Yanks lose again in Tampa, still await opponent

There isn't much to say about tonights game, the Yankees lost 5-3. Andy Pettitte started and wasn't great at all just couldn't get anything going. I wouldn't look too much into it though, as he said it is over and I am looking forward to the playoffs. The bullpen was good again making the decisions on the Yankees very tough as to who the last couple of spots on the playoff roster is going to go to. The Yankees will have Joba Chamberlain work out of the bullpen tomorrow and that is where he will be used in the ALDS it appears and then they will see what to do in the ALCS should they get that far. The Yankees still don't know who they will be playing as that could be a factor with some roster choices depending on who they play. The Twins will send Carl Pavano to the mound tomorrow with the Tigers sending Justin Verlander, if they both win or both lose there will be a one game playoff on Tuesday from the Metrodome. The Yankees have one hour after they know their opponent to choose which series they want but I am sure they are taking the extra days off so they will use 3 starters and be able to use Hughes and Mo in every game also. The most important thing about this game was the Yankees came out of it healthy and have one more meaningless game tomorrow. The regulars will play tomorrow except for Posada who will be managing as is a tradition from the Joe Torre days. It looks like this could be a trend in the playoffs also with Molina catching A.J. and Posada being the DH.

NFL Week 4 football picks

The New York Giants will take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City and the New York Jets will head to New Orleans to take on the Saints. I will start with the Giants, I expect them to beat the Chiefs by a lot. I don't think there will be any looking ahead as they know what happened last year when they went into Cleveland and everyone thought they would win and they got beat up. The Chiefs have no passing attack and the Giants will be getting Kevin Dockery back to help the secondary, I expect Brandon Jacobs to get going and have a big game running. I am taking the Giants. Giants 28- Chiefs 10 The Jets I think are going to lose their first game of the season. The Saints have the best offense and although I think the Jets defense is very good they will give up some points and I don't think Mark Sanchez and the offense can keep up with the Saints. I would think the Jets keep it competitive but lose. Saints-24 Jets 17 My random pick of the week will be the Monday night game between Brett Favre and the Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. It should be interesting but Favre will be at home so it won't be like when he returns to Green Bay later in the year. I think the Vikings are good but not sure they are as good as they have looked, the Packers aren't great but should be better then they are. I will take the Vikings in a close one. Vikings 24 Packers 21 Those are my picks for week 4 of the NFL season, I was right last week with the Giants wrong about the Jets and I did get the Colts right so I am 2-1 for the season, lets see how I do. I would like to hear other opinions so please comment here and let me know if you think I am right, wrong or whatever lets have some fun with the picks as we go along.

MLB News

The Toronto Blue Jays fired GM J.P. Ricciardi today and the Padres did the same with their GM Kevin Towers. The Blue Jays is interesting because the players have said they want Cito Gaston out so there could be a while new power structure there and we will see if they can be back to being competitive with the Yanks and Red Sox. Kevin Towers is a longtime friend of Brian Cashman and has made several deals with him over the years, it will be interesting to see if the Yankees have any interest in bringing him in at any position not GM of course but something else. In other news the Twins are currently leading the Royals 4-1 with Detroit getting started in about an hour, if the Twins hold on and the Tigers lose, they are starting a pitcher who hasn't pitched at any level in 3 months then they will be tied with tomorrow being the last regular season game.

Yanks at Rays

The Yankees look to stay healthy and hope that Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett fare better then CC did last night heading into the postseason. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Josh Thompson of the Journal News who is covering for Sam Borden. The game is at 7:08PM tonight from Tampa on the YES network. Mark Teixeira, who is tied for first in the AL with 39 HR and first in RBI with 121, is only the third first-year player in club history to reach those power totals. You may know the others: Babe Ruth (54 HR, 136 RBI) in 1920 and Jason Giambi (41 HR, 122 RBI) in 2002.THE 900 CLUB: The Yanks now have 902 runs, marking the 16th time in franchise history they have scored 900 or more. It’s also the third time this decade. Juan Miranda jacked his first homer of his career last night. It also happened to match a team milestone. The homer was No. 242 for the club, matching its previous high set in 2004. It is their ninth 200-homer season this decade. That said, Elias Sports Bureau says the Yankees haven’t ended a season as MLB’s outright home run champ since 1961 (read: Maris and Mantle). The season is almost over for last year’s darling, but Friday night was a record-setting one for the Rays. The otherwise disappointing B.J. Upton went 5 for 5 with six RBI and hit for the cycle. He was the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle; tied the club record for hits; and set a career-high for RBI. … The Rays also became the eighth team in MLB history to win 180 games over two seasons after losing 180 the two seasons before. It wasn't all bad for Tampa although they won't make the postseason, remember they are in the best division and had some injuries. In the Who-Plays-The-Yankees race, Detroit sends rookie Alfredo Figaro (1-2, 5.74) against Chicago’s Freddy Garcia (2-4, 4.78), while the Twins, down a game, send Nick Blackburn (11-11, 4.08) on three-days rest against Kansas City ace and future Cy Young winner Zack Greinke (16-8, 2.06). The Yankees would love to see this come down to tomorrow. Yankees Lineup: Gardner(CF) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Hinske(3B) Hairston(SS)

AL Central tightens

It looks like the Yankees are getting something they wanted with the Twins winning tonight and the Tigers losing Detroit has a 1 game lead with 2 to play. If the Twins win tomorrow it will mean that no matter what Detroit does Sunday will matter and Justin Verlander is scheduled to pitch, the Yankees won't have to face him in game 1 if they played Detroit and that would be a huge advantage. The best thing would be for them to finish tied and have to play a game on Tuesday because the Vikings play at the Metrodome on Monday night. It will be interesting to watch tomorrow and see what unfolds. I would love to see the Twins tie it up tomorrow and make the last day really exciting.