Nationals 11, Yankees 9

(a touching display of light petting between the Captain and The Third Baseman)

I’m not exactly Carl Lewis — either in terms of foot-speed or singing chart-topping hits — but I’ve seen few things more torturous recently than DC’s Darryl Ward scoring from first on a Jose Guillen triple in this afternoon’s 8th inning. Alex Rodridguez and Jorge Posada hit back-to-back HR’s in the 5th inning, A-Rod’s coming with notorious fair-weather teammate Derek Jeter aboard. As Rodriguez’ HR neithe came at Yankee Stadium nor was against the Red Sox, it was again, another case of stat-padding that he will rely upon en route to another half-dozen MVP awards before he retires.

Justin Verlander has worked his way out of trouble a few times today, as the Tigers lead the Cubs, 4-1 at Wrigley through 5 innings. If Detroit have been successful early against the pitching of Carlos Marmol, that might be due to the presence of fugitive Dmitri Young, armed with a pair of binoculars in the bleachers. If you’ve not noticed him on television, that might be due to the following disguise :

Mark Prior will start for the Cubs tomorrow. There’s no truth to the rumor he’ll be on a strict pitch count of 190.

In the College World Series earlier today, Rice’s Eddie Degerman struck out 8 Georgia Bulldogs in 6 and a third innings of work, taking a no decision in the Owls’ 6-4 opening round victory. Degerman’s single season total of 166 is a school record, topping Wade Townsend’s mark of 163 set 3 seasons ago.

The Journal News’ John Delcos would like to know the best way to get to Shea Stadium. Aside from making sure you don’t drop Tom Glavine’s golf clubs, the gentlemen above can vouch for the correct answer being “practice, practice, practice.”