-Well, it looks like the Yanks might come up short in this crucial game at Chicago. A win would mean a four game lead over Boston and five clear in the loss column. It’s worth noting that that big five-game series at Fenway is coming next week. If the Bronx Bombers can get a cushion entering it, that would put a ton of pressure on the fading Red Sox, who have now dropped five straight to the combination of Tampa Bay and Kansas City. Kind of makes you wonder about that team’s psyche. They are without Jason Varitek and Trot Nixon which definitely hurts. Though Willy Mo Pena has suddenly caught fire with Nixon out and is producing on a nightly basis. Really, Varitek’s loss is worse cause he’s a leader on that club. He’s got a presence and maybe could settle down some of their struggling pitchers. Plus we like his bat in a tight spot over Javy Lopez or Doug Mirabelli. Of course, no Tim Wakefield hurts too. The veteran knuckleballer can give them innings even if he’s getting hit. We don’t count Matt Clement cause he’s not that good. To think that the Cubs gave up Dontrelle Willis for him. Not that he was bad at Wrigley but still. I know who I’d rather have.
-The Yankees currently trail Chicago 5-4. Melky Cabrera atoned for an earlier fielding error by hitting a moonshot to right for his seventh of the year. Not bad. We love the way the 21 year-old left fielder turned on White Sox flame thrower Brandon McCarthy’s fastball. Up till that point, he was making the Bronx Bombers look bad with some filthy stuff to fan Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano three in a row between the sixth and seventh. Then Craig Wilson doubled and Cabrera deposited McCarthy’s first offering about 15 rows up. They got a solid inning plus of scoreless relief from the overworked Scott Proctor, who made his major league-leading 57th appearance by retiring all five batters and fanning three. But unless the Yanks can push a run across in the ninth against tough closer Bobby Jenks, it will be in a losing effort.

-The White Sox hold on. Jenks retired the first two batters before Bernie Williams delivered a tough pinchhit single to right and Cabrera beat out an infield hit to give themselves a chance. But Johnny Damon grounded out to second to end it. He slid but he was out by three steps. So it didn’t matter. A nice try by the Yanks but ultimately, their D in the second inning was their undoing in this one. They have to be pretty disappointed losing two of three in this series. Especially when they see that Boston lost all three to the Royals. So instead of building a four or five-game cushion, it’s three heading back to the Stadium for a four-game set against the always pain in the butt Angels. A team that’s had their number in recent years. It certainly won’t be easy this weekend.

-Here’s the latest disappointing outing for the Cubs’ former ace Mark Prior in their 8-6 loss to Milwaukee:

It’s sad to see what’s become of the 25 year-old former 2001 second overall selection. Not long ago, Prior looked like he would be one of the great pitchers for a long time. Who could forget October 2003 when he and Kerry Wood had the Cubs on the verge of the World Series before the roof caved in against the Marlins. Of course everyone blames Steve Bartman for that catch of a playable foul ball which Moises Alou angrily let the poor fan have it. But still, the Cubs were five outs away and never finished off Florida. And in typical Cubs’ fashion, they lost the last two games on their home field. Wrigley never looked so ugly. To think they were that close. And yeah. I believe they too would’ve beaten the Yankees and won their first World Series since 1908. If you actually go to the baseballreference site (http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHC/) and look up the Cubs history, there’s a fitting line from the page sponsor: Chicago Sports Fan…It’s A Tough Life!

Sad but true. In only his second season and first full year in ‘03, Prior made 30 starts and went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA, three complete games, a shutout and also struckout 245 in 211.1 innings. Absolutely dominant. In the three seasons since, he hasn’t come close to 200 innings and has become very average. The stuff is still there but he’s now more hittable and his command isn’t as good. Here’s a look at Prior’s career stats courtesy of yahoo:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6787/career;_ylt=ApVvxERjGPNLNyqqCfBqO6eFCLcF

With Prior now 1-6 with an ERA over 7.00, the question becomes will he ever recover to become the kind of dominant starter he could’ve been? Or did Dusty Baker overwork him that one year which was almost special and ruin the former USC product’s career. Hard to say. In the old days, 200 innings was normal. Now, you have these guys on pitch counts. So they’re not used to grinding it out and going the distance. There just aren’t too many starters today that have the pinpoint control and are durable enough to go the full nine on a consistent basis anymore. As a traditional fan who grew up watching baseball in the 1980’s, it’s disappointing. Of course, a lot of this also has to do with the reliever’s role growing to huge proportions. Now, you have the quality start. Six innings has become the equivalent of nine. Then there’s your seventh inning pitcher, eighth inning setup man and your closer. It’s made a starter’s life much easier. They’re not as taxed. But what about when your guy has it going but reaches 110 pitches. Do you take him out? It’s something that could be debated forever. Gone are the days of Jack Morris tossing a 10 inning complete game in Game Seven of the 1991 World Series to lift the Twins to a 1-0 shutout of the Braves at the Metrodome. Man, to think that really happened only 15 years ago. That was old fashioned baseball. Not the kind now where you have managers playing by the book and changing on the fly for matchups. None of that mattered on October 27, 1991. One of the greatest finishes in World Series history. Maybe if today’s pitchers were pushed a little more, they wouldn’t wear down as easily as Prior and Wood have. Such ashame.