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

"I'm at the game. Absolute moonshots from Grandy and Swish. Unreal." -Strange

I didn't really get the full effect of said "moonshots" over the Gamecast. Just a little blue ball that said "In play" and "Run scoring."

It was sort of another weird one. Like, you know how there were multiple points in the ChiSox game #2 that should have been sigh-of-relief-because-we-have-a-healthy-lead moments, but ended up being just teases?

Well this was more like it-looks-like-we're-clubbing-them-but-our-pitcher-is-making-us-think-it's-anyone's-game. Nothing is ever as it seems this year.

That bears repeating: nothing is ever as it seems this year.

Phil Hughes took the mound and ended up getting his 16th win. I really don't know how he's doing this, because I swear to God, I feel like at the end of every single game he pitches, I'm hearing Kay tsk-tsking away, with "Hughes was OKAY, but not great. Shaky, but good enough."

I guess it's better than what they say about AJ at the end of all of his starts.

The Yanks took an early 3-0 lead on default runs. Cano's DP scored GGBG. The Swish reached 1st on an error, plating Jeter.

Then....

WAIT FOR IT.

...JORGE POSADA HIT A TRIPLE.

I immediately called my buddy, "Dude, Posada just hit a triple."

"HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?? I mean, I almost don't want to joke about it, because it obviously means someone died in the outfield."

"Well, if they weren't dead then, they are by now, since I don't think anyone can really live with themselves after letting Posada take 2 extra bases."

"Yup. To put things in perspective: this just means that Gardner could have rounded the bases 4 times in the time it took Oakland to get the ball in."

I mean, if you watch the hit, it should have been a double for even a normal player, if the A's defense wasn't playing like a bunch of pixelated old school Nintendo animations that can only run in 4 directions.

Not only did Larish atrociously misplay the ball in left, but the throw to 3rd was laughable, as was the 3B's weak attempt to catch it. Saying "Posada beat the throw" is like saying "I got overserved."

Suzuki put the As on the board with a sac fly, but Swish got the run back plus some, with his 2-run bomb in the 3rd.

Same story in the 4th inning. The As weakly try to manufacture some runs, Davis grounding out to score Ellis makes the score 5-2...

...only for Grandy to push it forward again with a moonshot of his own. Not too long after that, Tex followed suit with a 3-run ding.

To be clear, Tex's average in the last 16 games is like .450 or something. (He's also my mom's favorite player to watch go yard. She gets the biggest kick out of how he puffs his cheeks out like a blowfish and pretty much calls this out every single time. "LOOK! LOOK! THERE IT IS! HE PUFFS HIS CHEEKS OUT! LIKE THIS!" And she says it as if everyone around her is constantly dismissing her contention as malarky. "Yeah, right. Telling tall tales, are ya?")

9-2 by the end of the 4th. And then the Yanks' bats basically washed their hands of offensive production and handed the game back over to their pitcher. Who is 2nd in the AL in wins, averages over 8 runs per 9 IP of support, and has won 4 of his last 6.

A pitcher who had about as much control as Jim Carrey in "Liar, Liar."



Gaudin and D-Rob were good in relief. A 6-hit game for the As, a 9-spot for the Yanks.

August is finally over, and it wasn't really too kind to us (16-13). But heading into September? Things are right back to normal, because thanks to the J's tortuous beating of the Rays, the Yanks are back in first.

Back on top.

The way it should be.

See ya, August.

Hello, September.

Welcome, FALL BASEBALL.

Here we go......