Last Night's Action: Better Late than Never
- Yankees 9, Blue Jays 8: They didn't deserve to win this game. Chien-Ming Wang walked four batters and allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. Melky Cabrera dropped a fly ball in a five-run Toronto fifth. But Wilson Betemit hit a two-run homer in the sixth to make it 7-6. The Yankees, who trailed, 7-2, after the top of the fifth, entered the ninth inning trailing by two. Hideki Matsui's RBI single preceded Jason Giambi's two-out, pinch-hit game-winning homer into the upper deck in right field. All that effort just to get to the .500 mark. For a team that has looked so listless when it has trailed this season, Thursday's win was a welcome sight. The Yankees host the lowly Royals this weekend, so maybe they can get north of the break-even point soon.
- Padres 2, Mets 1: Lost amid the hubbub of the Mets' mediocrity this season have been the surprisingly good outcomes of Scott Schoeneweis' appearances. Maybe Omar Minaya was right to give him that three-year deal worth $10.8 million? Or maybe not. Schoeneweis' success is built on a house of cards, and he showed just why Thursday. He allowed three walks and hit Paul McAnulty to allow the winning run to score in the ninth inning of the loss to San Diego. Schoeneweis has a 2.66 ERA, yes, but his 10-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio suggests that is going up soon. He also ruined a nice start against Mike Pelfrey. Even he couldn't mess up pitching in San Diego's cavernous Petco Park against the Padres.
- Jozy Altidore is out the door. The talented Red Bulls striker -- so young he missed a game last year for his high school prom -- will be playing games for the Spanish club Villareal. At 18, he will get valuable experience for the United States' national team. Major League Soccer, meanwhile, gets some extra coin in the ole coffer. Thanks to Juan Pablo Angel's goal in the 75th minute, the Red Bulls didn't need Altidore in a 1-0 win over Chivas USA .
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