Randy Johnson pitched an 8 inning complete game today and in 7 of those 8 innings, 0 runs were scored by the White Sox. Unfortunately, the other inning (the 4th inning) saw back to back to back solo home runs plus a 3 run shot for good measure and the Yankees lost 3-2.

There was not a walk issued in this game by either side, but the Yankees managed one more hit (11 in all) than the White Sox. Still, the runners just didn't come around as only 2 runs were scored by the Bombers. Jeter, Sheff (1 run), A-Rod and Womack (1 run) all had 2 hits with Cano (1 RBI), Matsui and Tino (1 RBI). The 6 (Bernie) and 8 (Flaherty and Posada) spots were the only ones to go hitless.

Boston won while Kansas City managed to win again in extras (2 game winning streak now for them), so we're 4 games back in the division and half a game back in the wild card standings. Jaret Wright (3-2, 7.62) will go against Scott Downs (1-2, 4.89) tomorrow as we start a 4 game set against Toronto.

One thing I left out in yesterday's recap was the fact that Jorge Posada collected his 1,000th hit. Congrats.

That Shawn Chacon deal has worked out pretty nicely. Today, Mr. Chacon continued his brilliant work on the mound for the Yankees (thus far) by pitching 8 innings of scoreless, 4 hit ball. He struck out 5, walked 3 and although a runner reached third on two separate occasions, he failed to allow a man to cross the plate. With his awesome day, his record improved to 2-1 as a Yankee with a 1.64 ERA over 32 innings. After throwing 127 pitches, Felix Rodriguez relieved him and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The Yankees only had 7 hits (with 4 walks) of their own, but were able to get 5 runs in. This was led by Alex Rodriguez (1 for 3, 2 RBI), Jorge Posada (1 for 2, 2 walks, 2 runs) and Bernie Williams (1 for 4, 1 run, 1 RBI on a sac fly). Jeter (1 run) and Tino (1 RBI) each had 2 hits. The other run was scored by Gary Sheffield, who had reached on an error. Bernie's batting average is back up above .250 again - .254 to be exact. The last time he was there (before Tuesday) was July 16.

The Yankees improve to 67-54. Perhaps one of the Red Sox or A's can lose so we can gain a little ground. If the Royals happen to finally end their 19 game losing streak, we'll move to a half game back in the Wild Card standings.

Tomorrow we'll get to see Randy Johnson (11-7, 4.22) go against old El Titan de Bronze (7-7, 4.24) at 3:05 Eastern.

Mike Mussina pitched 7 innings tonight, allowing just 5 singles and 1 ER en route to his 12th win of the season. Flash and Mo (1-2-3 9th) preserved the victory.

The Yankees were only able to score 3 runs on 8 hits. Robinson Cano, batting in the 9th spot, was 2 for 4 with 2 runs. Bernie, up in the 2nd spot, was 2 for 4 with 1 RBI, as was Sheffield. The other run was scored by Tino while the other RBI was sacrificed in my D. Jeter. A-Rod had the only other hit as he went 1 for 3 on the night.

The game only lasted 2 hours and 55 minutes.

Shawn Chacon (1-1, 2.14 as a Yankee - 2-8, 3.59 total) goes against El Duque (8-5, 4.67) tomorrow at 1:15 eastern.

It appears that Ruben Rivera is on his way back.


As long as Derek has no problem with it, it's OK with me. Hopefully he learned his lesson... he's lucky to be back at all.

Via Steve Lombardi.

Reason #76:

Knowing that the Red Sox and A's had both already lost during the afternoon, the Yankees had an excellent chance of moving within 3.5 of Boston for the division lead and only a half game behind Oakland for the wild card. Things were looking good in the 6th inning as Al Leiter gave us a pretty solid start and left the game with a 5-2 lead. Aaron Small came in and gave up 3 runs in relief, although one was unearned as Robinson Cano made a costly error in the 7th. The Yankees retook the lead on a base hit to right field by birthday boy Jorge Posada, but that went to waste as well as Tanyon Sturtze pitched an ineffective 8th inning. A ground rule double by Alex Gonzalez tied the game at 6 and Jonny Gomes scored on a wild pitch.

So, instead of inching closer in both the division and wild card races, the Yankees still stand 4.5 games behind the Red Sox and 1.5 against Oakland. I'm not one usually to throw a lot of "what-ifs" out there, but had the Yankees won those last two games in Tampa as they should have, they would currently hold the lead in the wild card standings and would be only 2.5 games behind Boston for the division.

The Yankees are off today before heading to Chicago for a three-game set against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The A's are off today as well. The Red Sox are in Anaheim tonight facing the very talented Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Oh well, I guess I have nobody to blame for this but myself. This is the 7th consecutive game I recapped in which the Yankees lost.

According to Steve Lombardi, there is going to be a celebrity softball game at Richmond Country Bank Ballpark on August 21 (gates open at 12:00 PM). Tickets will be $10 and the proceeds will go to the Alzheimer's Foundation of Staten Island Respite Program.

A while back I was surfing around Yogi Berra's website and I came across the store. I noticed that a number of items were pretty reasonably (even below reasonably, depending on your viewpoint) priced. So, I picked up a signed copy of The Yogi Book for $35.95 (including shipping). I got it yesterday. It's a small book, but it's pretty neat to have something autographed by him. Especially if you're like me and you're into stuff like that. And you know it's good because it's coming from his official website. It came with a certificate of autheticity, as well. It's neat that Yogi has some items on his site that are affordable so that pretty much any fan can pick something up.

Anyway, I thought I'd mention it incase anyone wanted to pick one up. I mean, it's Yogi Berra. Hall of famer, 3 time MVP (finished 2nd 2 other times, 3rd another), 15 time all star, 10 World Series rings - the greatest catcher in the history of the Yankees. And he was only 5 foot, 8 inches! He's 80 years old, so you (sadly) don't know how long such a thing may be so readily available.

The Big Unit was effective in his return after missing a start last week, going 7 innings on 2 runs and 5 hits, but the Yankees could not hold the lead for him and they lost to the Devil Rays 4-3 in 11 innings. The Yankees were up 3-0 when Eduardo Perez launched a two-run shot off of Johnson. In the bottom of the 9th, Perez did it again, this time against Mariano Rivera to tie the score at 3 (geez, how many guys can even dream about one day telling their grandkids they homered off Randy Johnson and Mariano Rivera in the same game?). Rivera was good for two innings aside from the home run as he pitched a scoreless 10th inning, but Scott Proctor entered the game in the 11th and had control problems once again. He walked 3 batters in the inning (albeit one intentionally) and recorded only one out before walking in the winning run.

The Tigers also blew a late lead against the Red Sox, so the Yankees' loss puts them 4.5 behind the BoSox for first place in the AL East. Fortunately, however, the Yanks didn't lose any ground on the A's in the wild card race as they lost to Baltimore for the second day in a row, so the Yankees still stand 1.5 games behind them. The Angels also lost to the Blue Jays by a score of 4-3 (currently 3.5 games better than the Yankees).

Well Yankee haters will gloat now that Rivera has blown his 2nd save since Saturday, but hey, what can you do? He pitched pretty well except for that one pitch that was hit hard by Perez and barely cleared the wall (Rivera disputed after the homer that a fan interfered). Anyway, I still expect him to go out there and shut the Rays down tonight if the game is close again.

The Yankees will close out this road trip tonight in Tampa as Al Leiter will take the mound to face Mark Hendrickson. This one could be a 4-hour slugfest as both pitchers have an E.R.A. over 6.