ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The Yankees begin a two week road trip tonight in Kansas City with Joe Gerardi at the helm. Joe Torre will be serving a one game suspension because of Paul Quantrill retailiating the beaning of Alex Rodriguez against the Tigers last week. Quantrill will receive a three game ban, so we won't have to worry about him for three days. Maybe the rest will do him good.
The Bombers came off a 15-2 stand in which the only team with a record over .500 whom the they beat on that stretch was the Mets. Against the two AL East teams they're battling with for the division the Yanks are 5-10 this season (4-5 vs. the Red Sox, 1-5 vs. the Orioles). Tonight in KC the Royals have settled on a new manager in the form of the golden haired (well maybe grey now) Buddy Bell. Let's hope the momentum doesn't swing in the Royals direction with a new skipper and Kevin Brown on the mound. Bell played a significant part in Yankee history. He made Graig Nettles expendable in 1973 allowing the Indians to send him to the Bronx. TRIVIA: Who did the Yankees send to Cleveland for Nettles and catcher Jerry Moses? Answer tomorrow.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

Anyone over the age of 35 remembers Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day as automatic double headers in baseball. A day like today we would be looking forward to seeing two games in da Bronx or on Channel 11 even after two ugly losses like we just had.

Unfortunately now we have a travel day when we should be watching the Yankees sweep or split a double dip while having some fine barbecue.

The Double Header that doesn't include the word split admission has went the way of the day World Series game. Hey baseball we're the fans, time to give something back. Give the games back to the kids. Today's kids are tomorrows dads and they will keep you alive.

Boston 17 --- Yankees 1

I know you'll see things like "Bosox Bash Bombers", "Boston Masacre" and several other cliches we don't even want to get into all over the net and newspapers. My mom brought me up saying "if you can't say anything good then don't say anything". So I won't even link a game story because you don't want to read it anyway. If anyone saw anything positive about that game yesterday please leave it in the comments below. Actually the only positive note I saw was that the Bosox were having a hard time getting A-Rod out.

Boomer	SUNDAY 8:05 PM EST ESPN	Moose
BOS: Wells (2-4, 6.81 ERA) NYY: Mussina (5-2, 3.38 ERA)

Watch The Yankees/Boston Sunday Night on ESPN with your Bomber Buddies. Join the Live Chat on during the ESPN broadcast and cheer, jeer, moan and groan along with the BTB Family.

LIVE CHAT

SATURDAY IN THE PARK

The Yankees and the Red Sox face off again today on FOX 5 but last night there was a gem of a game right out of the pages of Yankees-Red Sox history. Robinson Cano hit a game tying home run as well as two defensive plays to gawk at and Gary Sheffield put them ahead for good and the trio of Tanyon Sturtze, Flash Gordon and Mo Rivera wrapped up the game for the shaky starter Randy Johnson.

Gary Sheffield's homer landed in the upper deck in left, and Robinson Cano planted a shot of his own into the bleachers in right. The Yankees threw out two runners at the plate in the top of the sixth to keep the game within reach.
Cano is spotlighted in today's Daily Snooze. Snoozeday rightly gives a bit of credit to Jorge Posada for finally blocking the plate. In the battle of third base coach round one goes to Luis Sojo who outdueled former Yankee and current Bosox coach Dale Sveum last night as the News points out. John Olerud is back in the show as the Boston Globe reports.

THE BOSOX ARE COMING

Last night Kevin Brown was lucky he sure wasn't good. He picked up his fourth straight win while being hit hard, real hard. The score was 4-3 the Yanks were lucky they had the four as they completed a three game sweep of the Tigers. Alex Rodriguez got the GWRBI by hitting his career 398 home run, 17th of the year to lead the AL.

Forget the Mets and Yankees. Forget the Cubbies and Chisox. Forget the Canadians and Leafs. There is only one rivalry in sports and it is happening tonight in the Bronx. The Boston Red Sox are in town and bringing their "a" game to the cathedral. What the "a" stands for is anyone's guess.

Johnny Damon sees the writing on the wall as he is trying to pump up his injury plagued team even before they set foot in the city that never sleeps. David Wells is back and pitching more like Ed Whittson. Curt Schilling admits now that "maybe" he tried to come back too soon. The difference now is that the Yankees are playing like Yankees and the Sox are having their troubles. But with these two teams that can all change nightly.

Mike Lupica of the Daily Snooze reports that the Red Sox are aware of the Yanks' upward climb. The Orioles won again last night and completed a sweep of the Mariners, that pushed the Red Sox to five games out while the Yankees are now in a second-place tie with the Blue Jays .

The series begins tonight and it is on ESPN (YES in NY, and NESN in New England), the pitching matchup for game one will be knuckler Tim Wakefield (4-3, 4.24 ERA) vs. Randy Johnson (4-3, 3.94 ERA). Lets go Yankees. Lets hope for some good baseball.

LET'S GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE

Well Derek Jeter made another fine play in the field yesterday. They just may have to update his Yankeeography again. Jeter's Catch is second only to the catch he made when he flew into the stands against Bostonlast season. The players were amazed at the Captain's heroics, Robinson Cano escaped injury as Derek mowed him over in the process. With the Yankees' 4-2 victory last night, the Yankee Chien-Ming (Don't Call Me Tiger) Wang gave Joe Torre a reason not to skip his turn in the rotation next time around, in 6 1/3 innings, he allowed only five hits while not walking a single batter. Wang lowered his ERA to a more than respectable 4.09 and threw just 77 pitches (46 for strikes) in mowing down 19 hitters. Wang rightly receives praise in the Post's space today, as he also does in Snoozeday.
The Yankees try for the sweep tonight as Jeremy Bonderman opposes Kevin (I am throwing good, they just found holes) Brown at 7 PM tonight. Of course Boston comes in for the weekend.

KUDOS FOR MR. QUANTRILL!!!

Paul Quantrill did what should have been done a long time ago. He finally retailiated for a Yankee getting hit by an opposing pitcher. He did something that Mike Mussina would never do because it would change his routine. He did something that Mariano Rivera should never do because he comes in a save situation. With two outs and the Yankees sitting on a 11-0 lead Quantrill pitched behind the light hitting Jason Smith and was immediately warned by the umpire. On the very next pitch he hit the shortstop in the back and was ejected instantly along with Joe Torre. That brought the Tigers out of their dugout, and Paul uncharacteristically egged them on, gesturing for them to come out for a fight.

Now I don't want to see anyone get hit in the head but the only thing I can fault Quantrill with is that he didn't hit Dmitri Young or Pudge Rodriguez. No offense to Smith but he is not Alex Rodriguez. "Q" was retailiating the hit of the Yankees star 3B Alex Rodriguez. Alex had homered twice off starter Wilfredo Ledezma, giving him 4 home runs in the four hits he has off of Ledezma. The pitcher must have had enough and hit A-Rod in the beefy part of the thigh taking the All Star out of the game. What sense does that make? You can't get him out so you hit him. It time for more pitchers to follow suit. There would be no better time to start than this weekend. The starters have to brush David Ortiz off the plate. Who better to start than the Big Unit?

Buddy Groom came into the game after the Quantrill ejection with 2 runners on, former Bomber Marcus Thames greeted him a three-run homer. That was Thames 5th homer in 7 hits. Robinson Cano hit his career debut homer into the right-field upper deck off Doug Creek in the bottom half. And Jorge Posada homered from both sides of the plate last night as well including his first right handed homer of the season.

HOME SWEET HOME STAND

The Yankees start a six game home stand with 3 games against the Tigers and Red Sox respectivly. After a sloppy weekend series against the crosstown rival Mets, the Yankees return to American League action tonight with the opener of a three-game set with the Tigers of Detroit. Mike Mussina, who has had great success against the Tigers throughout his career, takes the mound. The banged-up Yankees needed Monday's off day, as shortstop Derek Jeter, right fielder Gary Sheffield and catcher Jorge Posada are battling injuries. Jeter didn't start Sunday's game, and manager Joe Torre said Derek Jeter, Gary Shefield and Jorge Posada are scheduled to return to action against the Tigers.
Detroit's season series win over New York last year was its first against the Yankees since 2000. ... SS Guillen leads the Tigers with a .375 average, but is 4-for-20 (.200) with no extra-base hits against Mussina. ... LF White is 3-for-6 with a HR against Mussina, his former teammate. Yankees - 3B Rodriguez has two at-bats against Ledezma and has homered both times. ... OF Matsui is 8-for-19 (.421) with five RBIs and five runs in his last four games. ... 2B Womack is hitting .375 (6-for-16) with six runs in the previous four games.
The real rivalry starts this Friday and David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox come into town.

YANKEES TAKE 5th STRAIGHT SERIES

OK the Yankees beat the Mets two out of three. The Bombers capped off the weekend by staging a come from behind victory over the Mets by a score of 5-3. The truth is it is only two wins no matter how you look at it. Now it is back home and the Detroit Tigers come into town. Guess what? We have to take two out of three there as well.
It was rivalry weekend for MLB. The Yankees/Mets, Chisox/Cubs, Braves/Bosox, Twins/Brewers ... huh???? The Mets and Yankees had some real sloppy games this weekend. Players injured stuff I didn't even know existed. The Mets sounded like a geometry class as Carlos Beltran injured his quad and Kaz Matsui injured his tangent. Derek Jeter injured his elbow ( I heard of that) and missed Sundays game along with Jorge Posada (sore shoulder) and Gary Sheffield (sore hand).
Robinson Cano only picked up one hit this weekend. BTW, Cano's childhood hero was none other than his teammate Bernie Williams.

My Inside Sources...
Have reported that Pedro Martinez did not actually have a cortisone shot this weekend. It was all a ploy to keep him from pitching in the cool damp weather Friday night. He sure pitched well Sunday and his post game press conference he was an ideal citizen once again.

DID YOU KNOW?
That Carl Pavano was traded for both Pedro Martinez and Cliff Floyd ?

ROTATION JUGGLING
After the next turn through the rotation, Joe Torre again plan to pass over Chien-Ming Wang due to an off day to keep Randy Johnson on four days' rest. Wang will pitch Wednesday against Detroit because Yankees manager Torre wants the Big Unit to start Friday's series opener against Boston. He'll be followed by Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina

RUBBER GAME TODAY

Derek Jeter was pulled from yesterday's game after getting hit in the elbow by a Kris Benson pitch. X-Rays were negative but then aren't all X-Rays? It didn't seem intentional, Jeet just love to hug that plate.
Will there be more hit batmens today. Normally with Pedro on the mound you could bet on it. Now Petey has to bat himself, it will be interesting to see if he changes his style. Ofcourse Martinez has been a model citizen with the Mets. As they use to say in Brooklyn "Wait Til Next Year".
After yesterday's humiliating 7-1 loss It will be Carl Pavano who is coming off a complete game shutout again the above mentioned Martinez.
Following the game on YES is the premiere of Center Stage with George Steinbrenner , there will be an encore tonight ay 9PM. Check your local listings.

A CASE OF "JEET" LAG??

Well Bomber Buddies the Yankees finally won a "home" game on UPN 9. That includes the two courtesy games they had in the 2001 post 911 resumed season. They did so with the help of some sloppy play on both sides. The Yankees were just a little less sloppy. Even the captain Derek Jeter played like he was suffering from jetlag. He made two errors in the same inning as well as striking out a couple of times in the winning effort.
Kevin Brown pitched himself in and out of trouble for his third consecutive victory while Yankee Killer Victor Zambrano took the loss. Mariano Rivera got the save in the 5-2 Yankee Victory.

BOMBER BYTES
Ruben Sierra was activated after spending the past month on the disabled list with a torn biceps muscle before straining his rib cage during rehab. To make room, Andy Phillips, who's batting .156 (5-for-32) and who hasn't batted since May 7, was optioned to Triple-A Columbus. ... Yankees GM Brian Cashman confirmed a New York Post report that he is interested in staying with the organization. The Post reported that Cashman has had discussions with general partner Steve Swindall in lieu of speculation that Cashman would take a similar position with Philadelphia or Washington after his contract expires Nov. 1 ...Carl Pavano will still start Sunday on regular rest despite throwing 133 pitches Tuesday night in his complete-game shutout. Rookie Chien-Ming Wang would have replaced Pavano if he required more rest. Instead, the Yankees will have Pavano's success against the Mets (3-0, 2..83 ERA in five starts with the Marlins) in their corner. Pedro Martinez will be on the mound for the Mets after gettinf a cortisone shot for a hip problem.

SUBWAY SERIES 2005

Strike up the band!!! It is time once again for the Subway Series. Time to print the special sections in your local paper, time to sell those special t shirts. This year the games mean more to the Bombers than ever before (outside of the World Series). Not because we need bragging rights to the city, although it would make it easier Monday at work for some of us, but because we just need wins, period. With these teams wins will not come easy. Willie Randolph has the new-look Mets off to a 22-19 start in his first year as manager after 11 seasons spent coaching with the Yankees. And he knows all about the Big Apple propaganda that comes with every Yankees-Mets series. I wonder if Subway has anything in store for the Series.

I for one feel we don't need to play the Mets every year. There is just too much of that pseudo pressure. And you can't tell me the 2000 World Series wouldn't have been much more interesting and exciting if we didn't play the Mets six times already that year.

Friday's Matchup pairs Victor Zambranno against Kevin Brown. Could be interesting if Zambranno continues his Yankee killing ways and Brown has a another gasp of life in his arm. Saturday will feature Randy Johnson who has had his problems with the Mets in the past. Sunday's matinee features Carl Pavano against Pedro Martinez. This will be the first time Pedro bats against the Yankees. Will Petey hit any Yankees and will Carl retaliate? Stay tuned!!!

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

Sure Jason Giambi picked up three hits yesterday. Sure one was a home run, but don't let yourself get fooled for one moment that he is back to where to the player the Yankees thought they were signing. He is a mear morsal of himself without the enhancers. He will never put up Giambi numbers again. Take it from me who wanted to move Wade Boggs to 1B and play Russ Davis at 3B instead of trading for Tino Martinez, me who wanted to make Homer Busch an outfielder. Jason Giambi can be a singles hitter at best and don't expect him to hit above .270.

In the rest of the game Carl Pavano pitched a complete game five-hit shut out, and the Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners, 6-0, at Safeco Field for their 10th consecutive victory. Bernie Williams should be the everyday switch hitting DH. Bernie won't complain, that is just the class guy he is. He is much more of a benefit and threat than Giambi. Bernie knows how to win.

Kudos to Tino Martinez for winning AL Player of the week last week. Mike "Moose" Mussina will take on M's soft-throwing ace Jamie Moyer tonight, all before an unbalanced pitching matchup after the travel day as Kevin Brown takes on Pedro Martinez to kick off the Subway Series. I wonder if they will beef up the Subway (sandwich) commercials for the weekend being that Willie and Joe are featured in them??

THE STATEN ISLAND YANKEES ARE IN THE HOUSE

Well Bomber Buddies, The Yankees took their 9th game in a row last night but the big news is that they done it with the help of two former Staten Island Yankees. Being a Staten Islander I was proud to see the starter Chien-Ming Wang get himself out of trouble in the first inning and then retire the 17 straight batters before being lifted in the sixth with one away. The second baseman Robinson Cano went two for four in the victory. The Yankee took the first game of the three game set largely because of the Grand Slam by Bernie Williams who played center field.
Tanyon Sturtze was lights out in relief of Wang as Tom "Flash" Gordon and Mariano Rivera each pitched a perfect frame to cement Wang's second career (and season) win.
The bad part of the game is that Jason Giambi had another single giving him 3 singles and a double in his psuedo hit streak. This may be a false sense of security for Jason and the Yankees. Just don't be so fast to believe that Jason isn't finished. Heck the last thing we need is an $80 Million singles hitter. The worse part if you do the math is that it keeps Bernie out of the line up. While Bernie is a laibility in the field, no matter how you cut it Giambi should be benched and Bernie should DH. Bernie needs to march into Joe Torre's office and demand to be played!

CANO CAN-DO

Robinson Cano bat has awoken since about mid week. The rookie who has lit the International League on fire has found his stroke in the majors against Seattle and Oakland. It may have helped that the A's and Mariners are slightly better than a AAA club but at least Robbie is gaining confidence and that's half the battle. In the last seven days Cano is hitting .389 bring his BA well above the Mendosa Line to a comfy .325
Jason Giambi's bat has come alive in Oakland as well he has three hits in three games including t he GWRBI Sunday in Oakland. Let's hope he closes his mouth now and carries it over to Seattle tomorrow. Bernie Williams is expected to be back in the line up Monday or Tuesday, Joe Torre has said Bernie has been cleared to play defense in CF as well.

A NEW PLATEAU
Joe Torre has become the 13th manager to collect his 1800th wind with the Yankees 6-4 victory over the Oakland A's on Sunday. Robinson Cano went 4 for 5 in the winning cause.

Tino Martinez went deep twice giving him 8 Home Runs in his last 8 games.

FAN-ANTICS
I don't want to hear anyone putting down New York fans. Following a night where a fan in Oakland threw a beer on Jason Giambi, the fourth inning turned into a circus. Several fans jumped on and off the field to play a game of tag with the Oakland security. Now these fans need to be made example of. They need to be arrested and become known offenders. They need to be banned from the ballpark. Are they waiting for someone to get hurt before they do something? Even the Raider fans stay in the stands. Oakland needs to beef up security ASAP.

Congrats go out to Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox for hitting his 400th Home Run.

BROWN BAGS 2nd WIN

Kevin Brown pitched well for the second consecutive time as the Yankees took game two of the three game set from the Oakland A's 15-6. This extended the Bombers win streak to seven and Tino Martinez homered for the sixth time in seven games. The homer tied him with his good buddy Paul O'Neill for 184th on the Yankees all time homer list.

Jason Giambi ripped just about everyone except Skippy the batboy over the talk of his potential demotion. Sam Borden of the Daily Snooze reports on the slumpping players reactions.

CLUB'S MED
Rueben Sierra (strained rib cage) is expected to begin playing in rehab games tomorrow. The switch-hitting DH could rejoin the Yanks next weekend during the Subway Series at Shea. ... Jaret Wright (inflamed shoulder) will go through two weeks of rehab exercises at the Yanks complex in Tampa, at which point team doctors will decide when he can begin throwing.

WEST COAST WONDERS

GIAMBI STREAK ENDS AT 18

Mike Mussina pitched 7 innings allowing only two runs and Jason Giambi ended his 18 AB hittless streak as the Yankees beat the punchless Oakland A's 9-4. Giambi who is under the microscope singled, struck out twice and scored a run. Tino Martinez went hitless thus ending his consecutive game homer streak at five. Jason Giambi was greeted by a sea of boos during his first visit to Oakland since the balco scandal as the The Sacramento Bee reports. (requires free registration)

YANKEE DOODLES

Ruben Sierra (biceps tear) still is taking batting practice in Tampa, Fla., and will not join the Yankees in Seattle as originally thought. Sierra might need two minor league rehab games to get ready, but his starting date still is under discussion.

WEST COAST PART ONE

Well Yankee fans it is the first west coast swing of the year as the Yanks have a six game stint against Oakland and Seattle. The real question is Jason Giambi. Giambi will be at DH tonight after turning down a trip to Columbus to work himself back in shape. Bernie Williams who is unable to play CF because of his elbow clearly should be in the DH role for the simple reason is that he can hit.
Jason you refuse to go the opposite way even though Donnie Mattingly has worked with you on it over and over again. Time to rethink your philosophy if you want to continue your career. That shift has caused serious injuries to twio players so far. One was your teammate Derek Jeter and the other was the Chicago Cub 2B who tripped over Kerry Wood two years ago. The Giambi shift puts players out of position and that causes havoc.
Sure Ted Williams never went against his shift but Jason, you are not Ted Williams, right now you are not Jason Giambi and may never be again.

Five In A Row

Well Bomber Buddies the Yankees are in the middle of their first win streak. Don't look now but Boston is getting hot at the same time. ... If we had lost yesterday's game you could bet the Post and News would have had E-Rod on the back pages. We won so Alex's two costly errors was only a minor story. ESPN 1050 Radio even speculated if he has mind problems like our old friend Chuck Knoblauch. ... Tino Martinez has now hit home runs in five consecutive games just three behind his coach Don Mattingly for the MLB record. The record is also held by Dale Long and Ken Griffey Jr. ... After two years of rehab Steve Karsay was finally released Thursday and fellow reliever Felix Rodriguez had surgery on his injured left knee and is expected to be out about four to six weeks. Don't look for F-Rod to return to Pinstripes any time soon. He is not happpy hear and has not tried to hide it. In addition, designated hitter Ruben Sierra planned to take batting practice on a field Friday as he rehabilitates a partially torn right biceps, and could return to the active roster next week. Look for Russ Johnson or Andy Phillips to be odd man out when Ruben returns.
A Happy 80th Birthday is in store for the incredible Yogi Berra. Happy Birthday Yogi.
Well after the off day it is off to the West Coast for our first visit of the year.