Gotta go to Mo for 500th save - and first career RBI!

How sweep it is!

The Yankees made history a few times last night. Not only did Mariano Rivera get his 500th save (and his first-ever RBI!), but the Yanks' sweep of the Mets is the first-ever one in Citi Field.

Here was another historical moment last night - Squawker Jon and I actually agreed on something baseball-related!

As soon as Francisco Rodriguez started to intentionally walk Derek Jeter in the ninth inning to load the bases, Jon said it was a bad idea. I agreed - it made no sense, especially given that third base, not first, was the open base.

I also said to Jon that all it would take to add another run was for Rodriguez to end up walking Mariano Rivera. And that's exactly what happened, of course! How funny.

The game was also the first time Chien-Ming Wang won a game in over a year. Everybody, Wang won last night (everybody, Wang won last night!)

Anyhow, after that three-run first inning for the Yanks (which Daniel Murphy helped with his shoddy defense), I expected the game to be a blowout. But Livan Hernandez was surprisingly effective for the rest of the game, giving up only one hit.

While it's not like the Mets are a Murderer's Row right now, Wang still only gave up two runs.

And David Wright didn't get a hit the entire weekend. What's up with that?

* * *

A few other observations from the game:

We got to the game early enough to brave the Shake Shack lines. But even 90 minutes before the game, the wait was still a good 15 minutes long!

Later on in the game, we shared fries from Box Frites. They were good, although I thought the Shake Shack fries were a bit better. And the Box Frites sauces were not very good. We've tried three sauces this season with those fries - the bacon, chipotle, and pepperoncini ones, and found all of them mediocre.

While I didn't bring a broom, another Yankee fan did. But it was confiscated - to the cheers of Mets fans - when he waved the broom around in the ninth inning.

Squawker reader Jennie stopped by our seats to say hello before the game. It was very cool to meet her.

Not much back-and-forth chanting at this game until the ninth inning. It would have been a run-of-the-mill game, until one closer walked another closer to walk in a run. How often does that happen!

I'm wondering where this game ranks for worst Met loss of the year. And to think that Jon and I were at three of the six Subway Series games, and the Yanks won all three. Whoo-hoo!

What did you think of last night's game? Leave us a comment!

Our long national nightmare is over - Yankees finally win!

It took a home run from an unlikely source - Francisco Cervelli, and a meltdown from Yankee manager Joe Girardi, but the Yankees finally won a game. Oh, and Mariano Rivera got to bat. And yes, Alex Rodriguez actually got a hit.

I was out for a walk last night, listening to the game on the radio, when I heard about Brett Gardner breaking up the Braves' perfect game with a walk, and then getting called out on a pickoff. (And yes, it was a bad call - I watched the replay of it.) Then Joe Girardi got ejected. And the momentum changed.

According to mlb.com's Brian Hoch, Joe Girardi apparently did not use any of the magic words managers usually get ejected for. Impressive! I can't get through one inning of attending a game with Squawker Jon without using at least one of those words!

Anyhow, however Girardi did it, the ejection sparked something with the Yankees. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, the Yanks had some watchable moments, from Cervelli's excitement over his first career homer, to A-Rod getting a big hit, to Mariano Rivera stepping up to the plate. Oh, and Joba Chamberlain finally got another win.

I particularly liked seeing Melky Cabrera giving Mo batting tips, and seeing the entire Yankee team intently watching Rivera's at-bat from the top step of the dugout. And seeing Mariano actually hit the ball, despite being told not to by the coaches!

True, it's only one game, but at least it put the wolves at bay for another day. Speaking of which, I don't quite know what to make about Mark Teixeira's postgame quote about Brian Cashman's surprise visit to Atlanta:

“He was a little fired up,” Mark Teixeira said. “There was no yelling, Cash isn’t that kind of guy. But he was here; he wanted to make himself known. … Sometimes the principal needs to show up in the classroom if the teacher’s having trouble with the students.”

What, is releasing Angel Berroa after he took up a roster spot for three months going to make everybody else worry about their job security? Not as long as Brett Tomko is still gainfully employed by this team. Besides, it's not like anybody's lining up to pick up, say, Hideki Matsui's $13 million contract.

But I do wonder about Teixeira's analogy. If Cashman is the principal, and,teacher Girardi is having trouble with the class, who are the students causing the trouble? And when will demerits be handed out?

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Was Mariano Rivera too sick to pitch on Saturday?

There apparently is an explanation for why Mariano Rivera pitched so poorly on Saturday, and it has nothing to do with the Rays knowing how to hit him. Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown reports (hat tip to WasWatching.com) that Rivera was ill:

For several hours before Rivera took the ball Saturday afternoon in that tie game, he’d suffered with a stomach ailment that brought aches and repeated vomiting, according to one Yankee. Rivera had rolled off the trainer’s table, where he’d hoped to sleep it off, and into the bullpen in the eighth inning, when he began to warm up.

So, no, he didn’t have his best command. And, no, he didn’t have his best fastball.

But, he didn’t sprinkle the Yankee Stadium mound with breakfast, which, in itself, was a small victory, even in defeat.

“He was so upset afterward,” the teammate said.

Brown, who writes that Girardi "clearly insulted" Rivera by having him intentionally walk Evan Longoria Saturday (hmmm, did Joe Torre insult Mo when he had him intentionally walk 30 other players over the years?) seems to blame Girardi for having Rivera pitch in the first place.

I disagree. First off, we don't know if Girardi even knew that Rivera was sick. Second, when does it become Mariano's responsibility to say that he can't pitch? If he's throwing up as badly as the article implies, then why the heck isn't he at home resting? And why wouldn't he suggest that Girardi pitch CC Sabathia another inning, given that CC had only thrown 101 pitches?

Besides, we know that any ailment affecting the dynasty players is a minefield for Girardi. Remember when Joe got into trouble with reporters last year for minimizing Mo's shoulder injury, even though he did that on Rivera's request?

Not to mention how Jorge Posada insisted on being the catcher last year, even when he literally couldn't throw anyody out. Or how Derek Jeter kept on playing after getting hit by a pitch last year, with his numbers taking a dive, even though some time off probably would have made more sense.

While it's admirable for these players to always want to be in the game (they're the anti-Carl Pavanos!), it's not always good for the team if they play through the pain.

And I'm sorry, but if Rivera was in a state where he could have vomited on the mound, he had no business even trying to pitch. He's not a Scott Proctor trying to hang on to his job, after all. Nobody's going to give him grief for admitting that he was sick.

Here's the thing - if Girardi had benched Rivera for Saturday's game, and if either CC or somebody in the Yankee bullpen had blown the game, we would undoubbtedly hear from reporters wondering why Rivera didn't pitch. And if Joe had said Rivera was unavailable, and Mo had said he was fine, it would have been a whole to-do.

Talk about a no-win situation for Girardi. So no, I'm not going to give Joe grief for this.

But your mileage may vary. What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Yankees are 'comeback kids' against Tampa Bay

This weekend, one of our readers anonymously opined about the difference between Squawker Jon and me. Jon, the reader said, sounds "like Eeyore" (hmmm, does that make me Tigger?) Meanwhile, I assume "every game should be a Yankees victory, and any decision that is slightly against [my] team is a travesty." And that's a problem, why, exactly?

Fortunately, this season it appears that the Yankees feel the same way; Johnny Damon was recently quoted saying something like that. No, not that Squawker Jon is Eeyore, but about how the Yankees have swagger this year. "We think we can win every game," Damon told the New York Post.

And Nick Swisher posted this on his Twitter account yesterday: "Comeback kids strike again. Awesome game today. Never quit attitude. Amazing."

Anyhow, it's getting to the point where no matter what kind of hole the Yanks are in, you can expect them to make some sort of thrilling comeback rally in late innings. I missed hearing parts of the first half of yesterday's game (like the Jeter bunt controversy) but I did listen to the last few innings, so I got to hear the great Yankee comeback. (But hearing it isn't as exciting as seeing it, and doesn't really paint the full picture of what happened!)

Squawker Jon told me the other day that it's no surprise the Yanks keep on having all these come-from-behind wins, giving that they have a great lineup playing in a bandbox. But yesterday's rally had more to do with small ball than the long ball.

Squawker reader Bostowned said this last week about the Yankees, and I tend to agree:

This team is different. As a fan, I see a 3 game sweep I immediately think...well lets see how they do in the next series against a better team. Then they sweep them. Then I start thinking...hmm....well I wonder how well they'll respond after they finally lose a series. Will they lose all confidence as I've seen so many times in the past? Nope, went on to take the next 2 series. After the last 20 games, Im ready to believe that this team isn't the 2004-2008 teams at all. Nothing seems to get them down and break their confidence. Every game appears winnable no matter what the score is or who's on the mound.

Yesterday not only had a thrilling rally, but Mariano Rivera earning the WWE belt for his save, which included getting Evan Longoria out this time! But the real MVP of yesterday's game, and the unsung hero of this season, was Alfredo Aceves, who pitched two scoreless innings to keep the Yankees in the game. He mentioned something about wanting to be like Ramiro Mendoza in Suzyn Waldman's postgame interview with him. As Suzyn pointed out, he's done his homework!
Good stuff.

I'm guessing, though, that Joba Chamberlain's performance yesterday will push Mike Francesa to go on yet another rant about how he should pitch in the bullpen. Good grief.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Did Joe Girardi dis Mariano Rivera - or vice versa?

There's a whole to-do in the papers today about Joe Girardi having Mariano Rivera intentionally walk Evan Longoria to face B.J. Upton, and Rivera being not exactly pleased about it.

Newsday's Ken Davidoff writes:

...Rivera, who complains about as often as Girardi contemplates getting a mohawk, made it clear that he disagreed with his skipper on this call.

....What stood out on this lazy Saturday was Rivera's unhappiness.

The New York Post's Larry Brooks notes:

...is playing percentages with the closer an indication that the manager doesn't have faith that the Great Rivera can still get anybody out at any time, because it sure appeared that way yesterday?

That walk to the mound and the instruction to intentionally walk Longoria sure seemed like a vote of no confidence from the manager, even to Rivera, who came as close to saying that as possible without actually using the words.

Was it a vote of no confidence? Maybe. But sadly, I don't think it would have made any difference if Rivera had pitched against either Upton or Longoria. Either one would have gotten a big hit off him. The Rays seem to totally have his number.

Remember, Ben Zobrist had hit a leadoff triple off Mariano, and Joe Dillon followed that up with a single. Rivera had already given up the lead when he had to intentionally walk Longoria. He just looked terrible out there yesterday. And he was out of the game after the Upton hit.

Speaking of which, that was disturbing as well. As the Post's Brooks writes, Rivera was "pulled in the middle of an inning for the second time already this year after suffering that fate once over the previous three years and three times total over the last six seasons." That's pretty depressing to hear.

Seeing Mo's stats against Tampa Bay this year is even more depressing - 0-2, 13.5 ERA, with 5 earned runs (including two homers) over 3.1 innings. The Rays definitely have his number.

On the bright side, after a shaky outing by CC Sabathia, the Yanks did tie the game in the eighth inning with one of their patented rallies. And they scored two runs in the ninth as well. Too bad they couldn't pull out a win yesterday.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!