Bronx Banter: Boogie Down, Beat Down

The Red Sox stepped all over the Yankees again today, 6-4. This one featured a rain delay to sustain themisery for Yankee fans.Alex Rodriguez got to Josh Beckett in the first, lashing a two-run double into the left field corner, but grounded out as the go-ahead run with the bases loaded in the seventh.He didn't have much help around him either as the Yanks only got six hits.

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Ethiers big swings rally Dodgers past Giants (AP)

Joe Torre’s had a feeling his team is starting to come together. Andre Ethier homered and hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth, Derek Lowe won for the first time in three starts and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the Giants 10-7 on Friday for their fourth straight victory in their first [...]

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/07/04/ethier%e2%80%99s-big-swings-rally-dodgers-past-
giants-ap/

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Ms get needed relief to beat Tigers

Standing out in the bullpen, Seattle reliever Sean Green noticed Erik Bedard’s pitch count quickly getting closer to 100 and knew he needed to be ready, even if it was just the fifth inning.Bedard is earning a reputation for rarely throwing beyond 100 pitches. Fortunately for the Mariners, Green and Brandon Morrow were outstanding in [...]

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/07/04/m%e2%80%99s-get-needed-relief-to-beat-tigers/

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Rays 11, Royals 2

Edwin Jackson took a two-hitter into the eighth inning and Carlos Pena homered and drove in five runs Friday night, helping the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 11-2 for their fifth straight victory.Jackson (5-6) matched his win total for last season, limiting the Royals to David DeJesus’ first-inning single and [...]

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Jacksons pitching, Penas hitting pace Rays win
(AP)

Edwin Jackson took a two-hitter into the eighth inning and Carlos Pena homered and drove in five runs Friday night, helping the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 11-2 for their fifth straight victory. Jackson (5-6) matched his win total for last season, limiting the Royals to David DeJesus’ first-inning single [...]

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/07/04/jackson%e2%80%99s-pitching-pena%e2%80%99s-hitti
ng-pace-rays-win-ap/

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Rangers RHP Padilla leaves game with injury (PA
SportsTicker)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Vicente Padilla left Friday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles in the third inning with a bruised right thumb.Read the full story.

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About Today's Plaschke Column

This:

The Angels are all about winning in October.

Which is why they've only won one postseason series since 2002. They've assembled some good teams, but certainly not world-beaters.

McCourt finally has the right manager,

Who kept running an apparently injured Scott Proctor out there in game-critical situations until his ERA inflated to 6.82, despite never having an in-season ERA under 4.00 as a straight reliever.

Blake DeWitt, he's a ballplayer.

Sure. And one that owns a .260/.323/.380 line, a good kid who was hitting way over his head back in the first couple months of his callup. Is he for real? He could be, and only continued playing time — maybe not at the major league level — will be able to tell. But trust me, you put a lineup like that together at a couple more positions and we'll start to hear from Ned how it's time to unload the kids.

Yet the Angels had won 11 more games.

Why?

The Angels have a culture that believes in winning over statistics, winning over awards, winning over everything.

The Angels also have more home runs (71 as of this morning, vs 58) and a higher slugging average (.382 vs. .377).

Some nights, many nights, the Dodgers are the worst possible embodiment in a town that understands baseball.

They are the anti-Angels.

Part of the reason that Paul DePodesta was fired from his job as the previous Dodgers general manager was because, during his final aborted managerial search, he did not even inquire about the availability of Scioscia.

Because, right, like Scioscia's gonna work for the team that kicked him out unceremoniously. Like working for Frank McCourt's dysfunctional front office was tops on his list of life's unfilled checkmarks. Remember when the Dodgers spoke with Bud Black and he told them he'd "sleep on it"? Just how many milliseconds did he have to wait before picking up the phone next morning to tell them "no"?

What really occurs to me with this piece is it amount to a kind of smokescreen. Having chased off the one good GM the Dodgers just happened to stumble upon, Plaschke's now stuck — if he has even the littlest of self-realization available to him, and I find it hard to imagine he doesn't — trying to rationalize his role in that. The result is gagging columns like this one, lashing out at no one and everyone in the Dodgers organization; he could do us all a favor by taking a cue from Oedipus, but it's harder to fall on your typewriter than it is your sword. Is there some reason Plaschke and Simers aren't part of the 250?

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http://6-4-2.blogspot.com/2008/07/about-todays-plaschke-column.html

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Red Sox take another from Yankees

Kevin Youkilis created the drama. Mike Lowell gave Boston the win.Lowell hit a go-ahead, three-run homer two innings after Youkilis’ shot squirted out of Johnny Damon’s glove, bounced off the top of the left-field wall three times, and sat on the fence for several tantalizing seconds.Youkilis’ ball rolled back to the field for a tying, [...]

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/07/04/red-sox-take-another-from-yankees/

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Orioles score 8 off Padilla, beat Rangers 10-4
(AP)

Freddie Bynum tied a career high with three RBIs, and the Baltimore Orioles roughed up 10-game winner Vicente Padilla in a 10-4 win over Texas Rangers on Friday. Adam Jones and Brandon Fahey both drove in two runs and scored twice for the Orioles, who built an 8-1 lead in the third inning. It was [...]

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/07/04/orioles-score-8-off-padilla-beat-rangers-10-4-a
p/

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Orioles 10, Rangers 4

Freddie Bynum tied a career high with three RBIs, and the Baltimore Orioles roughed up 10-game winner Vicente Padilla in a 10-4 win over Texas Rangers on Friday.Adam Jones and Brandon Fahey both drove in two runs and scored twice for the Orioles, who built an 8-1 lead in the third inning. It was a [...]

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http://mlbnewsblog.com/2008/07/04/orioles-10-rangers-4/

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