Rangers Walkoff Cuts Bombers Lead To 1/2 Game

These nights are going to happen; when Mariano Rivera will be human. You just wish they wouldn't happen on nights when the Yankees offense was short handed and short on big hits. On nights when the Yankees have won only 3 of 7 coming in. But they do and tonight was one of them. Texas used three singles, none of them hit hard, and an intentional walk to beat the Yankees 4-3 in 10 innings.

Alex Rodriguez had forced the extra frame with his 601st career home run in the 8th, but the Yankees failed to take the lead despite opportunities in two of the final three innings.

Michael Young beat Derek Jeter's throw to first for an infield single to start the 10th and Josh Hamilton followed with a bouncer through the right side to put two men aboard.

A-Rod temporarily saved the day when he made a diving stop of a Vlad Guerrero ground out and threw out the big DH at 1st base. Rivera intentionally walked Nelson Cruz to load the bases and quickly fell behind David Murphy 3-0. The Yankees closer came back to get the count full, but then left a cutter up in the zone that Murphy laced to right for the game winning RBI.

A.J. Burnett bounced back from his rough outing against Toronto last week and back spams that pushed his start back three days, but gave up a go ahead 2-run blast to Murphy in the 6th.

The Yankees had pushed two runs across the board in 5.1 innings against Rangers starter C.J. Wilson, but it took Rodriguez's 18th home run of the year off of Frank Francisco to even things up. The Yankees, with a starting lineup missing Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano, had a chance to do further damage in the inning when Austin Kearns drew a walk and pinch-runner Curtis Granderson advanced to 2nd base on a wild pitch.

Granderson moved to 3rd on Lance Berkman's fly out, but Francisco Cervelli lined out softly to 1st and Brett Gardner grounded out to short.

The Yankees also had a chance in the 9th against Rangers closer Neftali Feliz. Robinson Cano, who entered the game in the 6th as a pinch-hitter, led off the inning with a single. That's when the Yankees luck ran out. With the hit and run on, Derek Jeter bounced a ball to the right side that Cano had to hold up on to avoid being out for interference. He might as well have been as the bouncer turned into a back breaking 4-6-3 double play.

Notes

Mark Teixeira will miss the conclusion of the series on Wednesday as well. He was with his wife Leigh for the birth of their third child, William Charles.

Robinson Cano sat out the start of the game with a bad cold.

Home plate ump Mike Estabrook was a thorn in the Yankees side all night. He reversed a safe call on Lance Berkman in the early going and had a moving strike zone, especially when Brett Gardner was up. Joe Girardi was so incensed after the call reversal (even though it was the right call), that bench coach Tony Pena came out to usher him off the field.

It's Either Sadness or Euphoria

Stop the presses! Okay, it wasn't that dramatic, but the moment Alex Rodriguez hit home run #600 yesterday, media everywhere trotted out prepared articles. (I'm sure some were fresh, but wouldn't you work ahead on the inevitable?)

As you would expect, most of the media has downplayed the event due to A-Rod's admission of steroid use. Things went like this in the metropolitan area:

Apparently the NY Daily News didn't want to sell any extra newspapers or collectible items, such as posters. The back page, pictured here, says it all.

Mike Lupica also mentioned that no matter how hard A-Rod tries, he'll be forever linked to the steroid users. I chuckled a bit in reading Lupica's column today since he made a tidy sum with his book, "Summer of '98'. Everyone but Bud Selig suspected steroid use during that very tainted season, but Lupica rejoiced in the single season home run chase (I really enjoyed the big; probably the only that Lupica has ever written that I have liked.)

The NY Post is the paper you would expect the above cover from, but they were actually tasteful for once (I'm sure Page Six more than made up for it with their daily garbage.)


Joel Sherman shared an interesting personal story between he and A-Rod, but also threw this gem out in another piece, "Alex Rodriguez never is going to be fully a Yankee." I've said this before. I don't know where this garbage came from, but there is no such thing as a "true Yankee". It's some nonsense started by either the media and/or some spoiled younger Yankees fan early in this decade. It's complete and utter nonsense and doesn't deserve to be delved into further.

The Star Ledger's Steve Politi took at look at how the fans themselves weighed out the steroid past and the milestone present. Big props to Marc Carig and Dan Worthington on their full page breakdown of A-Rod's home run history. Here's part of it online.

Newday's Ken Davidoff took a look at the "very human" A-Rod. There was more steroid talk from Bob Klapisch.

Former Yankee Bucky Dent had this to say. Johnny Damon took a shot at the media for their negative portrayal. David Wells took some shots at A-Rod.

Kyle Koster of the Chicago Sun-Times wonders if anyone cares.


Me? I still don't know what to think.

A-Rod's 600th - Finally

From BaseballDigest.com

It took him 47 at-bats and was preceded by an 0-17 slump, but Alex Rodgriguez still became the youngest player to hit 600 home runs when he went deep off of Shaun Marcum of the Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon.

The recently turned 35-yr old hit the milestone home run three years to the exact day that he his his 500th home run off of Kanas City’s Kyle Davies. With Derek Jeter on 2nd base, A-Rod drilled a Marcum fastball into Monument Park in dead centerfield.

By hitting the ball to a non-fan spot, A-Rod also doesn’t have to worry about negotiating for the baseball. (Yankee Stadium security guard Frankie Babilonia recovered the baseball.) A-Rod was willing to offer an autographed baseball and bat. Jack Curry of the YES Network reported that if necessary, A-Rod was even willing to throw in a lunch with Cameron Diaz and himself.

A-Rod joined Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, and Ken Griffey Jr. at the 600 HR plateau and joined Ruth as the only player to wear a Yankees uniform while hitting his 600th.

So how does A-Rod stack up in history? That remains to be determined.

A Long Day's Journey Into Night

I started this during the 6th inning of last night's Yankees-Indians game. The two teams had only been playing an hour and 15 minutes. I still felt like I was at Sunday's game against the Royals. That was an obnoxious two-hour and thirty seven minute rain delay. But it least it cooled things off.

On another day I might not have waited out the delay, but this was my brother's 1st trip to the new Stadium and first game in the Bronx in 7 or 8 years.

We started out in section 409, 3rd row, seats 7 and 8. It was hot as all hell. We started the day out with the Lobel's Steak Sandwich. $15 is pricey to say the least, but that is some good food. Served on a hamburger bun, the sandwich is thick with meat. No skimping. And very juicy. When you consider how expensive the hot dogs are, it is actually a very good buy.

The thing about going to any sporting event, concert, etc., is you never know who is going to sit near you. The leather lung guy, the constant texter, the sleeper, and of course worst of all, the drunk. Let me add another to the category, "The Narrator".

The narrator doesn't give you a moment's peace. The Narrator not only says what's going on in the game, but what's going on all around him too. The most amazing thing about the narrator? His audience is a 2-yr old. True story.

"Look, that's Phil Hughes. He's the pitcher. He throws the ball to the catcher. And the hitter will try to hit the ball. Here's the pitch. Oh, there it goes. Aww, the centerfield caught it on now throws it back to the infield. Almost. How about eating some of your sandwich. Is that good? Chew it good."

One look tells you all you need to know. The 2-yr old is 2 years old! He doesn't care about the game. He wants to go home very quickly. He's staring everywhere but the field. He's more interested in his fruit snacks than whether A-Rod hits his 600th. Thankfully, 2-yr old wets himself and Dad disappears for a while. Then the weather turns and the family goes home early.

Phil Hughes was decent on the day. Not as good as he was early in the season, but not as bad as some of his more recent starts.

Hughes allowed a pair of home runs, one of which was to singles hitter Scott Podsednik. The Royals speedster had come into the game with three home runs. And then hit another one off of Joba Chamberlain.

Speaking of Joba, another poor outing, and more rough treatment from the fans. Constantly booing the guy is ridiculous and obnoxious. He didn't tell any of you to hero worship him, so you shouldn't completely turn on the guy either. As I've said before Joba's biggest problem is the comparison to the Joba of '07-'08. And booing him after he gets an out is just plain stupid.

Moving on...Rick Ankiel hit a huge home run into the 2nd deck in right...completely crushed.

But importantly Curtis Granderson hit two, Robinson Cano picked up his 1,000th RBI, and A-Rod was not seriously injured when Blake Wood hit him in the arm in his final at-bat in the 8th inning.

BTW, Cano became the third fastest home grown Yankee to reach 1,000 RBI. Only Derek Jeter and Don Mattingly reached the mark in less games.

So anyway, with one out in the 6th the place got biblical. The dark clouds were already moving in, but then the wind blew like a monster and the rains came for 40 days and 40 nights. Okay, it only felt that way after the seemingly endless delay.

We saw Ron Blomberg, the AL's first DH, tour the Baseball Hall of Fame and various other memorable and non-memorable videos. I thought cartoons would start at any moment. One of the best things about the new Stadium is there room to roam and move around during a rain delay. The old Stadium had you packed in like sardines during a delay.

Just before things started a lighten a bit, I noticed the security by a 200 level section was not paying attention. We quickly zipped down to seats in section 215, just before 1st base, about 4 rows from the top of the section. Great seats. It was from there we would watch the rest of the game, which at that point almost had a little league or high school level feeling.

Shortly before 7 p.m. or just when a night game would start, Chan Ho Park finally got the last out. He certainly tried his hardest not too.

An hour ride home completed a nine hour day! But the Yankees won.

A Junior Milestone

Ken Griffey Jr. became the sixth player in MLB history to hit 600 home runs, when he connected off the Marlins Mark Hendrickson this evening. Congratulations Jr..

A Junior Milestone

Ken Griffey Jr. became the sixth player in MLB history to hit 600 home runs, when he connected off the Marlins Mark Hendrickson this evening. Congratulations Jr..

Junior Hits #599

Ken Griffey Jr. moved one step closer this afternoon to becoming the 5th player, the 4th legitimately, to reach 600 home runs. Junior hit a 1st inning, 2-run shot off of the Braves' Jair Jurrjens.

Junior Hits #599

Ken Griffey Jr. moved one step closer this afternoon to becoming the 5th player, the 4th legitimately, to reach 600 home runs. Junior hit a 1st inning, 2-run shot off of the Braves' Jair Jurrjens.