I'm thinking positive. The Yanks will win tonight. Here's why:

1. As a team, the Yanks only bat .265 against Escobar, but several guys have good averages including: (a) Jeter (.348); (b) ARod (.379); (c) Abreu (.333); (d) Matsui (.375); (e) Giambi (.353); and Cano (.375). Some are small sample sizes, but I'll take them.

2. As a team, the Yanks have a .348 OBP against Escobar.

3. Mussina's held the Angels to a .255 team batting average. He owns Vlad. Yeah yeah, I know that most of those numbers were created when the man was throwing in the low 90's but dammit, HE's DUE!

4. The Angels had an emotional win. The Yanks looked PO'd walking off the field, so there's the immeasurable and yet inevitable "LET DOWN" intangible factor. Don't y'all love intangibles?

5. Joba can go 2 innings tonight, Edwar can pitch too, maybe even 2 innings. I bet even Mo could throw an inning. That means Moose only needs to go 5 innings.

6. K-Rod (man I hate him) pitched 1.2 on Friday, and an inning on Sunday and again last night. He threw 20 pitches last night and looked just a little labored, which is why Darren Oliver pitched.

7. Because STONE COLD SAYS SO!

GO YANKEES!

"First, 15 of the 17 men who have tried to steal against Escobar this season have been successful, that's a tremendous 88 percent success rate (on his career, baserunners have stolen at an 80 percent clip)."

Great, so we can look forward to Scioscia calling even more throws over to first tonight from the mound and the catcher.

Note to Sonnanstine:

When Papi's up, and you have 3 balls on him, and first base open, just effin walk the guy.

Just posting so that people realize there are two different bombers fans in chicago

I'm the better looking one.

Bases loaded and one out in Tampa. Looks like another Sox win in the making.

Yeah, but I pull more tail.

Hey, Team, have I got a story for you.

I've been spending a lot of time in Brooklyn, lately, Park Slope, to be precise.

First of all, what is up with the fucking Boston caps in the neighborhood?

I was trying to be liberal and tolerant and multicultural, day in and day out, with each 'B'-cap I saw.

"That's weird," I'd remark.

Eventually, it ceased to be weird and became downright irritating.

What the hell? I lived in that neighborhood in the late
'90s and I never saw a Boston cap. Perhaps the odd cap that I wouldn't even have noticed because it was, in fact, the odd cap.

Tolerance, right?

So I'm wondering if anyone has an explanation.

Second of all, in the same neighborhood, I was made to feel uncomfortable in a sports bar for, get this, being too animated.

It was Sunday's game, and someone hit a ball just under Alex's glove in a big spot (Chien-Ming's start?) and I responded with my usual theatrics.

She snapped at me, "Dude, I like the Yankees too, but you're freaking me out."

Did I mention this was a sports bar?

What kind of world is it where someone makes you feel subconscious about caring about your team IN A SPORTS BAR???

Craziness.

Ok, so as for tonight, raise your hand if you have a good feeling about Mike.

(My hand is decidedly not raised.)

Yep.....one run in and counting.

1 You really think Joe will manage to use Joba for two tonight?

What if he uses him in the seventh and then goes, "You know, that Farnsworth's really showing me something...Chamberlain's arm...Two days off..."

I think we should start by scoring some runs and fixing the bad news bears defense before we worry about anyone having to hold down a lead. Please remember, its Moose tonight, which I think is a good thing, gulp. It's teams with actual hitters in the lineup that shell him, not lineups with only one slugger, I hope!

Two more runs in and counting, while Tampa has yet to record the second out.

Put the division out of your head boys and girls.

I am so glad I didn't shell out big bucks to get tickets and drive to Anaheim tonight.

12 Never say die!

12 Sheesh, if you are so doom-and-gloomy, why even bother watching the games?

In the spirit of optimism, I'd like to point out that Mike could, in fact, come up big tonight.

It wouldn't be unprecedented.

Meanwhile, gopher balls are once again flying out of the Metrodome...

Did you guys know Bobby Meacham is San Diego's first base coach?

Dude. I am not morphing into a Sox fan overnight. Get your hopes up only to have them dashed while standing near the pinnacle of achievement. Do I think they can win the division? You bet! Am I going to think about it anymore? No fucking way. I poo pooed Cliff and others all season for saying that the division was likely out of reach and calling it way too early, but be real man. It aint happening, barring some miracle.

Beltre HR. Jesus Christ! Seattle up 2-0, one out in the second.

Funny stuff though. I am watching the WSOP. Brad Garrett just got eliminated. I wonder if it was the sight of all those brown skinned people out and about in Vegas?

14 I am not doom and gloomy. I think the Yankees are playing pretty good ball. I just think it came about two months too late.

8) That is a great note about Park Slope. I lived in Carroll Gardens from 94-2000 and I knew of exactly one Red Sox fan in my neighborhood and he was a bitter dick. Brooklyn is not the only place where Sox fans have sprouted up like a weeds in NYC, but it is one of the most glaring. It's what happens when your team is good and a lot of young people who move to NYC have known the Sox only to be a pretty darn good team. I think the Red Sox heartbreak is much different for Sox fans who are too young to remember 86. The stuff in the late 90s early 00s to the Yankees wasn't fun but it wasn't crushing. Plus the Sox have just been a good, competitive team for a long time.

As for tonight, against all reason, I say the Yanks win pretty easily. Maybe 8-3, something like that.

You know what's funny about Sterling?

For a guy who's quick to understate the significance of stats, he sure talks about them a lot.

"I could give you stats all day, what do stats really mean, but Jorgie is now 24-46, 24-40 if you go back to July 3."

I don't know how the man fritters away his broadcasts, but it sure isn't by talking about the game at hand.

20 That makes a lot of sense. They're all, say, 35 and below.

Does that mean that if we crush Boston maybe a couple years running the caps will disappear in Brooklyn?

I'd say that's more incentive than a ring.

21 I love nothing more than stats from seemingly completely arbitrary dates.

The Yankees are the best team in baseball since July 22!

Where the hell does that date come from?

20 Alex, I would say it extends beyond just the Pats too. I notice the same thing with the Patriots, who, up until 2000, were the 4th most popular team in New England, behind the Sox, Celtics, and Bruins (if not even the Giants, who had a huge following up there). But with the popularity of football on the rise, and the history of the Pats in the mid to late 80s on being relatively successful, factored into the recent run, and its quite similar. Lots and lots of young, cocky Pats fans with a sense of entitlement not unlike certain yankee fans...

And on another note, the D-Rays suck. Why did we have to play the Angels while the Sox got the Rays?

24 that should say "beyond just the SOX too"

23 Yeah, that's what was funny about '98, with the 1-4 start.

Sterling kept having to factor out that 1-4 start (in Seattle, was it?) in order to make the team sound EVEN BETTER. He must have done that through the entire month of May, at least.

So, in other news, we're screwed, aren't we.

I'm watching an interview of Mike Sosia by John Flaherty.

I like Sosia.

He seems a very decent fellow.

29 Except when he's trying to get into a fight with Frank Robinson.

28 Only if you mean by losing tonight we will fall six games back o' the Sox and 2.5 games behind Seattle, Seattle with four fewer losses, then yes, we are.

30 Here here! I actually wrote a piece on that for my fantasy league. What made it worse is that Donnelly was obviously cheating, and Scioscia saw the need to challnge one of Frank's pitchers who was doing nothing wrong, in retaliation for Petroleum Jelly Belly Brendan Donnelly.

29 Ugh. Ask Frank Howard about that.

Meanwhile, to add salt to the wounds from last night, the Sawx somehow succeeded in turning Whiffy-Mo into an actual prospect, getting Chris Carter from Arizona via Washington. WTF!!!!

31 Six is all right. We're now in the 4-6 games back range whereas we were in the 7-9 games back range.

We've made progress.

If we can stay in the 4-6 rather than 7-9 range by the time we face Boston, at least we'll have a fighting chance, which is all I ask for.

At least Lester had another typical weak outing. 5.1 ip, 4 hits, 4 walks, 2 homers, 5 er.

Falling six games behind Boston doesn't bother me half as much as falling four games behind Seattle (in the loss column), for some reason. I like the way the team is playing and the schedule is favorable, but it sure would be nicer if we weren't constantly going uphill.

36 Get a lot of Mariners games on tv over here, and can confidently say there is no way they will keep it up. They still have Sexon in the lineup at under .200!

36 I know, but it's not that kind of a year.

Btw, anyone know where Mike's velocity was last game?

Last I recall, he was up to 88, even 89, in these past few weeks.

Wow, the Mets just win in dramatic style in the ninth.

That was nice baseball.

Damn it!

Tight defense, these Californias.

Well, that sucked.

And here comes Mussina.

Good, Bobby.

Get mad.

40 I was there. Stadium gun had 91 a couple times. I'd say he was sitting 89 most of the time.

Why?! man, bad start..

89 All right, well that's serviceable.

He can do this.

(You can do this, Mike.)

89 ?

I have no idea.

Figgins is the majors' best hitter since July 1.

:)

He better have that same strike zone to Moose..

Jeter's now slugging under .400 since the All Star Break.

48 At least July 1st is a normal start date. Its not June 19th.

Wow, that's a sharp break to the breaking ball there.

That's a good sign.

Ball four.

Well, here we go.

52 Throwing that breaking ball for strikes would be a good sign...

When Figgins walked, did someone fire a shotgun to signal the start of the track meet?

56 I mean handgun.

55 Indeed.

56 I heard a toilet flush

Oh, fuckkk.

He was out.

Can't even catch a break.

I see Mussina is employing the old "pitch around Figgins and Cabrera to face Vlad" strategy. I don't think he's really thought this one through.

57 No, you got it the first time.

Ball four, again.

Figgins was out by three feet.

Get Villone up.

62 ha ha hah ah aha h a.

64 It was there in time, but Jete missed the tag on the knee.

Two walks to start things. Awesome.

Hey, Vlad, welcome to the Hotel Mike.

Enjoy your stay.

Figgins was out...why no to do? That was a clear thrown out runner.

70 You expect Derek to actually, you know, argue about something? HAH. Comedian.

Dan Iassogna has butchered calls two nights in a row.