There's still some fight left in these guys.

Mike Mussina went seven strong, Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter combined for six hits and two runs batted in and Alex Rodriguez smashed the go-ahead homer as the Yanks outlasted the Twins 9-6 in 12 innings.  The Bombers blew three leads in this one, including Mariano Rivera's first blown save of the year, but battled back to snap a four-game skid.

I was "out on the town" for this one, but came home just in time to see Delmon Young slice a game-tying, three-run jack off Rivera in the eighth.  The Sandman was due to mess up sooner or later and I thought it would spell the beginning of the end for the Yankees.  But they proved me wrong.  Xavier Nady followed A-Rod's blast with a two-run shot of his own to keep the Bombers' playoff hopes alive.  The win kept the Yanks 5 games back of the Red Sox in the wild card hunt and cut the Rays lead in the AL East to 8 games.

My eyes are red and stingy after this one and I really don't have a feel for the entire game so no roundup.  I'm just glad the Yanks escaped with a victory.

Darrell Rasner (5-8, 5.28 ERA) will go against Kevin Slowey (8-8, 4.07 ERA) in the afternoon finale.  The Yanks touched up Slowey for four runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings in an eventual 8-2 victory July 22 at The Stadium.  Slowey is coming off a victory in Kansas City, in which he allowed one run on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, and is 4-4 with a 3.71 ERA in eight starts this season at the Metrodome.  Rasner was skipped in the rotation Aug. 8 against the Angels, but came in to clean up Ian Kennedy's mess in the third (at least, he tried).  The Ras threw 49 pitches in 4 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits in a 10-5 Yankee loss.  It will be Rasner's third start against the Twinkies this year.  He's 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA so far.  Rasner is 2-5 with a 6.25 ERA in eight road appearances this year.

Can he become the Road Warrior the Yankees need? Leave a comment

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