August 5, @ Toronto     W (5-4)    62-50    6GB      .5GB  Wild Card

So Toronto finally made their "retaliation" for their own imbecile infielder's mistake back in May (for those who forgot, A-Rod was nearly sent to the guillotine for screaming at Howie Clark on a routine pop-up to third that Clark let fall).  Jesse Litsch was given the order to throw behind Alex in the 2nd inning to "send a message."  Alex kept his composure and eventually took a base on balls.

One thing managed to slip the minds of the Blue Jays, though: Winning the game. When retaliation for perceived injustice on a routine fly clouds the mind as much as it obviously did in this case, victory can be a difficult task. Actually, victory is normally a difficult task for the Blue Jays. Today was no different, coincdentally, as their bullpen imploded in the 6th and turned a 3-1 lead into a 5-3 deficit.

Am I against the old school brand of baseball? Certainly not. If a guy earns it and you want to let him know he better be careful, go ahead and send a message. But what A-Rod did was so ridiculous and minute compared with the attention it received; and obvioulsy only because he's Lightning-Rod, a man who so many love to hate.  What exactly were they retaliating for though? Maybe poetic justice would be to sneak up on A-Rod and scream Ha! in his ear and scare him, then point a finger and say gotcha!

Despite the fireworks, or lack thereof, the Yankees played one heck of a game in spite of the "retaliatory" efforts of the Blue Jays. Pettitte ran into some trouble in the 5th after already giving up the third run of the game. But did Andy ever pitch his way out of it, getting all three outs on K's. He saved the game in that 5th inning. In the 6th, Abreu led off with a walk and A-Rod singled before Matsui blooped one into left field to score Bobby. After a Posada K, and with runner at the corners, Robbie Cano doubled to center and gave the Yankees the lead. Then Melky, with 2 out, singled in Cano for an insurance run (which ended up being the difference). Luis Vizcaino actually pitched 2 full innings today, and though he ran into a little trouble, survived long enough to get to Mariano in the 9th. Mo was in true Mo form, striking out the side for the W.

I can't say enough about the efforts that Cano and Melky are putting in right now.  Melky solidified himself as the starting CF, there's no question about that. And his proven ability to hit at the ML level now has really made him valuable. That's why Brian Cashman (who I supported in this) held on to Melky. The same goes for Cano. He was terrible for the first half of the season but finally figured it out, and is one of the hottest hitters inthe game, plus a reliable 2B.

So today there was comeback win, a gutty pitching performance, a bullpen that held together, a Mariano save, and all of this on the road. This was encouraging. Much has been made of the Yankees ability to pound on weaker opposition, and how it means nothing (despite them having the best record in baseball over the last 2 months).  This is a .500+ team that they beat on the road, after needing to come back. While this is only a small step, it's an encouraging one nonetheless. There will be 2 more in Toronto before a huge 3-gamer in Cleveland over the weekend. Monday saw the road trip start off well and hopefully it will continue.

Note: Mike Myers was designated for assignment today and likely will never see the Yankees again. Best of luck Mike, I wish I could say it was good while it lasted. I'll say this, though, you weren't as bad as Kyle Farnsworth. Accordingly, the release of Myers allowed for the call-up of Jim Brower, who more than likely will eat some time until Joba Chamberlain gets the call. Joba, between AA and AAA has struck out 84 in 48.1 innings. God help him translate it to The Show.