Yanks Win in 12!

The Yanks just won a tense and somewhat nutty one in Minnesota. Wang wasn't great again, and the D didn't help him. But the pen, especially Veras, Farnsworth, Ohlendorf and Mo, got big out and big out till the Yanks could put it away. Edwar Ramirez allowed a homer to tie it in the 7th and it didn't get straightened out till Abreu singled hom Damon in the top of the 12th. Needless to say it was another sort of sloppy but sort of huge win for the Bombers. Go Yanks!

Moose Hangs in There

Mike Mussina hung in there after a Shelley Duncan error lead to his being down 4-1 after 1. Fortunately Moose and tha bats came through. Melky, ARod and Abreu had three hits each, with Bobpy collecting a pair of triples. Mussina pitched six strong. Veras and Edwar were used to get through the 7th, and Farnsworth came in and gave up a homer but not the lead in the 8th. Mo worked around a really questionable walk in the 9th to record his 14th save of the year. Yanks win, 6-5!

The Giants Get Their Rings!

Tonight the Giants got their Superbowl rings at a ceremony at Tiffany. It still brings a smile to realize that Strahan and Toomer finally got their reward for all the years of effort they've give the cause. OTA's start tomorrow.

Rest in Peace

One of the funniest actors in film or TV history has left us. Back pain robbed him and us of a great many performances, no doubt, but the ones he left us are unforgettable. God bless you, and thank you, Harvey Korman. That's HEDLEY!

Here He Comes

Joba's conversion to the rotation continued tonight in a 4-2 Yankee win in Baltimore. Working 1.1 innings of 1 hit, 1 walk ball, Joba featured 98mph fastball, 89mph sliders and at least one 85 mph curveball! Jeter and ARod once again played lackadaisically. I can't fathom what is up with that. Damon, Matsui and Giambi supplied most of the hitting, with Jason adding another bomb. Melky broke out of a slump (at least lefty) with two doubles. Slaves that they remain to the save situation, Mo came in to pitch the ninth, even though Joba was cruising, had a 2 run lead, and was only halfway to his projected pitch count for the night. They did this even though Mo pitched 2 innings in last night's loss. He got the save, and Joba thre the rest of his pitches in the pen. Pettitte was shaky at time, but got the win. Go Yanks!

An Unacceptable Loss

Ian Kennedy gave up a 4-0 lead, Ross Ohlendorf gave up 8-4 lead and LaTroy Hawkins blew a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the 11th to lose the game for the Yanks. Kennedy somehow strained a lat, and will head to the DL. Ohlendorf should head to AAA, and Hawkins needs to be DFA'd. That was ridiculous. Play better.

Yanks Take a Day Off

The Yanks wasted another great start from Darrel Rasner today (6ip 1R) and stood idly by after Hawkins and Veras gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th. Veras had been looking lately, but came in with two outs and gave a single, and a three run jack to make it 6-0 after 7. Rasner deserved better support from the other 24 men on the roster.

Down on the farm, JB Cox pitched another 1.1 of perfect relief. He could be coming soon for Hawkins or Veras's spot.

What a Comeback!

Wang didn't have it today. Neither did Shelley Duncan, but the Yanks still returned to .500 today with a rousing 4 run rally in the 8th. Molina got the game winning hit, when he double in Matsui with two outs in the 8th. Edwar Ramirez relieved Wang in the 7th and worked around some unfortunate defense in the 8th to get the win. Mo came in and saved it, and the stadium went nuts. Great win! Now the Yanks are headed to Baltimore, where, with any luck they'll keep this hot streak smoking. Go Yanks!

Giambi!

I could have called this Cano! Abreu! or Matsui! too, cause they are all back and spanking the ball. Giambi and Abreu homered, Cano had 3 doubles, a single and an IBB, Matsui had a couple of hits and a walk, and it was another blowout in the Bronx today. Moose got the start and gave up a 4 run 3rd, but it was not a worry. Joba pitched a scoreless 6th and 7th as they continue to stretch him out. He looked good, but wasn't throwing his curveball for strikes today. Farnz had some bad luck in the 8th and gave up an 0-2 jack to Sexson. Veras looked good again in the 9th. The Yanks are gaining some seriously needed momentum. Betemit could rejoin the team tomorrow, which could mean the end of Ensberg as a Yankee. We'll see. Go Yanks!

Yanks Clobber Seattle

Andy provided his first quality start in a few tries, 6ip 2R, and the bats did the rest against Bedard. Shelley Duncan broke the ice with a 3 run jack, then the doors just came off for Bedard. The Yanks score 8 in the 5 and 9 of their 12 runs were charged to Bedard who only last 4.1. In general they were more patient tonight and their patience lead to an easy win against a top starter. Let's hope they keep remembering to make the other team's pitcher work. It was nice to see Andy get through a start without giving up a big inning. Hawkins worked a scoreless seventh and eighth and Ramirez worked around 2 walks in a scoreless 9th. Cano and Giambi are waking up, and that can only be good news. Go Yanks.

Yanks Win!

Ian Kennedy was impressive through 6 but did not get the win. Never the less, he worked his way out of bases loaded jam in the 3rd, and left with the game tied 1-1. The game would remain that way till Robinson Cano's 2 on 2 out base hit in the bottom of the 9th. Cano had been 0-3 with no patience to that point. The Yanks got great pitching from IPK, Veras, Farnsworth and Mo, but they were totally impatient outside of Giambi. Not good. Girardi got tossed for doing a Billy Martin imitation in the bottom of the 9th. Big win, and a well pitched game, but the pitchers shouldn't have to be this perfect given the line-up. Patience, Yankees, patience.

He's Back!

In his second game back, ARod went 3-4 with a homer and two 2B's (one of which was a homer that the umps made a mistake on) before leaving the game cause the Yanks were up 8-0. Rasner pitched 7 shutout innings, and has shown great pace and patience in his appearances so far.

The bigger news is that Joba pitched the 8th and 9th and Girardi announced after the game that this is the start of stretching Joba out for his place in the rotation. He should work 2 innings, then 3 twice, then 4, then perhaps be ready for a start. This will be huge.

System Note: Trenton scored 15 including homers from Jackson and Tabata. And the Dogs are back, winning 20-2 on the strength of a career day from Brad Baisley and lots of hits and patience from the rest of the kids. Great day for the Yanks!

No Luck At All

The Knicks once again failed to get any help at all at the NBA lottery, winding up with pick #6. Unbelievably the Chicago Bulls ended up with the #1 pick. The Knicks will get no boost out of hell from tonight's proceedings, unless the pick at 6 turns out much better than anyone is rating anyone in that range right now. Yet another sad night for Knick fans.

The Biggest Night in Recent Knick History

This is the night that the Knicks find out if they will be in a position to draft team-first point guard Derrick Rose, or whether they will really have to slog it out until cap room can be cleared, perhaps by 2010. The odds are against the Knicks moving up tonight, and though Rose is the clear prize, it's possible that the Knicks could still get a player who turns out to be great, or they could end up just trading the pick with Randolph or one of their other big contracts to start creating cap room for 2010. But, if the Knicks do end up with the first pick, they will become instantly relevant, and that would be a tremendous relief for all of their fans, and the NBA as well. Good luck, Knicks!

The Low Point?

Chien Ming Wang came unglued after Jason Giambi made yet another terrible "throw" and when the dust cleared the Mets had managed 11 runs off the combination of Wang and Ross Ohlendorf. The hitting was once again atrocious, and the defense as mentioned earlier, was similarly bad. They have tomorrow off and get ARod back on Tuesday. They showed nearly nothing in his absence, and they can't keep sucking like this.

A Text Book Loss

The Yanks once again had no patience, made outs on the basepaths, had a disastrous middle inning from their starter and managed to drive in only 4 runs, though they hit 4 homers. Farnsworth was uncharacteristically (for this season) bad, and it may have had to do with the # of cutters Moeller called. Joba was also less than he was last year, and that probably has to do with the fact that when he debuted last year he had a lot more innings under his belt than he does this year. His pitches just aren't as hard or as sharp yet and they need to start getting him ready for the rotation. It will help his stuff. Let's win tomorrow.

The Zach Attack is Back

While the Yanks lost yet again in Tampa, Zach McAllister found his stuff after a bad last outing. Zack Mac collected 11k's in just 7 innings of shutout work tonight for the absolutley decimated by injuries Riverdogs. It was another monster outing for the 20 year old who's only had one poor appearance this year. What a turnaround and testament to the work Zach and the Yankee minor league coaches put in. I think the plan is to keep Zack in low A all season, but that may have to be changed.

Big Win

Robbie Cano had four hits and Mike Mussina was once again excellent. Sheesh, ever since I sadly declared that Moose couldn't beat the Red Sox anymore he's been dominant. He's mixing stuff up and pitching inside m0re, like all of the Yankee starters seem to be doing under Eiland. The final score was 2-1, but it really was a big win for the Yanks, and it was proceeded by Hank blasting them and a 35 minute team meeting before the contest. The Yanks are now 1 game under .500 and should be getting ARod back on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. If they can just get to .500 or a game or so above while he's gone, they should be in good shape.

Dogs Note: They are decimated by injuries now, and lost again tonight 1-0. Hopefully none of the injuries are serious, but the injury rate has been ridiculous.

Around the System: Robertson and Cox are now at AAA and Melancon is at AA, so they are being aimed to help this year.

Walsh Lays the Smack Down!

Donnie Walsh just laid the smack down to Mike and the Mad Dog. In a great and reassuring interview that will be up on the WFAN site later, Walsh reiterated the fact that he would make no move that would go against his cap goals. He has those cap goals so the Knicks can enter the free agent market. He said he chose D'Antoni because he's a great coach who has turned teams around before. He explained that he's not sure that all of the Knicks are as bad as they have looked. They want to find out which of the guys can be part of a winning team. It was all rational and intelligently conceived. The Knicks are officially interesting again.

Bad Luck

The Yanks hit into 5 or 6 double plays, which eliminated any chance they had of making a game out of their 7-1 loss to Tampa. Both Cano and Giambi are hitting into terrible luck, but in general no one was having really good AB's tonight. On the bright side, Edwar Ramirez looks like he's ready to stay.

MILB Note: Dogs won, Tampa lost, Thunder were off, and SWB won the first game of their DH on an Eric Duncan game winning hit in the 10th, and are currently up in the night cap

Recalled!

Ian Kennedy has been summoned back from the minors, where he had not given up a run since demotion, to start Thursday for the Yanks. Let's hope he has his presence and command back about him.

In other news, ARod is improving but will not be back till after the Mets series.

Rasner Dazzles Again

Darrel Rasner picked up his second win in two tries today by throwing strikes instead of balls. He did give up a solo shot in the first, and was charged with another run in the 7th, as Farnsworth put out a small fire. Joba pitched a 1-2-3 8th and Mo worked around a lead off hit to wrap up his 10th save. Giambi and Cano both look like they are coming around, even thoough Cano had bad luck on two liners he absolutely smoked. Pettitte goes for the series winner tomorrow.

Knicks Hire D'Antoni

The Knicks have hired Mike D'Antoni as their new head coach. The deal may or may not be 4/24, but it would seem to mark an end to the half-court sluggo ball that the Knicks have been playing more or less since Michael Ray Richardson got swapped for Bernard King. This should be very good news for players like David Lee, Nate Robinson, Randolph Morris, Jamal Crawford, Renaldo Balkman and Wilson Chandler. To some extent this leaves everyone else, including Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph in team construction limbo.

There's some concern that D'Antoni doesn't focus enough of D, but the numbers don't really bear that out. That said, it's important that someone on Coach D's staff be a defensive techinician, because the Isiah Knicks they will be inheriting don't really know anything about playing D.

In all, it's an interesting move, but the future of this team right now depends more on how fast Walsh can get them cap flexible, and what number they get in this year's lottery, than it does on who is or isn't coaching.

Joba!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Yanks finally beat Cleveland, and looked pretty impressive doing it. Cano is waking up and had a homer and a double and Damon did likewise. Giambi and Betemit also homered and Matuis extended his hit streak. Moose was very good through 4, then allowed a three run game tying rally in the 5th. Ohlendorf pitched a scoreless 6th and 7th, and Joba came in a rocked the house, throwing serious gas and K'ing Dellucci on a wicked slider to end the 8th. He screamed, "I'm back!" as he bounced off the mound. Mo gave up a fluke double, but allowed nothing else and he continued his hot star. 6-3 Yanks win!

MILB Note: Both Trenton and SW/B have already won today, so it's on the Dog's and the Tampa Yanks to complete the sweep.

Yanks Blow One!

The offense didn't take advantage of several opportunities and Joba Chamberlain, uncharacteristally, blew a 3-2 lead by walking two guys then giving up a three run shot to former Yankee David Delluci. The homer sucked the life out of the stadium and the team. A nice start by Pettitte was wasted, and that's got to stop happenning.

Refs Bounce Rangers

The Rangers were just eliminated from the playoffs by a combination of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Refs. The Rangers will need to change some things for next season, and the NHL would be wise to as well. They're no longer in the "Big 4" of pro sports because they're officiating looks absolutely corrupt. Good luck to the Pens, and don't forget to tip your refs.

Rasner Dazzles

Okay, I exaggerated, but Darrel Rasner gave the Yanks 6 innings of two run ball today, and that's all they needed from him as they romped to an 8-2 victory. Ohlenforf, Farnsworth and Mo contributed the other 3 scoreless innings. Melky Cabrera hit another jack and Cano, who may be waking up, followed with one of his own. Jeter had four hits, and Damon continued his hot streak. The Yanks are now 1 game over .500. Go, Spanks!

Dogs NOTE: They are cruising today behind Zach McAllister, up 6-0 after 3. Montero broke out of his slump with a wall shot.

IPK Sent Down

Ian Kennedy was sent down and Brian Bruney was moved to the 60 day DL to make room for Darrell Rasner on the Yankees 25 and 40 man rosters today. Kennedy needs to get his command back, and it should be easier to do without Damon and Abreu dropping fly balls all over the OF during his starts. Bruney was coming around, but will have a hard time getting back in two months, now that Robertson, Cox and others are moving up the organizational depth chart. Let's hope Rasner can give us some innings - that's what we really need till ARod, Jorge and Phil get back.

Back to .500!

Moose, using his new, up and in tactics was masterful today as he beat the Mariners 6-1. The Yanks cuffed around King Felix a bit and Melky had another big hit. Yanks go for the sweep tomorrow. Go Yanks!

On TCM: The Naked Spur

The Naked Spur (1953) is playing on TCM this month, and you should try to check it out. The third in a series of five Westerns made through the partnership of Director Anthony Mann and Jimmy Stewart, it is a bit of a masterpiece. Mann was known for playing the actors' emotions through the atmosphere in his movies, but he is not sufficiently recognized for his perfect casting nor the utter brilliance of his direction in these flicks. In fact, they stand with the best Westerns of Ford, Hawks and Boetticher, and that is heady company indeed. Stewart is rock solid in this one, and wait till you get a load of Robert Ryan as the masterfully manipulative bad guy. A young Janet Leigh goes toe to toe with the two screen titans and is probably the winner in the end. Check it out.

Dominance!

Chien Ming Wang collected his 6th win of the young season by throwing 6 innings of 1 run ball and receiving swell relief from a dominant Farnsworth, a solid Joba, and well rested Mo. Melky Cabrera had a 2 run second inning double that stood up as the game winning hit. The O rallied in the 8th to remove Mo's save opportunity, but Yankee pitching held them to 4 hits and just the one run. Good stuff. Go Yanks!

... And Near Sighted!

Turns out Phil Hughes is also near sighted and will be sport glasses in his return to the mound. What's more, he now believes his broken rib was a the product of a mechanical glitch, that he also hopes to iron out during his June rehab starts. We should be getting the genuine article back some time in July.

Bobby Murcer is back in the booth for the Yanks tonight and he is always a welcome presence.

Swept Away

Craptastic outfield defense, and not young pitching, once again did in the Yanks. Damon and Abreu were the culprits this time as their inability to catch fly balls, turned what looked like it was gonna be a good outing by Kennedy, into a meal and a short outing. Albaladejo was poor out of pen, but the damage was done earlier, cause Damon and Abreu can't make plays on D anymore. The Yanks would be wise to call up Brett Gardner and give him a shot. This was the first time since 1966 that the Tigers have swept the Yankees in New York. 1966 was a brutal year in Yankee history. Let's not let 2008 resemble it in any other ways.

Saved!

Henrik Lundqvist shutout the Pens to stave off elimination tonight. He stopped a penalty shot and everything else that came his way. Jagr was the offensive star, netting two goals, including an empty netter and an assist on Brandon Dubinsky's goal. There's a long road ahead of them if they want this series, but tonight's was a fine performance - their first this series - in a do a die situation. Go Rangers!

Broken Rib

So they finally figured out what was wrong with Phil Hughes. He's been pitching with a broken rib. They have shut him down for 4 weeks and then will begin a throwing program that should land him back in the Bronx by July 1. If all goes well he should be able to throw without restrictions over the second half of the season and into the playoffs and World Series. Yes, I said playoffs and World Series. Feel better, Phil!