Bernie in CF again. And Stinnett in, it being a day game after a night game. Thought we might see Jorgie, with the break coming up and all, but I guess not.

Melky Cabrera LF
Derek Jeter SS
Jason Giambi DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Bernie Williams CF
Andy Phillips 1B
Miguel Cairo 2B
Kevin Thompson RF
Kelly Stinnett C

Let's see if Torre approaches this as a house money game or if he actually tries to win it. Bernie in CF is never a great start

IF there is some divine mandate that cathers cannot play in day-games-after-night-games, why not DH Posada, and play Giambi at 1B? That pushes Andy to the bench, an acceptable trade-off.

3 I don't want Giambi at 1B. His defense has fallen off a cliff the past two years. Worse, he has a tendency to hurt himself playing D.

3 No, there is no mandate, but I am not opposed to giving Posada an extra long break. Right now he is on pace to shatter his current career high for games played because we always need his bat in the lineup considering all of our injuries.

Not so good considering we don't want him to fizzle out in August through October.

4 Phillips has been so bad lately at the plate maybe he needs a day off. I just don't think he is going to cut it much longer. Pena may not slug much more than Phillips, but we might get a little more obp.

Andy's been a bona fide slump. I think it's the same thing Melky went through earlier this year, and Cano went through last year. The league adjusted to him. He's got to adjust in turn.

I think he already is. After going 3 for 30, or something ridiculous like that, he got hits in three of the last four games.

Dang. That was almost a homerun.

A-Rod, ths season at the Trop, a Jeter-esque 1 for 15.

Drat, DP-Rod strikes...Just when I thought he was gonna go on a tear, TB seems to really have set him back, come on Alex!

4 5 I'll buy the argument about giving Posada an extra long break. I don't buy the Giambi defense argument. Yeah, his D is atrocious, but he makes up for it with the bat, and Posada is a big upgrade over Andy. Overall, offensive gains outweigh the defensive negatives.

Now, if this really is a 'house money' game, Torre should experiment with Andy at 2B.

Crap, this better not be one of those patented, get the pitcher on the ropes in the first, he squeezes out of it, settles down, and shuts the Yankee offense down for 6 or 7 innings. Giambi just misses a 3-run job and A-Rod dp. Damn.

7 I don't think you can compare Andy to Cano or Melky. They are young hitters without a minor league track record. Phillips was def. supposed to be ready to be a league average hitter. he is 3 for 17 in the last 4 games. He has a .277 obp and is slugging .409. Even with his average to average plus defense he shouldn't be the starting 1st baseman on a contending team. Posada's offense would of been more valuable today versus his defense, and Pena is a better option now.

11 I actually had a dream last night about Andy making a terrible throwing error playing 2B against the Rays. Crawford was running to first on a grounder, Andy fields the ball and throws it way off the bag and into the basepath, drawing Pujols off the bag (hey, it was a dream)and causing him to have a horrific collision with Crawford, a la Bubba Crosby and Brian Roberts from last year.

Note to $man: if Casey Fossum becomes available, pass.

Any comments on Wilson so far?

13 - Phillips has a good minor league record and hence should be given more slack, not less. He has hit better than GOB most of the year. He's been in a slump for a week - have patience.

Oh, man. Is Cap ok?

Arghhh. Not again.

Jeet's staying in, but he doesn't look happy.

Woot! Grand slam for the Giambino!

Oh HELL yes

Bernie bang.
Maybe it's really true that he sees better in The Trop than other batters???

21 I think it is. Jeter says he has a hard time seeing the ball in the Trop. Obviously, that's not the case with Bernie.

16 Sorry. Don't mean to beat a dead horse, but his #'s are almost exactly at his pecota 50% projection #'s. I think hot cold streak whatever this is what he is. Not enough bat. Pena would only be a small upgrade, but I would promote him. I think there is a little wishcasting to make Andy Phillips more than he is.

16 He really does look like Aaron Small. Er, the good version of Small.

Though Smallie had a pretty good game last night in Columbus. He seems to be getting together.

LoHud has the explanation of why Jorgie's out today:

=====

Jorge Posada is not in the lineup today. His wife and kids were on that flight to Tampa on Thursday that was disrupted by an unruly passenger.

Understandably, his wife hasn't been able to sleep since the incident and Posada is worn out from staying up with her.

=====

Here's the story about the plane:

http://tinyurl.com/qdblz

23 - for one thing, Pena is left-handed, so you wouldn't want him in today anyway. For another, he has a major league track record which is really not that good. Finally, Pecota prefers Pena, but I'm not sure if that includes the effect on Phllips's #s from being screwed by the Yanks for years, and Cliff thinks (thought? care to update, Cliff?) Pena's not an upgrade.

You'd think that Contreras, the man with the 17 game win streak, would have good shot to beat the Red Sox today. But remember "Contreras' Law: If Contreras can make something go wrong for the Yankees, Contreras will make something go wrong for the Yankees.

Yeesh. I guess Wilson isn't the answer to our prayers.

Looks like it's going to be one of those games. Is Villone warming?

Yes, Villone is warming.

23 Exactly. I like Phillips, and I think he should get significant playing time. But, he is the expendable player 90% when you have to choose between Giambi and Andy. Satying up late with the wife or not, I'd like to think Posada could DH today with the AS break coming up.

Uh-oh, wheels coming off the Wilson wagon.

It was so obvious that the Huff/Wilson match-up was going to end up the way it did ... fingers crossed we get out of this inning with a lead.

Leiter's been warning since the beginning of the game that Wilson was overthrowing and leaving stuff up in the zone. He saw that one coming.

Well, looks like it's Aaron Small 2006 v. 2.0 instead of Small 2005. And even on gamecast I saw the Huff homer coming.

32 No kidding...that matchup was screaming comeback HR.

Wilson, 18 pitches, 13 strikes with a six run lead against the Tribe in 2 scoreless innings. Today, 65 pitches, 39 strikes in 2.2 innings. That inning definitely could have ended worse.

Ugh, we need more offense...can't let Fossum settle down now.

Villone has to pitch the fourth and fifth, I think. I don't want to see Chacon.

Hey, maybe Kris should pronounce his name: wil-SONE.

I swear, Villone is going to end up with the fourth-most wins on this team by the end of the season.

Maybe Villone will end up being our fifth starter.

God almighty, guess who got an RBI against Contreras in the top of the first?

Nice job, Villone. And not too many pitches, he gets another inning.

I hope Posada got a nice nap in the club house--I suspect that he will need to PH this game.

Looks like Torre & Co. are going to busy over the break, figuring out who's going to pitch after Wang. Another callup? Chacon? Villone? Make a trade?

41 Cairo?

Man, Villone seemed so strong.

Ugghhhh.

"Mr. Damon and Mr Posada, please report to the playing field."

Wheels starting to come off now. I love the spunk of this team, but I'm going to be ticked if we're 4 games back going into the break.

So who's coming in next? Proctor? Chacon? Villone is obviously out of gas.

Maybe we should try to get Huff. He can play OF this year, then switch to 1B when Matsui comes back.

Geez, give Posada some NoDoze and get him in the game.

Those were three crappy at-bats. Maybe Melky can kick-start the team leading off next inning.

There's always the Rays' 'pen, guys.

Villone again. Geez.

But Proctor's warming.

So you wanted to be one of Joe's guys, eh Ronnie?

Helpless
Pronunciation: 'hel-pl&s; Southern often 'hep-l&s also 'he&p-
Function: adjective
1 : lacking protection or support : DEFENSELESS
2 : watching your long relief guy give up a tying homerun, and then watching players named Miguel Cairo, Kevin Thompson, and Kelly Stinnett bat for your team the next inning.

Mike Lowell solo homer.

27 The Contreras principle seems to be holding.

I love that Villone couldn't throw strikes to open this inning, but they had Travis Lee bunting. Will the madness ever end.

Contreras has an 11-something ERA lifetime against the Red Sox. Anyone left wondering why the Yanks dealt him?

55 Yep. After that (two out) dinger, Contreras gives up a walk, single, wild pitch, walk. Loaded up for Loretta...

... And he hits Loretta, forcing in a run.

Loretta HBP 3-0 Sox....Ortiz with full bases

57 No. Kay and Leiter said earlier in this game that few think Contreras would have been successful on NY. That's my feeling, too.

Why is Villone still in there? Just lefty-righty matchups?

Bernie in CF: not a good idea.

Is the AL east really that much better than the rest of baseball? First, the Sox maul the NL, then almost get swept by TB, now they're looking to bounce Contreras, who has lost in almost a year, in the fourth inning (up to 90 pitches).

Sox v. AL East, 25-19 ~ 55% WP
Sox v. Everyone else, 28-13 ~ 70% WP

Contreras escapes Big Papi and holds it to 3-0.

Ortiz hits the 0-3 pitch to right... but caught. (He doesn't hit grand slams when Boston leads by three.)

64 Amazing. I guess the 4th inning up by 3 is just not clutch enough.

Er, I meant 3-0.

Oy. Bernie says, "I got it," but Thompson doesn't believe him.

Where's Mattpat11's snide comment about Bubba?

68 Thompson was also calling, perhaps they were shouting over eachother.

as MP11 Bubba would've taken two out. Crawford on the fly ball, and Thompson on the collision.

68 Where was it, was it more CF and Thompson should have given way or just up for grabs?

Schilling gives up a bomb, but solo. Iguchi.

Now offense, Cliff, but I hope Jetes lays into your cousin right here.

That really sucked.

Why would Jeter bunt there?

Intentionally walk Giambi to face A-Rod. I know it's a double play thing but that's a lack of respect for Rodriguez.

What kind of weird spell does the Trop have over the Cap?

Time to be clutch, Alex.

72 Thompson should have given way. Bernie's the CFer. Plus, if Bernie can get to it, you know it's well in his territory. ;-)

Bernie ended up catching it anyway, even being bowled over by KT.

Ugh. I guess walking Giambi to face A=Rod is a good strategy.

I can't believe this lineup features Bernie fifth, then actually goes downhill.

Arod Ks. The return of Mr. Un-Clutch!

Man, what a throw.

Whatta waste.

If Jeter or A-Rod had moved Melky up...

Bet we'll see Damon or Posada next inning. (Bet, or hope?)

79 Thanks. Wasn't sure from Gameday if it was really CF or not but you're right, the fact that Bernie got there should have told me.

Doctor Proctor, DO., is in.

Wouldn't today be a good day to have RJ in the pen?

This is def. a game that seems destined for us to lose, to go into the break on a downer and out 4...

Ahh, and E.S.P. strikes again...

88 It would. But Joe said before the game that Randy would be getting the extra rest, since he's starting right after the break. Moose too.

It's tied, and there's no reason why we can't win, but I have a bad feeling about it. I think it's because our record on sweeps has been so bad.

I know Farnsworth sucks and all, but I would much rather see him than Proctor...

I sure hope they aren't only going to pitch MO one because of the All-star break.

KT's not having a good day.

Let's shoot 2, Yanks!

Looking at the Gameday new alerts, I see Mark Prior is injured. Can you imagine if we were Cubs fans? How terrible would that be?

Give me Carl Pavano any day over the crashing, double-barreled disappointments of Prior and Wood.

95 What's worse is that they build a team around those two. Their offense, even with Lee, is below average.

95 Okay, Pavano is yours! Hope you enjoy him.

This innning is just classic Proctor, isn't it?

Whew!

96 That's pretty much my point. Life goes on without Pavano. Prior and Wood, well... they might not have been Santana and Liriano, exactly, but they'd have been close.

Schilling giving up the farm in Chicago. Sox coming back.

I would go Mo for 2 now.

The White Sox are trying their best to come create more clutch situations for Ortiz!

Andy is using the "GOB" approach to hitting...

Hey, he is still on base.

103 Don't knock it if it falls for a hit.

103 And it worked!

Damon in to PH for Miggy...

105 I am not knocking it. Whatever works. Just not a good long-term strategy.

Schilling out of the jam with a slim lead.

Whatever happens, please don't let Kelly Stinnett bat in this game again.

KT ought to get a good pitch. Obviously, Switzer doesn't want to have to face Stinnett with two on.

And yep, here comes Jorgie.

There goes Jorgie.

Who "closes" for the Rays? I forget.

Good idea, rest Mo...

Nice D by Philly and Farnsy.

115 You can say that again. Literally...

Hmm. Schilling out after 85 pitches? The Sox better take advantage Delcarmen before the Sox bring out Papelin.

Well, at least the umpire is on our side.

Wow. I don't think I'd even try to steal on Posada these days.

Jorgie greases Crawford again!

Both me and my bf were saying, WOW, he just threw out Carl Crawford? Go Jorgie! Stuff like this is why I continue to believe in this team!

118 Was that a questionable call? (I'm listening, not watching.)

Yes, it was questionable. It was really close.

But I find it hard to believe Joe West would give us any breaks.

Ouch! Nice catch by Rocco...

Ugh. The Trop is so... jagged.

Yeah, Rocco is having a great game. Well, Giambi walk, A-Rod gets a chance...

Oh those pesky Dee Rays.

It'd be nice if the ChiSox beat the Red Sox for once.

Well, that was annoying. Considering we started out with a nice lead, then lost by one lousy run. :-P

And what on earth are we going to do about our starting pitching?

126 Or not.
Yuck. That was an ugly game. What if, what if, what if.

This team just has no interest in sweeping series. That was beyond a winnable game and they tanked it. Wilson and A-Rod get the goat horns. Terrible game by A-Rod. Looks like Wilson is still the same guy that couldn't hack it with the Royals. That is all.

A-Rod seems to hate the Trop even more than Jeter. Did he get even a single hit in this series?

A little bird told me that the cd that keeps playing in Joe Torre's office includes an alternate take of a John Lee Hooker classic: "The House Money Blues." There's a line that goes: "Talkin' 'bout a sweep, you'll be lucky to win two out of three."

Dye just tied it up off papelbon...

waiting on hughes in the futures game...

Papelbon Dyes in Chi-town.

HR by Dye vs. Papelbon...blown save...tie game in Chicago!!!

Joe did play to win today. He had a quick hook for Wilson. He put Posada and Damon in. Just didn't work.

Michael Kay thinks the Yankees are going to trade for a new OFer, move Bernie to DH, play Giambi at 1B, and bench Andy.

base hit...lets go chisox

did anyone see the rumor on rotoworld.com that the Red Sox are now hot for Abreu? Rotoworld seems to think that it makes no sense for Boston.

Gak. I think I'm going to be even more annoyed at losing this game if Boston loses, too.

But go, Chisox, anyway!

putting Giambi in the field as the fulltime 1st baseman is a mistake...especially since Giambi seems to gotten over his 'cant hit unless plays the field' problem...we need pitching but I just dont see us making any major moves...

It doesn't. Their outfield is fine. If they think the Yanks are still after him, they may be trying to drive the price up.

137 I like the rumor that the Yanks are looking into Huff.

141 I agree. But we've got something of a logjam at DH. Bernie shouldn't in the outfield any more, either. And when Matsui and or Sheff return, are they going to be ready to play the outfield right away?

142 yep...that's what I was thinking too. I really belive that this Yankee team is one productive corner OF away from making a serious run in July and August, with the hopes that either Matsui or Shef return in time to solidify our Offense just in time for hot September division race.

Actually, it does make some sense because it's a given that they will not re-sign Trot Nixon. To get Abreu gives them the freedom to trade Nixon in a package and secures RF for the next 3-4 years.

143 Huff seems to be a good fit. He can play 1B as well as OF, so he could move to 1B when Matsui comes back.

The Yanks say they aren't interested, and supposedly have concerns that Huff won't be able to cut it in NY. But maybe they're just saying that, as part of the bargaining process.

144 - true, but at least Giambi is a masher playing DH instead instead of just an old/poor fielder playing DH like Bernie would be. As for a logjam at DH, I think matsui will likely be ready to field when he returns since he's a little younger whereas sheff would likely need to DH some...at that point, I say we pick our poison - giambi or sheff in the field with the other DH-ing...hopefully we will still be in the race when this problem presents it self. If our pitching staff is the same then we may need to sacrifice the D at 1b or RF in exchange for more pop at the plate...my guess is that whoever is the DH between those two will depend on how andy and melky perform in July and August...

Enter Brian Anderson: Stud. RSN, beware.

single for posednik...2 outs

Pick-off attempts. Boo.

Hughes is pitching in the Futures Game right now.

Philip Hughes now on the hill for US Futures..

Hughes - 1 batter, 1 K

154. You jinxed him.

I guess...single then rbi double...then an HR!

first time I've ever seen him...yikes

156. Jitters, that's all.

Maybe teams will stop sniffing around him.

I'm sure...they say he's cant miss and he is throwing 95mph gas...I'm more worried about us trading him than his stuff...

Tabata vs. Hughes. I don't know who to root for.

tabata almost took hughes' head off with that liner...

160, 161 Clearly, you weren't rooting for that.

redsox up 5-3 in 11th...looks like we will be 4 back to start the 2nd half...3 back sounded so much better...

Hughes got lit up in his inning. 2 singles, a really long double, a really long home run, and 3 runs total. He did show flashes of brilliance however (2 K, 0 BB, getting ahead of hitters, composure) so I'm not too worried.

Jose Tabata ripped one of those singles up the middle. Almost took Hughes's head off.

Whoa, didn't realize everyone else was watching too.

Well sux just took the lead in the 10th in jenks' 3rd inning of work...Looks liek a sweep and 4 games out at the break..Not bad, not great. As long as there are no panic moves, I think we can salvage

160 I was rooting for Hughes. He needed an out.

166 George was attending today's game. Sadly, I think there may be a panic move or two when all is said and done, but I am hoping sanity prevails.

White Sox hanging tight, 5-4 now, no outs...

Hey, the Chisox are threatening. Bases loaded, no outs. Only one run down.

ChiSox on verge of blowing a can't miss chance

How'd the man on third not score? Gameday just says "Line out to Trot Nixon".

They tied it up!

White Sox tie it again!

Well ChiSox score 1 from a bases loaded no out to tie it up, now two outs, 1st/3rd...

172 Terrible baserunning, Gload not paying attention to a fly ball to Nixon. He coulda tagged and scored but her blew it.

Did I mention that HR Javy is pitching for the Sox, so they better win now?

Timlin Ks Mackowiak and we go to the 12th...

172 Thanks for the clarification. It's great the Pale Hose tied it up, but they should have won this game by now. Not sure they can win this battle of attrition.

Sorry, I meant 176 -- thanks, 3rd gen!

Ugh. Walked Varitek. :-P

On that weird line out to Nixon, Dye took off from second and rounded third, then had to return -- Nixon threw home instead of getting the easy DP at second. But Dye did not touch third on his way back to second! boston missed it and did not appeal.

Top of the order up against Hansen. They oughta be able to put something on the board.

Heading to the bottom of the 12th, still tied

Twice Podsednik had a great jump but Iguchi fouled it off. I guess it's hit-&-run and not a straight steal. Pods is only 28 for 40.

Make that three times now.

Iguchi goes down swinging.

Man, the ChiSox O just cannot do anything right...

Thome: not clutch.
Ah, now Pods steals second. Goad (who ran for Konerko) can win it with a single.

Come on, Gload. Time to redeem yourself.

Gload is a weird name...

could be worse..he could be Ross Choad

K for the Choad...and here we go again, one more chance for the Sox to blow it with HR Javy

Get 'em all out, Javy, or you'll face Big Papi.

Hm, if the BoSox get a baserunner, Papi gets a chance in an Official Clutch Situation [tm].

AGon power. :-(

Leadoff double not helping the cause...

Two on, one out, Ortiz up. Why do I have the feeling this is not going to end well?

bases juiced..2 outs...nixon at the dish...

NICE! Left em loaded...

Wow. They had to walk Manny, but they got out of the inning.

C'mon Jermaine...get another one...

my fiance and by bro and his wife are heading to NYC next weekend and have yanks/chisox tickets for friday night...I assume it will be Moose versus Contreras?

202...wow nice sentence...I mean ME, my fiance, my brother and his wife...

Julian Tavarez gets a K. But he's not really the guy you want to see up there if you're a Sawx fan -- why not Lester or Wakefield?

you see that throw to first from tavares? that dude is unstable...

Oh, man. Tavarez is absolutely death. Tosses underhand to first, the ball bounces, rolls, Youk doesn't pick it up cleanly, AJ is safe. Now I think Tavarez is rattled.

The edge has to be with the Red Sox here, I mean, the ChiSox offense really has been crap...

damn..headed to the 14th..

Oh. I was sure he was safe.

Joe Torre said Randy Johnson will be pitching first in the new rotation. Just to space out the load on the bullpen.

Randy Johnson
Mike Mussina
Jaret Wright
Chien-Ming Wang
???????

210...damn, I was hoping you wouldnt say Randy for friday night but at least he's been significantly better in the 2nd half the last couple years...

Clutch time for Papi.

That wasn't clutch.

Yikes, the Sox game is still going on. Big Papi is not so clutch today.

thome's about to go yard - i can feel it

The Chicago announcers gave the matchups for next week. I'm afraid it is RJ Friday:

Contreras vs RJ
Buehrle vs Moose
Garcia vs Jaret Wright

I may have to purposefully show up late to avoid seeing Randy's typical first inning...

Any knowledgeable NYC subway riders around? I am staying on Lexington Ave between 48th and 49th and thought I could take the 4 train all the way but the hotel website says nearest subway station is 49th st with access to 6, E and V trains...Can I take the 6 train and catch the 4 at a another stop towards the stadium?

Kudos to the WS relief, but it looks like the RS were expecting the game to be over in the 9th. Nixon with an 0 for 8 collar and Varitek not far behind with 0 for 7.

Of course, the WS keep p***ing away opportunities...

217 Just walk to Times Square and catch it there, its easiest. if not, take the 6 to 86th and transfer there...

Damn, yahoo just lost an entire inning for me. It was stuck on Thome, then all of a sudden it jumped to the middle of the 16th!!

217 219 no, DON'T walk to Times Square from Lex and 48th just to catch a train. Unless you'll be around there sight-seeing already, it makes no sense.

Just take the 6 Train and transfer at 86th onto the 4. It's your best option.

The top of the 16th went very quickly.

Zack and Unpopster...thanks for the advice...I was trying to make sense of the subway map and it looked like the 6 up to 86th and then catching the 4 was the way to go but I wasnt sure I was reading it right...we hit NYC about 3 years in a row a few years back, but we we stayed closer to times square and took the B or D to the stadium...its the only time i've ever been on the subway so I get freaked that i'm gonna get lost and end up shot :)

223 maybe back in the 70's, but the subways are so safe these days (except of course for your random knife or electric saw wielding craziers).

No, but seriously, the crazy stories from the last couple of weeks are so out of left-field. The subways are VERY, very safe these days. no worries.

I never worried about taking the subway, even in the middle of the night. I used to work OT in Brooklyn, which meant taking the subway back to Grand Central at midnight or so. Never a problem. No one ever bothered me. (Walking to the station past the Red Hook housing project was another story, though.)

What's the record for this season? 18 innings? They're closing in on it.

I know it's really safe now, just a barb since I read that dude got sawed on recently...I just dont want to get lost more than anything..

Holy smokes. Cora bails out Seanez.

Chisox sux

The RS are practically gift-wrapping this game for the WS by going through the motions with quick at-bats, and the WS keep saying "we don't want it" by throwing away every scoring opportunity they get.

I've gotten lost on the subway a lot. In fact, the very first time I rode the subway, I got on going the wrong way. Rather embarrassing, since it made me late for a job interview.

The maps in the cars are very good, though. I've always found my way pretty quickly. The T in Boston is kind of confusing, but New York's subways are hard to get too lost on, IME.

Arrghh. I can't believe they didn't score there. They're playing a doubleheader in one game.

Here we go, another Official Clutch Opportunity [tm] for Papi.

There is no way that this game ends with the ChiSox winning...

Now that was very, very unclutch.

Woah, DP for Ortiz, what is that, his 4th at bat in "close or late" situations today where he has utterly failed, clearly he is not clutch!

Zack, you seem to be leaving open the possibility that it won't end at all. Which seems strangely plausible.

Nothing like being late for a job interview!

This game is torture...With neither team doing much to try and win, it kinda resembles the few moments of overtime soccer I caught on tv today...

Rare that you see a DP of "pitcher to 3B to 1B"

I'm calling a walk-off homer for The Choad...I think he's leading off the bottom of the inning...

Manny's not too clutch today, either.

put a stake through this one please. enough late disappointments today.

Anyone see the World Cup final? Well, I mean, yeah, a billion people did, but any currently on-line BBanterers?

237 chris, bingo. That was a very entertaining soccer game for the first 75 or so minutes, but then the players got more and more tired and started wading through mud. This game seems very much that way as well.

C'mon, Dye. How about another homer?

239 Nope. And not Dye, either. AJ P?

actually Chisox could end up keeping us out of the playoffs via WC couldn't they?. So it's not a zero if they lose just 99.44% bad

242 The highlight though was definitely Zidane's headbutt. I don't think anyone saw that coming.

Go to
http://www.repubblica.it/index.html
and click on "Zidane fuori". Funny or tragic.

Well, the headbutt made the game unforgettable, anyway.

ChiSox unable to score against Tavarez or Seanez, incredible.

The chisox announcer sounds really bored and pissed.

Yeah that headbutt was unbelievable. But I always hate it when a game is ended on penalty kicks, even though I understand why it has to happen. But Zidane had to know he would be most needed for that type of situation, so to completely lose it...wow.

Politte is also awful, ERA = 8.33. But he fanned Nixon and got Tek too.

Wow, that Repubblica series of pix is kind of wrenching. Is there a Youtube of it yet?

251 Same here. P-kicks is an idiotic way to end an important (to say the least) match.

Nixon is 0 for 9 today, with 4 K's.

Whew! Two long, long drives hauled in.

Down in the depths of the ChiSox order. Well, maybe Seanez walks one or two and Podsednik gets a shot to win it.

This is getting absurd. You've got the dregs in Cliff Politte in, and Nixon and Tek are still a combined 0 for 17.

I predict two of the shortest post-game shows in history if this ever ends

252 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1i_l0OeeMc

The White Sox better win this horrendously long game.

Zizou clearly lost his mind. He got away with one head butt a couple games ago and it does it again. Terrible way to go out of the game.

Or maybe a couple of singles...

Here we go, here we go!

two chisox on base. Could this be it?

Man, if they don't score here...

There ya go. Now they have to bring the outfield in. How about a suicide squeeze???
Apparently not.

please no DP

how bout walk in a run to end this

Finally. All that and we're still 3 games out. Good night all.

yes!!!!!!!

A run! Is it over?

nyctarheel87, thanks for the link. Damn.

Thank you, Chisox. Thank you.

this Chisox announcer is announcing all the result and sponsored awards a mile a minute. This is pretty funny.

268 yup that's it.

Nice job. I gotta get a nice picture of Iguchi for my wall.

'see' yall after the break.

272 Dye would be a good picture to have too. Got the big hits to tie the game in the 9th and in extra innings, including shattering Papelbon's invincible tag.

Actually, after I watched the replay of the Zizou's head butting incident, it is clear that Materazzi said something to him and it must have been disgusting and racist for him to react that way.

269 No problem

274 Yeah it must have been something very insulting, but he has had outburts like this in big games before

Zizou has heard every racist comment imaginable. It ain't easy being a French Arab (although being a multimillionaire one is a little different). Some media have pointed out that looking at the replays it seems that the Italian guy grabbed him by the nipple, of all things.

Correction, French Berber, not Arab, I suppose. Je m'excuse!

If the yankees get pitching like this past series, it's going to be a great second half.

We were lucky to take 2 out of 3 since the white sox are better in every area (where's yankee fan in chicago? :)