Tonight, the Yankees will face off against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium, and many hope the Bronx Bombers can avoid the sweep (and mayflies) and claw their way back to winning this first round of playoff games. Since things are so nerve-wracking, we thought some Yankees fans - and even haters - might be find this Village Voice story funny. more ›

In what has to be considered a huge upset, the Tigers defeated the Yankees 8-3 Saturday to advance to the ALCS. New York’s vaunted offense was putrid, getting only six hits and simply looking overmatched. Detroit will face Oakland starting Tuesday in a matchup of two teams with great pitching. more ›

-Yankees 16 Tampa 1: How strange are these days for the Yankees? Well consider tonight when they used 17 position players, including Gary Sheffield at first and Mariano came in to pitch the seventh inning of the game. That’s what happens in the last week of September when you have the division wrapped up. Jaret Wright didn’t exactly dominate the Devil Rays, but he probably pitched well enough to win the job of fourth starter in the playoffs. Brian Bruney continued to impress with a 1-2-3 eighth. Robinson Cano went 2-4 to raise his average to .342 and move to within 2 plate appearances of qualifying for the batting title. more ›

-Yankees 9 Orioles 4: Sal Fasano became a Yankee because of his defense and not his hitting, but on Sunday he showed that he has some offensive skills too. Fasano went 2-4 with a three-run homer as New York cruised to an easy victory. more ›

- Mets 6, Nationals 4: John Maine's scoreless inning streak surely couldn't last. Former Yankee Nick Johnson ended the streak at 26 with a home run in the 4th inning of last night's win against the Nationals. Maine's chance of winning his third game ended in the 6th inning when the Nationals scored 3 runs, chasing him from the game. The Mets scored two in the 7th to break a 4-4 tie with RBI from Jose Valentin and Michael Tucker. Billy Wagner pitched a perfect 9th inning for his 27th save of the season. And for those readers that like to place the Mets in the AL East for comparison (not sure why you would) - their 70 wins would put them atop the Yankees. more ›

-Yankees 6 Orioles 1: It has been a great week for New York, adding big names, going 5-1 and taking a two-game lead in the AL East. The Yankees latest victory was powered by solo homeruns from Damon, Jeter, Cabrera and Giambi combined with a shaky start from Jaret Wright. Wright only lasted his usual six innings while walking four and giving up five hits, but Baltimore could never come up with a big hit against him. more ›

-Yankees 5, Blue Jays 1: Bobby Abreu's walk set up a bases-clearing tiebreaking double by Bernie Williams, and the Yankees won the opener against Toronto. Abreu didn't have a hit in his three at-bats, but his patience fits in with the rest of the Yankees lineup and will be an asset for the team, even if he doesn't hit for power. Jaret Wright gave a typical performance. He lasted only five innings and kept the Yankees in the game. It's not worth the $7 million a year he's making, but it's betterr than Sidney Ponson. more ›

-Mets 13 Cubs 7: New York fell behind 5-0, not a problem when you hit not one, but two grand slams in a single inning. The Mets erupted for eleven runs in the sixth thanks to home runs from Cliff Floyd, Carlos Beltran and David Wright plus two errors by Todd Walker. more ›

- Yankees 1, Devil Rays 0: What does Jaret Wright have to do to pitch more than 6 innings? Last night against Tampa Bay, Wright's pitch count was only at 91 after the 6th inning, he tied a career-high strikeout total with 10 and only allowed four hits. The Yankee bullpen kept the D-Rays hitless in the next three innings to preserve Wright's 5th victory of the season. The lone Yankee run came on a 2-out RBI by Bernie Williams in the 4th. The Yankees spoiled the Tampa debut of Jae Seo, who 2-hit the Yankees over 7 innings. more ›

-Yankees 16 Mets 7: You can cross “A-Rod never gets a big hit against the Mets” off your list of reasons to boo him. Sunday night A-Rod delivered two huge hits, a grand slam and a three-run homer as the Yankees drew a split in the Subway Series. more ›

- Mets 8, Yankees 3: The Mets woke up from their four-game slump in the first inning during yesterday's game at Yankee Stadium, scoring two runs in the first frame. It got better for the Mets in the 4th when they scored 5 runs. Randy Johnson allowed 8 runs in a game for the first time since 2003 and continued his 1st inning struggles. Steve Trachsel pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs and left the game with tightness in his groin, something that was bothering him previously, but shouldn't result in any missed action. The eight runs scored by the Mets equals their run production during their losing streak. The two teams face off tonight at 8:05 in the rubber game with Alay Soler facing Jaret Wright. more ›

-Reds 6 Mets 5: Jose Reyes recorded the first cycle in the majors this year, but Billy Wagner blew the save and the Mets lost. Wagner got the first two outs of the ninth, but then walked Austin Kearns and David Ross and gave up back-to-back singles to Rich Aurilia and Brandon Phillips. Carlos Beltran led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but Carlos Delgado flied out and David Wright grounded into a double play to end the game. The Mets finish their homestand tomorrow before heading to Toronto. more ›

-Red Sox 9 Yankees 3: For five innings it seemed like the Yankees might pull off an improbable sweep. They led Boston 3-1 heading into the sixth, but Jaret Wright suddenly lost control of his fastball and Boston jumped all over him and two subsequent relievers to cruise to a 9-3 victory. The loss leaves New York with a ½ game lead in the AL East. more ›

-Ex-Yankee Grimsley set to name names: Remember Jason Grimsley? The reliever who had an effective half season with the Yankees in 1999 before reverting to mediocrity or worse? Now, his house has been raided by federal authorities in search of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. He's reportedly set to name others who he knows/suspects of taking them. Given his resume, that might prove substantial. Stay tuned. more ›

Tom Glavine got his eighth win of the season, retiring the first fifteen batters he faced as the Mets beat the Marlins 7-4. David Wright who missed Friday’s game with back-spasms had a perfect day at the plate going 4-4 with two doubles. Billy Wagner came in and got the last two outs of the ninth for his 11th save. more ›

The Mets won a 9-8, 16-inning thriller over the Phillies. The official length of the game was 5 hours 22 minutes. The game ended on a home run by Carlos Beltran. Mets fans should rejoice tomorrow as there's no more Lima Time. It will mark the debut of Alay Soler, the team's 9th starting pitcher this season - the team used 8 all of last season. more ›

The Yankees 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay marked only the second time this season they have won when scoring less than six runs. Hideki Matsui provided the key hit, a two-run single in the sixth inning that gave New York the lead. Derek Jeter added a RBI-double and Jason Giambi also had a RBI to complete the scoring. more ›

Staked to a four-run lead, Randy Johnson couldn’t even make it out of the fourth inning as he imploded in grand fashion and the Yankees lost to Toronto last night 10-5. Perhaps it is merely a coincidence, but Johnson left his last start because of tightness and this performance will only increase the questions about his health. more ›

Hideki Matsui’s outfield play has regressed each season, but he is usually flawless mentally. Saturday night, Matsui made a boneheaded decision in the ninth inning of the Yankees 6-5 loss to Minnesota. With a runner on first and no one out, Matsui chose to try and throw out the runner heading for third instead of throwing to second to prevent the winning run from getting into scoring position. When Justin Morneau singled with two outs, both runs scored and the Yankees had lost again. more ›

The Yankees imploded last night with shoddy defense and poor relief pitching, falling to the A’s 9-4. Jaret Wright was the loser while Joe Kennedy got the win. more ›

It was a season of lows and highs from an 11-19 start to 95 wins and a playoff spot the Yankees gave their fans a story with many twists and turns in 2005. There was the emergence of Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang and the painful decline of Bernie Williams. In the end, the Yankees couldn’t keep the momentum they had built in September going and fell to the Angels in five games. more ›

Jaret Wright might want to see if he can get a protective screen placed in front of the mound. Three weeks ago it was a ball that hit him, on Sunday it was a piece of a broken bat. Both collisions forced him out of ballgames and both ended in Yankee losses, the latest a 6-5 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jays. more ›

Most baseball teams would love to be tied for the wild card lead and three and a half games out on August 24th. The Yankees found themselves in that position before Wednesday’s 9-2 loss to Toronto, but of course, the Yankees are not most baseball teams. They have played inconsistently all season, and given the status of their pitching staff, there is no reason to think the season’s last five weeks will see the Yankees cruise into the playoffs like years past. more ›

He walked off the Yankee Stadium mound on April 23rd with an injured shoulder and a 9.15ERA. At the time, most Yankees’ fans weren’t sorry to see him go. Fast-forward four months later and fans are glad Jaret Wright is back. Monday night he shut down the Blue Jays for seven innings leading the Yankees to a 7-0 victory. more ›

Back in March, Gothamist wrote that, “(this edition) of the Yankees should be an improvement over last year’s, especially when you consider the starting pitching.” Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. High-priced imports, Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright have combined for a 15-14 record with an ERA well over 4.50. Wright has not pitched since April and will probably not do so again until August. If you want to find a reason the Yankees are only 46-40, look no further. more ›

Don’t look now, but the Yankees are winning again. Friday night they dispatched the Indians 5-4 and currently sit in second place, 3 1/2 games behind the disgruntled Boston Red Sox. Friday’s victory was due to solid, but not spectacular pitching from rookie, Chien-Ming Wang. Wang raised his record to 6-3 and has become an integral part of this team. With Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright all on the disabled list, the Yankees will be counting on Wang heavily in the second half of the season. more ›

Lost in the glare of A Rod’s amazing performance was another solid outing by Carl Pavano. Pavano mixed and matched his pitches and while he was not overpowering, his stuff was good enough when it had to be; especially in the fifth inning when he escaped from a second and third, no one out and reigning MVP Vlad Guerrero at the plate situation by only allowing one run. more ›

Rookie, Andy Phillips, was the offensive star of the game, going 2-4 with a home run while driving in four runs. Phillips, who had spent time on the bench earlier this season, was recalled from Columbus Friday to replace Ruben Sierra who will be out four to six weeks. With Tino Martinez and Jason Giambi struggling, perhaps Phillips will get more playing time over the next month. He certainly earned another look based on his performance Sunday. more ›

On the other side of the ledger, perhaps Texas’ Chris Young should inherit the moniker of “Big Unit”. Young, at 6’10”, is as tall as Randy Johnson and certainly pitched like him tonight, limiting the Yankees to four hits while striking out seven. The Yankee offense could never get on track and managed only two extra base hits against a mediocre pitching staff. more ›

To make matters worse for the Yankees, owner, George Steinbrenner vented his frustration publicly after the game issuing a statement saying, “Enough is enough. I am bitterly disappointed as I’m sure all Yankee fans are by the lack of performance by our team. It is unbelievable to me that the highest-paid team in baseball would start the season in such a deep funk. They are not playing like true Yankees. They have the talent to win and they are not winning. I expect Joe Torre, his complete coaching staff and the team to turn this around.” more ›