Ichiro helped out at 3rd, and so did the ump on the 3-2 called 3rd strike - assist Molina. Means Molina's in on both those very big plays. AND he hit.

I'm made nervous by success, I admit. But there are good things coming, too: Gardner ought to return, letting Melky's recent slide matter less (Melky shouldn't be wearing down, but may be). If Bruney is the Sultan again that's huge. If Marte returns and can pitch that helps a ton from the left side. I remain puzzled about Joba Rules 3.0 and Phil Rules 1.0 but it really looks like Phil's the 8th inning guy rest of this season and they'll figure out his innings/role for next year ... next year.

Jeter and Tex are both MVP candidates (so is Miggy Cabrera in Detroit), but Mauer is having the season of seasons in the AL I think. And he's a catcher! Sets up the old ... can he be an MVP if his team is out of it?

Chicken burgers drizzled with soy sauce, and beef dogs on the grill. Fresh jar of pickles. Pasta salad. Corn on the cob. Couple cans of Dales Pale Ale on ice. Nice late lunch, and a complete ballgame today. Sweet sweet Sunday.
Oh, and definitely some sort of ice cream treat to end the day.

[1] yeah, gotta give it to Mauer regardless of his team's viability. I'd say he's the most valuable (loaded word) position player in the game.

No Cano, its Pena today, and house money on the line with the H&H boys in the outfield.

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira DH
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Swisher 1B
Hinkse RF
Hairston CF
Pena 2B

[1] I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Marte to contribute...but we don't need him anymore anyway.

[2] Lawn done & some trimming, coulda done more but an hour's work at 90+ degrees is enough. Now some nice home made ice tea. Grilled sausage tonight with a cold Pino Grigio. And a Yankees game that won't be ending at 1 am. Er, I hope.

My only complaint is that I wish Jeter would get a day off or two. Otherwise, even I can't find much fault of late. Let's go for the sweep today, boys!

[6] And a Yankees game that won’t be ending at 1 am. Er, I hope.

The game stars at 4 PM EDT. Are you in a different time zone or are you rooting for extra innings? ;)

[8] I'm hoping against extra-innings.

At 50% humidity, I don't think I'd call today "steamin'".

yipee for me!! yankee baseball that i can see. i am going to savor today's game as i'll probably not be long for any games until friday.
in fact i predict a strong outing from one joba chamberlain.

[7] yeah me too. maybe in oakland.

[2] [6] enjoy! i'm going for some grilled fish on my little indoor grill

anyone see the red sox drill kinsler in the helmet? then when he got up and started yelling at the pitcher captain facemask tried to get involved by yelling at kinsler.

oh hopefully matsui's knees are okay - when his bat is going strong it really seems to lengthen the lineup

and seatte's pitcher doesn't have the best basebeall name

i love when an umpire takes a second and then jubilantly calls strike 3

Nice quick inning for Joba. Eminently acceptable.

what's this sinkerball pitcher's name?

nice start sir chamberlain

and pretty nice play at 1b swisheroo

Oooh, that wily Peña.

Go-Go Peña and the Score Truck!

[17] No, WIlly Pena is someone else altogether.

Hi all. Coming to you from a breezy island off the Maine coast today. Only down side is that my internet connection stinks. Good enough to check in, see the first run of the game, note that Joba isn't having much trouble with the M's, and

GO YANKEES.

See youse.

4-3 Texas. Alex Gonzalez just struck out looking in the 8th with men on 1st and 2nd.

Jeter all-time hit leader for shortstops. Pretty cool.

nice snag alex

[21] damn, i missed it - but that is pretty cool

Gotta preserve Joba's arm - the rotation will collapse without his sparkling and efficient performances!

Aw, I'm sure he'll mix in a 8 inning one run gem among the five inning, four run starts that comprise the rest of the season. And that, my friends, is the flash of brilliance that brightens the Yankees' future.

Uh-oh - Francisco on the mound for the Rangers. Danger!

Hey guys.

Damn I was hoping Joba'd get out of that jam.

Let's go Yanks!

yeah swisheroo- guess he likes his score truck to be blaring tunes

The Austin Powers score truck. It's Swishalicious!

[26] me too - those damn walks

[25] 2 outs though right?

Texas= WC leader. Madness.

[30] wow rsn must be in total PANIC mode!

I think Ortiz is on suicide watch.

alright joba get re-acquainted with the strike zone this inning kid

damn they are hitting him hard the last 2 innings

damn nice play by swisher

D'oh. So close. Got to tag him Captain.

well some scary hits but no real damage

Man, Griffey is old. He hasn't looked good all series.

we really must send the sea manager a gift basket for batting junior 4th

Shite.

yeah bad pitch there joba - not such a hot play by jh jr but okay, i'll give him a pass

this is the most hittable i believe i have seen joba

Giving up 4 runs to this lineup is like 10. Joba was strong out of the break, but he is right back to where he was before. Hopefully, he'll eventually learn how to pitch.

Maybe Joba can spend the next 8 days in Nebraska.

[24]

It was mentioned that the Sox lost?
However, Ortiz is heating up, and currently at: .221 .314 .416 .730
That's not bad for a second string SS.

slightly surprised at the short leash on joba

but, with his command shit and the game quite winnable might as well pull him, keep his innings down and figure aceves does better

Nice, Hinske!

I seriously think all this obsession with The Rules has a negative effect on Joba. I'm not saying the Rules in themselves are bad, but as long as it's a constant topic and it has the effect of breaking his regular patterns, extra rest, etc--not good. It makes Joba think, and he doesn't need that right now...

[47] I think the short leash was to give the Yankees the best chance to win the game as opposed to being overly protective. Right now, the only thing not working in Yankeeland is Joba. Hopefully some time off will re-charge his batteries. Joba is still young so maybe the workload is why he has such poor outings. At least I hope that's the case.

nice k there ace

[50] I agree. I don't know if there's a better solution -- I mean, it's not like they could never speak of it. The media would f'n crucify the team. Sad as it is, in NY, uninformed media = bad media. (and that works in our favor, too)

[50] I think Joba needs the extra rest though. It seems like he really starts to struggle when he becomes established on his regular turn. I hope that's more an issue of a young pitcher dealing with the an increasing workload and not just an arm that isn't capable of 200 innings.

Well at least the Yankees aren't getting clobbered 17-8

How about me calling the score and length of Joba's outing? I deserve a goddamn medal.

the Angels have a scary offense, and they have our number--it would be very sweet to beat them in the playoffs.......

[56] You predicted 5 innings from Joba? Let me guess, you have the sun coming up tomorrow too? ;)

I tell ya what.. for what it's worth, gamecast > gameday. they split the IF and OF into 3rds and when you hover over em, it shows you the % hit into by the batter. Plus, that shit stays even with the radio. gameday notoriusly hangs up on a pitch for the rest of the inning.

All goes into my $0.02 (not that you were askin)

Some bad outfield defense ...it's been a while since the Yankees have been hurt by that.

here we go double play, here we go! (clap clap)

Rare sloppy game for the Yankees today.

Unless this is a tryout, it kind of doesn't make sense to go to Gaudin.

I am not sure if they keep track of this, but Posada has to lead the league in mound visits.

yanks not looking so hot today - guess it was bound to happen

[63] oh i'm pretty sure no one has captain facemask beat

dammit. Can't complain about this road trip so far, but it still sucks to get bested by this team.

Girardi managed this whole game as a house money game, so you can't be surprised by the outcome.

and Boston lost, so its still house money ...

[66] You can't complain, but it does suck to give a game away. There really is no excuse for lifting Ace for Gaudin unless you are holding a tryout, and I don't believe Agust 16 is the time for an audition.

[58] I did call the score though, sort of - in [24].

The takeaway from this game still has to be Joba. His last three starts have been a return to pre-ASB form, and that form is pretty bad. Instead of those three great starts out of the break being a sign of turning the page, it looks like an anomaly. All it takes now is for Pettitte's creaky back to act up and we're right back to having two somewhat reliable starters. And when AJ Burnett is one of your reliable starters, you are asking for it.

Though I will also say re: this game, it was strange to see Aceves struggle so much with his control.

[70] OH MY GOD! OUR 7.5 GAME LEAD IS IN JEAPORDY! WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST!
JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!!!!

[69] i could do without gaudin myself, but ace didn't have it that inning. might as well shut him down rather than burn him for nothing.

[66] I'm not sure if taking 3 of 4 in their park is being 'bested'.

Apparently Eiland has been working on Gaudin's pitches...

[73] Maybe bested isn't the right word, but the Yanks could've done better in this game.

[70] Joba is definitely the story. If the Yankees have one potential weakness it's that their rotation isn't deep. Pettitte always has to be considered a question mark because of his age, so if Joba isn't going to be effective, the Yankees chances will be dimished (which isn't to say they still wont be better than anyone else's). Just because things are going well and everything seems rosy, it's very naive to brush aside some of the concerns that remain. The Yankees need Joba to be a strong, consistent starter and he simply hasn't been that for most of the season.

[72] I thought Ace was fine. Hairston misplayed the first hit and Damon could have caught the other if he'd taken a direct route. It's one more batter, so I don't get why you lift him. The audition angle doesn't evenmake sense because if Gaudin is pitching in the post season, the Yankees are probably going to lose that game anyway.

[71] I wonder why you think the lead is in jeopardy all of a sudden. It's just one game.

This is just one of the 60 games you lose.

[79] This team is one pace for and has the talent to lose a good deal below 60. I'd really like to see them do that...the depth in the rotation isn't the same, but this team has started taking on a 1998 feel. Efforts like this one detract from that tone.

Tiger Woods' mystique has taken a bit of a hit today.

[81] Those 48 losses are really a black eye on the 1998 team. : D

1998
New York 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 3 0
Seattle.... 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 x – 8 12 3

Even that team had some bad days.
(Women and children FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!)

Ya gotta hand it to the Ms fans. They were cheering at the end like it was game 5 of the ALDS. Nice to see that kind of a commitment after losing 3 straight.

1998
New York 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 0 4 0
Cleveland 0 2 3 2 2 0 1 1 x – 11 13 0

Holy Shit! That 1998 really sucked!

[84] For alot of teams' fan, beating the Yankees is like game 5 of the ALDS.

Well, the Yanks could have and probably should have won this one. The Mitre starts are the ones you figure they'll lose but they don't lose them either. That means: Undefeated from here on out. Hell the Yanks may have won today in spite of Joba, but Aceves had a bad day too, then Gaudin blew it up.

[87] Not to be his apologist, but I wouldn't put this on Ace at all. It was a combination of Joba pitching very poorly to an awful lineup, Girardi going house money and the inexplicable decision to use Gaudin. The latter two aren't a big deal because it's a long season and the Yankees have played great. The first issue is a concern because it really makes you wonder about what Joba will be there in the playoffs.

[88] It looked to me like Aceves was off. He hit a couple guys, was starting off behind in the count a lot. I agree that bringing Gaudin was questionable, but taking Aceves out seemed reasonable after plunking the second guy in the inning. That's not like him.

[88] I imagine the playoff rotation will be CC, A.J. & Andy. That's all you need. Especially if you can go and sweep playoff series. Stick Joba in the 8th inning? Or maybe 7th if Hughes has the 8th.

but taking Aceves out seemed reasonable after plunking the second guy in the inning

Especially since he was rumored to be aching...

[90] They will def. need a 4th starter though, and it would be nice if the good Joba was around enough to be that guy.

That was just an awful start for Joba against such a terrible offense.

At least this post game Joba is not giving credit to the Mariners.

[94] Correct that...now he is. I just don't get it.

since Joba's got a week vacation coming to him, why don't we just send him back to Nebraska, see if that helps him again... ; )

[96] Maybe in general the Yankees can arrange for him to stay in Nebraska except for the days he starts, and travel days to and from. They can wrap him in bubble wrap and he can make the trip by hot air balloon.

Or they can keep him with the team and cryogenically freeze him between starts, and send electric signals to his brain that make him think he's in Nebraska. When he wakes up, feed him ravioli.

Or maybe they should just hire a pitching coach with a demonstrated track record of success.

[98] Rick Peterson's still hanging around the tri-state area, I believe. I'll bet Gator would say go to hell, and Mezzone's charm seems limited to the Atlanta region. Maybe if LaRussa decides to take a walk, Shelly's father could be had. Some think Coney would make a great pitching coach, but the caveat is track record; i.e. none for him.

I'm not thrilled with Dave Eiland, even if he has worked with the young pitches in the minors, but the record speaks for itself. Same with Joe, honestly. I honestly feel weird about rooting for him at this point.

Might as well take it to triple digits.