The Yanks took one on the chin last night against the Orioles, losing 9-1. Jose Contreras was terrible and Sidney Ponson was dominant. Traditionally, the Yankees have owned Ponson, but the man was flat-out impressive in the Bronx on Thursday. He was dealing. He changed speeds wonderfully and his pitches had an awful lot of movement on ’em. (Derek Jeter is 4-31 since he was struck in the hand by a Victor Zambrano pitch last week.)

Ahh, what are you gunna do? This kind of loss is easier to stomach than the extra inning affair in Toronto the night before. The Yanks are seven-and-a-half games ahead of Boston who did not play (the Red Sox visit the Twins this weekend). With the trading deadline approaching there has been no movement on the Randy Johnson front. Most of the media believe he will not be going anywhere. (What, no prospects?)

In other news, Alex Rodriguez received a four-game suspension for his part in last Saturday’s scuffle with the Red Sox. Tanyon Sturtze was hit with three games as were Trot Nixon and Gabe Kapler. Boston catcher Jason Varitek was also suspended for four games. Rodriguez plans to appeal his suspension.