Yanks Fall, But the Brawl is the Big Story

(Sabo/NY Daily News)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
TOR	0	0	3	2	0	2	1	1	1		10	13	0
NYY	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1		4	15	0

WP - Roy Halladay (15-9)
LP - Sergio Mitre (3-3)

Did anyone really believe the Yankees were going to beat Roy Halladay with Sergio Mitre on the mound? I know I didn't. So I guess that's why this loss doesn't bother me, it was expected.

The Yankees briefly took a 2-0 lead in the second on Halladay and the Jays, but Mitre gave the runs right back in the top of the next inning, and by the end of the inning the Jays were up 3-2. They added two more in the top of the fourth to extend their lead to 5-2, and they wouldn't look back from there. The two big blows both came off the bat of player of the game Travis Snider; a two-run shot in the 3rd and a solo shot in the 4th. Adam Lind added a solo shot of his own in the 3rd, and Edwin Encarnacio also hit a solo shot in the 4th.

Mitre, who isn't even that great when he's getting the ball down, was leaving the ball up in the zone and got hammered. He got into some more trouble in the top of the sixth. He allowed a leadoff single to Lyle Overbay, hit Encarnacion with a pitch, and then allowed an RBI double to Rod Barajas to extend the Jays lead to 6-2. I don't really know why Girardi left him in so long - taking him out after the Overbay single was probably the move to make - but I guess he was trying to save the pen. Too bad it didn't work.

The Jays would add another run in the inning, and then individual runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th off Yankees relievers Edwar Ramirez, Mark Melancon, and Mike Dunn to increase their run total to 10. The Yanks scored single runs in the 8th and 9th but still lost 10-4.

But about that fight... It all started because with two out and nobody on in the top of the 8th. when Mark Melancon hit Aaron Hill with a pitch. He hit him right between the numbers and it looked intentional. Then, in the bottom half of the inning, Jays' reliever Jesse Carlson threw behind Jorge Posada. Posada was clearly upset and kept telling Barajas and Carlson "You don't want to do that." The benches briefly cleared, but emotions cooled before anything happened, at least for the moment.

Three batters later Brett Gardner lined an RBI double into right-center scoring Posada. As he reached home plate Carlson was, for some reason, backing up the play on the first base side of home, and Jorge bumped him as he went by. Carlson turned, said something to Posada, and all hell broke loose. Posada went after Carlson, the benches cleared, punches were thrown, and players, and even Joe Girardi, were left with cuts and bruises. Both Carlson, who ended up with a nice knot on the side of his head, and Posada were ejected. Somehow John McDonald who nailed Girardi in the head, remained in the game. As far as baseball fights go it was a pretty rough one and I suspect Posada will be suspended for a few games. For a video of the brawl click here.

After the game Joe Girardi apparently wasn't too pleased and held a team meeting, but fights happen. Once again, I'm just glad nobody got hurt. If I were Joe, I'd be more upset with the 12 men the Yankees left on base.

I happen to believe that brawls, as long as nobody gets hurt, can help bring a team together, and for some teams have sparked some success. The 2004 Red Sox season turned around on the day of the Alex Rodriguez vs. Jason Varitek brawl in Fenway. And it appears to have helped this year's version who have gone 22-10 after their brawl with the Tigers. Prior to that game they had gone 8-14 in their last 22. I'm not saying that Posada made the right decision, he didn't, but the most important thing is that nobody got hurt and nobody did. Losing Posada for a few games shouldn't hurt this team too much either.

Speaking of Boston, by far the worst news of the night came out of Fenway where Boston beat the Angels 4-1. No, not because they won, but because Daisuke Matsuzaka came off the DL and was great over six scoreless innings. If he can regain his form from last year the Red Sox just became a much more dangerous team. Remember, Billy Wagner has allowed just one run on five hits in 6.1 innings for Boston so far, so I guess he's having no trouble handling the AL. The Yankees lead in the division is six, but just five in the loss column, plus these teams play three more times, so this lead is far from insurmountable. It is true that if the Yankees just finished the rest of the season with a .500 record the Sox would still have to win 16 of 19 just to tie. But they still must, must keep the pedal to the metal and play their best baseball from here until they clinch.

	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	4	0	2	1	1	0	2	.332
Damon, LF	5	0	1	0	0	1	5	.283
Teixeira, 1B	5	1	2	0	0	1	2	.286
Rodriguez, A, 3B	5	0	1	0	0	1	4	.285
Matsui, H, DH	4	0	2	1	1	1	2	.277
Posada, C	3	2	1	0	1	1	3	.281
Cervelli, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.259
a-Cabrera, Me, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.280
Cano, 2B	5	0	2	0	0	1	2	.320
Swisher, RF	4	1	2	0	0	1	3	.257
Gardner, CF	4	0	2	2	0	0	2	.276
Totals	40	4	15	4	3	7	26
a-Flied out for Cervelli in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Swisher 2 (32, Halladay, Halladay), Rodriguez, A (16, Halladay), Gardner (6, Carlson). 3B: Teixeira (2, League). TB: Jeter 2; Damon; Teixeira 4; Rodriguez, A 2; Matsui, H 2; Posada; Cano 2; Swisher 4; Gardner 3. RBI: Gardner 2 (23), Jeter (64), Matsui, H (82). 2-out RBI: Gardner. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Matsui, H; Jeter 2; Posada; Damon 2. GIDP: Damon. Team RISP: 5-for-16. Team LOB: 12. FIELDING PB: Posada (8).

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mitre (L, 3-3)	5.0	8	7	7	1	2	4	7.63
Ramirez, E	1.1	2	1	1	1	1	0	5.73
Melancon	1.1	1	1	1	1	2	0	3.86
Dunn, M	1.1	2	1	1	0	2	1	6.75

Pitches-strikes: Mitre 79-54, Ramirez, E 21-12, Melancon 23-13, Dunn, M 21-12.

BLUE JAYS STATS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Travis Snyder (2-for-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R)

HONORABLE MENTION: Roy Halladay (W, 6 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)

GOAT OF THE GAME: Sergio Mitre

Tomorrow's Game

Yankees vs. Blue Jays
Game Time: 7:05 p.m. TV/Radio: YES, WCBS
RHP Chad Gaudin (5-10, 4.81) vs. LHP Brian Tallet (7-9, 5.26)