1.  Alex, I just arrived in New Orleans for a week stay yesterday. The humidity and heat were a continuation of NYC weather. And now news out of my hometown that it's one of those beautiful cool summer days. Needless to say that New Orleans is muggy as all hell. Great planning on my part.

2.  If Small can go through 5 or 6 giving up only 4 runs or so, I think the Yanks win this game going away...I just have never thought much of Mays and think the Yanks will hit him well. (Hopefully).

As I am writing this, my buddy who has the day off calls me at work telling my Sheff just cranked one. Nice...

3.  Sweet, Sheff. Three run dinger, and Small had a 1,2,3 first.

4.  Anyone else think Small looks like Pete's dragon?

http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/coverv/33/171833.jpg

http://espn.go.com/i/mlb/profiles/players/5260.jpg

5.  catching the game on MLB.com's gamecast when I saw this description of a play - I think I have it figured out but did found the whole description pretty amusing (except for the two runs scoring part).

Luis Rodriguez singles on a line drive to right fielder Bubba Crosby. Jacque Jones scores. Michael Cuddyer scores. Mike Redmond out at home on the throw, right fielder Bubba Crosby to first baseman Jason Giambi to second baseman Robinson Cano to catcher Jorge Posada to third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

6.  Thanks, Bubba. Was it a close play at the plate or was Redmond out by a mile? Someone with a TV help out those of us stuck 'watching' on the 'Net!

Redmond singled to "shortstop" - what?!?

7.  "Luis Rodriguez singles on a line drive to right fielder Bubba Crosby. Jacque Jones scores. Michael Cuddyer scores. Mike Redmond out at home on the throw, right fielder Bubba Crosby to first baseman Jason Giambi to second baseman Robinson Cano to catcher Jorge Posada to third baseman Alex Rodriguez."

What? Was that a rundown or something more insane?

8.  Ha! Glad I'm not alone.

9.  OK, Rodriguez singled, Bubba throwed home to try to get Cuddyer, that throw was cut off by Giambi who threw to Cano who was covering first to try and get Rodriguez who was running to second. BUT Cano saw that Redmon was rounding third so he threw to Posada at home and between Posada and A-Rod in a run-down got Redmon.

It wasn't that exciting but that's what happened.........

Small is pitching very well.

10.  Shaun P: infield single. Slow roller that Jeter had no play on.

Small gave up four "hits" in the 2nd, but only two were legit, and only one hit hard.

11.  Knuckles, that reminds me, has anyone noticed that Jason Giambi is going to look like Vincent Gardenia when he gets older? Watched Moonstruck again the other day and kept thinking Cosimo looked like Giambi.

http://www.nndb.com/people/980/000032884/

12.  Nothing like your typical 9-3-4-2-5 putout . . . looking forward to seeing the highlight reel of that one.

13.  BTW, thanks, tocho and DanM!

14.  the sequence of Posada, Williams, Crosby and Jeter (unfortuantely) are killing us

15.  GREAT CATCH by Bernie

16.  Holy smokes! It's been an hour and we are in the 5th inning already!

To put yesterday's game in perpective. We were just closing out the 2nd inning at this time and Leiter was over 100 pitches going into the 5th. Small is starting the 5th with 50 total pitches. Talk about two completely different games and approaches.

17.  Apparently, Small is good in the odd-numbered innings, and shaky in the even-numbered ones. I'll take that.

Let's get some runs!

18.  Everything is odd in this game...

Seems like the Twins always bat at the top of the inning and the Yankees bat at the bottom of the inning.

19.  Well, the ROY just showed up. Cano!

20.  Every game I love Cano more and more.

21.  The hit by Cano was OK, but it was mainly a bad approach to the play by Jones, he would have been able to make the catch and at the last moment he hit the brakes. That's the second terrible play by Jones.

Of course I'm happy with the outcome.

22.  Small is the reincarnation of Wang.

23.  I pick up Giambi in my fantasy league and this is how he treats me?

24.  Cano is batting .370 in July...FYI.

and....here comes Gordon.

25.  For what reason is Gordon out there - Small was at 80 pitches and was just cruising - why not run him out for one more inning.

26.  80 pitches through 7 IP. Small is getting a lot of help from some trigger happy Twins and a couple good defensive plays. But these are the kind of performances the Yankees have to take advantage of considering the starting pitcher situation, and they're doing just that.

27.  I was thinking the same thing JVarghese81. Especially with LAA in town tomorrow.

28.  Small's pitch count is nice, but how did he look last time through the order? Maybe Torre just figures if the Twins' hitters see him a fourth time, his "stuff" (no BBs and 6H in 7IP but only 1K) won't work?

I'm really just speculating here . . .

29.  I think it was a smart choice to use Gordon. This is a very important win, the goal is to win series. Who knows what the game will be like tomorrow, Small was very good the last inning but has not been good throughout his carreer, so Gordon was a good bet. Mariano should go in if the score stays the same.

30.  I'm with tocho. Smart to take 7 good innings and be happy with it. "It might rain tomorrow." Plus, the last 2 batters Samll faced roped the ball, but luckily right at fielders.

31.  Using Gordon was idiotic, but typical Torre. Small had only thrown 80 pitches. Gordon has already had tendinitis this season. Torre can't manage a pen to save his life.

32.  tocho,
I can understand your reasoning which is why I would have had someone warming up in case he (Small) did run into trouble. At that point, bring them in.
But, WHY pull Small out when he was facing the #9 hitter, then stewart who was 0 for 3 so far against him and then Nick PUNTO!?!. We're not talking about the Red Sox offense here...Then, if you really want to, bring someone in for the 9th. That's all I was saying - you're right - winning the series is the important thing - but doing it efficently so as to prepare yourself best for future series is even better.

33.  By the by, I will still gladly take any Yankee win.

34.  I'm not going to rip Torre for using Gordon, it is a perfectly legitimate option, just that I'd have leaned a bit more on Small.

35.  Ask and ye shall receive, JVarghese81. With Moose pitching tomorrow tonight, the 'pen should be in good shaping heading into the weekend.

36.  When you got a team down, step on their neck. We've learned enough lessons about changes in momentum. A big hit by the Twins and who knows where it goes. You don't want to give them the chance to get excited.

I say Joe was right bringing in Gordon and Rivera.

Very satisfying game.

37.  Using Gordon wouldn't be dumb, even though they had a three run lead, if Torre didn't overuse him so often.

Yet somehow he couldn't use him for four outs with a one run lead in Texas last week.

38.  Also - let Small leave on a high note, and maybe his momentum will continue to his next start. 7 innings and 3 runs? More than Joe expected, I'm sure.

Good move by Joe, imho. Gordon should be able to pitch one inning without falling apart.

BP

39.  Does Mo have a shot at the CY Young this year? I mean, he's been absolutley ridiculous.

40.  Small likely would have left on a high note after 8, and Gordon wouldn't be on his way to being worn out again, as he was last season.

41.  Mo can win the CYA, especially with Halliday down for a month.

42.  I gotta agree with you on that point - all in all a pretty satisfying game, esp. with the series with the Angels looming.

I would love to see Moose, RJ and...does anyone know who's scheduled to pitch that day?...stick it to the Angels. Hopefully, there will be a little bit of redemption for losing 3 out of 4 last series out...and as Alex B pointed out, for watching those Angels celebrate like mad for what seemed like every run they scored.

43.  That was Small's longest ML outing in five starts (says the AP). Not sending him out there after 7 seems prudent with the Yankees' RJ and Moose and rely-on-a-ruse rotation.

44.  If, for the sake of argument, you feel compelled to use the pen, go to F-Rod.

45.  Just saw the replay; he short hopped the ball but got the call.

>GREAT CATCH by Bernie

46.  Eric Gagne won the CYA in 2003 with a 1.20 ERA (league ERA 4.03), w/ 137 Ks, 20 BBs2 HRs and in 82 IP. Mo's ERA is 0.83, and I'd imagine the league ERA is sginificantly greater than the 2003 NL's. The only problem is that Gagne had 55 Saves, and Mo only has 26 at this point (100 games). So, yes, if Mo keeps this up, I think there's a strong argument for him, but he may need more Saves for the writers.

47.  Did anyone see that Kevin Thompson may be the next body to get a shot at CF:

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spynotes284361303jul28,0,7526462.story?coll=ny-yankees-print

Is this guy a legit CFer defensively? Sounds like his strength is his bat.

48.  AP is reporting that Yankees have obtained Chacon from the Rockies for Eduardo Sierra and Ramon Ramirez. So we have a starter for Saturday.

49.  Yeah, I just read about the Chacon trade. Does anyone know anything about these two AA pitchers? It looks like they have good K/IP, but is there anything else we should know about them?

I also thought we picked up Nomo. I'm guessing Chacon will start. His ERA is 4.09, which isn't bad considering where he pitches, but his K/BB is HORRENDOUS. It's almost 1:1. Ouch.

50.  How valuable were Sierra and Ramirez as prospects?

51.  What a STEAL!

I wasn't too hot on the rumors for Chacon because I thought they would probably have to give up Duncan, Melky or Philips...

Don't worry about these prospects they are giving up as Sierra was demoted from AAA recently and is in Trenton with a not so great record and ERA.

This is a steal for the Yanks because they get a live arm and I like the history of Rocky pitchers striving elsewhere after they get traded (Hampton, Kile). The Yanks didnt have to give up their young core and we get a
pitcher who has a MLB experience in the worse city to pitch in. I have seen tape of this guy and he will get you excited to see him pitch on Saturday.

Trust me. This he is better than going with Redding, May and Henn in the long run.

note: Nomo is not pitching because he hasnt pitched in 10 days and needs a stint in AAA before he starts for NY.

52.  I think using Gordon was foolish. He has a history of arm trouble and had a recent bout of tendenitis. Torre himself admitted he overused him last year this srping. Yet Torre yanks a guy with a low pitch count who was cruising (12 in a row) with 9-1-2 coming up and bypasses Frod to stick Gordon in there. Not smart.

53.  note: Nomo is not pitching because he hasnt pitched in 10 days and needs a stint in AAA before he starts for NY.

Not to overrule jedi here, but Nomo is also not pitching Saturday because he sucks:)

Actually, I like his signing-what do we have to lose? If he still stinks, which is most likely, does anyone care if Columbus loses another couple of games? There's always the chance he has a little gas in the tank still, and with all of our problems it's a good idea to keep live arms around. Hell, he couldn't be worse than Proctor coming out of the pen.

Glad to hear we gave up nothing for Chacon, it'll be interesting to see what he can do. Sounds like Cashman made a good deal. Good thing too, I know Denny Neagle is still floating around out there looking for work.....

54.  As one of my friends told me regarding the Chacon trade:
"we gave up someone named rodriguez (not alex) and someone named sierra (not ruben)"
i like the sound of that. low risk, potentially high reward.

55.  I like the Chacon deal and think it is relatively low risk. I don't expect great things from Chacon, but for right now, I think he might be able to help the team. If Pavano comes back and Leiter or Small continues to pitch well (BIG IFs) then Chacon at least might be able to help in the pen where he has experience.

You can't get something for nothing, and Sierra and Ramirez, while having lively arms, are not top prospects and not close to helping the team. Going to Colorado is probably going to be tough on those guys.

56.  No problem with the trade here either, but remember that we said the same things about Brazoban and Marte when they were traded, so you can't be sure, especially with the problems we seem to have in evaluating our own young talent, not that Dan O'Dowd has a glowing history in that department either.