The Yankees and the Red Sox played a nail biter tonight. No surprise there. The Red Sox weren't impressed with Mariano Rivera and cuffed him around. Not a stretch there either as three of Rivera's last six blown saves have been to the Red Sox. He blew the save tonight too. But the Yankees won the game. To the teeth gnashing of Red Sox fans everywhere, that wasn't a surprise either.

Both starting pitchers walked more batters than expected. Pedro gave up four walks and David Wells, who had walked only six batters all year, walked five tonight. The walks weren't due to wildness however. The home plate umpire, Dana Demuth, had a four inch strike zone. His umpiring for the night was a joke. Pedro at one point made enough gestures to get thrown out of most games. Demuth, to his only credit of the night, did not toss him. Because of Pedro's gestures, the highlight shows focused on Pedro getting squeezed. In truth, Wells was squeezed far worse.

You have to feel badly for Jeremy Giambi. The lesser famous of the two Giambi brothers has had a miserable year and has been broken down to pinch hitting duties made the last out with the Red Sox runners on first and second. Most will forget that Kevin Millar struck out on a pitch over his head before that. The Red Sox left twelve men on base for the night.

The saga of the Yankees and Byung-Hyun Kim continued as Kim took the loss for his fourth straight ninth inning loss to the Yankees going back to the Arizona/Yankee World Series.

Old man, Jesse Orosco, came in for the Yankees in the seventh inning and got both of his batters in a tight situation. Win another one for the old guys.


In other games, Braves' reliever, John Smoltz, blew his first save of the year as the Expos came back and beat the Braves.

The Cubs took a big game from the Astros despite Sosa striking out three times in three chances. Moises Alou was the hero.

The Florida Marlins scored eight runs in the late innings to come from behind and beat the Phillies. Dontrelle Willis pitched great for the Marlins and gave up only one run in six innings but did not get the decision as his bullpen couldn't hold the score.


And finally: Despite the fact that Bobby Bonds was the player traded to the Yankees to displace the Fan's beloved Bobby Murcer, and despite the fact that Barry Bonds isn't the most beloved player in baseball, the Fan has to send warm thoughts to Bobby, Barry and their family as Bobby had heart surgury as he fights cancer. The Fan sends warm thoughts and heartfelt wishes that Bobby Bonds makes a full recovery.