Tigers 6, Yankees 4 (Tigers lead series 1-0)

Another brilliant Yankee comeback--a Raul Ibanez comeback, as the two are one and the same--squandered. Squandered. I'm talking to you, A-Rod, Granderson, Cano. Two hands, Swisher.

Yankees 3, Orioles1 (Yanks win series, 3-2)

CC was the difference, but Tex was the signifier. In my car, racing around with erancds during the early innings, somehow when Tex stole second against a Bal'mer team not holding him at all--they were, I later saw, very nearly in "defensive indifference" mode, the kind of posture you take when you're up by nine runs late, not locked in a 0-0 brawl against the best lefthander in the American League with the season on the line--I somehow knew it was over. Thrills and chills in the eighth--ball streaks under Jeter's glove, CC mishandles a bloop combacker--but, overall, huge control. A shame they don't have MVP for the ALDS.

Orioles 3, Yankees 2 (Series tied, 2-2)

My kingdom for a timely base hit.

Yankees 3, Orioles 2 (12) (Yankees lead ALDS 2-1)

Raul Ibanez, Raul Ibanez, Raul Ibanez, Raul Ibanez Homer to tie in the 9th. Homer to win in the 12th. Heading into the 161st game of the season, the Yankees were 0-58 when trailing after eight. Now, 2-59. With Ibanez supplying both the tying and winning RBIS (homer, single, homer, homer) in both games. Orioles, 16-0 in their last extra-inning games. Walk-off losses all year: 0. Now? 16-1. And one.

Orioles 3, Yankees 2 (Series ties 1-1)

Pass.

Yankees 7, Orioles 2 (Yankees lead ALDS 1-0)

The subhead might be: CC and Martin save Yankees from two--maybe three--brutal, rally-killing baserunning blunders. Oh, I'm too tired.

Yankees 4, Red Sox 3

So it was the Red Sox' game, 3-1, the division would be tied, Kuroda would be summoned on Wednesday night to save the day, a solid outing by Phelps and the bullpen would be wasted . . . And then, just like that, it was the bottom of the ninth. The red Sox realized they were at war. And Raul Ibanez was not on their side. Ibanez: two-run homer to tie in the ninth, RBI single in the 12th to win it. The Yankees are now 1-58 when trailing after eight. One up and one to go. Lying dormie. Best game of the season? It's not even close.

Yankees 10, Red Sox 2

Oh, to take all those runs they didn't need and sprinkle tehm over the past month! And in a CC start, no less! Cano is otherwordly. A home run and double in one inning. Rays hang on to beat Baltimore, 5-3. Back to one game.

Yankees 9, Blue Jays 6

I may never watch a game again. Gave up when it was 5-1 or thereabout, switched over to about four football games I was watching. Call it a semi-miracle. Eight runs in the last three innings. Still tied. Bring on the Red Sox.

Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2

What can you say? Another in a long line of games they shyould have won. Tied.

Blue Jays 6, Yankees 0

What is up with Nova? One game.

Yankees 8, Twins 2

These ones always happen when I'm at work. 1 1/2 games.

Twins 5, Yankees 4

Hughes!

Yankees 6, Twins 3

Ah, the Twins. Pettitte takes the win, O's split, 1 1/2 games, two in the loss column.

A's 5, Yankees 4

One miracle comeback to a customer. Impossibly, the O's lose as well. One game.

Yankees 10, A's 9 (14)

So . . . tell you who was most responsible for today's victory. Me. When the A's went up 9-5 in the thirteenth, I turned off the TV and thought to myself, Okay. Now if they come back and win, I can hate myself for not having seen it. Sort of the reverse of tempting karma. Whaddya know, it worked. Did stay long enough to see Ibanez. If I had a ten year-old son, and brought hiom to the game, I'd point out that bullet-headed redass and say, "See that guy? That's how you need to play." I remember thinking CC, Swisher and Tex did the necessary work of making the Yankees meaner, giving them that chippy edge they needed and that Jeter, A-Rod, Cano, Pettitte, Granderson and Mo just couldn't supply. Ibanez adds to the effort. Flipped back and forth long enough to hear Remy and the NESN guys describe another pathetic Red Sox collapse. I forget who said it: last year, when the O's could spoil the Red Sox' season, they played like they, not Boston, were in the Wild Card hunt. And when Robert Mandino's blooper dropped in front of Carl Crawford, Baltimore celebrated as if they'd just won Game 7 of the World Series. So you think, given the opportunity for revenge, Boston would . . . . nah, never mind. One game up. And around the far turn . . .

Yankees 2, A's 1 (10)

Soriano, you kill me--another ninth-inning home run to blow a save. Russell Martin, you kill me. Walk-off in the tenth. Most important: CC was all that. O's win in Boston. One game up.

Yankees 10, Blue Jays 7

Like those kids in action-adventure movies: "Crude but effective." Ah that Swisher--a grand slam. Night off for Baltimore, the cushion goes back to 1.

Yanks 4, 2; Blue Jays 2, 1

As the newspapers used to have it. Pettitte's comeback, Phelps's solid pitching in Game 2, Soriano's seven-out pair o' saves . . . But. What made this the most important day of the season for the Yankees (at least until tomorrow) was Ichiro's 7-for-8, his four steals, and his Game 2-winning RBI, whence he dumped the ball over third and into left with all the aplomb of Jimmy Connors, circa 1974, cutting loose with a two-handed backhand lob against John Newcombe. But those Orioles. Missed much of my bedtime to see the Orioles finish off a twenty-nine inning pair of wins . . . The O's season is a statistical anomaly for the books. 28-7 in one-run games, 15-2 (including 15 straight) in extra-inning games, 7-0 in extra-inning walk-offs. Never happen again.

A San Francisco Interlude

Don't wanna talk about it.