Hitting Back

-Just finished watching a remarkable Yankee game in which some late dramatics allowed them to complete a sweep in Texas and pull a half game ahead of Chicago for the wild card. The final two innings were so crazy, that's the only part worth discussing. Trailing 4-2 and having stranded a bunch of runners, the Yanks put together a four-run eighth to go ahead 5-4. The much discussed A-Rod got it started with a big solo homer to dead center. After two more Yankees reached, rookie Melky Cabrera delivered an opposite field two-run double. He would later score on a wild pitch. But up two, it fell apart quickly. With Kyle Farnsworth unable to come in due to a sore back, rookie T.J. Beam ran into trouble, forcing Joe Torre to bring in the overworked Scott Proctor. He had been great recently but this time, gave up three consecutive hits to put Texas back in front 7-6. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Torre went to Shawn Chacon. A nightmare this season, he came through big time by fanning Mark DeRosa and getting Brad Wilkerson to line into a 1-3 double play. It allowed the Yanks to escape down one. The late dramatics continued when Derek Jeter singled off Akinori Otsuka and the slumping Jason Giambi followed by crushing his 29th homer into the second deck. The huge blow allowed them to bring in Mariano Rivera, who worked around a two out single to notch his 25th save in 27 chances.

-Words cannot express how huge this game was for the Bronx Bombers. Especially with the sizzling Twins completing a sweep of the White Sox. The wildcard race is heating up. The Yanks need every win with Minnesota continuing to win. They also shouldn't rely on the White Sox to continue losing. Eventually, they're going to come out of it which should make the final 10 weeks something else. What is fun about these Yankees is their bounceback ability despite being shorthanded. You would've thought losing three of four at Toronto in bad fashion might have taken something out of them. Instead, they came right back and took all three at Arlington including tonight's gutsy comeback. Without Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano, they are 19 games over .500 and find themselves just 1.5 behind Boston after they lost to Oakland 5-1. It's not just the big stars anymore. It's guys like Cabrera, Miguel Cairo, Andy Phillips and Aaron Guiel that have provided huge lifts. Say what you want but this team has tremendous character, which GM Brian Cashman should take into consideration before making a big move at the deadline.

-At Shea, the Mets got a huge 10 inning 1-0 win over the Cubs to avoid a sweep and four straight losses. The hero was Jose Valentin, whose bases loaded two out single made a winner of Aaron Heilman. The shutout came in large part due to John Maine's second straight outstanding start. He went the first seven to match zeroes with Cubs' ace Mark Prior. Prior left the game in the sixth with a no-hitter. Maine followed a shutout of the Astros with seven scoreless to give the Amazin's a much needed lift after their pen was taxed the last three days. With Pedro Martinez scheduled to return Friday in Atlanta, Willie Randolph wouldn't guarantee another start for the 25 year-old former Orioles farmhand acquired in the Kris Benson deal. All he's done is toss 17 consecutive scoreless innings. If it's because they want to give rookie Mike Pelfrey another look, understood. But maybe they should consider going with a six-man rotation. Especially in light of how Tom Glavine has struggled and Steve Trachsel was tattooed his last two outings. Maine deserves that chance after how he rewarded Randolph.

-The win allowed the Mets to stay 11.5 up on Atlanta. The Braves cameback to defeat Florida 6-5 thanks to eighth inning dingers from Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche. Bob Wickman tossed a scoreless ninth for his second save. Atlanta can pickup a half game later today with another win over the Marlins before hosting the Mets for three starting Friday.