Don't blame Mo...

You can't expect Mariano to be flawless. He is human, after all. There will be times when he will give up a run, in yesterday's case, a home run. It was Jose Guillen's lead-off homer in the ninth that gave the Royals the unrecoverable lead of 3-2 but I blame Cano and/or Melky for this game. With two men on base and one out, Cano could do nothing. With the bases loaded and two outs, what did Melky do? A crap ground out directly to first on the second pitch.

The Moose didn't deserve the no decision for this game. He gave the club 8 innings and only let 2 runs cross the plate. 65 strikes in 89 pitches with no walks. It is a shame the Yanks couldn't do more to get runners home.

It is back to .500 for the Yanks (and yes, I am getting tired of saying that). Win one, lose one. Win two, lose two. The Yankees have to break this cycle soon.

Yanks Over Royals 6-to-3

I watched Sunday's game from the comfort of my air conditioned home. A friend of mine asked if I wanted to join him yesterday but, after sitting in the sweltering heat for Saturday's game at the Stadium, there was no way that I was going to do it again. I had tickets to today's afternoon game as well but sold them on StubHub since I had to work. I feel bad for anyone that has to be outdoors today in the predicted 100 degree temperatures.

Back to yesterday's game... Joba made it into the fifth inning and pitched much better than his first start. 53 strikes in 78 pitches, 5 strikeouts and one walk. He left the game with three runs on the board. Giese came in to relieve him and did very well. Three strikeouts, no hits, no walks. Veras successfully ate up the 8th and on to Mo for the save. Giese got the win for the day.

Giambi came through once again in the 6th with a home run (his 14th of the season). Bobby Abreu had also hit one out in the first inning to give the club its early lead.

The stuff the Bronx is made of...

It was all about Johnny Damon yesterday. Not only did he tie the game in the 8th inning... not only did he win the game for the Yankees in the bottom of the ninth... but he had six hits during the course of the day... something not done by a Yankee since 1934!

"All these great players that played here didn't do it," Damon said. "I was fortunate to have that opportunity to do it. I'm definitely blessed."

For those of you who are really observant, you would have noticed that Johnny shaved his moustache off before yesterday's game. Hmmm....

Yes, it certainly was a crazy sort of game. Andy Pettitte started the game and gave up 10 runs, the last four of them via a grand slam by Guillen. But, like Thursday's game against Toronto, the Yanks pressed forward and worked their way back into the game. That is the most important part in my minds. It is that perseverance... that winning attitude that makes me proud to be a fan.

It was a game that was played in a sweltering heat (trust me, I was there). Mark, the beer guy, traded in his beer bucket for some Poland Spring water and wound up selling over 23 cases. The home plate umpire had to leave the game after getting hit by a ball off Posada's glove which cause a brief 7-min "ump-delay". Mo, who came in for the ninth the preserve a tie instead of make a save, wound up giving up a home run but still got the win.

"When you've got a day like that, you know it's going to happen," closer Mariano Rivera said. "Somehow it's going to happen. And it did."

So the Yankees take the second game in the series from the Royals by a score of 12-to-11 and are back at .500 for the 20th time this season!

Here are the Sunday Standings:

No Support for Rasner

He pitched an amazing game for the Yankees. He released 118 pitches from the mound and 75 of them passed across the plate for strikes. He walked none and only let two runs score. He lasted 8 innings which, by recent Yankee pitching standards is incredible in itself. But yet again, his teammates were unable to perform for him offensively and Rasner wound up taking a loss for last night's 2-to-1 game against Kansas City.

In fact, in his last 3 starts, the Yankees have only scored 2 runs for Rasner. This is not the way to catch up to Boston.

Abreu, Rodriguez, Cano and Cabrera all went 2-for-4 last night and one would think that would have been enough to put more than one run in the books. But that doesn't always happen when you strand 9 men on base. A ground out double play (A-Rod) is not the way to move runners.

To the teams defense however, I think that it was the obnoxiously incorrect call by the home plate official (Ed Montague) in the bottom of the eighth inning that cost the Yankees this game. It happened with Giambi at the plate with runners at first and second and Jason didn't even come close to swinging at a 3-2 pitch but was called out for not checking his swing. It is surprising to get such a poor call from a veteran official... a call that never would have come to pass if Montague would have first checked with his colleagues at first and third base, as he is supposed to do.

"It doesn't matter now. I can't really do much about it," Giambi said. He is right... but where was the skipper to support his slugger? I would have liked to at least see Girardi leave the dugout to argue this one.

So the Yanks return to last place and one game under .500, unable to beat a team that was toting an 11-game losing streak on the road. They will have three more chances this weekend. The next one today at 1:05pm. I will be at the stadium. Perhaps I can provide the Bombers with a little bit of luck.