Bronx Big Game Hunting

At Yankee Stadium last night, Manny Ramirez bagged himself a Moose. That should never again be allowed to happen in the Bronx!

Ramirez belted a homer in each of his first two plate appearances against one-time ace Mike Mussina who took the loss as the Yankees fell 7-5 to the Red Sox.

Let's face it, Moose is an endangered species. He's lucky to get past the 4th or the 5th inning against a team of average hitters, much less against a team with hitters the likes of Manny Ramirez. There are only two instances where Moose should ever pitch to him again-if the Yankees have a 10 run lead or if "Manny being Manny" decides to blindfold himself with that do-rag he wears.

Hey Joe, next time Manny's got Moose in the cross hairs, please take the weapon out of his hands and park him at first base!

Other notes:

The Yanks offense came to life briefly in the 5th inning when they managed 3 consecutive hits off of Beckett, scoring 3 runs...then again in the 9th when they scored 2 off of Papelbon.

Papelbon was not sharp in the 9th, for a change-though it wasn't a save situation. Still, seeing Posada rip a double and Melky Cabrera belt a home run off the reliever was a high point in an otherwise disappointing game-too bad they couldn't pull off a comeback.

Tomorrow night the Birds! Go Yanks!