Shawn Chacon had his first bad start since joining the Yankees as the Bombers lost to the Mariners in Seattle by a score of 8-3. His ERA rose by almost a run and a half from 1.80 to 3.13 (it really goes to say something when your ERA can nearly double to only 3.13). All eight of the runs he allowed came in the 2nd and 3rd innings after a 1-2-3 first inning. Chacon did manage to settle down a bit as he at least prevented Torre from having to empty out the bullpen and gave us 6 innings. Felix Rodriguez finished the game and struggled for two innings, but did not allow a run.

The bright spots for the Yankees were A-Rod, who scored two runs including one coming on his 40th home run of the season, and Derek Jeter, who had two hits. Rodriguez is the first right-handed Yankee to belt 40 home runs since Joe DiMaggio in 1937 and is only the second ever to do so, and we're still in August. A-Rod was the DH as he had soreness in his groin and was replaced at 3B by Mark Bellhorn, who went 0-4 in his Yankee debut.

The Yankees remained the leaders in the wild card race as the Indians were postponed and the Angels lost to the A's in extra innings. A comeback victory by Boston put the Yankees 2.5 back in the A.L. East.

I've decided I like Matt Lawton. During the game, he was hit by a pitch and was actually nice enough to walk 10 feet in front of home plate and retrieve the ball and throw it back towards the pitcher. I thought it was kind of funny. Plus, he has contributed although he's hitting only .154 since joining us. He got a key hit in that 9th inning comeback against Kansas City on Saturday and launched a big home run Monday night against the Mariners.

Wednesday night's game features a very intriguing pitching matchup as Randy Johnson goes up against 19-year old Felix Hernandez. Hernandez has pitched great so far for Seattle and has been likened to the young Dwight Gooden and is regarded by many as a future superstar. His opponent of course is one of the greatest pitchers of our era and will in all likelihood be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I'm looking forward to it.