Tribe 8, Yanks 4

The situation: bottom of the eighth. 6-3 Tribe. Bases loaded, nobody out. Giambi, A-Rod, Posada due up.

Four runs seems possible. Three runs entirely possible. Two runs tolerable--not what you hope for, but then it's 6-5 in the ninth, the Yankee faithful going nuts.

And so?

One run.

Giambi, fielder's choice to second, RBI. 6-4. First and third. Cairo runs for Giambi, steals, now it's second and third, one out, Cairo the trailer, only a clean single necessary to tie the score. Rested Yankee bullpen backed up to Tarrytown, ready to go five or six quality innings, if necessary.

A-Rod, needing only to put the ball in play to draw the Yanks within one, strikes out.

Then, Posada strikes out.

Ballgame.

The Indians tacked on two in the top of the ninth, but that was little more than (as SunDevilJoe would say) QED at the bottom of a geometry proof.

In other news, some perspectives about last night's Johnson/Posada/Johnson kerfuffle. I might have allowed myself to be overly persuaded by the Cleveland broadcasting team. Having read Larry Brooks in the New York Post, I am now more persuaded that:

1) Jason Johnson was being chippier than at first blush (though it made no sense competitively, which was why I was so confused);

2) the Unit decided before the inning to seek retaliation;

3) that Victor Martinez, Posada's opposite number and the lead-off hitter in the seventh, was the Unit's most eligible target, but swung weakly at the first pitch and grounded out; and

4) the Unit was so ready to go up-and-in that he seemed to be waiting for his expulsion.

Last night cuts to something I've been vaguely aware of in the past--namely, the reluctance of the Yankee pitchers to protect the Yankee everydays, to retaliate. Yankee fanatics may remember the Yanks-Birds brawl I mentioned yesterday; to my mind, this was the catalyzing incident that turned a great team into a historical one, with their 114 wins and 11-2 post-season run. So let's see what happens in the coming weeks.