Yankees edge Angels

Robinson Cano hit a grand slam after Maicer Izturis' two-out error in the seventh inning and the New York Yankees overcame another shaky performance by Mariano Rivera to beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-5 Thursday.

Rivera gave up a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Russell Branyan on his first pitch in the ninth before getting two outs for his 30th save.

White Sox 6, Orioles 3: Mark Buehrle pitched eight innings to earn his 10th win, Alexei Ramirez homered in a four-run first inning, and Chicago cruised past Baltimore.

Click Here

Tigers 4, Indians 3: Justin Verlander gave Detroit exactly what it needed, becoming baseball's first 17-game winner as division-leading Detroit avoided being swept by Cleveland and opened a three-game lead in the AL Central.

Rays 4, Royals 1: Tampa Bay has momentum heading into a week of important division games. Jeff Niemann won his sixth consecutive decision, Ben Zobrist had a two-run triple and the Rays completed a four-game sweep of Kansas City.

Reds 2, Rockies 1: Johnny Cueto and two relievers made a pair of first-inning runs stand up and the Cincinnati Reds salvaged a split of their four-game series against Colorado.

Cueto, who blamed bad chicken wings for an upset stomach while pitching a season-low 3 2-3 innings in his last start at Wrigley Field, bounced back to throw three-hit ball for seven shutout innings.

Cubs 4, Nationals 3: Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena hit back-to-back homers and Chicago beat Washington.

Athletics 10, Blue Jays 3: Conor Jackson drove in three runs, Hideki Matsui had four hits and visiting Oakland beat Toronto.

In the news

Braves to retire Cox's No. 6

Bobby Cox, who retired last year after 29 years as a manager, including 25 with Atlanta, will be back on the field tonight when his No. 6 jersey is retired before a game against the Cubs.

The 70-year-old Cox also will be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame. He says he is humbled and the day will be "everything you could ask for."

Washington: First baseman Michael Morse had to leave Thursday's game against the Chicago Cubs after being hit on the elbow by a pitch.

Morse was down in the count 0-2 leading off the seventh in a 1-1 game when Ryan Dempster's pitch hit him in the left elbow.

Baltimore: Orioles pitcher Jake Arrieta is scheduled to have season-ending surgery Friday to remove a bone spur from his right elbow.

Tampa: Detectives have arrested a southwest Florida man they say burglarized a home shared by three Tampa Bay Rays players during spring training in March.

Authorities in Port Charlotte charged 22-year-old Steven Charles Vaughn with breaking into a rented house shared by Evan Longoria, David Price and Reid Brignac.

Vaughn allegedly took $60,000 worth of items, including electronics, watches, jewelry and an AK-47-type rifle. Deputies say the players were participating in a spring training game at the time.

What they're writing

Cold summer in San Francisco

Something is missing with the Giants. I nominate fire.

Seriously, forget the Panda hats. Every player in a Giants uniform should be wearing a Smokey Bear hat right now. No team is better at putting out the hot flame of a potential rally or winning streak.

It was all on display Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park in a 9-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a home run by Pablo Sandoval in the first inning - with no one on base, of course. At that point, the ballyard was primed for some rock and roll. The Giants did neither. Three of their next four hitters struck out.

Putting Kruk in his place, on Phillies Wall of Fame

IMAGINE A PHILLIES team with two star lefthanded starting pitchers, arguably the best righthanded starter in major league baseball, an emerging rookie ace, and a lineup capable of putting a crooked number on the board a couple of times a night.

That's this team, right? Right. But it was a trade-deadline deal short of being the 1993 Phillies, John Kruk says, if the organization's current aggressive philosophy was the philosophy back then.

"If you remember the trade deadline, we had a chance to get Randy Johnson and they didn't want to give up, I think, Mike Lieberthal," the Krukker was saying yesterday. "Either him or Tyler Green . . . "

Kruk paused.

"Look, I love Lieby, he's one of my favorite people. But, at the time, I wish he was a Mariner."

In the past, that candor has put the ex-Phillie at odds with the ownership group that still oversees the team, and adds a certain edginess to this weekend's ceremonies, when the team will add the name of one of its most colorful and productive players to its Wall of Fame. As recently as 2007, in an interview with Philadelphia magazine, Kruk - the player most identified with the team's Macho Row era - was petitioning for the team to be sold to owners more willing to spend money on free agents and big-name players.

"Because they weren't spending money," he said. "They would never go out of their way to get a big-name guy to get over the hump."

That changed with the arrival of Pat Gillick, whose resume convinced the ownership to take more risks. Part of that resume included a 1993 world championship with Toronto - achieved at the expense of Kruk and his teammates.

It's not hard to imagine what that 1993 National League championship team, which scored an NL-tops 877 runs and whose pitchers completed a league-high 24 games without Johnson, could have done by adding the 6-10 lefty. Johnson finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting that year. Eight years later, with Johnson relieving Schilling in a memorable Game 7, the Arizona Diamondbacks upset the mighty New York Yankees in seven games, despite closer Byung-Hyun Kim blowing two straight saves in Yankee Stadium.

"We were all gung-ho because we heard Randy Johnson was coming here," Kruk said. "That puts us over the hump. That's a win that day. Now you have him and Curt Schilling and Terry Mulholland? There's wins there. They didn't pull the trigger. So, there was some animosity, yeah."

Kruk no longer feels any of that.

"My relationship with the team is better now than it was when I was a player," he said. His 9-year-old son Kyle is a huge Phillies fan "and the fact that the Phillies are a great team brings us closer together because we talk about them all the time," he said.

A baseball player himself, Kyle Kruk's favorite player is Roy Halladay. It's fair to say Kruk's favorite teammate was not Curt Schilling. Yet when asked "Halladay or Schilling?" yesterday, Kruk's answer was immediate.

"I'll take Schilling," he said. "I love Roy, but I'll take Schilling in a big game over anyone. No [Roger] Clemens, no Pedro [Martinez] . . . I don't care who. Throw them out there . . . Matter of fact, they can have Halladay, Lee and the bullpen. I'm taking Schill.

"I'm biased, though. I've seen it, witnessed it, been on the field when he struck five Braves out of the first six and spit in the direction of their dugout walking off the field. 'That's it for you boys. You're done.' "

So then the obvious follow-up is this: Who wins a seven-game series, the 1993 team or this one?

Again, no hesitation. "Oh, this team," said Kruk. "Now if we had Randy? I'd go Randy and Schilling against Lee and Halladay. And the thing that's different is that our team was very patient and we walked a lot. We were very aggressive in the strike zone early. If it was strike one, we were hacking at it. But we just didn't swing at bad pitches. And that's where we had the advantage over the Braves, because they didn't have big strikeout guys.

"I'm not saying we could hit Halladay or Lee or Hamels, but our offense would give them a tougher test than what they faced this year. You can't let guys with that kind of stuff and that kind of command get ahead of you."

If the son wants to know what his father was like beyond the stats, that summation is a pretty good place to start. Whether it was his patient approach at the plate or his impatient and often ornery approach with the media, Kruk was the 1993 Phillies. That's what I'd put on the plaque anyway.

Him?

"You look at it - I'm going to be on the Phillies Wall of Fame with the greatest third baseman ever [Mike Schmidt]," he said. "Arguably the greatest lefthanded pitcher in the history of baseball ever [Steve Carlton] . . .

"Why would I belong there?"

Some have argued he doesn't, I said, at least not before Schilling.

"He played longer," he said. "So he has to wait. He just retired a few years ago. I'm 50 years old.

"I didn't want to go in posthumously, you know?"

Abreu homers off Rivera in 9th, Angels trap Yanks

NEW YORK (AP) - That ol' fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff play that never, ever works? Trying telling that to the Los Angeles Angels.

Rookie closer Jordan Walden pulled the much-maligned trick and trapped Curtis Granderson for the final out, and the Angels rode Bobby Abreu's two-run homer in the ninth inning off Mariano Rivera to beat the New York Yankees 6-4 Tuesday night.

"I haven't seen anyone do it since Little League," Angels veteran Torii Hunter said. "Nope. But I'm standing out there in right field and whoa!'"

Abreu connected with two outs for his second home run of the game. The Yankees then began to rally in the bottom half, putting runners at the corners with Mark Teixeira up.

Walden bluffed toward third a couple times. The only thing that did was draw boos from the crowd.

Walden decided to try it once more. He stepped to third as if to make a throw, whirled toward first and - surprise! - Granderson was trying to steal second and caught in no-man's-land.

For Walden, it was easy pickin's.

"He's halfway and I'm like, 'What?'" Walden said. "You practice it in spring training. That's why."

Walden threw to shortstop Erick Aybar, who chased Granderson. Aybar tossed to first baseman Mark Trumbo, who made the tag.

"I was trying to get to second base. The odds are you never really see too many teams do that too many times in an inning," Granderson said. "So the odds are he's probably not going to do it again. There's two strikes and I don't have too many options to get to second base."

The Angels, the only American League team with a winning record against the Yankees over the last decade, saddled New York with its first three-game losing streak since early June.

Abreu's drive deep into the right-field seats was only the second homer allowed this season by Rivera (1-2). The Yankees closer faltered for the second straight appearance - he blew a ninth-inning lead Sunday night in Boston.

"I don't worry about that. That's going to happen," Rivera said. "Unfortunately, it happened tonight."

Abreu connected for his first multihomer game this season and 16th of his career. Once a star for the Yankees, Abreu sat in a golf cart outside the Angels' clubhouse and chatted with some of his former teammates before the game while rain washed away batting practice.

"It's unbelievable," Abreu said. "You never expect as a hitter you're going to hit a homer against Mariano."

Pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo opened the ninth with a single. Aybar bunted into a forceout, leaving him in an 0-for-24 slump, and stole second base. After Howie Kendrick grounded out, Abreu hit his sixth home run of the season.

Walden worked the ninth for his 26th save in 33 chances. Scott Downs (6-2) got Russell Martin to ground out with two runners on to end the eighth.

The Angels moved a season-high 12 games over .500. They have the AL's best record since mid-June.

Derek Jeter lined a two-out, two-run single over Fernando Rodney's head that made it 4-all in the seventh, and smiled wide as the Angels made a pitching change. That tying hit came right after Brett Gardner finished starter Dan Haren with an RBI single and stole his 22nd straight base.

The Angels scored four times off A.J. Burnett in the sixth for a 4-1 lead. Abreu led off with a low liner for a home run - right fielder Nick Swisher actually broke in a few steps - and three walks loaded the bases with two outs.

Jeff Mathis stepped up batting .180 and took a half-swing at Burnett's first pitch. Plate umpire Chris Guccione ruled it a strike and quickly ejected Angels manager Mike Scioscia for arguing. Scioscia came out to have his say, returned to the dugout and Mathis hit the next pitch on one hop over the center-field wall for a two-run double.

Burnett followed by throwing a wild pitch that let another run score, and was booed when the inning ended.

Granderson hit his 29th homer, giving New York a 1-0 lead in the first.

NOTES: Angels RHP Garrett Richards is set to make his major league debut Wednesday night against the Yankees. Richards was 12-2 with 3.06 ERA at Double-A Arkansas. The 23-year-old was drafted by the Angels in the first round in 2009. Richards will fill in while RHP Jered Weaver serves a six-game suspension. LHP Horacio Ramirez was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to make room for Richards. Rookie Ivan Nova (10-4) will start for New York. He struck out a career-high 10 in his last start vs. the White Sox. ... DH Jorge Posada was still on the bench for the Yankees. "I'm not happy," he said. "I really can't control not being in the lineup." ...Yankees RHP Phil Hughes will pitch Saturday vs. Tampa Bay. He was supposed to start this game, but got moved back after pitching in relief Sunday night at Boston.

Baseball vacation cut short by devastating fire

BRUSHTON — By DENISE A. RAYMO

Mary Robideau had front-row seats behind the bullpen for the final game of the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees series Sunday night.

"We were so excited," she said. "My partner and I had been planning this vacation for six months."

The Major League Baseball game went into extra innings at Fenway Park, with the Sox pulling it out in the end to take over first place in the American League Eastern Division.

But Robideau and her partner, Elijah Tomkiewicz, didn't see any of it.

Instead, they were driving back to Brushton after getting a frantic call about 3 a.m. Sunday that their house was on fire.

EVERYTHING GONE

"We've lost everything. We have nothing," she said Monday. "We have insurance for the replacement value of the house and $30,000 for the contents, but that's not going to be anywhere near what we lost."

Robideau lived at 17 Grove St. with Tomkiewicz and her four children: Melissa Russell, 20; Justin LaVarnway, 17; Katelynd LaVarnway, 15; and Edward Russell III, 10.

No one was at home when the fire erupted and quickly spread throughout the 1½-story older house.

LUCKY TO BE ALIVE

"If we were home when the fire started, we were told we would've perished, so I'm just thankful nobody was home," Robideau said.

"It happened at 3 o'clock in the morning, and we all would've been asleep."

The blaze, which the Franklin County Cause and Origin Team deemed an accidental electrical fire, got its start in the living room.

"It was an extension cord that I had been using for a Glade Plug-In. You're not supposed to use an extension cord, but I didn't know that," Robideau said. "That's right where it started."

PREPARED FOR FIRE

She said they have smoke alarms.

"One goes 'beep, beep, beep,' but it also says, 'Fire! Fire! Get out!' She speaks to you. I know because we've tested it.

"We had fire drills all the time and had an evacuation route that we practiced and practiced.

"I remember hearing about a whole family that was lost in a fire, and I said, 'That's not going to happen to us.'

"But you know the ironic thing? Our evacuation route was the first place that caught on fire. If we would've been home and used our evacuation route, we wouldn't have gotten out."

HELP WITH RECOVERY

Robideau, who works as a floating staff nurse at Alice Hyde Medical Center and its clinics for a number of physicians with specialized practices, said the American Red Cross has been contacted.

And family members are organizing a jamboree to help her family rebuild after such a terrible loss.

HAD STOCKED UP

"We had already done our back-to-school shopping. I'm a coupon shopper, and I always look for ways to save money, so we can have extra things for the kids," Robideau said.

"In my basement, it looked like a grocery-store aisle of hygiene products I'd gotten with coupons. I bet I had a year's supply of hygiene products and laundry detergent, things like that.

"But it's all gone. Our clothing is taken care of, and we've been promised some furniture, but I don't know what it is yet."

She said a local church has offered its missionary house for a few months until they can find a place to rent and try to restore normalcy.

TEARS

"It's so frustrating. And I've been crying a lot of the time since it happened," Robideau said. "It's emotional. It's hard when I'm just sitting here, thinking about what we lost."

She quietly sobbed again, overcome with emotion as she recalled the one-of-kind treasures she has lost forever.

"My dad passed away when I was about 10, and the things I had of his, everything that I had of his, is gone."

Friday's American League Capsules

BOSTON (AP) — Reliever Boone Logan struck out Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded to end the fifth inning, and the New York Yankees came back to beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Friday night to win their eighth straight game and take over first place in the AL East.

Logan (3-2) was the first of five Yankees relievers who combined to throw 4 1-3 shutout innings after starter Bartolo Colon couldn't make it out of the fifth. Mariano Rivera was the last, pitching the ninth for his 29th save.

The win gave New York the division lead for the first time since July 6. Boston had beaten the Yankees in eight of their previous nine meetings this year.

Nick Swisher had two hits, including an RBI double off Jon Lester (11-5) to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

Rays 8, Athletics 4

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Niemann took a four-hitter into the ninth inning en route to winning his fifth consecutive decision for Tampa Bay.

Niemann (6-4) allowed four runs and seven hits over 8 2-3 innings. The right-hander was replaced by Kyle Farnsworth after giving up a pair of runs and three hits in the ninth. Niemann improved to 5-0 in eight starts since returning from a strained lower back on June 20.

Evan Longoria and Casey Kotchman both had run-scoring doubles, and Matt Joyce hit an RBI single in the fifth that put the Rays up 4-0.

Coco Crisp and Hideki Matsui homered for the Athletics, who have lost 30 of their last 37 games away from home. Guillermo Moscoso (4-6) gave up four runs and six hits in 4 2-3 innings.

White Sox 5, Twins 3

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Carlos Quentin had two home runs and four RBIs, Mark Buehrle was sharp after a rough first inning, and Chicago snapped a six-game losing streak.

Buehrle (9-5) allowed three unearned runs and four hits over eight innings, extending his streak of allowing three runs or fewer to 17 straight games.

All three runs against Buehrle came in the first inning and were unearned because of an error by first baseman Adam Dunn. Buehrle retired 22 of the last 24 hitters he faced.

Chris Sale pitched the ninth for his third save in four chances.

Quentin had his 14th career multi-homer game, and two-run shot in the fifth off starter Nick Blackburn (7-9) gave Chicago the lead for good.

Blue Jays 5, Orioles 4

BALTIMORE (AP) — Brett Lawrie got two hits and an RBI in his major league debut, Aaron Hill drove in two runs, and Toronto beat Baltimore.

Lawrie hit a run-scoring single in his first at-bat and singled in the eighth inning, missing a chance for a second RBI when Colby Rasmus was thrown out at the plate.

Obtained last winter in a trade with Milwaukee, the 21-year-old Lawrie is the 17th Canadian to play for the Blue Jays. He made an error at third base in the second inning, but it was inconsequential.

Brad Mills (1-1) allowed three runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings to earn his second big league win. The first was on June 28, 2010, against Baltimore.

Tommy Hunter (1-2) gave up four runs and eight hits in four innings for the Orioles.

Tigers 4, Royals 3, 10 innings

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brennan Boesch hit a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning lift Detroit past Kansas City.

Wilson Betemit led off the inning with a walk and pinch-runner Andy Dirks took second on a wild pitch by Aaron Crow (3-3) with one out.

Daniel Schlereth (1-1) worked two scoreless innings and Jose Valverde pitched the bottom of the 10th for his 31st straight save.

Austin Jackson and Boesch opened the game with back-to-back triples in the Tigers' two-run first inning. Alex Avila tacked on a solo homer in the fifth.

Johnny Giavotella made his debut for the Royals and hit an RBI single before scoring the tying run on Alcides Escobar's single in the seventh.

Rangers 8, Indians 7, 11 innings

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Josh Hamilton drove in the winning run with a two-out infield single in the 11th inning and Texas denied Ubaldo Jimenez a victory in his Cleveland debut.

Elvis Andrus sparked the game-ending rally with a two-out bunt single against Rafael Perez (4-2). Andrus advanced to second on Perez's wild pitch, and Hamilton hit a soft grounder to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

Hamilton slid headfirst into first, beating Cabrera's throw. Andrus never stopped after rounding third and beat first baseman Matt LaPorta's one-hop throw to the plate.

Neftali Feliz (1-2) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings for the win.

Angels 1, Mariners 0, 10 innings

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jered Weaver struck out eight in nine innings in his first start since he was suspended for throwing at a batter, and Vernon Wells singled home the winning run in the 10th to lift Los Angeles.

Torii Hunter led off the 10th with a single against rookie Dan Cortes (0-2), advanced on a wild pitch and came home when Wells lined a 2-2 pitch to left-center. The victory ended Seattle's three-game winning streak and sent the Mariners to their 17th loss in their last 19 games at Angel Stadium.

Angels closer Jordan Walden (3-3) pitched a perfect inning for the win.

Moriah celebrates baseball great with Johnny Podres Day

Johnny Podres' baseball career is well documented: one of the Brooklyn Dodgers' "Boys of Summer"; Most Valuable Player of the 1955 World Series; three-time All-Star; National League leader in earned-run average (2.66) and shutouts (6) in 1957; league-leading winning percentage (18-5, .783) in 1961; highly regarded pitching coach — the list goes on.

But few people outside the Town of Moriah know of his great love for the North Country and specifically, the Witherbee-Mineville area.

"He never forgot where he was from," recalled longtime friend and former high-school teammate Art "Blacky" Brace of Mineville.

"I went to an exhibition game in Port St. Lucie (Fla.) when Johnny was pitching coach with the (Philadelphia) Phillies in the nineties. Johnny was walking along the first-base line before the game when two guys in the stands hollered out 'Johnny Podres, where (are) you from?''' Brace recalled.

'"Witherbee, New York,"' Podres announced proudly.

Podres, arguably the best athlete to come out of the North Country, died Jan. 13, 2008 at the age of 75. But to this day, he remains the toast of the Town of Moriah.

Saturday, the town will recognize the baseball great with the First-Annual Johnny Podres Day. Podres will be honored along with Champy, the fabled lake monster who is rumored to call Port Henry home.

"We appreciate everything he did for the game of baseball, but here in Moriah he was also a great friend and neighbor," related Tim Salerno, who helped organize Johnny Podres Day with his brother, Pat.

Pat Salerno, Jr., without question, has the largest collection of Johnny Podres memorabilia and it will all be on display Saturday. Game-worn jerseys, books, hats, trading cards, photos, pins, stamps and postcards will be shown "just south of the Lee House in Port Henry," Pat said.

"And the Phillies sent a DVD of Johnny talking to his pitchers in the dugout. I'll be showing that on Saturday."

The celebration will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and fill Main St. in Port Henry. In addition,, there will be food, craft vendors, a townwide lawn sale, music and more.

"Johnny — he always wanted to be called Johnny — always came back here. He was a smalltown boy at heart," Pat Salerno, Jr. related.

"And he wanted to make sure a lot of his stuff would remain in the area for people around here to see."

Salerno's extensive collection includes several Podres jerseys, including his 1996 All-Star shirt when he served as honorary captain for the National League.

"It has signatures from 18 Hall of Famers and the biggest is Ted Williams on the front," Salerno pointed out.

Salerno, 52, wasn't alive when Podres shut down the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series to give Brooklyn its only World Series championship. However, his father, Pat, Sr., vividly recalls the day.

"Everybody around here was jumping for joy. It meant a lot to the people of the Town of Moriah,'' the senior Salerno recalled. "Moriah was a sports town and it was a great pick-up for the town. The mines were slowly going downhill at that time and the area needed a morale boost.

"People were really proud of Johnny and had a lot of respect for him."

More than 3,000 friends and fans turned out to welcome the World Series hero home on Oct. 9, 1955. The three-mile ticker-tape parade made its way from his parents' home in Witherbee to Linney Field in Mineville.

Bernie Podres, his uncle and a high-school teammate, was not surprised by Johnny's success.

"Once he went up (to the big leagues), he knew he could do it — play at that level," said Bernie. "He worked hard to get where he was."

Bernie, only nine months older than his nephew, and Johnny played baseball every chance they could as kids.

The uncle-nephew tandem delivered the 1949 Southern Essex County League championship to Mineville in a stirring 17-inning contest with Crown Point.

"Johnny pitched the first 12 innings (striking out 15 without yielding a run) and then they brought me in," Bernie reminisced. "I think we beat them 1-0."

The actual score was 6-2 with Sherm Chappell and Roy Brown getting four hits apiece and Johnny Podres, three. Mineville outhit Crown Point, 17-6, but Burris came up with 20 strikeouts in 14 frames.

"Johnny was a tremendous athlete," Brace pointed out. "He was a great basketball player and a heck of pole vaulter, but his father (Barney Podres) wouldn't let him play football.

"His father was a tremendous prospect, too. Guys who knew him or saw him pitch said he could have been a pro ballplayer. He would make Johnny throw everyday for a half hour."

Bernie Podres wasn't able to make many of Johnny's games with the Dodgers, but the two always would get together in the offseason.

"Johnny loved to fish and go hunting. We'd do that every winter," Bernie related.

Pat Salerno, Sr. followed in Podres' footsteps, signing with the Dodgers out of high school. He made it to Class B baseball as an outfielder.

"I played four years in the minors. I hit 15 homers one season, but after my last, they wanted me to go to Class C," Salerno said. "I decided it was time to do something else. At that time, there were 21 farm teams in the Brooklyn organization and a lot of prospects."

By the time Salerno turned pro, Podres had already made it to the big leagues.

"We didn't see much of each other, but we would talk in the dorms during spring training," Salerno recalled. "One time, though, he brought me and introduced me to Sandy Koufax and Duke Snider."

The younger Salernos first met Johnny Podres in the late sixties when they were in Little League in Mineville. Johnny's sons — Johnny, Jr., and Joey — were playing at the time and Johnny would frequent the games.

"He would come out to talk to me and some of the other guys," Pat Salerno, Jr. recalled.

Pat Salerno, Jr. later spent 17 years working in the Los Angeles area, where he would re-connect with Podres.

"I'd call him up and he'd get me free tickets and invite me to come to the park two hours before the game. He'd bring me in to the clubhouse to meet the players. He was so nice to me.

"It was such a big thrill to inter-act with all the great pitchers. I became big friends with Curt Schilling. Johnny was like a father to Curt.

"He influenced a lot of ballplayers — Frank Viola, Tommy Greene — over his 50-year career and a lot of people from this area. That's why it's nice to be able to honor Johnny on Saturday."

Sanchez homers in third straight game

When the Yankees sent Gary Sanchez to Tampa in late May, it wasn't exactly the promotion the young catcher was looking for.

Sanchez, MLB.com's No. 39 prospect who hit .353 last season, said his trip to extended spring training following an attitude problem was "a reality check."

"I'm keeping focused now. Before this month, I was letting small things get to me," Sanchez said Wednesday through teammate Manny Barreda, who served as a translator. "I wouldn't get a hit and I would let that bring me down."

This month, Sanchez is on a mission to put a slow start behind him. On Wednesday, he slugged a pair of longballs to extend his homer streak to three games and drove in all of Charleston's runs in the Class A River Dogs' 7-3 loss at Asheville.

The 18-year-old backstop has plated 13 runs in his last nine games and has his average up to .251, the highest it's been since June.

The journey, especially after his success last summer, has been a humbling one for Sanchez, who signed with the Yankees for $3 million in July 2009 as a 16-year-old international free agent.

"I'm keeping the same approach and staying focused throughout the game," he said.

After tearing up the New York-Penn League with a .353 average last year, Sanchez began his first full Minor League season at Charleston this spring. He struggled early, hitting .209 with one homer in April.

The native of the Dominican Republic lost playing time to J.R. Murphy and, according to the New York Daily News, refused to play as a backup or warm up pitchers in the bullpen. The Yankees sent him to their Florida complex on May 21, and kept him there until June 4.

"It was a realty check going down there, especially seeing how hot it is down there," Sanchez said. "At first, it was a struggle, but I've never gone through failure before. I wasn't doing as well as I did in the past, that was the biggest thing. To adapt to playing time and coming out and playing every day is a new thing."

Sanchez appears to have made the transition -- he went 3-for-5 with a homer on Aug. 1, went deep again and walked on Tuesday and collected three more hits on Wednesday. He launched a two-run shot in the sixth inning and a solo homer in the eighth, giving him a share of the team lead with 14.

"I feel great, really focused up there, seeing the ball well," Sanchez said. "And I'm more focused than ever."

He'll need to be. The Yankees boast one of the most talented crops of Minor League catchers in baseball, with Sanchez, Jesus Montero and Austin Romine all vying for a chance to reach the Bronx first. Montero is generally considered to be the best hitter of the trio, while Sanchez and Romine are noted for their defense.

Sanchez said he's been working hard behind the plate.

"I'm working on everything, blocking and game-calling, just receiving and trying to not do too much," he said. "Keep the ball in front and keep the glove where it's supposed to be."

Sanchez's 13th homer came off Tourists starter Josh Mueller after Ramon Flores hit a two-out single.

"I'm just trying to make contact, hit it up the middle, and that's what I've been talking about with my hitting coach [Greg Colbrunn]," he said. "Just hitting up the middle and making good contact."

Sanchez said he followed the same approach in the eighth, when he took Kraig Sitton deep to right with the bases empty.

"Just trying to get on base, wasn't thinking about home runs today," he explained. "I made solid contact and they were both were over the right-field wall, so I was thinking up the middle."

Marlins to host Yankees in new park exhibitions

NEW YORK -- The Marlins announced Tuesday afternoon that they will play host to the New York Yankees at the New Marlins Ballpark for two exhibition games, April 1-2, 2012.

Currently 76 percent complete, according to the Marlins, the ballpark remains on time and scheduled to open next year.

In mid-June, Marlins executive vice president of ballpark development Claude Delorme said the target date for finishing the project remains March 2012.

At the time, he was hopeful that the Marlins could finish by late February and host soft events before Opening Day.

John Buck sees the exhibition games as a great way for the players and stadium personnel to work out the kinks -- somewhat of a trial run -- before Opening Day.

"I think that'll be good because it'll be different reading balls off," Buck said. "We did renovations in Kansas City [and] they had to change a couple things in the backdrop, so I'm sure they'll get feedback."

The games against the Yankees will take place on Sunday, April 1 at 1:10 p.m. ET, and Monday, April 2 at 7:10 p.m.

With a retractable roof, Sunday afternoon games will no longer be subject to the Miami weather.

"It's going to be awesome, especially for me," said Buck, who plays the physically demanding position of catcher. "I think it'll definitely save us a little in the long run."

Approximately 25,000 tickets will be available for the April 1 game, and around 30,000 tickets for April 2.

Already, 32,000 of the 36,000 seats have been installed inside the stadium. Counting 1,000 for standing room, capacity will be 37,000 at the new ballpark.

When the Yankees visited Sun Life Stadium in 2009 for a three-game regular-season series, they drew a total of 117,281 fans.

All 2012 full season and partial plan holders will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets to these exhibition games. A limited amount of tickets will also go on sale to the general public in the spring.

Marlins interim manager Jack McKeon thought the decision of playing the Yankees was a "great selection" based on the number of New York transplants who live in South Florida.

"I think it'll be great. I think it'll be a perfect time to bring the Yankees in for an exhibition game, because they always seem to draw well," McKeon said. "You get the people of Florida, the Miami area, the opportunity to see a new stadium and a Major League game before the season."

Red Sox' Buchholz out for year?

ASDRUBAL CABRERA hit a pair of two-run homers to lead the visiting Cleveland Indians to a 9-6 win over the Boston Red Sox last night.

The Sox may have suffered an even bigger loss before the game.
Boston righthander Clay Buchholz was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back and may miss the rest of the season, according to reports.
ESPNBoston.com, Comcast Sports New England and the Boston Globe all reported the news.
Buchholz (6-3, 3.48 ERA) was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list Sunday to make room for new acquisition Erik Bedard. Buchholz saw a back specialist yesterday in Los Angeles. According to the Comcast report, the stress fracture was discovered during an MRI last week.
Minutes before Sunday's trade deadline, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein traded with Seattle for the lefthanded Bedard, indicating the team knew it might need a replacement for Buchholz.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona said yesterday that Bedard is scheduled to start Thursday's series finale against the Indians.

In another game

At Chicago, CC Sabathia earned his major league-best 16th win despite giving up 10 hits over eight innings and the New York Yankees defeated the White Sox, 3-2.

Sabathia (16-5) improved to 9-1 with a 1.76 ERA in his last 10 starts.
Curtis Granderson hit a run-scoring double and scored twice for the Yankees.
Alexei Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning for the White Sox.

Noteworthy

Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco was suspended six games and fined for throwing at Kansas City's Billy Butler.

Carrasco was ejected in the fourth inning of Friday night's game after he fired a ball at Butler's head. Carrasco had just given up a grand slam to Melky Cabrera and took out his frustration on Butler.
The Indians said Carrasco will appeal his suspension and undisclosed fine and plans to start tomorrow night in Boston.

Seattle Mariners: Jack Zduriencik and Justin Smoak Need Each Others Help

Trader Jack Zduriencik as General Manager is doing everything he can to save his job in Seattle.

With another season having turned sour, the Mariners needed to sell off what they could as the team continues to rebuild in year three since taking over the M's front office.

Over the weekend Jack Z managed to turn Doug Fister and Erik Bedard into prospects, which in itself is no small task as both are back end rotation pitchers each with several question marks.  While neither were exciting, both pitched well enough to keep the M's in games throughout the first half of the year, but neither were part of the long term plan.

For Fister the M's received outfielder Casper Wells, infielder Francisco Martinez, left-handed pitcher Charlie Furbush, and a player to be named later.  In return for Bedard, two outfielders in Trayvon Robinson and Chih-Hsien Chiang.

Hard to tell at this point if any of these players will contribute, but Wells was in the lineup Sunday and drove in the team's lone run.  Furbush also joined the 25 man roster, but the remaining players from the deal will either be at AAA Tacoma (Robinson) or AA Jackson (Chiang and Martinez) for the time being. 

From these deals, what stands out is the stockpiling of power. 

Does this mean the M's are shifting gears from the defense, pitching, and timely contact hitting?  The first two have worked, but the timely hitting has been missing for the equation for the better part of the past two seasons. 

On the other hand, Safeco is hardly a launchpad, just ask Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre, so is this a wise approach or a desperate one?

Which brings me back to Jack Z's legacy and job security.

Rewind to this time last year when the M's held the hottest trade chip on the market in Cliff Lee.  Instead of dealing Lee to the Yankees for a package featuring Jesus Montero, the Texas Rangers swooped in with a deal featuring Justin Smoak and several pitching prospects.

At the time it was a questionable deal, by early June this year it looked like pure genius, and now just a few weeks later it's even harder to pass judgment.  It's been quite a year for Justin Smoak.  After losing his dad early in the season the young first baseman went on a tear that made every M's fan proud, not to mention excited about the future.  Then just as suddenly Smoak proceeded to swing and miss...at everything.

It's disappointing and raises a lot of questions for this year and beyond.  Who is the real Justin Smoak and can the M's pencil him in at first-base for the next decade or not? 

As of today the only untouchables/franchise cornerstones are Felix, Pineda, and Ackley, beyond that anyone could be had for the right price.

What Smoak does on the field though is critical to the organization's long-term health, especially for Jack Z.  Until we find out, Jack Z is going to keep searching for complimentary pieces for Smoak and now Ackley, he has no choice.

Justin and Dustin sure has a nice ring to it and hopefully they can be together for years to come on the right side at Safeco, otherwise Jack Z could end up wondering if Jesus and the New York Yankees would have saved him.