Yankees 5, Indians 2

Soime housecleaning.

Sun Devil Joe writes:

Regarding Gardner's baserunning blunder, I'm not sure that Giradi threw him under the bus as I think Gardner was the first to talk about it. He also admitted to misjudging Asdrubal Cabrera's leadoff fly ball to center in the fifth inning. What should have been the first out turned into a double and a cheap run that extended the Indians' lead to 4-0. Welcome back Melky.

Well, okay, and yes. And:

I'm the one who asked about Ian Kennedy. He is on the roster of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees but on the DL. Did you know he is a Trojan?

To the last, no. Strange as it may seem, as dominant as USC baseball has been over the years, during the McKay/Robinson I/Carroll years it has run a poor fifth to USC's four major sports:

1. Football
2. Spring football
3. Football recruiting
4. Basketball

I bounced around looking for Kennedy's current stats; nothing so far, just that 8.17 staring at me from 2008.

Now, Gardner. Well, good for him. This piece of knowledge turns the whole deal on its right angles and may (to mix sports metaphors) help the Yanks gain yardage over all.

Now. As to tonight. Robby-Boy: Still Joba to the pen? Or Joba to 35 starts and 220 innings for the next 10 years?

Yeah, and Mo. Has anyone noticed something? Since the days of Alexander Cartwright or John McGraw or whomever, Mo has blown some high-profile game in April. Happens. This has lead to some scare backpage headline--"OH, MO!", or "SAY IT AIN'T SO, MO!"--written in the same 120-point-size typeface the Daily News or Post is saving for its front page, when it caen write "MARINES CAPTURE BIN LADEN"--something they'd probably run as "OUR BOYS BAG THE BUM."

So: high-profile game in April. Mo blows a save. So: It's over for Mo! Mo can't bring it! Mo is mortal!

This wouldn't be as funny as it is were it not for every other time Rivera comes to the mound, how Miller and Morgan (or whoever) rhapsodize about how Oh, God, pity the poor batters, and notice how he's harder on right-handers.

Rivera is the greatest closer ever, and it's not even close. (He surpassed Eck and Sutter a long time ago, sorry, and Goose, and Hoffman was never close.) Not about to fall off a cliff. Not perfect. Everybody calm down.