Yankees 5, Braves 2

(Yankee fans salute Jason’s campaign to win the Comeback From Comeback Player Of The Year Award)

Though most of tomorrow’s accounts of this contest will center on Randy Johnson’s scoreless 7 innings of work (4 hits, no walks, 9 K’s), Jason Giambi’s ownership of Tim Hudson (2 HR’s, 5 RBI’s) is the 2nd most obvious storyline. Jason could tell Tim a thing or two about the toll NYC nightlife can take on a World Class Athlete. Nothing he wouldn’t already know, however.

(another afternoon game against the Phillies, same old Papi)
Hey, Jonathan Papelbon blew a save today. The good news is that Keith Foulke doesn’t want to talk about it. The bad news for the Phillies is that they wasted a wild comeback at Fenway by refusing to walk David Ortiz with Kevin Youkilis on 2nd base representing the winning run in the bottom of the 12th. It’s going to take more than a shift to stop Ortiz, though perhaps sneaking a 9th or 10th position player onto the field might be a good idea.

The Twins’ 8-2 thumping of the Dodgers — a strong outing for Carlos Silva (8 innings, 2 runs, 6 hits, no walks) — provides us with the following factoids to mull over ;

* – Joe Mauer (4 hits, 5 RBI’s) raised his average to an All-Universe .377. If he’s not the AL’s starting catcher in Pittsburgh, perhaps the NL can draft him.

* – Minnesota has won 15 out of their last 17. During that stretch, they’ve narrowed Detroit’s 11 1/2 game lead to uh, 11 games.

I-Rod’s 3 RBI night — including a 7th inning HR off Wandy Rodriguez — paced the Tigers in their 10-4 obliteration of the Astros, a game that featured Lance Berkman (above left) and Phil Garner being tossed. Arguing over whether or not flag football is a legitimate sport is kind of unseemly.

Congrats to the busy Beavers of Oregon State on capturing their first College World Series title, courtesy of tonight’s 3-2 win over North Carolina. Red Sox first round pick Daniel Bard (7 2/3’rds innings, 2 K’s, 3 runs, 6 hits) took the loss for the Tar Heels, and was victimized by a Bryan Steed throwing error that allowed OSU’s Bill Rowe to score the winning run in the bottom of the 8th. Kevin Gunderson earned the save for Oregon State retiring both batters he faced with the tying and winning runs on 3rd and first. Gunderson had already pitched 5 and 1/3 innings in OSU’s Game Two victory on Sunday.

While the esteemed members of SABR are planning on attending a Rockies/Mariners game this weekend, the hapless Screech is reduced to dragging the more desperate members of his readership to a July 3 game featuring the Florida Marlins. I’ve got to admit, this might be one of his more original ideas.

My own anti-social calendar isn’t nearly as packed — mostly on the advice of a qualified mental health care professional. That said, I’ll be at Yankee Stadium this coming Friday and Saturday, and the beers are on me. That’s usually what happens when I wear a Mets hat into the building.