Bane Bruney (Postgame Notes 21 Sept 07)

Of all the Yankees' recent losses, this one hurts the most.

When the Yankees staged that ninth inning comeback, four runs aided by an error and misplay by Aaron Hill, you would think that there'd be no way the Yankees could lose this game.

When it got to the 14th and Joe Torre decided to put Brian Bruney in, well, you probably either thought, Joe, what is it you're smoking or Okay, that's not the move I would have made.

This really was a case of the Yankees losing the game as opposed to Toronto winning it--they ran themselves out of big innings in the first and sixth, which looked huge at the time, against Halladay, and then they had innings 10, 11, 12, 13 to get just one measly run across to home plate, and they couldn't get it done.

The last few Yankee games to go into the bottom of the ninth when home or extra innings have been ugly affairs; but this was one you thought there was no way the Yankees would lose it...

...Chien Ming Wang was great through sixth, but lost it in the seventh. Against any other pitcher, it probably would have been good enough a performance, but Halladay is...well...really, really good, especially against the Yankees.

K-Ram was off today, and, well, it was fairly obvious from the get go. Surely Torre knows by now that when K-Ram is off, he's WAY off?

Jose Veras, Ron Villone, Mo, Joba and Viz were all great.

And then Bruney was up to his old shenanigans. When people are commenting that they would have rather seen Farnsworth, well, that's when you know the pitcher on the mound really shouldn't be there.

The Yankees' offense was also up to its old tricks: Not able to muster much of anything until having one big inning late in the game, this time doing it in heart-attack fashion. When they couldn't win the game in the ninth, though, it was a bit of an anti-climax, and it kept letting down until after the 13th, when A-Rod could not come through.

Still A-Rod had his best swings he's had since Kansas City. He's about to break out of it.

The best thing the Yankees have going for them is a quick turnaround--tomorrow is a day game. It's really disappointing that Ian Kennedy won't get a start, but it's much more important that he's healthy. Anyway, it's not like Roger Clemens is a bad pitcher or something.

I'd write more but I am REALLY tired and want to sleep, so I'll leave you with this:

Tonight's loss does not knock the Yankees out of playoff contention.
Tonight's loss does not even knock the Yankees out of division contention.
Tonight's loss is not on Joba, Viz or Mo--the KEY Yankees 'pen guys that we'll go to in October.
There WAS Squirrel magic--we wouldn't have even seen extras if not for Aaron Hill's bobble on Posada's ball.
Unlike the Mets, we are NOT the team in danger of a collapse.

That is only the sixth loss all month for the Yankees-two to Tampa, one to Seattle, one in Toronto, one in Boston, and now tonight.

We lost nine games in July, our 'killer' month, and that was with the all-star break!

The Yankees will want it tomorrow all that much more.

Keep your chin up. Tomorrow is another day.

Scores and Stuffs

Boston beat Tampa Bay 8-1, the game getting out of hand when Tampa starter Scott Kazmir was pulled after the fifth inning. The good news for Yankees' fans is that Josh Beckett pitched tonight, so that's it for 'good' pitching. Tampa will actually have a chance to win the other games, assuming their bullpen doesn't make like Brian Bruney.

Detroit beat Kansas City 5-4, coming back to do so, and coming back before the ninth inning...

Cleveland beat Oakland 4-3, and are now perilously close to doing something they haven't done much of since the Yankees won the World Series in 2000: Win a division title. They slumped horribly in July and August, but the Indians are back on form now, and will not be fun to play in October.

Texas beat Baltimore 3-2, falling 27 runs short of their previous season high.

The White Sox beat Minnesota 6-4. For all of you saying that the Yankees should sign Johan Santana, his record this year is 15-13. That's...uhh...not really that good.

Seattle leads Anaheim 6-0 in the top of the ninth. Anaheim needs just one more win or Seattle loss to clinch the AL West. It'd be really, really, REALLY funny if that didn't happen.


In a game that means absolutely nothing, Houston beat St. Louis 6-3. If St Louis would like to win another game this year, I have two options for them: 1) Don football gear and play either Syracuse or Notre Dame or 2) Play the Mets.

Philadelphia beat Washington 6-3. If there's an award for the team doing the most with the least, I would like to personally hand it to Philadelphia. By all means they shouldn't be a factor right now, but it's a distinct possibility that they can end the weekend leading in the NL East.

The Cubs beat Pittsburgh 13-8, to keep their lead in the NL Central, and Milwaukee beat Atlanta 4-1, to keep pace. That is probably the most interesting of all the division races.

The Mets are up on Florida 9-6 in the eighth, but be careful: they had been up 8-4, so this is beginning to play like a familiar scenario...

Arizona is up on the Dodgers, 12-3, and after getting beat bad by the Rockies, you have the feeling that the Dodgers may have more or less given up on their postseason chances.

San Diego worked a little ninth inning magic of their own, as they and Colorado are tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth.

San Francisco leads Cincinnati 5-3, and you know that everyone on the Giants is probably a little bit giddy at the news that Bonds will not be returning next year.