The big chili cheese dog will feel the heartburn of the Jays offense tonight.

I'm surprised Arod isn't getting a night off, given that he's the one guy who hasn't had success vs. Tallet ... but that's what happens when you miss the first 30 games and your salary/ game played ratio is kind of embarrassing.

And what is with Tallet's splits this year? .162 avg by RH batters, 6 BB and 23 K; .333 avg by LH batters, with 10 BB and 6 K.

I'm hoping Tallet gets some help from these umpires tonight.

I'd say the talented Mr. Tallet is bringing his A-game tonight. This one may come down to the strength of the bullpen.

Great to see Johnny Mac again, and he's having a great night, but tonight is the first time this season I feel like there's automatic outs at the bottom of the order like there have been the past few years. It really makes me realize how unbelievable the bottom of the lineup has been this year.

Barajas getting gunned downed at the plate turned out to be huge. Right call to send him though, they were not hitting Sabathia much. Tough loss, really didn't think that Matsui HR was going out, seemed to carry a ton, but meh. Yanks got a gift run and a fluky blooper-that happens. Nice to see Tallet not get pounded, I was a little leery of that even before the Richmond start.

On cheerier news, the Red Sox and Rays both lose. Jays still in first in the AL East.

There hasn't been a game thread posted. There's always a game thread posted -- why just yesterday, there was one extolling all the "positive firsts" of the series opener in Da Bronx.

Today, nothing. Did something ... different ... happen yesterday?

Doherty, this forum is to be used for good, not for evil!!!  ;D  It's a total waste of bandwidth to gloss over some cheap Yankee wins.

A funny article in the Star today suggesting Cito Gaston is on a HOF path as a manager.  I found it funny due to the fact Cito has won just 757 games so far placing him 72nd all time while his 525 winning percentage is #75 all time.  He is in a tie for 25th in playoff appearances at 4 (15 for Bobby Cox leads - BR has an error listing Cito with a 5th playoff appearance).  For comparison Jimy Williams has made the playoffs 4 times as well, has 910 wins and a 535 winning percentage.

The article bases it all on his 2 WS wins and the fact he is the first black manager to win a playoff series/win the world series as all 8 guys who won 3+ WS are in the HOF or will be (Joe Torre).  There are 16 guys with 2 WS wins of whom 6 are in the HOF with LaRussa & Billy Martin having strong supporters and Terry Francona a likely one to get lots of support.  Others include Dick Howser who was #2 of 3 managers in a year the Yankees won it all thus not really a 2 time WS winner. 

So, what would it take for Cito to get in?  A 3rd WS title is a must as is 1000 wins as a manger imo.  To make it likely he'd need 4 or more titles I suspect and ideally 1500+ wins (or double his current win total).  If Cito v2.0 can do what Cito v1.0 did overall then he gets in I suspect.  Anything less will make it doubtful.

Others include Dick Howser who was #2 of 3 managers in a year the Yankees won it all thus not really a 2 time WS winner. 

Same with Billy Martin - it's the same season (1978). Martin was fired with the Yankees in 4th place, 10 games out. Howser managed the team for a game before Bob Lemon arrived. You can't really credit Martin or Howser for that championship.

At this point I'm thinking Janssen and Romero each make their last rehab starts Sunday and Monday and then rejoin the rotation following Doc vs. Atlanta on the 23rd and 24th.

As the Fisher Cats have the 18th as a scheduled day off, C. Janssen pitches the 17th, (AAA - D. Purcey pitches the 18th) and R.Romero pitches the 19th.  Janssen can rejoin the team (5 days off) on the 23rd following Halladay in the rotation.  Or Janssen can rejoin the team (4 days off) on the 22nd.  Halladay would pitch (5 days off) on the 23rd and (5 days off) on the 29th vs Boston!!  Otherwise Halladay pitches the 22nd, the 27th and (on 5 days off), the 2nd, missing both Boston series.  The other option is Halladay pitches (on 3 days off) the 21st in Boston, and later (on 3 days off) the 31st at home to Boston.  Which is more likely?

With the off-day Romero's earliest return to the team would be the 24th, which lets him pitch the 29th vs Boston.  The days off on the 28th and the 1st permits the roster to be reset.  And it needs it.

Cito hasn't received anywhere near the recognition one would think he should for being the first successful black manager.  I remember the PBS Baseball series and how it went on and on about racism in baseball then it hit the Jays WS wins and just gave a very brief mention of Cito along the lines of how a black man managed a WS winner - a footnote rather than a 'wow'.  I'm guessing it is a combination of a few things - the Jays being in Canada, Cito being a quiet guy who isn't like a Tony LaRussa who feels the need to celebrate his genius non-stop, and the raw talent those teams had making people say anyone could've done it (even though Bobby Cox and Jimy Williams couldn't).

If the Jays pull off a division win or playoff appearance this year Cito might finally get a manager of the year award (2nd in 1989, 5th in '90, 3rd in '91, 4th in '92, 3rd in '93, 6th in '08) but odds are KC or someone else will be viewed as more amazing and Cito will get nada again.

Still, in 1989 Cito became, as I recall, the first black man to manage a team into the playoffs then did it again in 1991.  If Burns wanted to it wouldn't have been hard to mix Cito in a bit more.  The first black man given a team that had a chance to win.  Frank Robinson did some magic with the '89 Orioles but was given a team in the midst of (iirc) a 20+ game losing streak.  Mixed with the Montreal/Jackie Robinson connection a Canadian theme mixed in for giving black guys a shot would've been nice but that wouldn't have fit the 'USA land of opportunity' theme I guess.

As Drew was running at full speed he didn't have time to stop and make a throw, he threw the ball in mid-stride to home plate with a perfect strike to Varitek to nail Abreu by a few feet.

Now, Abreu is more fleet of foot than Barajas and Drew isn't a slouch with his arm. But was it also a wise gamble to test his throwing accuracy after making a difficult catch, despite how shallow Drew was?

The run would have given the Angels the lead heading to the top of the ninth, but making the out meant Kendry Morales did not get to swing with a runner on third and two out. As the Angels won in extras, they likely aren't fretting too much today about it.

Should Abreu have been so aggressive on Drew? If Pedroia or Ellsbury caught the ball and hit the ground in doing so, I would say so-- but how much would you risk on a right fielder running towards the diamond and making an accurate throw from very shallow right field?

Abreu should have been prepared to sprint down on the tag-up but not leave until he heard his coach give the green light.

I suspect Bobby just saw where it was going to land in relation to the fielders and decided, "there's no way I would be able to make a play on this." And if it was Abreu in right field, I don't think he'd make that play. It was quite remarkable of Drew to make it, but how many right fielders would have the sense and ability to throw on the move like that? If you try to stop and come set, Abreu has at least a few strides more to the plate. That play had to be done on the run. And Drew throws across his body a bit-- he wasn't moving toward the plate by any means. Many outfielders would try to stop and make a stride toward the plate as they throw -- and they'd lose a precious second and still need great accuracy.

And here's your Barajas-Gardner play.

If only Barajas tried jumping over Cervelli....

Or watch the second replay and note how Rod dances around third to make the corner. (0:49) Clearly loses stride after touching the bag.