1.  Just like last night, someone is due:

Unit vs. D-Rays in 2005:
10.1IP, 14H 13R 12ER 5HR 1BB 11K 10.45 ERA 1.45 WHIP

Unit vs. everyone else in 2005:
149IP, 149H 70R 64ER 19HR 31BB 141K 3.87 ERA 1.21 WHIP

If the Big Unit can keep the ball in the park, I like our chances. Bet he's pissed about his last two starts against these guys, and mows 'em down tonight.

2.  Did Michael Kay really just say that "even the number 9 hitter, Tony Womack, is difficult to retire"?!?

3.  Seriously, what does Sojo have to do to get canned? How many guys does this guy get thrown out at the plate with less than 2 outs?

4.  And I grant, having Womack on deck with one out is nearly the same as 2 outs, but still....

5.  There sure seems to be a lot of first-pitch swinging going on with the Yankees tonight. Why change the patient approach? If the scouting report says to swing at Waechter's first pitch, it doesn't seem to be working out all that well.

6.  OK, having just watched Womack fail to get Flaherty to 3rd with no outs, can we BB readers all sign a petition that is then sent to Torre/Cashman to tell them once and for all that this is the most worthless waste of lineup spot in the major leagues?

Why is he still playing so much? This is insanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grrrrr...

7.  Why is Eduardo Perez still hitting home runs off of RJ? I thought Johnson was pitching around him with the 3-0 count. Then came the meatball.

3 of Perez's 8 homers on the season are off of Johnson. Ugh.

8.  The Johnson keeping the ball in the park question has been answered.

9.  Big Unit looks like is in need of a big lead.

Paul, you can sign this one:

http://www.petitiononline.com/Womack/petition.html

10.  Ok, seems like today the Yankee offense took an off-day or just seemed determined to end the game early by swinging as freely as possible.

Let's just hope we hold onto this lead in the ninth. Hopefully, Mo will pitch.

11.  i can't remember the last time i rooted for the detroit tigers this hard.

12.  Shoot me now.

13.  That was fan interference, but Mo's problems are the result of Torre using him for every save situation no matter what the game situation is.

14.  This one is on the offense, with a helping hand from Sojo.

15.  It ain't over 'til it's over.

16.  So is Mo hitting the wall or what? It seems like every game against the DRays someone I've never heard of is going off on Randy Johnson or in this case Mariano Rivera...how is this possible?

17.  I'm calling an A-Rod or Godzilla walk-off...

18.  I guess it wouldn't be a walk-off, would it?

19.  Of course, the offense missed tons of oppotunities, but that doesn't excuse Torre's habitual misuse of the pen. He had a sub .500 record as a manager before he got here for a reason.

20.  Tigers enter the 9th against the Sox up 3-2 and give up a HR to tie the game. Yankees enter the 9th up 3-2 and give up a HR to tie the game. A Friday the 13th Deja Vu all over again.

21.  The ghost of Jeffrey Maier strikes Mo.

Why not PH Giambi for Tino? Am I missing something? Injury?

22.  You're missing the fact that Crosby would follow and if nothing materialized, a liability would then be in the field.

23.  Why didn't Torre argue about the interference on the HR? Was he up?

24.  I have no idea how we became free swingers today. Were we returning them the favors for yesterday when they swung at every offerings from Wright?

25.  Um, by the way, the Red Sox are now up 8 to 3 in the 10th.

26.  So we have Bubba Crosby up to hit. What a sight.

At least they replaced Flaherty with Posada, which means we are now stuck with Womack hitting ninth.

This just gets better and better.

27.  What about PHing Giambi for Womack, and switching Sheffield to RF?

28.  Yeah, make that 10-3. Neat. Does Ortiz ever do anything but hit big homeruns?

29.  You would lose the DH, but I would do it.

30.  The Red Sox pitching stinks, so every HR they hit is big.

31.  Embree? Ugh.

32.  Gee, Alan Trammell bringing in his 4th string closer just because it was his assigned role while the starter was pitching well has to make Bill James a very happy man. What a joke.

33.  Good thing Small is in the pen!

34.  This is what happens when they squander opportunities like they did today. I think they took it easy, but of course maybe they thought they could hit off everything Waechter pitched.

And now our captain flies out on second pitch. Great!

35.  I know, but he hits one in the ninth to tie it, then another in the 10th...and it seems like he does that once a week (at least). If we can get to the 12th, we need our 0 for 10 MVP's to step up.

36.  Yeah, with Leiter going tomorrow, this is a bit more of a must-win.

37.  I hate extra inning games on the road, especially ones where Alan Embree is pitching the bottom of the 11th.

Well no matter, I have full confidence that the Tigers can score 8 runs in the bottom of the 10th. Ugh.

38.  That's why Small isn't pitching now. He is the shadow starter for tomorrow.

39.  Crawford doubles, so to win all the D'Rays have to do is to get a hit off Scott Proctor. And Crawford can steal at will.

This one looks gone.

40.  a f*@!n balk?!??!?!?! this hurts.

41.  Who needs to steal? The Yankees are giving bases away tonight.

Can you say "sac fly"?

42.  Memo to George: Fire Torre tonight.

43.  Walk Perez.

44.  Well at least the Tigers managed a grand slam to make it close. One out to go for them.

45.  No...don't do it Proctor...throw strikes...

46.  Thanks, Torre.

47.  Nice! Way to lose.

48.  These guys don't deserve to make the playoffs. Awful game.

49.  If Small was being held for Leiter, why exactly is Leiter in the rotation and Small in the pen? If Torre has that little of faith in Leiter, why start him now?

That said, our offense spit the bit tonight, they had a blowout on their hands and pissed it away.

50.  The offense was awful (although Tino was safe at the plate), but every August Mo wears down from overuse. I had a bad feeling when he entered the game.

51.  I don't care what Perez has done against the Yanks this year or tonight - why intentionally walk him? You're talking about a guy with a career OBP of .325, a career AVG of .247. I don't care if he has a 1.317 OPS against the Yanks this year (not including tonight) - its in 10 freakin' at-bats!

In a tie game, you don't put guys on base intentionally!

To me, this is Torre's worst offense from tonight. Mo has been absolutely brilliant this year. The plexiglass principle applies - he was bound to give up a homer in a bad spot sooner or later. I don't think his use has anything to with it.

Torre's second biggest offense is his continued use of Tony Womack. Put in a guy who is at least replacement level - there are hundreds of them in AAA - and I think the Yanks score a lot more than 3 tonight.

52.  I'm thinking a fire Torre petition would render that Womack one obsolete.

53.  I had not problem walking Perez, although I understand the counter argument, and it may well be more persuasive, but no way I IBB Huff.

Playing Woemack is a joke.

54.  FWIW, in his career, Mo has a 2.33 ERA in August for his career, in 116 games (more than any other month), with 142.2 IP (more than any month except July). Also, FWIW, last year in 12 August innings, Mo gave up 6H, 2BB, and zero runs.

55.  I can't dispute those stats, but he does go through a funk almsot every season following overuse.

56.  Last year it was in July:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlbhist/players/splits?statsId=5400&type=pitching&year=2004

3.52 ERA

57.  this stuff is getting really old from Torre and his partner-in-crime Stottlemyre. On Perez's first homer...3-0, why lay in a 90MPH nothing get-a-strike fastball? Do you think that Piniella seriously started Perez because of his OBP? There was absolutely no chance that Lou would not let him swing away there. The guy has 4 or 5 lifetime HRs against Unit. Only brain-dead pitching coaches and managers would figure that Piniella's priority in that spot was to work a walk in order to bring up a lefty (Huff). Gawwwwdddd! What morons! Finally, walking the bases loaded really accentuates Scott Proctor's best attributes as a pitcher. We all know he has impeccable control and can induce a ground ball anytime he wants. Sheeeshh! Is Torre trying to kill Proctor's career? Rich, you're right but it'll never happen. The Torre defenders would be up in arms. We go down with the ship. That's it.

58.  well, it's just about reached that tipping point for me. I've sat quietly and on the sidelines as the constant complaining about Torre's management has gone on. I've often disagreed with the critics and at times I've silently nodded in agreement.

Tonight, I have to end my silence. IF THE YANKEES LOSE THE DIVISION BY ONE GAME, THEN TORRE IS SOLELY TO BLAME. Hell, if they lose by more than 4 games his half-dozen or so brain-freezes are to blame.

WHY? WHY Joe? Why do you intentionally walk Aubrey Huff with 2 outs and a young pitcher on the mound who sometimes has problems throwing strikes? Why don't you just hand the win to the DRays...oh, I forgot, YOU JUST DID!

This is inexcusable!!! Absolutely ridiculous and idiotic! This may very well be the worst loss of the season for the Yanks and could be the beginning of the end.

Joe, thanks for the memories, but you've just about lost all my trust as the manager of the Yanks.

59.  F-Rod should have pitched the 11th. Not a second guess.

60.  "It's not an enviable position, but you still have to do a better job," Torre said. "He has a chance to get somebody out if he throws it down the middle. If he walks, you can't."

And Joe throws Proctor under the proverbial bus. Was that your exact advice Joe? "Ok, Scotty, we're going to walk the bases loaded, then you send one down the middle and see what happens."

With that said, I think the jumpy offense had a lot to do with Waechter being successful and not allowing many runs. Only Cano(!) and Posada walked out of the bunch and there were 14 one-pitch at-bats. Not showing the patience necessary to grind down the opposing pitcher. But Joe f'ed up big time too.

61.  Speaking of which, what's with Jeter's recent propensity to swing at the first pitch?

62.  It's often said that great coaches, like Parcells or Riley, adjust their system to fit their personnel, rather than to force their players to implement a system for which they are not well-suited.

Torre's quote indicates that he does the opposite. He asks his players, in this case Proctor, to do things that they are not well-suited to do, rather than adjust his strategy to fit Proctor's skillset.

Consequently, he is a lazy, overpaid fraud.

63.  Well that sucked.
And I've always hated walking the bases loaded, which is a stupid thing to do, even if a lot of managers do it.