Satan's Luau

Something unique about this weekend, this is the first time since 1987 that three pitchers will pitch in a 3-game series with a total of career wins over 600 -- Mussina, Brown, and Johnson -- this is the first time since Blyleven, Carlton, and Joe Niekro did it for the Twins, twice in that season

TOP 1: The very talented Rich Harden going for the A's
-- Jeter singled to right

4:08PM HST

Runner at first, Womack down swinging in a pirouette checkswing, boy I've been seeing a ton of these recently, one away -- Sheffield first pitch swinging absolutely konks one to left center, two run shot, the Yankees draw first blood, 2-0

Matsui flies to right, two away -- ARod grounds to second to retire the side

BOT 1: Michael Kay just bachi-d the team by saying the As don't hit, thanks dude -- Muss starting for the Yankees today -- Kotsay grounds the 1-0 to first, one down -- Kendall down swinging on the nasty Muss knucklecurve, two away -- Chavez powers one to deep center, Matsui with a great running catch at the wall to end the inning

4:24PM HST

TOP 2: Tino, uno dos adios on three breaking balls, down swinging, one down --
Posada grounds out to first, two away -- Giambi down looking, the broken record continues to play ... SWING THE DAMN BAT, the side is retired

BOT 2: Durazo goes down looking, one away -- Kielty hits one under the glove of Cano, single -- One down, runner at first for Hatteberg, he chops to second, the force play at second is made, no throw to first, two away -- Ginter down looking to end the inning

4:41PM HST

TOP 3: Cano drills a leadoff double to the gap, and he advances to third on a WP -- full count to Jeter, the payoff is ... whoo UPSTAIRS, he draws a walk -- Runners at the corners, Womack slams a ball to the gap, two runs score, and he hustles out a triple, WOW ... Yankees now lead, 4-0

Runner at third for Sheffield, he fouls out into the huge foul territory along the first base line, one down -- Matsui hits a bomb to right, Kielty is there, sacfly will score a run, two down and the score is now 5-0

ARod down swinging to retire the side

BOT 3: Byrnes hustles out a double on a ball that falls in front of Matsui in the gap -- full count to Scutaro, he draws a walk -- runners now first and second, with no one out

Kotsay grounds into a 463 DP to second, two down, runner advances to third on the play -- Runner at third, two down for Kendall, he doubles down the third base line, one run scores, the Yankees lead is cut to 5-1

Runner at second, two down -- Chavez down looking to end the rally

5:09PM HST

TOP 4: Tino flies out to center, one down -- Trainer comes out to see Harden -- he is taken out of the game, tough break for the A's

Yabu now in for A's -- Posada flies out to left, two away -- Giambi swings, yes I am as fricking amazed as you are, and hits a deep fly to right, but it dies out on the warning track in right and gloved for the third out

BOT 4: Durazo down looking, one away -- Kielty grounds to second, Cano holds on to the ball, waits for Muss, then delivers a nice toss to Muss covering, nice D, two away -- Hatteberg flies out to shallow center to end the inning

5:28PM HST

TOP 5: Cano powers one the other way to left center, Kotsay makes a great over the shoulder catch, one down

BOT 5: Ginter down looking, one away -- Byrnes pops up to first, two away --
Scutaro flies to right for the third out

5:40PM HST

TOP 6: Sheffield grounds out to short -- Matsui hits a high chopper to the pitcher, two down, great D by Yabu -- First pitch swinging, ARod lines out to second to retire the side

BOT 6: Kotsay goes down swinging on the breaker down, one down -- Kendall slaps a double down the third base line into the left field corner

One down, runner on second for Chavez, Muss falls behind, then works it full, he goes down looking ... wow, that looked outside, tough break for the slumping Chavez, two away -- Durazo down swinging, the ball is dropped, Posada applies the tag, the side is retired

TOP 7: Tino flies to right, just missed it, one down -- that's now 13 Yankees down in a row -- Posada hits a comebacker at Yabu, he leaps and gloves it, two down ... another great play -- Giambi down on a check swing, three down

Seventh Inning Stretch, Yankees lead, 5-1

BOT 7: Kielty grounds a single through the right side of the infield -- Sturtze and Stanton warming for the Yankees -- Hatteberg smashes a double tailing away from Sheffield, the runner advances to third on the play -- Stottlemyre is out to confer

Runners at second and third, none out for Ginter, he grounds to Jeter, one run scores, the NY lead is cut to 5-2

Runner now second for Byrnes, he fouls out to Posada behind the plate, two away -- two down, runner at second for Scutaro, Muss gets ahead in the count, Scutaro works it full, then grounds to third for out #3

Very solid outing by the Muss for the second straight start

6:17PM HST

TOP 8: Cano grounds one to deep short, great attempt by Scutaro falling away, the throw pulls the 1B off the bag, single -- Gordon warming for the Yankees -- Jeter hits a slow chopper to first, Hatteberg bobbles, and his throw to Yabu covering is late, error, the runner advances to second on the play

Runners at first and second to Womack, none out, he lays a sacbunt in front of the play, close play at first, one down, the runners advance to scoring position -- Sheffield gets the intentional walk to load em up

Bases loaded, one out for Matsui -- Yabu gets the hook after a solid pitching performance in relief, holding the Yankees at 5 runs, Rincon will pitch for A's

Matsui flies to center, sacfly scores one run and advances the runner from second to third, two away -- Yankees add another run, 6-2

A's bring in Cruz to pitch ARod -- runners at the corners, two down for ARod, down looking at the inside pitch on the black to retire the side

BOT 8: The winning setup begins, Gordon in for the Yankees -- Kotsay grounds to second, one down -- Full count to Kendall, he hits the payoff pitch to left, fly out, two away -- Chavez grounds to Tino, tosses to Gordon covering to retire the side

6:45 PM HST

TOP 9: Tino draws a walk, and that will likely end his consecutive game HR streak at 5 -- Posada also draws a walk, runners now first and second for Giambi -- Giambi lines a single to right, it gets by Kielty and rolls to the rightfield wall, two runs score, and Giambi to third on the error, Yankees add two more runs, 8-2

Runner at third, no outs -- Cano drives one over the head of Kotsay in center, this will roll to the wall, double, another run scores -- the NY lead is now 9-2

Runner now second, still no outs, Harikkala will now pitch for A's -- Jeter grounds to third for the first out of the inning -- Womack pops out foul to third in the V A S T foul territory at Network Associates, two away -- Sheffield pops out to second to retire the side

BOT 9: Stanton comes in to get some work -- Durazo lines out to Jeter, one away -- Stanton works it full to Kielty, the payoff ...ball four, walk -- Quantrill warming for Yankees -- Hatteberg flied out to right, two away -- Ginter singles to center, Matsui cuts it off before it gets to the gap, saves a run and prevents the double, runners at the corners now

Two down, runners at the corners for Byrnes, he doubles down the left field line, fair ball, down into the corner, two runs will score, the lead is cut to 9-4

The reset, runner at second, two down -- Stanton had a rough go, looked like rust -- Quantrill will face Scutaro, he gets a quick line drive at Jeter to end the game

7:12 PM HST

FINAL: Yankees win, 9-4

The Yankees jumped on the A's ace Harden early, and the A's just didn't mount any serious offensive threat ... Muss was really on today, another solid pitching performance by a Yankee starter

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Tomorrow Kevin Brown will try to string another W on the line for the Yankees
... and Joe Blanton will go for the A's

17 UP 19 DOWN ... six straight wins