A-Rod's actually at DH tonight. 2 players at the hot corner would mean we're really in the 3rd basement! ; )

the Darnell McDonald era in pinstripes is now over. (or ovah.)

Big guy remembers how to do it.

Nice start for CC

How cute was CC?! Aaaawww!

Welcome back, C.C., go get 'em.

Youk scores in the top of the first. Jon Lester not looking good (four batters, three hits).

Another lead off hit for Derek.

Lester about to throw his 25th pitch, only one out so far...

A K/CS DP gets Lester out of the inning, oy veh. 27 pitches, two runs, but it could have been worse (a disaster, in other words).

Damn, Rob.
Glad he's on our team, is all.

Philip Humber (he of the perfect game in April and many piles of crap since) also struggles. Jacoby (I'll call him by his first name just for you rbj) and Crawford each single and steal, and A-Gon singles too, and the Vermilion Hosiery are tied with the Wan Hosiery.

[11] Thanks!

Lucky 7 spot indeed.

He do, Mr. Jones!

SAVE THE BONES!

Another 3 or more game to add to the Yankee streak.

[16] That's runs.

WTF?

NO PLAYS.

NO PLAYS.

DO NOT PUT ON ANY PLAYS.

[18] World Tennis Federation?

Good work big boy.

So Hughes and CC pitched (so far) 10 innings these two days, and gave up six hits between them. All six hits for extra bases.

Oh, uh, great base running, Mark.

Jesus. They need base running camp.

Nice hit Alex, but hit 'em where they ain't.

Looks like CC is right on the beat after his 20 days off. He's got a lot of groin to pull...

The extra base hit streak ends.

A play that worked.

[15] I keep thinking that was either inspired by Nat King Cole or Zorak from SGC2C...

The Greek God of Walks takes one over the Monstah for a 3-run dingah.

No "yooooooook" from the Fenway Faithful this time.

Aw my gawd, Lestah.

[26] I know who Nat King Cole was.

Lester's all done after four innings.

CC is in cruise control.

[29] Aww. Am glad I can go back to not caring about his pitching.

CC doesn't want to come out. But in this case I approve of Joe's move.

Taking the big man out of the game now was the right thing to do. The bullpen has to hold it for his win.

CC..he's just really good. When is the last time the Yanks had an "ace" like him..Gator? Of course, Guidry was about half the size of CC..

[34] Clemens?

Welcome to the Show, Gose. Ugh, mix'n'match.

[34] Clemens..but he was much older. I mean an in his prime "ace".

Oh, and Clemens was a total d-bag, asswipe, blockhead. CC & Gator "seem" like really good guys.

[36] Yes, the game was going much too fast.
But, it worked out nicely. Boone looks good.

[37] Oh, you didn't specify non-asswipe. (Always reminds me of that SNL sketch with Nick Cage.)

Uh.
O'Neill thinks if there were a team in Mexico City, maybe all the Latino players would want to be on that team instead of the Yankees.

Paul was very good at baseball.

HA!

Derek shoulda tried for third. We don't need the run and a triple would have been cool!

Jays defense exposed this inning.

Join the party, Curtis!

[39] Oh dear..Paulie was indeed good at baseball.

Can't they just make it a Kay/Cone/Singleton booth for next season?

RIYank, I remember that skit too. Wouldn't mind a Caribbean team, playing in Puerto Rico, Cuba (with a change in government) and the D.R.

[39] Cone needs to be there to up the IQ in the booth. Where's Singleton been?

Wow, our win expectancy is 1, according to the historical data!

[45] The flights (the airports), the heat, the infrastructure. It will be a long time before Cuba, the DR, or even Puerto Rico could support a competitive MLB team. Just the salaries alone.

I think Mexico City might be first to reach that level. But even there, the best soccer players are poached for the European leagues.

Lots of insurance this inning.

[48] Mexico City: sure, but that's because the European leagues are the best leagues in the world. We're talking about a baseball team that would be in the best league in the world. There would be no team to poach the players.
Mexico City would also sell a lot of tickets (it's an enormous city).

Oh, good, Chad Qualls.

[50] Forget Mexico City..it's inexcusable that MLB has essentially given up on Montreal, given the size, uniqueness, and long baseball history of the market.

[51] What is the apparent fascination with Qualls? Is this a sneaky effort to get Soriano a save chance?

[48] I was thinking of a 20-41-20 home schedule, which is Brutal, but we've gotten so many good players from the islands that I'd like to reward them somehow.

[52] Well, all the Canadian players would want to play there instead of on the Yankees. Especially the Francophones. I don't want to lose Russell! [53] I don't know. It's inexplicable.

Hanging Chad. Well, he gets away with just one run, so that's a success. I'm going Mattpat on this one and wishing he'd given up two.

Carl Crawford has three hits tonight. It's a good night for CCs. (But Carl's teammates have sucked. I think Papi is pleased, actually. "What are you motherfuckers gonna do without me, huh? One-year-contract this, bitches.")

[50] I concede your point about the European leagues being the best, but futbol is huge in Mexico with a lot of competitive teams. The stadiums are full, but the teams can't compete with the European salaries and the players follow the money.

It would take the super-rich elite in Mexico to run the baseball team at a big loss to keep pace with the US teams.

Crimson Hosiery score three in the eighth to close the gap to two. Kelly Shoppach pinch hitting for Saltalamacchia hits a two-run homer!

[57] You really think so? I don't agree. I think they'd have more revenue than the Twins. Of course, they'd get all the profit-sharing, and I bet they would get big television revenues -- yes, the tube-watchers there have a lot less disposable income than Minnesotans but there are waaaaaaaaay more of them. And they would sell a shitload of merchandise.

Hanging Chad Qualls, ladies and gentlemen.

Ah, Soriano is warming. [53] Sneaky, sneaky Chessmaster!

Can we be done with Chad Qualls now?

[61] Rapada still has to put somebody on base.

[59] Could be. I guess a Harvard Business School study is in order. There are 25+million people in the Mexico City market, but how many can afford $10 beers and $30 t-shirts?

In Pesos, Arod would be making about 450 Million a year.

There it is!
Soriano must be pleased.

[64] They couldn't hire A-Rod. But neither can the Twins.
Right, probably not many $10 cervezas, but maybe they could sell twice as many at $6.

[65] I'm not sure I've ever seen pleased Soriano

[67] He likes to take his clothes off. But as Jermaine Stewart says, "we don't have to take our clothes off to have a good time".

Easy peasy.

[68] Oh..you just made me spit out my wheat tea as I convulsed in laughter. Beautiful!

[70] Wheat tea! Breakfast of Champions!

[68] "We can laugh and sing and drink some cherry wine."

What the hell is "cherry wine"?

[70} Between the wheat tea, the raw horsemeat, and that weird fermented porridge, I would get skinny in Japan.

[70] Wheat tea? You me mugicha? I thought it was barely tea. I love mugicha.

[71] 麦茶！
[72] Wondered about that for years. I'm thinking it can't cost more than $4 a gallon?

[72] A Boone's Farm flavor?

Maybe he meant 'sherry'.

[73] Horse sashimi is pretty good, with chopped garlic and soy sauce. Very tasty.

[73][78] Well..i think horse anything is terrible.
But yes, bewteen the smaller protions and super healthy Japanese food (and walking everywhere rather than driving) most people do lose weight over here.

[72] It's a song on the new Nas album which is collecting rave reviews around the country. That particular song includes a little bitter irony in that there is a jazzy inset by the late Amy Winehouse...

[79] And live longer.

[79] I've been gaining weight lately. No doubt I'm biased, but this country has the best food in the world, and that includes all cuisines.

L8er, dudes.

If Chad Qualls had been allowed to stay in last night I am positive we would have lost that game. Why is he on a Major League roster, yet alone our roster?