Yankees 2, Blue Jays 1: Well, maybe not. But the healthy -- for now -- Carl Pavano has two wins in his two starts this season. He pitched six innings of one-run ball in front of an appreciative crowd at Yankee Stadium to keep his team within six of the Red Sox in the American League wild-card race. The bad news is that Pavano's peripheral stats aren't so great -- he only struck out one......

Astros 6, Mets 4: The Mets haven't been losing that much lately, but, when they have, it has been in frustrating ways. In this one, the Mets blew leads of 3-0 and 4-3 then watched in the 10th inning as Brad Ausmus (!) and Darin Erstad went deep of Pedro Feliciano. Homers happen, yes, but Ausmus has a .310 slugging average this season and a .345 mark for his career. Erstad's days as a productive......

Photograph of New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi (27) argues with third base umpire Bill Welke, right, as Alex Rodriguez, far left, is restrained by third base coach Bobby Meacham by Ric Francis/AP Angels 4 Yankees 3: The Yankees started well and finished terribly again. Damon and Jeter reached base in the first and scored to give New York a 2-0 lead, but it didn’t hold up. Andy Pettitte gutted out seven innings, allowing......

Yankees 3, Rangers 0: Mike Mussina and the Yankees can't afford to keep splitting four-game series. But when the team enters the finale having lost two of the first three, what choice do they have? Derek Jeter hit a home run as the game's second batter. Mussina followed that up with seven scoreless innings, striking out six and walking one. That's an impressive outing against the best offense in baseball. Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte and......

Yankees 5 Texas 2: The news before the game wasn’t good; Joba has tendinitis of the rotator cuff. The plan is to shut him down for a week and then see if he can throw. Who knows if Joba returns, and Ian Kennedy will now start for the Yankees this weekend, but at least the news on the field was good. Sidney Ponson did enough to keep the team in the game and Wilson Betemit......

Photo of Joba Chamberlain wiping his face prior to being removed from last night's game by AP/Tony Gutierrez Don’t pay attention to the score of 9-5, the headline says it all, Joba Chamberlain is hurt. How badly he is injured and what the ramifications are, aren’t known at this point, but the Yankees will have to hold their breath. Maybe it was the play in the fifth where Joba had to dive to get......

Astros 7, Mets 3: The three solo home runs surrendered by Pedro Martinez didn't help, and the grand slam Aaron Heilman served up to Mark Loretta obviously decided the game. But it turned when the Mets loaded the bases with none out in the seventh inning and got nothing. The culprits? Endy Chavez, who struck out swinging; David Wright, who grounded out; and then Carlos Delgado, who flew out to left. Two of the......

Yankees 2, Red Sox 1: Classic games between these teams usually take four hours -- or four hours, 45 minutes -- not 2:58. The Yankees will take this. Mike Mussina spun six scoreless innings before Mariano Rivera wriggled off the hook in the ninth inning. The win came on the heels of two straight losses to open this four-game set. Mussina, whose unexpected successs (11 wins, 3.64 ERA) probably deserves to be on the All-Star......

Photograph of Tony Armas giving a fist pound to Damion Easley who scored on a double by Ramon Casto by Tom Gannam/AP Mets 7 St. Louis 4: The Mets called up Tony Armas to make this start and while he struggled early, he delivered in the end. The Cardinals jumped out to a 2-0 lead and took a 3-1 lead after two. But, the Mets’ offense struck back while Armas kept them in the......

Yankees 2, Padres 1: If Joba Chamberlain weren't in the rotation right now, Dan Giese, owner of 0 big-league starts, would be the team's fourth starter. Instead, Chamberlain is striking out nine Padres -- yes, they still count -- and helping the team win its seventh straight. Alex Rodriguez -- still not clutch -- got the go-ahead single in the sixth inning. Jose Veras picked up the win in relief, but Chamberlain was the pitching......

Photograph of Alex Rodriguez celebrating with third base coach Bobby Meacham after A-Rod hit a third-inning home run by Frank Franklin II/AP Yankees 8 Padres 5: Is it a coincidence that the Yankees have gone 19-9 since A-Rod returned to the lineup? You certainly have to give Posada some credit too, but the lineup is scoring again and the Yankees have been able to overcome some rough pitching, especially from their bullpen. Wednesday night......

Jose Guillen has always hit well against the Yankees, but he took it to a new level in the four-game series the Royals just completed with the Yankees, where he went 9-for-16 with 4 home runs and several outfield assists. Guillen’s last home run of the series was off of Mariano Rivera in the 9th and it turned a 2-2 game into a 3-2 one that the Royals won. Guillen’s blast ruined a great day......

Yankees 6 Kansas City 3: Start number two for Joba was longer and somewhat better. Chamberlain lasted 78 pitches, which translated to 4-1/3 innings, striking out five and allowing three runs. He really made only one bad mistake, a hanging slider that Jose Guillen crunched for his 10th home run of the season. Johnny Damon continued his hot hitting with two more hits and scored two runs. Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi both hit home......

Mets 3 Los Angeles 2: For seven innings it looked like the Mets would lose and Tim McCarver’s yammering about their lack of passion would come true. Inning after inning had passed and the Mets had blown several scoring opportunities, but the eighth inning proved to be a difference maker. Down 2-0, David Wright got things going with a double. Carlos Beltran followed with his fifth home run of the year, tying the game and......

Dodgers 9, Mets 5: A missed call at first base started the Dodgers' eighth-inning rally, but the Mets hardly helped themselves. Pedro Feliciano induced what should have been a groundout by Juan Pierre to start the frame. But he was called safe even though Jose Reyes appeared to throw him out. Aaron Heilman, coming off his best outing of the year, proceeded to give up a double and three straight singles before being relieved and......

Mets 7, Marlins 6 (12 innings): One Johan Santana start plus not one but two last-chance comebacks equal a two-game winning streak and some signs of life from the Mets. Fernando Tatis, one of three reserves to knock in runs in Tuesday's win, hit a game-winning two-run double in the 12th. The game only went to extra innings because Endy Chavez hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth. Don't count on......

Baltimore 10 Yankees 9 (11th inning): If you were looking for a situation where the Yankees lost a game they could have won with Joba in the bullpen, this was it. Then again, the Yankees have no excuse for losing this game. Up 4-0 and 8-4, New York couldn’t hold a lead and Baltimore tied things up at 8-8. The Yankees took the lead in the 11th thanks to a clutch hit from Hideki Matsui,......

Tampa Bay 2 Yankees 1 (11th): Even the best don’t get it done on some night, Tuesday was Mariano Rivera’s turn. Rivera pitched a scoreless tenth, but he couldn’t get out of the eleventh and the Yankees lost for the second-consecutive night. But, the blame shouldn’t go on the pitching staff, they only allowed two runs over eleven innings, it was the hitting that was awful. The Yankees managed to only get six hits and......

Yankees 5 Detroit 2: It’s only two starts, but Darrell Rasner has given the Yankees exactly what they needed, quality pitching. Rasner was impressive on Saturday, holding one of the more dangerous lineups in the league to only two runs and four hits over six innings. Most importantly, he didn’t beat himself, issuing only one walk. Derek Jeter got things going with a solo shot in the first and was one of five different Yankees......

Above photograph of Mets manager Willie Randolph (center) with Jackie Robinson's widow Rachel (left) and daughter Sharon (right) and below photograph of Governor David Paterson throwing the ceremonial first pitch of the game by Kathy Willens/AP Mets 6 Washington 0: It was a great day and night at Shea. During the day, Rachel Robinson, Jackie’s widow, toured the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field and described it as “walking into a cathedral in a......

Photo of Yankee Stadium during the Canadian national anthem by AP/Kathy Willens It may have come a day later than many people wanted, but the Yankees opened the final season of the Stadium on a high note, winning a close and well-pitched game 3-2. Chien-Ming Wang went seven innings allowing only two runs and Joba and Mo closed the game out with a scoreless inning each. Melky Cabrera was the offensive and defensive hero with......

Photo of Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman before an exhibition game against the Florida Marlins by AP/Luis M. Alvarez Joe Girardi made the goal clear from his introductory press conference donning the number 27 to represent the quest for a 27th title. But, despite their tremendous resources and talent, this Yankees’ team is further away from winning a title than any in recent memory because of the question surrounding the starting pitching. It is......

For all the noise of this Yankees offseason, as far as the team on the field goes, all it amounted to was the status quo. Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera are all back -- and richer. Young pitchers Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and center fielder Melky Cabrera didn't go to the Twins for Johan Santana. The 2008 Yankees will be a slightly older albeit considerably more expensive version of the 2007 team. And......

The wedding date hasn’t been announced, but it seems like all the plans have been made. Alex Rodriguez is about to sign the richest contract in sports history- again. The framework of the deal is a 10 year/$275 million contract. In addition, A-Rod and the Yankees are working on a revenue sharing agreement if A-Rod breaks the home run record. One thing you won’t find in the contract is an opt-out clause, so this really......

Mark Messier will forever be remembered for delivering the Stanley Cup to the Rangers in 1994, his famous guarantee before Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals that year and a tendency to cry in public. The captain had his number retired by both Edmonton and New York and is the only player ever to captain two teams to a Stanley Cup victory and he was second all-time in points scored in NHL history. Scott......

Well, it didn't take long for Joe Torre to find a new job (not that it should have). He's trading The Bronx for Chavez Ravine and "fans" like Rudy Giuliani for Posh Spice. The Post is reporting that the former Yankees manager has agreed in principle to a three-year $14.5 million deal (hopefully there are no performance incentives) to be the next manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He would be replacing Grady Little, who......

An ESPN report yesterday cited sources that say the Yankees are ready to offer Alex Rodriguez a record contract extension. The offer for the Yankees third baseman would be an extension in the range of five years and $30 million a year. Rodriguez is currently signed with the Yankees through the end of the 2010 season at $27 million a year, but can opt-out of his contract in the 10 days following the World Series,......

Welcome to the first day of the Yankees’ offseason, buckle your seatbelts this is going to be a wild ride. While it is 99.9% certain that the Yankees are going to have a new manager for 2008, his identity remains a mystery. Joe Girardi, Don Mattingly and Tony LaRussa are the top names you hear, but remember in 1995 the Yankees shocked a lot of people when they chose Torre, so don’t be surprised if......

Cleveland 2 Yankees 1 (11 innings): Baseball has had many weird games and plays in its history, but it is hard to think of a more bizarre scene than Jacobs Field in the eighth inning last night. Swarms of mayflies descended on the stadium, disrupting play and perhaps affecting Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain, called in to protect a 1-0 lead in the seventh was swamped by the insects and suffered an uncharacteristic bout of wildness. Two......

Marlins 7, Mets 4: Who thought this bad dream would last this long? Needing a quality start from Oliver Perez to stop their bleeding, the Mets instead got a vintage -- as in 2005 -- effort in their fifth straight loss. Not even Byung-Hyun Kim could play the platelet to the Mets' open wound. The Marlins righty kept the Mets in check, and Oliver Perez lost control at the most critical points. Even David Wright,......