"It's great to be young and a Yankee."

That's better.

"Yo I'm 3-0 this year...WHAT! 28 is the new 21!" -Bday boy Kevin

A little bit of more number fun! Haven't done this in a while. On Game 68, the Mutts had 6 hits to the Yanks' 8.

Frequent MVP Kevin turns 28 today, and brings the Yanks luck at the stadium. Good work, Kev.

I love games like this, specifically games where I doze off on couch when they're losing and wake up just in time to see them right the ship.

Reyes was starting to piss off our young hero Phil Hughes, taking the superkid deep not once but twice. The first time gives the Mutts a 1-0 lead, but Tex managed to leverage his slumpitude into a tying ribbie when he grounded into a fielder's choice, plating GGBG in the bottom of the 1st. Woohoo, tied game!

But not for long. Sad emoticon.

Reyes homered again, and I remember recalling the one scene in Nightmare on Elm Street (the new one) that I actually half tittered at:



3-1. Good grief.

Ok, also, please for a second just imagine Hughes as Freddy Krueger because it’s downright hilarious. And then imagine Jose Reyes as the little plucky teenager he’s about to fliet, and, well, it’s just things like this that both make me inappropriately guffaw and also add mounting evidence to my parents’ concerns about my adult life.

Tex remedied the problem once again, this time with a legitimate hit, to say the least. This is right about the time I woke up. I don’t know how my sub-conscience is capable of waking up JUST before the Yankees get back in the game, but is pathetically inept when it comes to waking me up JUST before I’m supposed to be in work. I’d actually prefer it if these capabilities switched, because I’m not crazy about the fact I need to stick a megaphone next to my ipod in the morning just to ensure I wake up, and believe me when I say that waking up to what literally sounds like MSG, is not ideal.

HOWEVAH, it was nice to be able to see the game tied up. It was NOT nice of me to have a split second when I thought YES was showing a clip of an old game when Tex went deep. How sad is that? My gut reaction was not, “WOOOHOOO you’re on your mark, Teixeira!” but rather, “what is this? I’m confused.”

I’m THRILLED he got this, though, because his hits as of late have all been pretty solid shots that just happen to be snagged. And I heard somewhere that when a player is slumping, hitting the ball well but not getting on base, actually makes them feel worse, because it’s like, “oh COME on! How many fucking outfielders ARE there? Dammit, I can’t BUY myself a hit.” You know, the whole detrimental trap of thinking, “Great, just one more thing…”

But this time, it carried. Tex sailed one into the RF stands, taking advantage of the short porch and scoring GGBG once again. Tied game. Once again.

Then I deliriously at 2 slices of pizza that were lying out in the kitchen and an ice cream sandwich and fell into a food coma. What the hell is wrong with me?

And, I’m not kidding, yet again, I manage to wake up right before the game takes shape again! The only thing I can think that’s comparable to this completely useless skill is when I used to take the train into the city before I had moved there. And the last train back home to my parents’ place left at 1:20. And so I'd pass out on the train to Tarrytown, and somehow ALWAYS manage to wake up right before my stop, hence avoiding waking up in New Haven or something.

Small favors, etc.

Again, I wish if I was going to have some subconscious superpower, it'd be something a little more useful, but eh I'll take it.

I wake up to see Grandy go yard, and I just really like this guy, which means he is now the 2nd guy of the season I've had premature aggressively negative thoughts about only to have me completely admit the err of ways. Before the season started, I was NOT happy about this acquisition and cited all the relevant stats re: his BA against lefties etc. I'm man enough (CYC enough?) to admit when I'm wrong.

That was just the beginning. I had no idea what "wrong" even meant until Strasberg came into the picture. OKAY OKAY I GET IT. You're A PITCHING GOD. (Prior to his MLB start, I didn't exactly downplay him, but I did say I wasn't going to buy into the hype until the guy actually took the mound in a professional setting. Because after all, I argued, Cody Ransom was considered the best player in HIS college, too. The big leagues is a different story.)

But...I guess not. The guy struck out another 14 million last night.

Grandy hits a HR, Sterling makes some Grandyman screaming bit which I don't hear since I'm watching on YES but can only imagine, and the Yanks take a 5-3 lead.

The pitching was good from the A-team end (from ESPN):

The win ended the Yankees' three-game skid and tied Hughes with another budding star, Tampa Bay's David Price, who is 10-2, for the AL lead in wins.

Hughes allowed five hits and three walks in seven innings. He struck out four and threw a wild pitch.

Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless eighth, rebounding from a poor performance against the Phillies on Thursday night in which he gave up three runs without getting an out.

Mariano Rivera worked a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances.

Thankfully, the Rays helped us out a bit in the last few days, matching all of our losses and helping us avoid the 2nd place spot again.

Speaking of rankings, the Sux are like 1 game back. Can we try to act like a ferocious beast and not give games away anymore. In the words of my ex who just resumed watching baseball in the wake of the Celtics disaster: "I have barely paid attention to baseball. Had no idea Austin Kearns was in CLE. Tho I feel even if I was paying attention, I may not have known that. I seriously even thought the sox were 8.5 out."

My response? "Only 2 out. The reds are 1st in div. Toronto has lowest BA in league, most HRs. Vernon Wells exists. Ubaldo is Walter Johnson. Mets on 7win streak. NOTHING makes sense.

But today things made sense. The Mutts fell to the Yanks. Tomorrow the Yanks will win, take the series, and the division lead, because Tampa Bay is going to lose. And the Yanks will be in first in the entire league, and everything will once again be right in the world.

Count it!

And for the record, if I were the Yanks, I'd consider today the symbolic equivalent of a fire being lit under their collective asses. You're only 1 game ahead of the Sux, tied with the Rays, and things are getting serious.

It's time to start doing everything right.