Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 7/20

I don't have much to say today, people.  I'm tired, I'm cranky from a long week at work, I haven't slept particularly well all week, and all I want to do right now is get the hell out of my office so I can go watch "The Dark Knight Rises."  I honestly debated whether or not to wear my Batman t-shirt to work today to honor the occasion, and I plan on marking out really hard when I'm in the theater tonight.  I am such a child.  Onto the links!

- On Monday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog attempted to educate the Yankee masses on the flawed logic in constantly booing A-Rod.  I was going to write something up on this same topic on Monday night.  After reading William's take, I'm glad I didn't; I couldn't have said it any better.

- On Tuesday, Matt Keegan of Pinstripe Alley examined the maturation of Corban Joseph's game that has led to his great MiL season.

- Vizzini of NoMaas offered a reminder of how the last couple Yankee trades worked out to put the upcoming deadline into perspective.

- On Wednesday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily commented on the starting pitching logjam at the lower levels of the MiL system.  You can never have too much starting pitching, right?

- Matthew B of Yankees Fans Unite looked at Mark Teixeira's recent turnaround and hot July.

- Mike Eder of TYA analyzed CC's first start back from the DL with the PITCHf/x microscope and showed that the results were positive.

- On Thursday, el duque of It Is High... listed the top 10 moments in Darnell McDonald's long and storied Yankee career.

- Steve Goldman of Pinstripe Alley peered into the future to talk about what the Yankees can/will do to replace Nick Swisher.

- Chris Carelli of Yanks Go Yard discussed the solid all-around production coming from the Yankee bench recently, and the benefits of that production.

- On Friday, Mike Axisa of RAB released his much-anticipated post-draft Top 30 Prospects list.  Let the debates begin!

- William Tasker of IIATMS weighed the "Garcia or Phelps" options after Freddy's most recent rough outing in Oakland.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud broke down the current situation in left field with Brett Gardner now looking like he's going to miss the rest of the season.

For the Friday jam, we're going with some Rage Against The Machine.  If there's one band that I want to see officially get back together and record a new album, it's Rage.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

Game 92 Wrap-Up: OAK 4 NYY 3

("Try not throwing it over the plate."  Courtesy of The AP)

I hate West Coast trips.  The whole concept of time zones really becomes a bitch when you're going to bed and the Yankee game is still in the top of the 4th inning.  The Yankees certainly seemed to share my sentiments last night in the opening game of their 4-game weekend series in Oakland.  They didn't generate much firepower with their bats and Freddy Garcia got knocked around for the second straight time.  The A's are no joke, and they've been playing some good baseball over the past 2-3 weeks just like the Yankees have.  This is going to be a series.

Game Notes:

- No fast start for the lineup last night.  Instead the tables were turned when it was Oakland who struck in the 1st inning thanks to a Yoenis Cespedes 2-run HR.

- Garcia loaded the bases in the bottom of the 3rd and gave up 2 more runs when Seth Smith lined a 2-run single into center to make it 4-0 A's.

- The offense put runners on base in each of the first 2 innings, then got sat down in order through the 5th.  They were finally able to do something against A's starter A.J. Griffin in the 6th, when they loaded the bases with singles and cut the lead to 4-2 on a Mark Teixeira sac fly and a Nick Swisher single.

- David Phelps relieved Garcia in the 6th and threw 2.1 perfect innings of relief with 4 strikeouts.  Hmmm, maybe they should have started the kid, huh?  Phelps is locked in with his fastball command right now, and should get Garcia's rotation spot.

- Swish made it interesting in the top of the 9th with a solo HR to make it a 4-3 game, but Ryan Cook managed to close things out and put a temporary end to the Yankees' hot streak.