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Yankees crush Boston, 9-5, and move closer to clinching division title
BY Mark Feinsand
September 26th 2009
Joe Girardi delivered a simple message to Joba Chamberlain after his last start: It's time to step up.
That's precisely what Chamberlain did Friday night, delivering his best performance in nearly two months to help the Yankees move closer to a division title with a 9-5 win over the Red Sox at the Stadium.
Chamberlain gave up three runs on five hits and a walk over six innings, striking out five. Having gone 0-4 with an 8.42 ERA in his previous eight starts, Chamberlain got back into the win column for the first time since Aug. 6, giving the Yankees a reason to feel confident about handing him the ball in October.
"He just went out and threw the ball like he's capable of throwing it," Girardi said. "He attacked, he attacked, he attacked. This is an important time of year. We told him we needed him to step up and he did tonight."
The Yankee hitters did their part to help out, hammering Jon Lester - the front-runner to start Game 1 of the playoffs for the Red Sox - for five runs in 2-1/3 innings. Lester's night got worse when Melky Cabrera drilled him in the leg with a line drive, knocking him out of the game in the third.
The Yankees ran wild on Jason Varitek, stealing seven bases against the veteran catcher. Alex Rodriguez swiped three of those and added a home run and four RBI, pacing the Yankees' 14-hit attack.
The win boosted the Yankees' lead over the Red Sox to 6-1/2 games in the AL East and reduced their magic number to three, meaning a sweep this weekend would wrap up the division title.
"The first goal is to get into the playoffs; the next goal in the regular season is to win your division," Girardi said. "We've only reached one of our goals, and this series could determine a lot. You want to continue playing good baseball. You want to be playing well going into October."
That was especially true for Chamberlain, whose spot in the postseason rotation - and on the roster, for that matter - had been the subject of much debate since his disastrous outing last Sunday in Seattle.
There was ample talk all week about the controversial Joba Rules and how they may have affected the 24-year-old pitcher in terms of his preparation and ability to handle the unusual circumstances that seemed to surround every start. With the knowledge that he had up to 90 pitches to work with Friday night - he threw 86 - Chamberlain (9-6) delivered his finest performance since July 29, when he threw eight scoreless innings against the Rays at Tropicana Field.
"You get challenged a lot in life," Chamberlain said. "You have to look yourself in the mirror and find a way to make yourself better. I went out and attacked, had a great tempo and had a great game plan from pitch one."
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Surging Twins trying to close Metrodome with playoff push
BY Jesse Spector
September 26th 2009
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have just three games left until they bid farewell to the baggie. Or do they?
A funny thing has happened on the way to a disappointing final season of indoor baseball in Minnesota. The Twins, seven games out of first place in the American League Central after a 3-1 loss in Cleveland on Sept. 6, and two games under .500 a week later, have put themselves in position to sneak up on the Detroit Tigers and win the division, with a pivotal four-game series between the two teams set to start tomorrow in Motown after the Twins took two of three from the Tigers at the not-yet-dead Metrodome last weekend.
"We're just trying to win some games and make this thing interesting," says Twins infielder Brendan Harris. "We'll worry about the new ballpark when we get to it."
The new park, across downtown from the Metrodome, opens in April. The Twins are hoping that life at their current home continues beyond the season-ending three-game series next weekend against the Royals. If Minnesota can make the playoffs, it would certainly make for a happier goodbye than the Yankees and Mets had last year in closing out their ballparks.
"I think in one sense, it's a little more special for Minnesota," says Carl Pavano, who joined the Twins in a midseason trade with the Indians. "I actually pitched in the last game of Olympic Stadium (as a former Expo then with the Marlins), and obviously, they moved the team to Washington. Then, I was a part of the ceremonies last year at Yankee Stadium. I think the people in Minnesota should be excited. ...I think it's really exciting."
However, for some of the longer-tenured Twins, what's truly exciting is leaving the unfriendly confines of the Metrodome, a football stadium where the Twins have been second-class citizens to the Vikings since coming in from the cold of Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington (now the site of the Mall of America) in 1982. Crowd noise reverberates throughout the stadium, making a small baseball crowd sound like an average football crowd, and making a sellout crowd, as Twins closer Joe Nathan puts it, "just deafening. You can't hear yourself think, but that's a good thing."
And that's about the only good thing. The most notable feature of the Metrodome is its paneled, Teflon-coated fabric roof, which is about the same shade as a dirty baseball and causes adventures on any ball hit in the air.
"I think the Vikings have a really good home advantage with the noise and everything like that," says Twins catcher Joe Mauer, the likely American League MVP and hometown hero who played in a high school football state championship game at the Metrodome. "I know a lot of people say the roof (gives the Twins an advantage), but I'd say that over the years we've probably missed more plays than the opposing team. I think it plays more catered to a football stadium."
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Braves’ Cox insists he’s retiring after next year
September 25, 2009
WASHINGTON — Two days after Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox announced he was retiring after next season, some people still don’t believe him.
"I always thought they’d have to bury him in his Braves uniform," third baseman Chipper Jones said Friday before the start of a series against Washington.
Nationals president Stan Kasten, formerly president of the Braves, also had his doubts.
"I don’t buy it for a minute," Kasten said. "Everyone I talked to ... none of us buy it."
Cox insists he’s comfortable with the decision, which includes managing Atlanta in 2010 and then a five-year consulting agreement.
"I like what I’m going to be doing," he said.
He has a simple answer for those who think he won’t retire.
"Believe it," Cox said. "That’s it. I made a commitment to do that, and I’m happy with it. I’m almost 70 years old."
Cox said he has no second thoughts after his Wednesday announcement in New York.
"No. None. Done deal," Cox said.
Braves general manager Frank Wren said he thinks Cox will follow through with the plans
"It was his idea to announce simultaneously the extension as well as his retirement," Wren said. "He knew if he went year-to-year it would be very difficult for him to walk away. It’s done. It’s final in his mind."
Jones has known no other manager in his 16-year major league career, and the idea of the Braves without Cox is unsettling.
"It would be weird," Jones said. "I’m used to the clubhouse being run the same way. I’m used to spring training run the same way. I’m used to a ballgame being run the same way."
Wren has said he won’t think about a successor until next season.
"I can think of a couple of good candidates, which I will keep to myself," Jones said. "Maybe I’ll come back and be a player-manager. They couldn’t pay me enough money."
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Cubs’ Lee out with sore neck
September 25, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — Chicago’s Derrek Lee was scheduled to spend Friday night’s game against the Giants receiving treatment for neck spasms, the result of a congratulatory pat on the helmet from pitcher Angel Guzman the previous night.
"It’s just something that happened," Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella said before the game. "Guzman, or whoever it was, was trying to compliment him for stealing the base and scoring a run. I was told it was Guzman, I don’t know for sure. I guess they went to the video tape. I just shook his hand."
Lee drew a leadoff walk in the ninth inning Thursday night from Giants closer Brian Wilson. He stole second, colliding with Giants Eugenio Velez. Lee apparently first felt the spasms on the slide. He eventually scored on Jeff Baker’s home run that propelled the Cubs’ 3-2 comeback win.
"He could play if we needed him but he’ll get treatment and hopefully be ready to go tomorrow," Piniella said.
Lee is hitting .306 with 35 home runs and 109 RBIs on the season.
Micah Hoffpauir started at first while Bobby Scales was given the start in left field.
"A lot of people are banged up here," Piniella said. "An abnormally high number."
Piniella also revealed that right-hander Kevin Gregg, who hasn’t pitched since Monday in Milwaukee, has mild inflammation on the left side of his rib joint.
"He felt something Tuesday and it tightened up on him," Piniella said.
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