Preach, Teix. Preach

(Just in case you're like Jerry Meals and missed it the first time)

Hard for anybody to call him a robot after these comments:

“We could have had a big inning there [the 8th inning] and a questionable call on me as well.  And in the ninth, sometimes you wonder if the umpires are just trying to get out of there. They don’t want you to make a comeback, they want to go home, because those are terrible calls. It is what it is, but we’re out there fighting, I’m out there playing on one leg, and I wish it would have gone my way.”

The really pathetic part about all of this is that Teix will get fined for being honest and telling the truth, Jerry Meals won't get any kind of punishment for sucking at his job, and Bud Selig gets another opportunity to trot out of his cave and explain to us why the "human element" of bad umpiring is what makes baseball great to justify his putting the instant replay issue on the back burner.  Meanwhile, he's spending most of his time calculating the extra revenue that the additional Wild Card playoff round will generate.

My only hope is that a blown call even more egregious than Meals' call last night ends up costing a team that stupid 1-game Wild Card round.  Maybe that's what it will take for Bud to finally get in touch with reality and join the rest of us here in the 21st century.

Game 139 Wrap-Up: BAL 5 NYY 4

(Not even close.  Not even remotely close.  Used courtesy of Jimmy Traina)

If you were going to say that things looked like they were starting to really turn around for the Yankees, you would have used last night's game as the perfect example.  They were coming off a win that put them back into sole possession of first place in the division, they got that win thanks to a solid pitching effort from Phil Hughes and some power hitting by the recently returned Alex Rodriguez, and they came into the game last night knowing they were getting Mark Teixeira back from injury to continue to strengthen the lineup and knowing they had CC Sabathia on the mound.  Things should have been adding up to a win for the Yanks, but some more team struggles and a horrendous 9th-inning call helped kill that.

Game Notes:

- Teix's return paid immediate dividends in the top of the 1st when he hit a 1-out that moved Derek Jeter to third and allowed him to score on an A-Rod sac fly.  An RBI double by Ichiro in the 2nd made it 2-0 Yanks after 2.

- The lead didn't last long at all.  After a clean 1st, CC gave up back-to-back HRs to Mark Reynolds and Lew Ford in the 2nd to tie the game, one on a fastball and the other on a slider.

- Sabathia couldn't fix his problems in the 3rd, allowing another run on a J.J. Hardy double.  He had a hard time locating down in the zone, and it resulted in a lot of balls in the air and solid contact by the Baltimore hitters.

- After the 2 runs in the first 2 innings, the Yankee offense cooled off against Saunders through the 5th.  They forced him out of the game after a walk to Teix and single by Cano in the 6th, but Darren O'Day struck out Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson to kill the threat.

- Any chance CC's start had of ending up "good" ended in the 6th.  He gave up his third HR of the night to Hardy, setting a new career high in the process, and then another RBI hit to Ford to make it 5-2 Baltimore.

- Alex Rodriguez continued his hot hitting and impressive power since his return with a homer in his 2nd straight game to bring the Yankees within 2 in the top of the 8th.  He got a first-pitch fastball right in the middle of the zone and crushed it.

- The Yankees put the pressure on in the 9th, loading the bases with 0 outs and scoring a run on a Nick Swisher groundout to make it 5-4.  With Teix coming up and 2 runners on, it looked like at least a tie game was in the cards...

- Teix, already bothered by a bad third strike call in the 8th, worked a 2-2 count before rolling a slow groundball to second.  He slid headfirst into the first base bag to try to break up the double play, and was CLEARLY safe to even the oldest naked eye, but was called out by the first base ump to end the game.  Just to add insult to injury, Teix tweaked his calf again running to first and is out today.