Yankee Magic Falls Short in 14th Inning

I guess lightning can't strike twice in a week.  Or, it can strike, but the results aren't the same.

Last Friday night in Boston, the Yankee scored six runs in the eighth to upend the Red Sox.  It looked like deja vu all over again on Friday night in the Bronx, but alas, the Bombers fell short.  Roy Halladay and Chien-Ming Wang traded zeros through six innings until the Jays broke through with two in the seventh and two in the eighth and brought a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth.  There the Yanks rallied for four runs, keyed by a huge error from Toronto second baseman Aaron Hill, but Brian Bruney gave up a solo homer to Greg Zaun in the 14th to lift the Blue Jays to an exhausting 5-4 victory.

The loss cuts a bit deeper (a bit) than an ordinary one since the Red Sox and Tigers both won.  The Yanks now trail the BoSox by 2.5 games in the AL East and lead Detroit by 4.5 games in the wild card chase. 

The Good:

Jason Giambi.  The man with the feet of clay stepped up to the plate with the tying run on third and delivered an opposite field single on the very first pitch against a tough lefty.  Giambi was hit on his right foot on Monday, but an MRI showed that it was just a bruise.  The Giambino was wearing extra protection on his foot Friday night and looked okay at first base later in the game.  Giambi finished 1 for 4 with the big RBI.

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod flirted with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first and also got the Yankee train rolling in the ninth with an RBI-single.  Rodriguez has been scuffling a bit at the dish, but it looks like he's breaking out of it.  His recent mini-struggles at the plate aren't affecting his defense as he continued his excellent play at the hot corner.  A-Rod finished 2 for 6 with a run scored and his 143rd ribbie of the season.

The Bad:

Brian Bruney.  Bruney was sent down to Triple-A earlier in the year to work on his control.  He's got great stuff, but just can't harness it.  I guess Bruney worked on that, but forgot how not to give up homers in extra innings.  Bruney missed his spot on the fastball to Zaun and the Blue Jay catcher made him pay.  The Maltese Falcon dropped to 3-2 with this heartbreaking line: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 big HR.

Edwar Ramirez.  Ramirez was wild from the get-go.  He entered the game in the eighth with the Yanks down 2-0 and in a flash the Jays doubled their lead.  Ramirez drilled Reed Johnson to lead off the inning and after a groundout, gave up a laser shot to Alex Rios.  Torre almost tripped coming out of the dugout before sending the kid to the showers.  Shake it off, Urkel.  Ramirez's line: .1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HR.

The Ugly:

Promoting whores.  Friday night's game was on MY9, which is channel 9, and during the ballgame, Michael Kay shilled repeatedly for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.  I guess it's coming to MY9 this fall or whatever.  And who just happened to be at the game?  That's right, the star of the 78th spawn of Law & Order, Richard Belzer.  The MY9 cameras showed the actor/comedian every time they ran the promo.  Now, I may be the only person who doesn't watch any of the Law & Order shows and I've got nothing against Belzer, but the guy was wearing sunglasses during a night game.  He was also outfitted in the typical "New York artist attire" -- black shirt with a black blazer and black pants.  Dumb.

Anyway, it's a quick turn-around for the boys in pinstripes.  Looks like the Yanks will be sending Phil Hughes to the hill on Saturday afternoon after scratching Ian Kennedy (strained muscle in his upper back) and then Roger Clemens (tight left hamstring).  Good thing the Yanks were going to that six-man rotation.  Hughes is coming off a solid win against Baltimore and is riding a two-game winning streak for the first time in his young career.  He's also looked good in his three September starts (2-0, 2.55 ERA).  The Jays will turn to Shaun Marcum.  Marcum has made three starts against the Yanks this season and didn't pitch well in two of them.  He's 0-2 with a 6.06 ERA this year against the Bombers. 

Let's see what these teams can do for an encore.