This would be a devastating blow to American track and field. Ironically, Gatlin has also been coached by Trevor Graham. Graham coached Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, who both were mentioned during the BALCO case. It's probably not a plus for the star runner to be associated with the coach but we shouldn't assume anything. It's best to wait and see what transpires.
-The Yankees' four-game win streak was rudely halted by Tampa Bay in a 19-6 destruction at the Stadium. In a game which started out well thanks to back-to-back first inning dingers from Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi, it quickly went south the next inning when the Devil Rays scored three unearned runs with two outs. After Randy Johnson retired the first two batters, he walked Jonny Gomes and then Johnny Damon booted a Damon Hollins fly ball which kept the inning alive. Ex-Yankee catching prospect Dioner Navarro followed with an RBI single and then Tomas Perez' two-run double put Tampa ahead. A three-run homer by Hollins in the third made it 6-2 before Jorge Posada's two-run double cut it to two. But the D-Rays cameback with a four run fourth to knock out Johnson, including a Hollins two-run single. He entered the game hitless in his last 18 at bats but finished with five RBI's. Ironically, the other Tampa hitting star was Perez, who came in hitting .194. He was a perfect five-for-five with four doubles, tying a major league record shared by many. Travis Lee and Gomes also homered in a six-run seventh in the rout. The 19 runs the D-Rays scored were the second most the Yanks have ever allowed at home. Two years earlier, Cleveland embarrassed them 22-0 on August 31, 2004. Joe Torre summed up the wasted day perfectly:
"They killed us. It was just a day we'd like to forget. It wasn't a whole lot of fun. It felt like it lasted a day and a half."
Fortunately, this is baseball. It's only one game and if they bounceback tomorrow, all will be forgotten.
-The loss hurt in particular because the Red Sox rallied from three runs down to beat the Angels in 11 innings 7-6 to increase their AL East lead to one and a half. The hero was David Ortiz, who went four-for-five with his major league-leading 35th long ball and four RBI's including a game-winning two out single. Big Papi also paces the majors with 99 RBI's. Just another amazing year for the Red Sox slugger. His latest antics helped offset Angels rookie Jered Weaver's bid to become the first pitcher to win his first eight career starts in 25 years. The 23 year-old former 2004 first round pick went 6.2 innings allowing three runs and K-ing four- leaving with the lead before the bullpen blew it. The AL rookie race should be very interesting down the stretch between him, Minnesota's Francisco Liriano, Detroit's Justin Verlander and Boston super closer Jonathan Papelbon. It might go down as one of the best rookie classes in a long time. The 25 year-old Papelbon tossed two perfect innings fanning two to dwindle his ERA to 0.51. Papelbon, whose converted 29 of 32 saves this season was amazed of Ortiz' latest heroics which lifted Boston to 22 games over .500 (62-40):
"To have that guy on your team, to be able to take the pressure off your teammates and to be able to carry the team on his back is amazing. He's the type of guy that enjoys that role. We're going to ride him a lot."
Perfectly stated and why despite being a DH, the lovable Ortiz will be tough to beat in the MVP race.
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