That's three consecutive outings in which Mariano Rivera has given up at least a run, as the Orioles beat the Yankees 6-3 behind Erik Bedard. It might be time for his annual late-season trip to the 15-day DL. Let's hope not. For once, Joe Torre did the right thing and used his best available pitcher in a tie game, and he was rewarded with negative reinforcement.
The biggest bright spot to come from today's game is Edwar Ramirez's 2.1 innings of 3-K, scoreless relief. He's essentially forcing Joe Torre to take him seriously. And Farnsie stayed on the bench where he belongs.
Shelley Duncan-excitement aside (that was a classic "Holy Cow!" moment if ever there was one), at least Boston lost too, so the Yankees don't lose any ground in the A.L. East. Baltimore has been a huge problem for the Yankees this year, and their pitchers produced 17 straight scoreless innings against the white-hot Yankees' lineup.
