They say Friday night's all right for fighting, but the Yanks and Jays decided that a Tuesday night works just as well.
Tempers flared in Toronto as Alex Rodriguez was drilled in the knee in the third inning. Words were exchanged, benches emptied and warnings were issued. Why did the Jays pick Tuesday to plunk A-Rod? Who knows? I'm sure A-Rod and the Yanks were expecting some retribution from the "A-ha incident" in May. In any event, A-Rod and the Yanks weren't pleased.
When the smoke cleared, Roger Clemens pitched a great game (and got some payback before he left), Bobby Abreu knocked in four runs and Joba Chamberlain pitched two scoreless innings in his big league debut as the
Yanks upended the Blue Jays 9-2. The win extends the Yankee winning streak to five games and puts them 13 games over .500; their high-water mark of the season.
The Good:
Roger Clemens. The Rocket was superb on Tuesday night. His splitter was falling off the table and the Blue Jays didn't mount a serious threat during his six innings of work. Clemens retired 13 straight at one point, but his biggest moment came in the seventh. Alex Rios led off the inning and on a 1-0 pitch, Clemens drilled Rios right between the 1 and 5 on his back. It's about time! The Yankee starters always seem to take the high road when one of their guys gets hit, so it was refreshing to finally see some payback. Clemens was tossed (along with Torre), but not before having it out with home plate ump Angel Hernandez. The Yanks had the right pitcher on the mound tonight. I'm not sure if any other Yankee starter would have responded in the same manner. Bravo, Roger! Clemens improved to 4-5 on the season with this: 6+ IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP.
Jorge Posada. Posada may have sent the real message to the Jays when he doubled in two runs after A-Rod was hit. Jorgie picked up three more hits on Tuesday and is now batting a chunky .340 on the season. Posada also showed some hustle. Sure, he was thrown out twice trying to stretch a single into a double, but I love the aggressiveness. Keep hustlin, Jorgie! Posada finished 3 for 5 with 2 runs batted in.
Shelley Duncan. Frankenstein continues to earn his pinstripes. Not only did Duncan go out of his way to protect A-Rod during the brew-ha-ha, but his all-out play helped the Yanks score three runs in the sixth. Duncan's hard take-out slide into second knocked the glove clean off shortstop John McDonald and gave the Yanks runners on first and second with no outs instead of a runner on first with one out. Big difference. It's the little things that win ballgames and Duncan and the Yanks seem to be doing it all lately. His box score numbers may look pedestrian, but Shelley The Machine provided more than just stats on Tuesday. He finished 1 for 4 with a run scored.
The Bad:
Jim Brower. Ugh! Why is Brower on this team? Yes, his numbers in Scranton were terrific, but it's not like he's some 22-year-old kid with a ton of promise. He's a 34-year-old journeyman with a career ERA of 4.63. And he pitched like it on Tuesday. Brower's line: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.
The Ugly:
Roster moves. The Yanks made two roster moves on Tuesday and I hated both of them. OK, you knew
Joba Chamberlain was going to be called up, but the Yanks sent down Brian Bruney to make room. Now, Bruney hasn't been tearing it up lately, but how does this strengthen the pen? In my eyes, the Yanks are exchanging Bruney for Brower, and to me, that just doesn't make sense. Also,
Jason Giambi rejoined the team and the Yanks cleared a spot by designating Miguel Cairo for assignment. I realize Cairo wasn't going to get a lot of playing time with Wilson Betemit and Shelley Duncan on the team, but the Yanks wanted flexibility on the bench and now they've lost it. And the biggest disappointment to me is that they could have called up Chamberlain and Giambi and still kept Bruney and Cairo on the roster. How? Send down Brower and keep Bruney. Send down Jeff Karstens and keep Giambi. Honestly, I would've preferred keeping Giambi off the squad completely and keep everything the way it is. If it ain't broke . . .
A pair of aces will be going at it on Wednesday. Chien-Ming Wang will get the ball for the Yanks and will oppose Roy "Doc" Halladay. Halladay pitched well against the Bombers in June, but picked up a no decision in the Yanks 3-2, 10th inning victory. Still, as good as Halladay is (and has been), his ERA is a bit high at 4.13. Wang's only loss in his last 13 decisions came at the hand of the Jays in July. It was a hard-luck 3-2 Toronto victory and helped the Jays avoid a sweep in the Bronx.
The Yanks will look to take care of some unfinished business on Wednesday night.
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