Saturday was somewhat better--Sir Sidney continued to look good in 2008 pinstripes, but the offense refused to back him. The Yanks all out failed to capitalize off of multiple bases-loaded scenarios, including one with ZERO OUTS in the 3rd. They also hit into 4 double-plays. Depressing. Yet they managed to tie it in the 7th, and it took until the 13 for Cano to reach and for Brett Gardner to hit yet another walk-off single (he was 3-5 on the day).
In contrast to the previous two days, the Yankees wasted no time scoring on Sunday. A 6-run first included a 3-run jack from Arod and a solo opposite-field shot from Nady. Royals starter Brian Bannister was chased out in the second thanks in part to a Giambi grand slam (10 ER in only 1 inning for Bannister!) Cody Ransom also hit a homerun later on. All-in-all, Jeter went 4-4, Arod 3-3, and the offense combined for 17 hits in a 15-6 thrashing of KC. Moose also picked up his 16th win.
The Bottom Line: Games like Sunday's make me hopeful, but I'll believe NOTHING until they can repeat against every team they face from here on out.
Minnesota swept the Mariners, but the victories were much too close for my liking. The M's were quickly put away in the first game, going down 9-2 by the 4th and only adding on one more. Liriano made the start and went 7-innings. But games two and three were more shaky. On Saturday, the Twins jumped ahead 5-0 only to blow it when Seattle had a 6-run 6th. Luckily they tied it in the 8th and Brian Buscher hit a walk-off sac fly in the 9th to win. And in the series closer, Minny's offense lead 8-0 in the fifth only to see the M's hack it down to 10-8 by the middle of the 8th. Joe Nathan was called upon with bases loaded in the 8th to end the misery of the Twins bullpen (but not before loading them himself in the 9th).
The Bottom Line: If the Twins want a shot at passing the Chisox and getting somewhere in October, the bullpen needs to pull itself together. Because if not, it all ends on the 15-game road trip.
As for a very brief Olympic rundown?
- Misty and Kerri advanced to the beach volleyball semifinals without incident.
- Phelps won the 100m butterfly by .01 second...does that even count for anything? And yes, he managed to win all 8 golds. But as I said elsewhere, I really don't care that much (in other words, I'm NOT buying that DVD).
- Dara Torres, the 41-year-old swimmer, lost the gold in the 50m free by that same .01 second. But she said it was a matter of luck and she wouldn't have done anything differently. What an athlete!
- Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin came in 2-3 in women's individual floor exercises. Way to go again, ladies!
- Usain Bolt of Jamaica took the men's 100m dash in record fashion--9.69! But sadly, he showboated before the race ended and thus didn't smash the record as much as he could have. It's a pity--the Olympics shouldn't be about such shows of arrogance.
