The Best Of Times (Yankees) and the Worst of Times (Red Sox)

I sat at the Yankees game last night live at NYS and watched the Yankees slowly take the lead against the Seattle Mariners as the Boston Red Sox coughed it up against the Baltimore Orioles. Every time I looked at the out-of-town scoreboard, the Red Sox would be up by more runs: 2-0, 4-2, 9-1, 10-1. And so I stopped watching that scoreboard and watched the game on the field.

The Yankees, who have to lead the league in ugly wins, won ugly again last night. Robinson Cano should not be hitting in the 5th slot in the order anymore. It just makes no sense. Cano is a great hitter with no one on base and can't seem to buy a hit with runners on. Peter Abraham pointed out that it's since June 17th. I think this problem has been there for a good part of the past month and really for the whole season. Cano is a good average hitter with some pop. He is not, under any circumstances, a #5 hitter right now.

Joba Chamberlain is not the same starter at home as he is on the road (he is also not the same starter after a rain delay). Too afraid to give up home runs, he loses guys way too much on counts that start out 0-2 or 1-2. He nibbles at the corners when he has the stuff to blow by guys. Where was that slider he had that no one could check their swing against? Or the fastball he could blow by people upstairs? Or the knee-buckling curveball that he could spin off? They all seem to be gone from his repertoire at times when he's at home. Which is awful and something he needs to work on. A.J. Burnett needs to sit him down and show him how it's done.

Joe Girardi continues to curiously use his bullpen. I said to Jay at the Stadium last night that I thought that he should have left Phil Hughes in after Hughes dominated the previous inning against the heart of the Mariners order. But Girardi has slots for guys and can't seem to find his way out of them which is awful. Hughes could have used the innings and the Yankees could have used his dominance. I know it was a long inning, but the right thing to do was to use Hughes there and Bruney blew the lead. But after a leadoff it was Melky to the rescue once again for the Yankees after a double for Matsui and a surprise--and greatly executed--bunt base hit from Nick Swisher. Melky has been clutch late in games for the Yankees at times this season despite looking lost at the plate at times earlier in games. Derek Jeter followed Melky's double with a single of his own, giving the Yankees a big three run cushion. Then it was the Great Mariano Rivera for his 501st save (two ground balls and a K to end it). Ben sent me a message that Mo had pitched a complete game and Tyler Kepner also writes how the win began and ended with Rivera. On a side note, it was awesome seeing him throw out the first pitch. Although this is unconventional, this was a great honor for a great player and well done by the Yankees.

Blogging Bombers thinks that Hughes should have definitely stayed in (so does Ken Davidoff and Pete Abe and a lot of other people) and also makes this good point about Joba's starting: "Say what you want about Joba Chamberlain, but the Yankees are 10-5 in his starts. The name of the game is winning, and the Yankees do that a lot when this guy pitches." Davidoff writes: "Joba Chamberlain delivered another up-and-down outing, yet he almost always manages to keep the Yankees in the game. He's still 23 years old. It's all right if he's a work in progress." And how clutch is Melky? "Of Melky Cabrera’s 29 RBI this season, 12 of them have either tied the game or given the Yankees the lead in the seventh inning or later". And A-Rod's bomb was the talk of the Stadium for a while last night and Tyler Kepner points out that as A-Rod goes, so do the Yankees. And A-Rod has shown a lot more energy the past 6 games and so have the Yanks.

While this comeback was all going on, I heard Jay said "here come the Orioles! It's 10-3!" We laughed, knowing that very few people come back against that Boston bullpen. But the O's chipped away and made it 10-6 and had 2 runners on for Aubrey Huff. Although they didn't score there, they had the Red Sox backpedaling and Jay and I waiting for the next score update. I'll let Big League Stew give the recap (though I'm excited to see what Jayson Stark has to say about this epic game):

Roll Call starts at Camden Yards, where the Red Sox collectively lost track of one of baseball's basic rules and then forgot how to protect what should have been a safe lead. Instead, it was only a prelude to the biggest Orioles' comeback since ... ever.

Game of the Day
Orioles Magic 11, Red Sox 10

Funny peculiar: The Red Sox laughed it up after realizing the entire infield forgot how many outs there were in the sixth inning; Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek, et al, came off the field when only two Orioles had been retired. They could afford to laugh; the AL East leaders had a huge lead and appeared on their way to their ninth-straight victory against the last-place Birds (VIDEO).

Wipeout: Trailing 10-1 with nine outs to go, the O's staged a rally for the ages, putting up five runs in the seventh and five more in the eighth. The go-ahead run, scoring on Nick Markakis' RBI double with Teflon-coated Jonathan Papelbund on the mound, capped the biggest comeback in Baltimore's franchise history (VIDEO).

"When you talk about playing all 27 outs," O's manager Dave Trembley said, "that's tonight."

All 27 outs, Red Sox. Not 26. Twenty-seven.

Sometimes a monkey: Oscar Salazar hit a three-run homer in the seventh — one of seven hits the O's had in the inning against the Boston bullpen — to help get his team closer. Markakis (VIDEO) had been 0-for-7 with four strikeouts against Papelbon (who came in 20-for-20 in save opportunities against the Orioles) before he lined a two-run double off the left-field wall. Pinch-runner Jeremy Guthrie, a pitcher, scored the tying run.

Oft times, a passionate speech will inspire a comeback. Other times, a team will rely on a Rally Monkey. Some places let loose the Kraken. In Baltimore, when they have no other option, the local baseball wizards perform a little Orioles Magic.

"It happened real fast. We beat them up pretty good and then they beat us up pretty good," Pedroia said.

Disbelief: The night appeared to belong to another comeback kid, John Smoltz, who pitched well for four innings in his second start for the Red Sox that had followed a rough debut. But a 71-minute rain delay cut his outing short, and the O's resurgence really put a damper on things.

"No one would have ever dreamed it would play out the way it did," said the 42-year-old Smoltz, who was seeking his first victory in 438 days. "It's one of those games when you shake your head and can't believe what you just saw."

Trust me, those of us at the Yankees game, watching the out-of-town scoreboard, couldn't believe it either...