Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

On an uncomfortably warm Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, the Yanks lost a game that they should have won. It was another long, sometimes tedious affair, but there was plenty of entertainment to be had. After coming back to tie the game, the Yankees had the bases loaded with one in the bottom of the ninth with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi due up, but they did not score. In the bottom of the 12th, Rodriguez slid home with what would have been in the winning run, but he not been called out. It was a close play, and it appeared that Rodriguez got his foot in there before he was tagged.

But he didn't get the call, and in the next inning, the Mariners roughed up Gabe White for six runs, and that was that

"We're not going to go home with the ice cream cone all the time," Yankees Manager Joe Torre said. (NY Times)

Seattle put an end to their six-game losing streak. It was disapointing that the Yankees lost, especially since they had a chance to win on a day that Donovan Osborne pitched. Still, even when they were trailing, it felt like they were ahead. The Yankees have some of their old swagger back. No matter how far they are down, you get the feeling that they think they'll come back.

Donovan Osborne got into trouble in the second inning again. But instead of six runs, he just allowed four this time, only two earned. The second two runs came how when Alex Rodriguez booted a grounder. But he would make up for it with a two-run bomb to straight-away center in the third, and a solo homer (that barely made it over the wall) in the fifth. His second homer tied the game.

It was a tough day for Jamie Moyer who was getting killed by home plate ump Chris Guccione. Squeezed is an understatment, he was getting robbed. The ump was taking away all of Moyer's weapons. It got so bad that Bob Melvin had to get himself kicked out of the game over it.

Seattle went up by three on a bases clearing double by Dan Wilson, but Hideki hit one off the facade of the Upper Deckie, then Bernie hit a solo shot to tie the game once again.

For sure I thought Rodriguez would come through in the ninth with the bases juiced and just one out. Here was his "defining" game as a Yankee, right? Made the error, made up for it with the two homers. Did I think he was going to hit a third? You betcha. But hey, even a sac fly would have done the trick. But reliever J.J. Putz--pronounced "puts"--got him to break his bat and pop up in the infield. To be fair to Rodriguez, Putz made a heck of a pitch, up and in. Giambi, who was 0-6, grounded out sharply to first to end the inning. Giambi didn't look comfortable; his hip is bothering him. According to the Daily News:

Joe Torre described Giambi as doubtful for today's game against the Mariners. Giambi, who was in obvious pain after the game, said he'd feel better with a day off, especially with an off-day coming up tomorrow. Giambi chastised himself for staying in the game after the initial spasms, saying, "I should've been smarter and come out. It was stupid. It kept getting worse. ... It was hard to bend over and swinging didn't help it. That wasn't the smartest thing, either. Now I've got to get it to stop constricting. It's not structural."

Good job of pitching by Putz, but can we talk? Anyone who spells their name "Putz" but pronounces it "Puts" is a putz where I'm from.

My favorite moment of the game was when Gary Sheffield tatooied a home run to left field off of Jamie Moyer in the second. Sheff has been stinging the ball for weeks. Only trouble is, the majority of his hard-hit balls have been foul. But yesterday, he hit Moyer's second-inning offering so hard the ball didn't have time to go foul. I think it was ascared to go foul. It was a "We-Make-Holes-in-Teeth", Cavity Creeps, "Hasan-Chop" blast, and it was worth yelling about. (I got up off the couch and stomped around the living room.) Evil Empire is right. When the Yankees are down, you can hear the Empirial March theme in your head as they send bruiser after bruiser to the plate. If nothing else, there is a lot of beef on the Yankees this year.

The Sox won and are back in first place. Kevin Brown pitches Sunday before the Yankees go on a four-town road trip starting Monday (Anahiem, Texas, Baltimore, Tampa Bay). I'm headed up to Cooperstown New York this afternoon to spend a couple of days in the research library for the Flood book I've been working on. I haven't been to the Hall in over twenty years, so it should be a fine time. Anyhow, it'll be good to just get in the car and get out of the city for a minute. I've got a stack of cds that I just burned, so I'm good to go.

I doubt that I'll have access to the Internet--unless Bruce Markusen lends me his machine for 15 minutes tomorrow morning--but I'll be back on Wednesday. In the meantime, check out all of the Yankee-related links listed to the right, and feel free to leave any comments or observations you might have while I'm gone in the "comments" section below.