Edwin Jackson, Illusionist

I won't say something as dramatic as "I nearly drove off the road..." but I was stunned when I heard on ESPN radio or WFAN that Edwin Jackson was close to an agreement with the Chicago Cubs on a four year contract that would pay him $52MM. Even now I feel like shouting "WHAT?"

Jackson is the epitome of mediocrity; a guy who every now and then catches lightning in a bottle, but for the most part produces a middling performance. Despite that he has seen his yearly salary go from $2.2MM in 2009 to $4.6 a year later to $8.75 in 2011 to $11MM last season.

The $11MM was a one year deal he signed with the Washington Nationals based on his 2011 season that was slightly better than average. Jackson started the 2011 season with the Chicago White Sox, the fifth of seven teams he has played for in his 10 years in the Major Leagues. He had a 2.2 WAR with Chicago, but a WHIP over 1.4 an ERA of nearly 4, which would have been good in years past, but not in the "The Year of the Pitcher" season.

He was dealt to the Cardinals at the '11 trade deadline and finished with a 3.58 ERA in 12 starts and a relief appearance. His WAR was only 0.6 and has been the case throughout his career, Jackson struggled with his control. The right-hander's career strike out to walk ratio is just 1.95. (He's surpassed 3.0 just once in his career.)

Jackson has gotten better with age - he's still just 29 - but his past performance is not worth a four year deal or worth $13MM per season.

Baseball Digest | Mr. Holland's Opus

It’s one thing to be told or to know that you need to pitch the game of your life, it’s another to actually go out and do it. The Texas Rangers entered Sunday night’s Game 4 contest with the St. Louis Cardinals down two games to one and were relying on Derek Holland to have his big moment in the spotlight.

Holland has shown glimpses of star potential in his three year Major League career- he threw three complete game shutouts in July- but had come up small in the playoffs thus far. His last two starts came in the ALCS vs. Detroit and lasted only a combined 7.1 innings with seven earned runs allowed. So there was no reason for Texas fans, or Ron Washington for that matter, to have a lot of confidence in their 25-yr old left-hander.

Read the rest of this free article at BaseballDigest.com.

Holy Bat Attack, Yankeeman

"Can I get a Hallelujah?"

Something really weird happened at Yankee Stadium tonight. There were singles and doubles and triples and home runs. Oh my. Hitless skids came to an end. Homer-less streaks came to an end. Lineups batted around. And runs were scored, oh yes my friends, they were scored. The Yankees obliterated the Chicago White Sox in what seemed like a never ending 5th inning en route to a 12-3 rout and a split of the four game series.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead off White Sox starter Edwin Jackson without the aid of a hit. In fact the Yankees didn't have a hit until Brett Gardner led off the 5th with his third home run of the season. Left fielder Brent Lillibridge, the hero of Tuesday's game when he was in right field, then misplayed Eduardo Nunez's drive into a double. Curtis Granderson followed with an RBI triple off the wall in right and Nick Swisher snapped an 0-19 streak with a single to right-center for a 5-0 lead. It almost meant the Yankees hit for the cycle in the inning with just the first four batters. Jackson was done for the evening, but the Yankees offense wasn't.

Robinson Cano greeted reliever Tony Pena with a single and Alex Rodriguez followed with an RBI double. After an intentional walk to Eric Chavez, Russell Martin brought home one run with a single to left and Jorge Posada drew an unintentional walk to force home the sixth run of the evening. Pena got off the hook by having leave the game with an apparent injury.

CC Sabathia was the recipient of all the good fortune and picked up his second win of the season with seven solid innings. He threw shutout ball into his final inning when a Nunez error at short (Derek Jeter got a routine day off) led to three unearned runs. Those runs were immediately taken back in the home half of the 7th, which included Swisher's first home run of the season.

Notes

The White Sox have scored three runs or fewer in 13 of their last 14 games.

After getting ejected from Wednesday night's game, Ozzie Guillen took to Twitter..or supposedly did. It's difficult to tell if it's Ozzie or one of his sons or someone else. Guillen complained about the umpiring and said his ouster was a joke. Now, word comes that MLB is looking into the matter to see if any rules were violated. Reportedly there is a rule prohibiting communicating via electronic devices from 30 minutes prior to game time until the game ends.

BD Hot Stove: AL Central Dunn? | Baseball Digest

BD Hot Stove: AL Central Dunn? | Baseball Digest

The AL Central is often overlooked when discussing pennant contenders. They don’t have the powerhouse teams of the AL East or the standout LA Angels in the AL West. But they do have teams that are well structured and don’t usually have a runaway winner. Such was the case last year when the Chicago White Sox spent 27 days in first place and stayed on the Minnesota Twins’ heels for most of the season. Ultimately the Twins, the most consistent of all the central teams, won out. It should be a competitive division again based on the moves made so far in this off-season.

The name’s Williams. Kenny Williams: The White Sox GM is one smooth cat. Never afraid to make a bold move, to spend some money, or to ring up another GM on his Walther PPK, er Blackberry. When the White Sox started to fade last season, Williams swung a deal to bring in starter Edwin Jackson from Arizona, obstensibly to use him as bait to land Adam Dunn in a three team trade. The deal didn’t work out, but now Chicago has Jackson for the 2011 season and signed Dunn to a four year free agent contracT. Williams also brought back free agents/fan favorites Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynksi, and signed reliever Jesse Crain away from the Twins. Crain is part of a bullpen re-tooling that Williams undertook as soon as he cut ties with closer Bobby Jenks. Set up man J.J. Putz signed with Arizona and Williams dealt Scott Linebrink to Atlanta.

They Talk Alike, They Walk Alike: Speaking of the aforementioned Twins, they’ve done what they do best. Make quite moves with an occassional splash. Carl Pavano regained his manhood in the Twin Cities and Minny would like to have him back. But the former “American Idle” is playing the free agent game and anything can happen. Minnesota has high hopes for Japanese import Tsuyoshi Nishioka to be their every day shortstop for the next three years. To make room for him, the Twins spun J.J. Hardy and utility man Brendan Harris to the Orioles for hard throwing reliever Jim Hoey as well as another bullpen prospect in Brett Jacobson. Alexi Casilla will likely take over 2nd base with Orlando Hudson departing for San Diego. The Twins suffered blows to the bullpen when Crain left for Chi-town and their best set up man, Matt Guerrier, departed for a three year deal with the Dodgers. Set up man/part-time closer Jon Rauch will also leave via free agency.

Tiger Town: The Tigers have had some interesting decisions to make as they blend veterans like Magglio Ordonez and youngsters such as Austin Jackson together. Many people were surprised when GM Dave Dombrowski brought the soon to be 34-yr old Ordonez back. He did sever ties with Johnny Damon however, and made two big free agent splashes. One of the first signings of the winter was the solid bat of catcher Victor Martinez, who’ll primarily serve as DH. Dombrowski also inked standout reliever Joaquin Benoit to set up for Jose Valverde. The Tigers retained the left side of their infield in 3rd baseman Brandon Inge and shortstop Jhonny Peralta, while catcher Gerald Laird left for St. Louis.

Cleveland Rocks?: Not so much, at least not this winter. The biggest name the Tribe have brought in this off-season is Austin Kearns, who they dealt to the Yankees at the trade deadline. Signing infielders Adam Everett and Drew Sutton doesn’t make fans run to the box office or feel the urge to buy season tickets. The Indians have also been fielding calls on their best starter, Fausto Carmona.

Royals Blue: The fans in KC haven’t had much to cheer about for quite some time, but KC does have a lot of good young players Unfortunately, one of them was dealt away. KC took Zack Greinke up on his request for a trade and sent him to Milwaukee for four prospects. On paper, the deal doesn’t look great for KC, but outfielder Lorenzo Cain and shortstop Alcides Escobar will get a chance to make an immediate impact. The Royals also signed veteran outfielders Jeff Francouer and Melky Cabrera to help fill the void left when David DeJesus was traded to Oakland. Vin Mazzaro, acquired in that deal, will get a chance to compete for a spot in the lackluster rotation.

Rumors, News, and Transactions

Brian Cashman downplayed reports that the Yankees were taking a look at their former left fielder Johnny Damon, calling it nothing more than normal free agent exploration.

The Pirates signed Garrett Atkins, who flopped the with the Orioles in ’10, to a minor league deal.

The Padres are turning some attention to free agent Brad Hawpe, who split last season with Colorada and Tampa Bay. The Pads are also reportedly interested in lefty slugger Russell Branyan.

The Angels and Reds are both eyeing speedy Scott Podsednik as part of an outfield platoon.

E-Jax to Chicago, For Now

The much ballyhooed rumor sending Edwin Jackson from Arizona to Chicago has come to fruition. So far nothing on the second part of the rumored deal that would have Jackson going to Washington as part of a deal for slugger Adam Dunn.

If Jackson stays put, the deal still makes sense for White Sox GM Kenny Williams. With Jake Peavy done for the year, Williams wanted to go with a veteran, albeit a shaky one, in a rotation rather than rookie Daniel Hudson. The right-hander was sent to the desert along with fellow pitcher David Holmberg.

I'm baffled where the Nats are coming from if they do take Jackson as part of a Dunn deal. I'd rather much have Hudson and his promising future over the erratic Jackson.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports just tweeted: "Source: White Sox hope to acquire Dunn without trading Jackson, but Nats desire Jackson."

Like I said, don't know why the Nats want Jackson so badly.

Granderson Talk Highlights Day 1

There may be nothing more to it than pure speculation or the Yankees, Tigers, and Diamondbacks may have actually had some meaningful discussions on a possible three team trade. No matter, the outcome was the same. No deal.

The Yankees have shown interest in Tigers' center fielder Curtis Granderson since Mark Teixeira recorded the final putout in the World Series. The Yankees would have had to part with plenty of talent though in order to land Granderson and that's why the deal made no sense.

Top prospect Austin Jackson and left-handers Phil Coke and Mike Dunn would have been shipped to Detroit, while right-hander Ian Kennedy was sent to Arizona. The Diamondbacks would have sent Max Scherzer to the Tigers, receiving fellow right-hander Edwin Jackson in return. But by the end of the evening, the talks had stalled, maybe permanently.

It's just as well that they did. There's no point in dealing Jackson for a fellow center fielder, even he's as good as Granderson. Notice I said (very) good, not great. Granderson has plenty going for his game, but that doesn't mean Jackson might not turn out to be better. If Jackson is to be dealt it should be for a higher rated position player or a top notch starter (i.e. Roy Halladay).

Brian Cashman told the Bergen Record's Pete Caldera that pitching is still the Yankees top priority this off-season. That includes looking to re-sign Andy Pettitte, reportedly for around $10 million.

Short time Yankee Ivan Rodriguez agreed to a 2-yr, $6 million deal with the Washington Nationals. The future Hall of Fame catcher didn't find a taker last season until the Astros scooped him up in mid-March.

The Cardinals inked righty Brad Penny to a 1-yr, $7 million contract. Penny, who spent this past season with the Red Sox and Giants, could earn an additional $2 million in incentives. By signing Penny, it's also thought the Cards will not bring back John Smoltz.

American Idle himself, Carl Pavano has agreed to arbitration and will stay with the Minnesota Twins. Pavano had a resurgence last year with the Indians before being dealt at the deadline to Minny.

The Tigers re-signed shortstop Adam Everett to a 1-yr, $1.5 mill deal.

No suprise in Houston where Astros' closer Jose Valverde turned down arbitration in search of a much bigger deal. The Braves were surprised though that Rafael Soriano took them up on arbitration. Meanwhile lefty Mike Gonzalez said no thanks.

Winter Meetings 2009 - Day 1

Plenty of rumors on day 1 of baseball's Winter meetings in Indianapolis (you would think they would pick a warm spot). Among them are:

The Tigers are actively shopping pitcher Edwin Jackson, but are currently asking for a lot in return.

The Mets believe someone will take Luis Castillo off their hands. I believe there probably is someone dumb enough to do it. The most likely scenario is the Mets dealing a top regular or prospect and throwing Castillo in as a 'must'.

Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reported on his Twitter account that the Cardinals are close to signing free agent right-hander Brad Penny.

ESPN's Jayson Stark reports that Nick Johnson is drawing interest from the Mariners, Giants, Orioles, Mets, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, and his original team, the Yankees. Reserve a spot on your disabled list now.

Foxsports reports the Mets are going hard after free agent catcher Bengie Molina. The Mets picked up backup Henry Blanco from the Pads over the weekend.

Joba Throws Like Old Times

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Alex Rodriguez • Edwin Jackson • joba chamberlain • Marcus Thames • Mark Teixeira • Old Timer's Day • Yankees 7/19 recap • Yankees vs. Tigers

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0		1	4	0
NY Yankees	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	X		2	5	1

WP - Chamberlain (5-2) SV - Rivera (26) LP - Jackson (7-5)

Even those who were steadfast against moving Joba Chamberlain back to the bullpen were beginning to re-think their stance after watching the objection of their affection stink up the joint in his three starts prior to the All-Star break. But yesterday, their fist-pumping, fireball throwingJoba returned in the Yankees 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers in front of a house packed for Old Timers’ Day. Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira provided the offense with solo home runs against Tigers starter Edwin Jackson as the Yankees moved to within one game of Boston in the AL East. After the Old-Timers’ Day festivities, it was time for Joba to turn back the clock a bit.

Read the rest of my recap on Baseball Digest Online.

We Could get Hughes to This

He's heard all the hype. The fans have heard all the hype. But no one had seen anything positive from prospect Phil Hughes since 2007. That all changed last night. Hughes stepped up big time, throwing six scoreless inning to help the Yankees snap a four game losing streak with an 11-0 whitewashing of the Detroit Tigers.

For a while it looked like the offense would let Hughes' effort go to waste. They couldn't push a run across against starter Edwin Jackson through six innings, but then erupted for a 10-run seventh inning.

But Hughes was the story in this one. He gave the starting rotation a huge boost. Instead of Chien-Ming Wang getting hammered and taxing the bullpen, the Yankees watched Hughes allow just two hits over six innings. He walked two, struck out six and threw 99 pitches. He established the tone right from the start with strikeouts of Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco in the first inning.

The only real trouble Hughes got into was in the fourth inning when he hit Miguel Cabrera with one out pitch and gave up a single to Carlos Guillen. A fielder's choice and a walk to Brandon Inge loaded the bases with two outs, but Hughes retired Josh Anderson on an inning ending ground out.

Meanwhile, back in the visitors' dugout....the Yankees continued to fail with runners in scoring position - they own the worst mark in the AL . Johnny Damon flied out with two on and two out in the third. Melky Cabrera struck out with two on and two out in the fourth. Robinson Cano struck out with two outs and a man on third in the sixth. Then came lucky number seven and the offense exorcised its demons, at least for one night.

Jim Leyland sent for Ryan Perry to start the inning and the Yankees offense went to work. Nick Swisher opened the frame with a single and Melky walked. Jose Molina sacrificed the runners over and set up the turning point of the night. Pinch-hitter Jorge Posada, not starting due to a bad hamstring - not for dogging it as some people speculated, lofted a shallow fly to left that Anderson misplayed into a 2-base error. In all likelihood Swisher would not have scored had Anderson caught it, but instead the Yankees had themselves a 2-0 lead.

A walk to Derek Jeter ended Perry's night, but Nate Robertson would fare no better. Damon singled to center for a 3-0 lead. Robertson retired Mark Teixeira for the second out of the inning, but Hidkei Matsui and Cano delivered back to back RBI singles for a 5-0 lead. Two walks later, Brandon Lyon served up a grand slam to Molina to put the game out of reach.

Hughes got his congratulations and the Joe Girardi turned things over to the pen for three scoreless innings, including one by Mark Melancon. The Yankees can envision a day when Melancon will close out Phil Hughes' victories. For now though, the Yankees are just happy to be back on the winning track.

Game Notes

Nick Swisher may be pulling out of his slump. He was 2-3 with his 5th home run of the season, walked twice, and scored three times.

Hideki Matsui was 2-5 and is 14-32 (.438) in his last eight games.

Phil Hughes' victory was his first regular season win since September 27, 2007 against Tampa Bay. He also beat the Cleveland Indians in that season's Division Series. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, by winning his sixth career game he tied the Yankees record of total wins by a first round pick (Bill Burbach, '65 draft). That's just sad.

Also according to Elias, Robinson Cano's two at-bats of 10 or more pitches last night was the first time he saw double digit pitches since August of last year.

Vegas Update - Day 3 Conclusion

C.C. Sabathia has a contract, A.J. Burnett is closer to one, and the Mets strengthened their bullpen. Those were the highlights of day 3 in Las Vegas. In addition, the Orioles have reportedly made a 7 year, $150 million offer for Mark Teixeira, who has also made progress in negotiations with the Red Sox. The Angels will certainly stay in the mix as well. Teixeira is said to want to play on the east coast, but Sabathia was said to have wanted to stay on the left coast.

The Rays dealt enigmatic starter Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for outfielder Matt Joyce. The Rays just seem to collect outfielders. Of course they have one less with Rocco Baldelli most likely leaving as a free agent.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports says the Phillies are close to signing Chan-Ho Park. Doesn't seem like that long ago that the Rangers made that huge mistake signing Park to a mega deal.

No bats have been banned from the bigs yet, but Bud Selig wants the bat manufacturers to make better quality products. Can't blame Bud for that, but is that all MLB is going to do?

Vegas Update - Day 3 Conclusion

C.C. Sabathia has a contract, A.J. Burnett is closer to one, and the Mets strengthened their bullpen. Those were the highlights of day 3 in Las Vegas. In addition, the Orioles have reportedly made a 7 year, $150 million offer for Mark Teixeira, who has also made progress in negotiations with the Red Sox. The Angels will certainly stay in the mix as well. Teixeira is said to want to play on the east coast, but Sabathia was said to have wanted to stay on the left coast.

The Rays dealt enigmatic starter Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for outfielder Matt Joyce. The Rays just seem to collect outfielders. Of course they have one less with Rocco Baldelli most likely leaving as a free agent.

Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports says the Phillies are close to signing Chan-Ho Park. Doesn't seem like that long ago that the Rangers made that huge mistake signing Park to a mega deal.

No bats have been banned from the bigs yet, but Bud Selig wants the bat manufacturers to make better quality products. Can't blame Bud for that, but is that all MLB is going to do?

Yankees Replay Victory

The Yankees and Rays made history tonight when instant replay was used for the first time in a major league baseball game. With the Yankees leading 6-3 and man aboard in the eighth inning, Alex Rodriguez hit a tremendous drive, that at first appeared to hit the left field foul pole. Actually Rodriguez thought the ball was foul until the umpires ruled the ball was fair.

Replays showed that the ball hit the bottom of the cat walk clearly to the left of the foul pole, but the drive was hit so high it's possible the ball cleared the top of the foul pole and hooked into foul territory. Rays manager Joe Maddon came out to question and the call and soon crew chief Charlie Relaford was in the replay room conferring with the MLB office in New York. The home run call was upheld after a two minute, fifteen second delay. More importantly the Yankees won their third straight game and second in a row against Tampa, 8-4.

The Yankees gave Carl Pavano a 6-1 lead, but a two run home run by Gabe Gross in the fourth cut the lead in half and Pavano was removed in favor of Edwar Ramirez after allowing a single to B.J. Upton and issuing a walk to Carlos Pena to start the fifth. Cliff Floyd's line drive ricocheted off of Robinson Cano's glove for a gift base hit to load the bases, but Cano got redemption when he gloved Willy Aybar's line drive and stepped on second base to double off Pena. Ramirez then retired Eric Hinske on a pop up to Derek Jeter to end the inning.

The Rays led 1-0 when some poor pitching by Edwin Jackson and shoddy Rays defense put the Yankees ahead for good. Jackson issued a one out walk to Xavier Nady in the inning, and two batters later Hinske couldn't make a diving catch on Cano's liner. It resulted in an RBI double to tie the game. Ivan Rodriguez followed with a double of his own to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

Back to back doubles by Bobby Abreu and A-Rod, the latter helped out when Hinske bobbled the ball in left-center pushed the advantage to 3-1 in the third inning, and Jason Giambi then added a double of his own for a 4-1 lead. Giambi moved to third base on Nady's ground out and came home on an RBI single by Hideki Matsui. Cano would follow with a single, but Jackson retired Ivan Rodriguez on a ground out to escape further trouble.

The Yankees knocked Jackson out of the game in the fourth when singles by Johnny Damon and Jeter put runners on the corners with no one out. Jackson would retire Abreu on a pop up, but then gave way to submarining right-hander Chad Bradford. He wouldn't do his job immediately though as A-Rod delivered an RBI single to right.

The only left to decide was whether or not Mariano Rivera would pitch for the first time since Friday, but that changed disappeared when the inaugural MLB instant replay took place.


News and Notes

Alex Rodriguez's home run was the 549th of his career, moving him past Mike Schmidt for sole possession of 12th place on the all-time list. The four RBI allowed him to eclipse the 90-RBI mark (92). It was also his second 4-RBI game in the last three.

Phil Coke made his second major league appearance and retired all six men he faced, with some help on a nice catch by Johnny Damon in center. Carlos Pena hit a deep drive that Damon tracked and caught as his back smashed into the wall.

Derek Jeter had one hit, putting him five behind Babe Ruth for second place on the Yankees career hit list.

September 3, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	2		8	12	0
Tampa Bay	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1		4	8	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	5	1	1	0	0	0	1	.316
Jeter, SS	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	.295
Abreu, RF	4	2	2	0	1	1	2	.301
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	2	3	4	1	1	1	.315
Giambi, 1B	4	1	1	1	1	1	3	.250
1-Ransom, PR-1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.600
Nady, LF	4	1	0	0	1	1	4	.318
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.303
Cano, 2B	4	1	2	1	0	1	0	.269
Rodriguez, I, C	4	0	1	1	0	1	2	.281
Totals	38	8	12	8	4	8	14
1-Ran for Giambi in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Cano (28, Jackson), Rodriguez, I (18, Jackson), Abreu (36, Jackson), Rodriguez, A (32, Jackson), Giambi (15, Jackson). HR: Rodriguez, A (31, 9th inning off Percival, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Abreu 3; Rodriguez, A 7; Giambi 2; Matsui; Cano 3; Rodriguez, I 2. RBI: Cano (61), Rodriguez, I (35), Rodriguez, A 4 (90), Giambi (87), Matsui (44). 2-out RBI: Cano; Rodriguez, I; Matsui; Rodriguez, A 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Damon; Rodriguez, I; Nady. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Abreu 2 (18, 2nd base off Jackson/Navarro, 2nd base off Percival/Navarro), Damon (26, 2nd base off Jackson/Navarro). CS: Rodriguez, A (3, 2nd base by Balfour/Navarro). FIELDING DP: (Cano).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pavano	4.0	6	3	3	2	1	1	4.20
Ramirez (W, 5-1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3.61
Coke (H, 1)	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bruney (H, 8)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.33
Veras	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	0	3.62

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Iwamura, 2B	5	0	1	1	0	1	1	.278
Upton, CF	5	1	2	0	0	0	1	.272
Pena, 1B	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	.248
Floyd, DH	3	0	2	1	0	0	1	.276
a-Zobrist, PH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.222
Aybar, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.246
Hinske, LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.252
Navarro, C	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.289
Gross, RF	3	2	2	2	1	0	0	.242
Bartlett, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.279
Totals	34	4	8	4	3	3	12
a-Struck out for Floyd in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Upton (33, Pavano), Floyd (11, Pavano), Navarro (22, Pavano), Iwamura (29, Veras). HR: Gross (12, 4th inning off Pavano, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Iwamura 2; Upton 3; Floyd 3; Navarro 2; Gross 5. RBI: Floyd (34), Gross 2 (36), Iwamura (40). 2-out RBI: Floyd; Gross 2; Iwamura. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Aybar; Bartlett; Hinske; Upton. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Gross (4, 2nd base off Pavano/Rodriguez, I), Upton (41, 2nd base off Pavano/Rodriguez, I). FIELDING DP: (Navarro-Bartlett).

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jackson (L, 11-9)	3.1	10	6	6	1	2	0	4.07
Bradford	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.16
Howell	2.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	2.59
Balfour	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1.38
Percival	0.2	1	2	2	1	0	1	4.08
Salas	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	10.38

Pavano pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.

HBP: Bartlett (by Pavano).
Pitches-strikes: Pavano 79-47, Ramirez 11-8, Coke 26-17,
Bruney 11-7, Veras 20-11, Jackson 70-46, Bradford 7-5,
Howell 34-22, Balfour 25-15, Percival 25-16, Salas 8-2.
Groundouts-flyouts: Pavano 4-7, Ramirez 0-2, Coke 2-4,
Bruney 2-0, Veras 1-1, Jackson 3-5, Bradford 2-0, Howell 2-1,
Balfour 1-1, Percival 1-1, Salas 0-1.
Batters faced: Pavano 21, Ramirez 3, Coke 6, Bruney 3,
Veras 5, Jackson 21, Bradford 3, Howell 6, Balfour 6, Percival 4, Salas 2.
Inherited runners-scored: Ramirez 2-0, Bradford 2-1.
Umpires: HP: Greg Gibson. 1B: Jerry Layne. 2B: Charlie Reliford. 3B: Brian Runge.
Weather: 72 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 3:31.
Att: 25,215.

Yankees Replay Victory

The Yankees and Rays made history tonight when instant replay was used for the first time in a major league baseball game. With the Yankees leading 6-3 and man aboard in the eighth inning, Alex Rodriguez hit a tremendous drive, that at first appeared to hit the left field foul pole. Actually Rodriguez thought the ball was foul until the umpires ruled the ball was fair.

Replays showed that the ball hit the bottom of the cat walk clearly to the left of the foul pole, but the drive was hit so high it's possible the ball cleared the top of the foul pole and hooked into foul territory. Rays manager Joe Maddon came out to question and the call and soon crew chief Charlie Relaford was in the replay room conferring with the MLB office in New York. The home run call was upheld after a two minute, fifteen second delay. More importantly the Yankees won their third straight game and second in a row against Tampa, 8-4.

The Yankees gave Carl Pavano a 6-1 lead, but a two run home run by Gabe Gross in the fourth cut the lead in half and Pavano was removed in favor of Edwar Ramirez after allowing a single to B.J. Upton and issuing a walk to Carlos Pena to start the fifth. Cliff Floyd's line drive ricocheted off of Robinson Cano's glove for a gift base hit to load the bases, but Cano got redemption when he gloved Willy Aybar's line drive and stepped on second base to double off Pena. Ramirez then retired Eric Hinske on a pop up to Derek Jeter to end the inning.

The Rays led 1-0 when some poor pitching by Edwin Jackson and shoddy Rays defense put the Yankees ahead for good. Jackson issued a one out walk to Xavier Nady in the inning, and two batters later Hinske couldn't make a diving catch on Cano's liner. It resulted in an RBI double to tie the game. Ivan Rodriguez followed with a double of his own to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

Back to back doubles by Bobby Abreu and A-Rod, the latter helped out when Hinske bobbled the ball in left-center pushed the advantage to 3-1 in the third inning, and Jason Giambi then added a double of his own for a 4-1 lead. Giambi moved to third base on Nady's ground out and came home on an RBI single by Hideki Matsui. Cano would follow with a single, but Jackson retired Ivan Rodriguez on a ground out to escape further trouble.

The Yankees knocked Jackson out of the game in the fourth when singles by Johnny Damon and Jeter put runners on the corners with no one out. Jackson would retire Abreu on a pop up, but then gave way to submarining right-hander Chad Bradford. He wouldn't do his job immediately though as A-Rod delivered an RBI single to right.

The only left to decide was whether or not Mariano Rivera would pitch for the first time since Friday, but that changed disappeared when the inaugural MLB instant replay took place.


News and Notes

Alex Rodriguez's home run was the 549th of his career, moving him past Mike Schmidt for sole possession of 12th place on the all-time list. The four RBI allowed him to eclipse the 90-RBI mark (92). It was also his second 4-RBI game in the last three.

Phil Coke made his second major league appearance and retired all six men he faced, with some help on a nice catch by Johnny Damon in center. Carlos Pena hit a deep drive that Damon tracked and caught as his back smashed into the wall.

Derek Jeter had one hit, putting him five behind Babe Ruth for second place on the Yankees career hit list.

September 3, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	2		8	12	0
Tampa Bay	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1		4	8	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	5	1	1	0	0	0	1	.316
Jeter, SS	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	.295
Abreu, RF	4	2	2	0	1	1	2	.301
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	2	3	4	1	1	1	.315
Giambi, 1B	4	1	1	1	1	1	3	.250
1-Ransom, PR-1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.600
Nady, LF	4	1	0	0	1	1	4	.318
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.303
Cano, 2B	4	1	2	1	0	1	0	.269
Rodriguez, I, C	4	0	1	1	0	1	2	.281
Totals	38	8	12	8	4	8	14
1-Ran for Giambi in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Cano (28, Jackson), Rodriguez, I (18, Jackson), Abreu (36, Jackson), Rodriguez, A (32, Jackson), Giambi (15, Jackson). HR: Rodriguez, A (31, 9th inning off Percival, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Abreu 3; Rodriguez, A 7; Giambi 2; Matsui; Cano 3; Rodriguez, I 2. RBI: Cano (61), Rodriguez, I (35), Rodriguez, A 4 (90), Giambi (87), Matsui (44). 2-out RBI: Cano; Rodriguez, I; Matsui; Rodriguez, A 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Damon; Rodriguez, I; Nady. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Abreu 2 (18, 2nd base off Jackson/Navarro, 2nd base off Percival/Navarro), Damon (26, 2nd base off Jackson/Navarro). CS: Rodriguez, A (3, 2nd base by Balfour/Navarro). FIELDING DP: (Cano).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pavano	4.0	6	3	3	2	1	1	4.20
Ramirez (W, 5-1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3.61
Coke (H, 1)	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Bruney (H, 8)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.33
Veras	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	0	3.62

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Iwamura, 2B	5	0	1	1	0	1	1	.278
Upton, CF	5	1	2	0	0	0	1	.272
Pena, 1B	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	.248
Floyd, DH	3	0	2	1	0	0	1	.276
a-Zobrist, PH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.222
Aybar, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.246
Hinske, LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.252
Navarro, C	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.289
Gross, RF	3	2	2	2	1	0	0	.242
Bartlett, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.279
Totals	34	4	8	4	3	3	12
a-Struck out for Floyd in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Upton (33, Pavano), Floyd (11, Pavano), Navarro (22, Pavano), Iwamura (29, Veras). HR: Gross (12, 4th inning off Pavano, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Iwamura 2; Upton 3; Floyd 3; Navarro 2; Gross 5. RBI: Floyd (34), Gross 2 (36), Iwamura (40). 2-out RBI: Floyd; Gross 2; Iwamura. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Aybar; Bartlett; Hinske; Upton. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Gross (4, 2nd base off Pavano/Rodriguez, I), Upton (41, 2nd base off Pavano/Rodriguez, I). FIELDING DP: (Navarro-Bartlett).

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jackson (L, 11-9)	3.1	10	6	6	1	2	0	4.07
Bradford	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.16
Howell	2.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	2.59
Balfour	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1.38
Percival	0.2	1	2	2	1	0	1	4.08
Salas	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	10.38

Pavano pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.

HBP: Bartlett (by Pavano).
Pitches-strikes: Pavano 79-47, Ramirez 11-8, Coke 26-17,
Bruney 11-7, Veras 20-11, Jackson 70-46, Bradford 7-5,
Howell 34-22, Balfour 25-15, Percival 25-16, Salas 8-2.
Groundouts-flyouts: Pavano 4-7, Ramirez 0-2, Coke 2-4,
Bruney 2-0, Veras 1-1, Jackson 3-5, Bradford 2-0, Howell 2-1,
Balfour 1-1, Percival 1-1, Salas 0-1.
Batters faced: Pavano 21, Ramirez 3, Coke 6, Bruney 3,
Veras 5, Jackson 21, Bradford 3, Howell 6, Balfour 6, Percival 4, Salas 2.
Inherited runners-scored: Ramirez 2-0, Bradford 2-1.
Umpires: HP: Greg Gibson. 1B: Jerry Layne. 2B: Charlie Reliford. 3B: Brian Runge.
Weather: 72 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 3:31.
Att: 25,215.