A-Rod DHing (with Bellhorn, our new prize ;) acquisition at 3rd), and Sheffield out of the line-up. Any news on Sheffield? Just a day off?

Go Yanks indeed.

Sheff is sitting. A-Rod is DH batting third. Giambi 4th. Bellhorn at 3B batting 8th.

Doh!, Dan-el beat me to it.

Each team makes a roster move tonight. The Yanks add Beltran, move Pavano to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster and make an as yet unrevealed move to make room on the 25-man.

The M's DL Bloomquist (who pulled a hammy "beating out" a DP ball in the fourth) and call up Jose Lopez, who was hitting .319/.345/.509 in triple-A and is considered the team's second baseman of the future (and righty should be the 2B of right now, so this is good news for the M's).

Both new additions are starting tonight.

Oops, Freudian slip. Bellhorn, not Beltran.

Sheffield is serving a one-game suspension for blowing up at that first-base ump at home a while back.

Rodriguez of course has that groin that got him yanked out of the ninth inning last night.

Also, Mussina is going to skip his next start due to inflamation in his elbow. Remember Moose's elbow is what put him on the DL last year. Small might take his start, or the Monday off-day might allow him to be skipped without a replacement.

Finally, Sierra's on hand to be activated when rosters expand and acording to Kim Jones in the pregame, he said Chien-Ming Wang was throwing 92/93 in Columbus.

Glad to hear Moose is getting some time off. I was wondering if they would consider that. At this point, Small is pitching better, anyway. Let Mussina rest, and hopefully he'll be ready when we really need him.

Thank you very little, Joe Borowski. 'Tho you could see that comeback coming a mile away.

Gotta say ... loved him as a player, but David Justice is a pretty crummy commentator.

Yanks load the bases in the first with just one out. But Bernie and Jorge pop out to left and the Yanks come up with zilch.

You just know the Sox are going to win...they are tied in the ninth.

Bellhorn's been given #26, proof that Rey Sanchez has played his last game as a Yankee (which we already knew, but know we have proof).

Great...Sox loaded up the bases...Damon up.

Bellhorn in a Yankees uniform. It seems so odd.

Glad to see that Bellhorn lost the twin-earflap/Delino DeShields issue helmet.

FYI. Damon flies out to short right - no one scores - 2 out.

F Tampa Bay. You just knew that after Nixon threw out Hall at the plate to end the top of the 8th that Boston had all the momentum they needed. Argh.

re: the Sox

Has any team combined such an extraordinary ability to score runs with such a mediocre pitching staff, yielding such extraordinary results? It is simply astounding.

Sexson kinda looks like Ralph Fiennes in the face. Is it me?

Arrrghhhh.

Paul: uhm, the Yankees?

Has Chacon been getting pitching tips from Leiter and Mussina? What the dill?

Someone needs to out there and settle him down.

Miserable baserunning by Morse at third. If that ball drops he walks home.

Miserable baserunning by Morse at third. If that ball drops he walks home. Big break there. Now Chacon just needs ot retire Fly Ball Suzuki.

Jeez.. he's really wild today.

Crap.

I hope Giambi's got another couple of bombs in him today.

It's only three runs...but man, he's supposed to be the ace.

oh shit.....

God, Ichiro. After the baserunning blunder that nearly got us out of the inning with minimal damage.

I meant two at the time...now its five runs...yikes.

I guess now really isn't the best time for me to complain about Sterling's inability to say "Torrealba".

Wow, two straight miserable outings from our two best starters. Is Chacon getting figured out by the AL, or is he just having an off day? And the pitching was doing so well...

Cliff,
Yes, lots of similarities, but over the past month the run scoring maching in Boston has been nothing short of astonishing, especially at Fenway ... unless I'm mistaken?

Chacon isn't supposed to be the ace, Johnson is "supposed" to be the ace. Chacon is "supposed" to be the fourth starter behind Wright and Moose. Ugh. If they lose this one they have to beat King Felix tomorrow with Unit on the hill.

Yankz, I think over the past couple of rounds through the rotation, Chacon and Wright have been the two best starters (not Moose). By the way, it looks like Chacon just ran off the field and up the tunnel, Paul O'Neill style. Here's hoping he's not about to pull a Kevin Brown.

I agree, RJ's "supposed" to be the ace...but I've heard a few writers dub Chacon our ace recently. Any way you slice it, the pitching has to go back to where it was last week.

If it makes you guys feel any better, our unhittable fourth starter (Seo) finally got knocked around today and we still won.

A-Rod lead off walk, might almost be as good as a blast at this point

and that is the reason the m's can afford to walk the two leadoff men. come on, posada...

Time for Bellhorn to step up!

Time for Bellhorn to step up!

Nice job by Posada to pick up Bernie.

Nice error by the just-called-up Lopez too. Two down, three to go. Now the enemy up in a big spot.

You know, this was my big concern about Chacon, and why I was less than enthusiastic about the Yankees acquiring him. As as a Rockie he had more BBs than Ks this year. I've thus far been very surprised, and of course very pleased, by how well Chacon has pitched as a Yankee. I agree with those who say he's been a great pick-up, that's undeniable, but I'm concerned about which Chacon is the real Chacon.

And as I type that Lopez makes up for his error with a double that the Lawton misplays into a two-RBI triple. Blech.

ya think this has anything to do with him having back to back 120 pitch starts?

was Proctor sent down?

So how does Sterling say "Torrealba" anyway?

Could be, aboveavg, especially as he has a history of tiring in the final months of the year.

Marc, Proctor was sent down to make room for Lawton, who is playing a horrendous right field right now.

You realize he's gonna throw another 120 today, right?

Thanks Cliff.

There was no excuse for the last long outing either, it was a blowout. Who knows if it's effecting him tonight, maybe he's just coming back to earth. Oh well, can't really bitch about baseball with what's going on in NO, can I?

Thank heaven for Small and (hopefully) Wang.

This is brutal. The rest of team isn't helping much, either.

TorreaBLAH - stress mine, not his, I'm just noting the mis-placed "L". He must have been corrected earlier, because he fixed it after butchering it twice, but now has gone back.

A small item, but in other news, when Susan mentioned that Yuniesky Betancourt has a Russian name because of the influence of Russia that peaked around 20-25 years ago, Sterling felt it necessary to bring up Vladimir Guererro as an example. From the Dominican.

yes, yes I do. There's no one out there that can go long. Maybe Bellhorn learned a knuckleball from Wwakefield

Jeremy, there are disasters, tragedies and atrocities happening somewhere in the world 24-hours a day, every day. Always have been always will. Obviously my heart goes out to the folks in the New Orleans and Mobile areas and parts in between--and I do know some folks down there tangentally, who thankfully are all doing okay--but just because this disaster is on the news doesn't mean the world is a big ball of happiness when the top story is a kitten stuck in a tree. What I'm trying to say is, its up to you if you want to feel guilty about paying attention to baseball when others are suffering, but if you chose to do so, be aware that there are always others suffering somewhere in the world, so you should always feel guilty.

I meant, the Russian influence in CUBA, where Betancourt defected from.

I ruined my blasting of Sterling's incompetence with my own idiocy. Clever.

But, then again, I'm not exactly getting paid to write here, am I?

I thought so!

Ack.

This is depressing. Might as well go back to hurricane coverage.

Michael Kay just reported that the attendence was an "anagram" crowd: 37,773. That, of course, is a numerical palindrome. An anagram is when you rearrange the letters in a word to create another.

Justice, of course, credited Kay with being "deep."

Cliff, I was just about to post on that. Ah Kay ...

Sigh. Well, they were saying that the second day is when the jetlag gets you. Maybe that's it. The whole team seems kind of flat.

Chacon gets a 1-2-3. Mircle of miracles! Just six runs to go and five runs in which to do it. Get crackin', Yanks!

Ah ha YES, Kay corrects himself.

A-Rod continues

One down, five to go!

Yay, A-rod! It ain't over till it's over!

Those bases left loaded in the first are haunting me right now.

I haven't seen Posada get a hit this year. Call it bad timing but I really haven't.

Hey, one here, a few there and this could get interesting — as long as it doesn't get any later this early. Four innings to go. We just need a hold.

Kay has got to stop with this anagram/palindrome stuff.

Now they're talking about the difference between an anagram and a palidrome. Yeek.

C'mon, Chacon. Show us what you're made of!

Chacon K's Ichiro with runners at the corners for his first back-to-back scoreless innings of the night. C'mon bats!

A crooked number would be nice right about now...

At least Bellhorn hasn't struck out yet.

Did he have any chances at 3rd? I missed the early innings...

Here we go...

Scratch that... pffft!

I don't recall seeing Bellhorn field one, no.

Tough out by Matsui there. Guess he's not clutch. ;)

Chacon starts the sixth with 103 pitches. Yup.

Another scoreless for Chacon and 110 pitches. Key inning here. The Yanks need to score and Torre needs to get Chacon out of there.

That said, good job by Chacon of settling down. Might have been too little to late, however.

Chacon is both a quality starter and an innings-eater, so no need for Mendoza yet ;-)

Following another game ... Colon beginning the 10th inning (!) in the As-Angels game.

So assuming Harris doesn't come out for the 7th, you can put him in the long line of journeyman, rookies, and surprize starters who have essentially neutralized the Yankee bats. I was thinking that throughout this run, even in '98, the Yankees have had a tendency to look confused by pitchers they haven't seen, even the mediocre ones. Am I wrong in this, or does anyone else feel the same?

That was a good inning by Chacon. 5 runs with three cracks at it is realistic, especially if we can get Harris out of there this inning... we need base runners!

Wow -- 10th inning. With Buehrle and Garland struggling a bit and Mo not quite as untouchable as he was earlier, this could be Colón's Cy Young audition tape.

Blech, I think this one is over.

Georgie swung at ball four... and, yes — didn't you just know that first inning was a bad omen. I'd love to know the stats on teams that lose games when having the bags loaded in the first without scoring...

At least Chacon isn't going beyond 110.

Hank, Harris came into this game with a 1.69 ERA compiled against the White Sox, Angles, Tigers and Rangers, so I would credit the pitcher here.

Yes. This one's over.

Now there's something you don't see everyday...

Cliff, wasn't trying to be a smart ass with my comment about the hurricane--I instantly regretted it after posting it! Anyway, at least Chacon settled down, shit happens.

Outstanding Game in Anaheim, now going into the bottom of the tenth tied 1-1. The starters' lines:

Zito: 9IP, 3H, 1R, 1HR, 2BB, 9K - 115 pitches, 76 strikes
Colon: 9 1/3IP, 6H, 1R, 0HR, 1BB, 3K - 105 pitches, 75 strikes

Jeremy, I didn't take it as smart ass, and I wasn't trying to make you feel bad, just making a statement about our recognition of the plights of others being extremely selective.

I'm assuming we should be rooting for Oakland, by the way. Let them run away with the division and knock the Angels out of the Wild Card in the process, right?

Both the A's and Angels got a man on third in the tenth, neither scored, it goes to the eleventh.

I'd rather face the A's over the Halos in the PS, due to history, experience and the fact that the Angels have no fear or second-guessing of themselves when playing us... so, yeah. Go A's!

Can we get the M's to trade for Jeremy Affeldt before the top of the ninth?

Second K of Ichiro! tonight. Delightful!

I'll be at the (whatever they're calling the Oakland structure this year) for at least one game this weekend. Any ex-pat Section 39er's planning to be on hand?

2-1 A's!

Affeldt! LOL! I was just thinking that could be exactly what we need in the top of the 9th! Hey, who knows ;-) ?

Bobby Kielty gives the A's the lead in the top of the eleventh with a homer off K-Rod.

Chone Figgins draws a one-out walk against Hudson Street. He's gotta be stealing here.

Cabrera falls behind 0-2, steal might be off as a K/CS could end the game.

Why, exactly, am I still watching this nonsense?

Yes, I'm ignoring the game in Seattle at this point (Felix Rodriguez walks the bases loaded down 8-3 in the eighth).

Cabrera pops out, down to Garret Anderson.

And Figgins steals second...

Woah, there's that steal, with two outs no less. Figgins' 45th of the year. 3-0 on Anderson, Vlad on deck.

Everyone's been saying the A's can't win with a rookie closer, and I never wanted to believe that. This might be what they were talking about.

They walk Anderson. So it's tying run on second, winning run on first, Vlad vs. Street in the bottom of the 11th. Wow!

(I should say, Street walks Anderson, probably not intentional).

Anyone catch that red dress over Vlad's shoulder? ;-)

Meanwhile, J.J. Putz is our Affeldt candidate against top of the order. Felix got out of his jam.

A's win!

1-1 on Vlad, Jeter Ks on three pitches.

Guerrero grounds out to second. Dud ending. Good result, though.

BklynBomber, I'll be there on Sunday for Chacon's try for redemption. I'm getting tickets from a co-worker; section 218, I think (behind home plate in the second tier). I'm going with another Yankee fan, although I'm sure the park will be filled with at least half Yankee fans.

No rally can call itself a self-respecting rally if it does not begin with two outs...

DAMNIT, KAY, IT'S ROD-REE-GEZ, NOT RAJ-REE-GIS!!!

Six run homer right here.

Hm. Smells like a rally. A self-respecting rally.

Marcus — No tickets here yet, but I just may end up going both Saturday and Sunday hell or high water. I'll keep an eye out for your posts and let you know... Thanks!

Oh well. See you all tomorrow night...

Pttthhhhhtttt.

Awards we like so much? I think Michael Kay needs to be stapled to Womack and Brown . . .

What I wouldn't do for a little White-Messer-Scooter every now and again.

Where's my Kitty & Kenny when I need 'em?