-There was an interesting blurb in today’s NY Post written by George King about how Mariano Rivera got away with a balk in the one Yankee win over the White Sox the other night at U.S. Cellular Field. With runners on the corners and two out, according to King, Rivera moved his front shoulder forward before stopping and then delivering the third pitch to Jim Thome. Has home plate umpire Tom Gorman noticed, a game which the Yankees led 7-0 would have been tied. Instead, Rivera cameback to get Thome to ground out to second to end it. The best aspect of King’s article was the admission by the ace closer:

“I did know it, but it wasn’t too obvious.”

Sometimes, even the best can luck out.

-It looks like the real Cory Lidle showed up tonight unfortunately for the Yanks. Nine days after such a promising debut where he shutdown the Blue Jays, the ex-Phillie allowed two home runs an inning apart and lasted just four giving up three earned and tossing only 79 pitches before the immortal Sidney Ponson replaced him and gave up three more to put the Yanks down 6-1. One question. Why was Lidle pulled after only 79 pitches? What? He couldn’t throw strikes and give them a couple of more innings before Ponson insured that there would be almost no chance of a comeback. While the Angel bats were taking advantage, rookie Joe Saunders was baffling the Bombers for six innings allowing just an RBI single to Jason Giambi before tiring in the seventh and allowing the first three batters to reach including a Sal Fasano two-run double which cut it to 6-3. But he’s in line for the win after Nick Green mysteriously bunted into a 1-6 double play. Green was in the lineup to give Robinson Cano a night off due to travel. Since coming off the DL, the All Star second baseman was a sizzling 7-for-14 with five extra base hits in three games at Chicago. Not a bad way to return after six weeks out with a hamstring injury. The one positive in this game was that rookie Melky Cabrera threw out a runner at second for his 10th assist of the season. He’s also drawn two walks and scored a run. There’s also this. Out of his seven homers this year, three had come in the past four games.

-Random thought from this game. Why the heck did Joe Torre throw Jose Veras out there for one batter in the eighth only to see Vlad Guerrero pulverize a hanging breaking ball to restore a four-run lead for the Angels? Then he pulls him. What’s the point? Sometimes, I wish I could be a baseball manager. Maybe I too can waste Kyle Farnsworth in a five-run game and pitch him in back-to-back when he can’t do it and see him serve up two dingers which forces us to bring in Rivera. Where’s Bobby Valentine with his fake mustache disguise when you need him?

-Random Thought II…my brother pointed this out to me earlier as we were watching the Giants-Ravens preseason game on NBC. The new look NFL referee jerseys are some of the ugliest things we’ve ever seen. It’s about as God awful as it gets. Who designed them? The same bozo who decided to turn the Buffalo Sabres logo into a laughingstock of epic proportions. I only know about it because I hear about it on a daily basis from a buddy Brian in Sayreville, NJ. And he’s right. It’s butt ugly. You decide:

-If new Jets coach Eric Mangini can’t go for fourth-and-one from the Tampa Bay 40 in a meaningless preseason game, yikes. Oh. The Jets also lost 16-3. From what we saw, Chad Pennington QB’d the first two series and drove the offense deep into Buc territory but both drives stalled including a predictable lost fumble from the comebacking QB which cost Gang Green at least three. Outside of that, there wasn’t much to get excited about.

-Meanwhile, the Giants still look like they can’t tackle. At last check, they were losing 16-7 at Baltimore. Maybe they were still suffering flashbacks of that 24-0 home debacle to Carolina. Another thing. If I have to see them give it to Brandon Jacobs for a sweep to the right only to see it go nowhere, will Coach Coughlin get the hint that this guy can’t be utilized that way? Welcome to Ron Dayne Part II.

-The Mets lost 2-1 at Washington. Does it really matter? They could lose the next 10 and still would somehow lead their division by 10. At least the much publicized Paul Lo Duca stayed red hot by hitting a first inning homer. Interestingly, since his ex-Playboy wife Sonia filed for divorce at the end of June, the All Star backstop has been the major’s hottest hitter. According to Elias Sports Bureau via an AP report, he was hitting .413 entering Friday night before hitting his fourth dinger (first since May 13) of the season in the first. You got to love it. The man continues to go about his business on the field not missing a beat. Maybe more players should date younger women. Just look at the affect it’s having on Mr. Lo Duca! We’re not suggesting other major leaguers should dump their wives. That’s not the intention at all especially if they’re happily married. But you can’t say Lo Duca has been affected negatively by all this. Toss in the gambling debt accusations and the ex-Marlin is definitely tough. He’s somehow managed to turn all this into a positive by focusing on team. Maybe when you have these kind of circus-like distractions, the best way to channel it is to come to the ballpark and swing the bat and call a solid game behind the plate. Definitely a good way to relieve the tension.

-The other encouraging news for the Mets is Tom Glavine pitched a second straight solid game, going six allowing only two runs and striking out seven. Unfortunately, he was outpitched by former Met 2000 first round pick Billy Traber, who six years and two organizations later held the Amazin’s to one run and four hits in seven frames to improve to 2-1. For the Mets, Jose Reyes continued to swing a hot bat with two hits in a losing effort and stolen base number 49. He continues to improve all the time. Sure is a pleasure to watch. Though they had a five-game win streak snapped, we’re certain the NL’s best team will bounceback tomorrow with John Maine on the hill. The former Oriole who was viewed as an afterthought in the Kris Benson-Jorge Julio deal is riding a 23 inning scoreless streak- turning that trade into a laugher. Especially when you consider that the Mets now have El Duque to show for Julio. That’s 2/5 of their rotation and both have pitched well. Not bad value for GM Omar Minaya.

-With the Yanks losing to the Angels 7-4 and the Red Sox finally returning to Fenway and snapping a five-game skid with a 9-2 victory over the Orioles, New York’s division lead is down to two. Much like Boston didn’t take advantage when the Yankees were in some trouble, this time the Bronx Bombers didn’t. They could remember those couple of games in Chicago if they don’t get the job done at Fenway for five next week.

-The Red Sox actually got seven innings from David Wells for his first win of the year. Manny Ramirez had two hits and drove in two to extend his AL season best hitting streak to 26. How come whenever the MVP talk surrounds his teammate Big Papi, nobody ever discusses that he bats behind him and has been splendid this season? Just wondering. Food for thought:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5132/situational;_ylt=AnfSpPKwyHd0hpoy5TpOJvSFCLcF

-In other meaningful AL action, the White Sox shutout Detroit 5-0 behind Jose Contreras, who went the distance three-hitting the Tigers. Don’t look now but they’re 7.5 behind the AL Central leaders. If the defending World champs continue to play well this weekend, it could mean a totally different kind of race. In the meantime, Chicago maintained their two game wild card lead on Boston. The Twins dropped their second straight to Toronto to fall 1.5 back. They were shutdown by A.J. Burnett, who allowed one run while fanning 10 in seven strong innings to pickup his fourth win. Making matters worse for Minnesota is that prize rookie hurler Francisco Liriano could be gone for the season. A second MRI showed a mild chronic strain of his ulnar collateral ligament. This has caused stiffness in his left shoulder and some soreness in the elbow as well. If the 22 year-old rookie can’t return, it would be a big blow to the Twins’ playoff aspirations. He was 12-3 with an AL best 2.19 ERA. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire seems to believe they’ll have him back before the end of the season. In the meantime, he’ll have recently recalled top prospect Matt Garza. Though he didn’t have an auspicious debut Friday night, the former 2005 first round pick out of Fresno State was so dominant this season that he went all the way from Single A to Triple A. In two years in the minors, he was 18-8 with a 2.73 ERA and 243 K’s. Where do the Twins find these guys?

-The AL West-leading A’s were ahead of Tampa Bay 3-2 in the sixth on a Bobby Kielty two-run homer off Scott Kazmir. Kazmir was making his first start back after being DLed for two weeks with a sore shoulder. He had six strikeouts at last check. If Oakland wins, they’ll remain 3.5 up on the Angels.

-Meanwhile, in the wacky NL, the Phillies posted a 6-5 14 inning victory over the Reds to pull within two of the wild card leaders. The suddenly revamped Phils overcame Tom Gordon’s fourth blown save by pushing the tying run across in the ninth on a Shane Victorino sac fly and won it on an Aaron Rowand runscoring single five frames later. Oh. How crazy was this game you ask? A grand total of 43 players were used by both teams: Reds- 23 (9 pitchers) Phillies- 20 (7 pitchers). Unreal.

-Don’t look now Part II: But Houston’s 4-2 win over the Padres was their fourth in a row to pull them one under .500 and within 1.5 of the wild card. Andy Pettite hit his first career homer and matched a season high by fanning 10. Can the Astros once again sneak up on everyone and steal a spot into the NL postseason? Why not? Nobody’s exactly running away with it. The ageless Roger Clemens is pitching well and his Butt Buddy Pettite is getting it together. Plus they still have ace Roy Oswalt. Aside from that trio which nobody would want a part of, they also possess the game’s most underappreciated superstar in Lance Berkman. Under total obscurity, the 30 year-old has made a smooth transition from the outfield to first and is having an MVP season if anyone cares enough to pay attention. With a solo homer Friday, he’s now at .326 with 31 dingers and 98 RBI’s. And if you want to know why he should get serious consideration if this team gets in, just look at the rest of his team. While Morgan Ensberg checks in with 20 homers which is next on the ballclub, Berkman leads free agent flop Preston Wilson in RBI’s by a whopping 43 while Enberg checks in third with 49 and savvy vet Craig Biggio fourth with 44. In fact, Berkman leads the Astros in four key offensive categories: average (.326), home runs (31), runs batted in (98) and runs scored (65). He also has a .422 OBP and .623 SLG (1.045 OPS). Awesome stuff from someone who flies under the radar. He doesn’t have the protection that a Carlos Beltran has. And for all those David Wright supporters, Beltran has the better power numbers and the Mets have a bunch of MVPs. Of course, the Cards’ Albert Pujols is the rating MVP and definitely has the inside track. With Juan “Nomad” Encarnacion batting behind him, the slugging first baseman still has a .329 average with 34 HR, 91 RBI’s and 85 runs. That’s with missing some time too. He’s played in just 97 games. It’s impossible to ignore what he means to the pitching challenged Cards. You take his bat out of that lineup and they struggle to score as well as pitch. It’s still amazing that they’re 3.5 clear of the Reds despite being brutal since the All Star break. So will they hold on to see October? With how bad the Senior Circuit is, you have to figure yes.

-At last check, the NL West-leading Dodgers were knotted at two with the last place Giants. Ex-Giant Jeff Kent homered but former Kent fave (we kid) Barry Bonds tied it with a single. Despite playing dreadful ball the past couple of weeks, the Giants are only 4.5 off the pace. God. When you have the freaking Rockies three games out while being three under still vying for the division, you know things are bad. Only in the world of the NL. Doesn’t quite have the same ring as Sesame Street’s Land of Make Believe.