setting the franchise hit record wasn't quite as big a deal as the media, particularly the YES network, was making it out to be.

If you read here with any degree of regularity, you know that both Jay and I like music a lot, and that we quite regularly weave it into what we do here. One of the things that I don't like about music is that there's a tendency amongst fans to overblow the importance of things. There's a certain breed of fan for whom every show they attend is the greatest show ever, or every new album released their favorite band is the best one yet. I think part of that is because music is a very subjective thing, but much of it is because people want to be part of something. If they trumpet up a certain performance as being historic then they become part of history.

Sports don't often fall prey to that sort of mindset. Sports are far more objective, there are winners and losers, people can tell the good from the bad pretty easily, and the historic milestones are pretty clearly defined.

Derek Jeter setting the career hit record for the game's most storied franchise is a big deal. Not as big a deal as when he reaches 3,000 hits or any hit milestones beyond that, not as big a deal as when Alex Rodriguez becomes the seventh member of the 600 home run club sometime next year, but it's a big deal.

What was most impressive to me Friday night was the crowd reaction. One of the things I mentioned last week was the possibility that the hit chase was being made into a bigger deal than it was to provide a platform for the fans to pay tribute to Derek Jeter. If that was the case, we certainly seized the opportunity to thank Jeter for all that he's done over the past fourteen seasons. Maybe we as fans just wanted to be part of history. The ovation, both in terms of intensity and duration, was something very impressive to experience in person, as was the genuine outpouring of congratulations from Jeter's teammates.

As fans of the Yankees, we get a bit a spoiled from time to time. The expectations are perpetually high, the goal each year is singular: win the World Series or the season is a failure. I'm not saying it right or wrong, but it's reality. And as we live and die with the team day in and day out for six plus months each year, it's easy to lose site of the forest while we're staring at any given tree.

Perhaps more than anything else then, Jeter's chase last week gave me cause to pause and reflect upon what we've all been fortunate enough to experience over the past fourteen years. It's not just the division titles, the pennants, or the World Series championships. In Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Andy Pettitte, we've been fortunate enough to watch the careers of a collection of Yankees the likes of which haven't been seen in generations. Jeter will go down as one the top six or eight players in the history of the franchise. Rivera is the greatest relief pitcher in history. Posada is a borderline Hall of Famer and the best Yankee catcher not named Berra or Dickey. Pettitte is now third on the team's career win list and is one of the top five or ten pitchers in franchise history.

We've been very fortunate to observe the wondeful careers of these four individuals. And I consider myself very fortunate to have seen Jeter break that record Friday night - and even more fortunate to have witnessed it without having to listen to Kay, Sterling, or Waldman put their own stamp on it. Thanks for the ticket Gripp.

CC, Melky, Matsui Spur Yanks To Win

Today's game was far closer than the 13-3 final score indicates, as the Yankees didn't blow things open until late, with an eight run eighth inning.

After taking 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI double from Alex Rodriguez, the Yankees fell behind 2-1 in the second, and then 3-1 in the fourth. CC Sabathia can really only be held accountable for two of the three runs, as Johnny Damon recorded the second out of the fourth inning, thought it was the third, and nearly tossed the ball into the stands, allowing Justin Turner to tag from second base and score.

The Yankees tied it up in the bottom of the fourth, using a two run single from Melky Cabrera to score Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano. They were threatening to plate more as A-Rod came up with the bases loaded and two outs. He took a 2-2 pitch just off the outside corner and was rung up by home plate umpire Marty Foster. A bad call, but not an egregiously bad like the call Foster made against Derek Jeter back in July.

It seemed like a dead issue until the Yankees came to bat again in the bottom of the fifth. Before Hideki Matsui could step to the plate, A-Rod was ejected, causing Joe Girardi to absolutely lose his mind and earning him an early shower as well. Girardi took his sweet time leaving the field, giving Foster more than a piece of his mind. When crew chief Wally Bell finally came to intervene, Giradi made brief contact with Bell, which could potentially earn him a suspension.

From there, Sabathia went on cruise control, allowing just two walks after Damon's mental error. The score remained tied into the sixth, when Matsui came up with one of his two big hits on the day, driving in Jeter and Damon to give the Yanks a 5-3 lead.

Sabathia exited after seven with another solid, if unspectacular start: seven innings, five hits, three earned, four walks, and just one strikeout. Phil Hughes worked around a leadoff single in the eighth and Mariano Rivera was getting ready in the pen as the Yanks came to take their hacks in the bottom of the inning. By the time the Yankees were done hitting, he wouldn't be needed.

As he did in the sixth, Matsui struck the big blow, blasting a three run homer to right to make it 8-3. Melky Cabrera added a two run double, and then the Yanks added three more on doubles from Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira.

With a ten run lead, Brian Bruney came on to close it out, sandwiching two outs between two walks. Once again, his knack for free passes prevented him from finishing an inning, as Tony Pena called on Edwar Ramirez to close it out. The Yanks avoided the sweep; we'll be back tomorrow for the make up game against the Halos.

Game 144: You Won't See Me

The Yanks will look to salvage the final game of the season's final series against Baltimore. The final meeting between these two teams this year will be a rematch of the of their first meeting, back on Opening Day, as CC Sabathia goes against Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie got the W and CC took the loss on Opening Day, then they reversed roles in a May 8th rematch as the Big Fella tossed a shutout.

For the season, Sabathia is 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.10 WHIP against the O's. He's been on a tear since early August, going 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in seven starts, all of which have been Yankee victories. Over 51.1 innings, he's fanned 63, walked just 11, and allowed only 4 home runs. Opponents are OPSing an anemic .539 against him.

Guthrie is 1-3 against the Yankees this year, with a 4.68 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. In his last four starts Guthrie is 3-1, the only loss coming against the Yankees on August 31st. Over that stretch he's posted a 1.33 ERA, held opponents to a .587 OPS, and has 15:4 K:BB over 27 innings of work.

Johnny Damon returns to left field today as the Yankees run out the "A" line-up this afternoon, with Melky Cabrera getting the start in center.

The Yankees won't see the Orioles again until next year. As for today, the Yankees will likely have a near capacity crowd, but with Derek Jeter's chase of Lou Gehrig now complete, today's game being relatively meaningless, and today being the first Sunday of the NFL season, I would imagine that fewer people than usual will be seeing the game on YES. Thankfully, the Yanks game should be wrapping up by the time the Giants and Redskins kick off at 4:15, so for today at least the viewing conflicts should be minimized.

"One Bad Pitch"

That's what A.J. Burnett chalked his poor outing up to. The pitch he was referring to was a 1-2 fastball low but over the center of the plate to Brian Roberts in the second inning that ended up leaving the yard for a grand slam. The problem is that it wasn't just one pitch and this bad start fits in a little too well with his recent string of poor outings to dismiss so conveniently.

Burnett made another mistake on a fastball to the first batter of the 2nd inning, Nolan Reimold, who redirected it to left-center for a solo shot. That pulled the O's even with the run that Derek Jeter scored after singling in the bottom of the first. The bases didn't load themselves for Roberts either, Burnett did that via a walk and two singles. He let up another single to shortstop Robert Andino, surrendering the lead before Roberts even came to the plate.

The six runs that came across in the 2nd were more that enough for Brain Matusz, who kept the Yanks off balance, allowing only 4 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings of one run ball. He only struck out 3 and induced 6 ground balls to 12 flys, but he got the job done in 106 pitches.

Melky Cabrera and Jorge Posada each added an RBI in the ninth inning but the O's walked away with a 7-3 win.

At any rate, as of 7:15PM, the Yanks lead the Red Sox by 8 games and rain is still falling on Fenway Park, delaying the start of their game with the Rays with a double header already looming on Sunday. The Angels are creeping up in the race for homefield advantage though, as they trail the Yanks by only 3 in the loss column.

Game 143: Hey Ninteen

After a late night, things return to normal for the Yankees. Although he'll be setting a new record with every hit that he collects, hype and hoopla surrounding Derek Jeter's ascent up the Yankees all-time hit list will have subsided. The game today won't take on the added feel of importance that has been palpable since the beginning of the homestand, it's just going to feel like another September game against a team that doesn't have anything left to play for.

A.J. Burnett takes the ball today and looks to build upon his last outing. He went six innings and allowed one run against the Rays and with 99 pitches under his belt at the time, might have been asked to go a little deeper had the Yanks not been leading 11-1 at the time.

That outing sprung Burnett from a stretch of 7 starts that brought his ERA up from 3.53 to 4.29 and gave him his first win since July 27th. That span was Burnett's worst of the season, but it had been immediately preceded by his best. The Yankees don't desperately need the games, but it would be awfully reassuring to have Burnett pitching well heading into the postseason.

The only benefit of being out of the picture for so a long time for Orioles fans is that it has allowed them to get a look at some of their young talent. Today, the O's serve up the Yanks with the 10th pitcher to make a start against them this year, Brian Matusz. Drafted out of the University of San Diego with the 4th pick of the 2008 draft, the tall lefty started at high A-ball this year, striking out 75 in 66 innings with a 2.16 ERA and then made the jump to double-A. Despite a drop in his strikeout rate in AA, Matusz was even better in the Eastern league, posting an ERA of 1.55 and averaging 6 2/3 innings per start. The O's called him straight up to the Big Leagues in the beginning of August and he's made 7 starts to a 5.26 ERA since then.

Like Chris Tillman who the Yanks saw yesterday, Matusz's marginal numbers this season with the Big League club doesn't mean much. He's only 22 years only and this two month stint in the Majors serves to get him some big league experience before he most likely begins next year down in AAA. Both Tillman and Matsuz are scheduled to be shut down for the season after one or two more starts.

With 19 games left in the season, the Yanks magic number is down to 14 while the O's have already been eliminated from Wild Card contention. Hopefully the Yanks can chip away at the latter figure while the O's continue to slide on down.

Hey nineteen,
No we got nothing in common,
No we cant talk at all,
Please take me along,
When you slide on down.

"While The Storm Clouds Gather..."

When Ronan Tynan launched into the forgotten first verse of God Bless America, there couldn't have been more than 500 people left in the stands at Yankee Stadium. It wasn't even September 11th anymore.

Despite a rainy and raw September evening that led to an hour and twenty six minute rain delay, the stands were jammed when the game began. The fans got what they came to see in the third inning when Derek Jeter sliced one down the first base line, which looked like an instant replay of the hit he collected to tie Lou Gehirg atop the Yankees all time hit list. Like he did on Wednesday, he tipped his cap to the stands and pointed towards his parents, but this time he was also greeted by each of his teammates at first base.

At that point, the Yankees were leading 3-1 and Andy Pettitte looked to be on his way to his 5th straight victory. Andy worked escaped a bases loaded jam in the fifth inning with the Yanks still ahead 4-3 thanks in part to a spectcular defensive play in which he deflected a tapper from Nolan Reimold and made a twisting throw to complete the force at home.

The lead didn't last long as Damaso Marte was tagged for 4 runs in the 6th inning, sending a large chunk of the crowd towards the exits. The rain delay that started in the top of the 7th inning not only sent essentially all of the fans home but most of the Yankees regulars as well. When play resumed, the Yankees fielded a team that was more likely to have taken the field in Scranton at some point this season than in the Bronx.

The Yanks lost but no one really cared. The things that would have made this game forgettable under ordinary circumstances will make it more memorable in retrospect.