AAAHHH

Ah, me of little faith. Shows you what I know. The Yankees rallied for runs in the seventh and eighth innings yesterday and nipped the Astros 6-5. It was the first time they came from behind when trailing after six innings. They took the series from Houston and are back in first place after the Red Sox lost a crusher in Boston last night (another wild one). As bad as the no-hitter was for the Yanks, they did win the series. Meanwhile, the Red Sox lost two agonizing games vs. St. Louis. Which just goes to show you, it could always be worse.

I hope Ed Cossette got some sleep. (Ed has a link to an excellent interview with Bill James today...don't snooze, youse.)

Speaking of the Nation, here is a terrific piece from a blog called Red Sox Nation on the nature of Boston fans. I couldn't find the perma-link, so scroll down to the article titled:

A little polemic in honor of the Sox/Cards series

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

It should be required reading.

The fellas over at Red Bird Nation, have wonderful coverage of the Sox-Cards series too. Be sure to check in with them over the weekend for their take on the Cards visit to the Bronx.

Say what you like about the Yankees; they are rarely dull. They may not be the same team that won 4 championships in 6 years, but they still are the biggest show in town. Ask the Reds or the Cubs if they'll remember their games against the Yankees. Same goes for the Astros. Even though they lost the series, do you think they'll foget the no-hitter anytime soon? (Not including Jeff Kent.)

George Steinbrenner visited with manager Joe Torre before the game, and apparently Joe did most of the venting. According to Bill Madden:

"You wonder what you could have done, what you could do or what you have not done," Torre said in reference not just to the Wednesday night no-hit debacle but the general Yankees malaise that was most characterized by the 0-24 record in games in which they trailed after seven innings before yesterday. "You feel responsible. It's my job to prepare these guys and when something is as ugly as (Wednesday night) you're wondering what your missing."

Then, reiterating his anger over the performance the night before - the most anger he's ever had in baseball - Torre said: "It was not the no-hitter I was angry about. I didn't like the process. I care about these guys and I want them to play hard. It's a blow to your ego that goes beyond losing."

..."There's nothing George can say to me that could make me feel any worse than I felt. I'm probably tougher on myself than George could ever be."

Jack Curry reports in The Times:

Joe Torre called himself the caretaker of the Yankees after the darkest and bleakest game they have played for him, a warm, gentle way to describe what he does as the manager...It was an interesting and revealing word for Torre to hang on himself. He was in the midst of verbally annihilating his sluggish team for being no-hit by the Houston Astros on Wednesday night when he slipped it in to stress that he has also performed poorly. The caretaker has been praised when the Yankees have rumbled down the highway without braking, so he must be chastised when they stall.

..."It's more than just a job to me," Torre said. "It's always been. I think if it was just a job, I would have been tired of it a long time ago."

It is clear that Torre is searching for answers. Todd Zeile conceded:

"We better find out here in the short term who we are...It's important for us to start putting some of these wins together, because it helps our confidence.

"That's one thing I've noticed that's been different from the Yankee teams I remember facing. In the last six or seven years, no matter what, there was a confidence, almost an arrogance, when they walked on the field. I think we have to sort of earn that."

You ain't just whistlin' Dixie, friend.

Godzilla Matsui had two more hits yesterday (he also had a mental lapse in the field that lead to a run in the first inning). He's starting to come around a bit. Matsui is expertly profiled by Aaron Gleeman over at Baseball Primer.