The Yankees and A's played a thriller last night, taking it all the way to the 12th inning. Unfortunately, the ending was less than thrilling, as the Yankees pulled out a 4-3 victory when Lenny DiNardo hit Jose Molina with a pitch with the bases loaded.

Joba Chamberlain looked impressive again, giving the Yankees 6 solid innings. Robinson Cano had 4 hits in the win.

Sean Gallagher, acquired from the Cubs in the Rich Harden deal, pitched pretty well for the A's, holding the Yanks to 2 runs in 5 innings, and striking out 7. But it wasn't enough, and DiNardo was charged with the loss in the 12th. Yankees reliever David Robertson pitched a scoreless 12th to gain his first career MLB win.

Pat Burrell hit 2 HR's for my fantasy team for the Phillies in a losing cause, as the Marlins won, 9-5. John Baker had 4 RBI's for the Marlins, and Cody Ross singled, doubled, tripled and scored twice. Jorge Cantu also contributed big, with 4 hits for the Fish.

The Rays are trying to show the world that they're not just a flash in the pan, and are prepared to make a run for the AL East all the way into October. After losing 7 straight before the break, they've reeled off 2 in a row, and pulled back ahead of the Red Sox to lead the division. Last night, they beat the Blue Jays 6-4, as Matt Garza mowed down Toronto batters for 7+ innings, and Evan Longoria hit his first career grand slam. The Jays managed 4 runs in the 9th off of Trever Miller and Al Reyes, but Dan Wheeler came in and shut the door, earning his 4th save of the season, since replacing the injured Troy Percival.

----- Other Games -----
AL:
Angels 4, Red Sox 2 - Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez collected his 39th save
Indians 9, Mariners 6 - Shin-Soo Choo: 3-5 with a HR, 3 RBI
Twins 14, Rangers 2 - Justin Morneau: 2-4, HR, 5 RBI, Matt Harrison (Rangers SP): owned. 5 IP, 9 hits, 8 ER. Kinsler, Young and Bradley went 0-12 combined.
Royals 9, White Sox 1 - Mike Aviles, John Buck, Billy Butler, 3 RBI each
Orioles 11, Tigers 10 - O's win it on Adam Scott's walk-off HR in the 11th

NL:
Cardinals 6, Padres 5 - Padres own a 5-game losing streak, longest current losing streak in baseball
Reds 7, Mets 2 - Mets lose 2nd straight, after winning 10 in a row
Nationals 8, Braves 2 - Willie Harris, Christian Guzman and John Lannan led the way for the Nats
Astros 4, Cubs 1 - Wandy Rodriguez allowed only 1 run in 6+ innings... on a HR to Cubs SP Carlos Zambrano
Rockies 7, Pirates 1 - Scott Podsednik: 4-5, 3 doubles, 2 runs
D-Backs 3, Dodgers 2 - Dan Haren: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 7 K, 2 BB

----- Other news/notes -----

Francisco Liriano really REALLY wants to pitch in the bigs again. Can't say I blame him.

Beware of the Mexicutioner.

Melvin Mora will probably never do this again. No one else will, either, for that matter.

Sometimes there are things out there that are so bad they're good. Like the Brian DePalma film Scarface. It was panned by critics when it came out for being a bloody spectacle not worthy of your attention. But over time, the film has become a cult classic, pretty much for exactly the same reasons it was once panned - that it's a bloody spectacle.

The same can more or less be said about the San Francisco Crazy Crab, quite possibly the weirdest team mascot in baseball history. The crab was in existence for only one year as the SF Giants' mascot during the 1984 season, and inspired more "crabs" jokes than you can possibly imagine.

The interesting thing is that the crab was actually an anti-mascot, who rather than supporting the Giants, did everything he could to piss them off. The crustacean taunted fans and players on talk radio, trashed players' lockers and did interviews with Los Angeles broadcasters about the Giants' "classless organization."

As a result, he was universally loathed. Players used to hit him in the shins with fungo bats and throw rosin bags against his back. In addition to that, they had to create a fiberglass shell to protect the crab from getting beaten by fans when he went into the stands.

But given time, people started realizing the crab was actually a rather hilarious idea that kept everyone loose and provided some entertainment to a horrible 1984 Giants team.

There have been a lot of calls to have the crab mascot return, and there's even a site dedicated to bringing the crab back called Rehab the Crab.

Anyway, the crab returned on Friday night to the Bay Area once again to piss off fans and players on it's own commemorative bobblehead night. Thanks to Home Run Derby for the video.

I'd be happy to have the crab back, primarily because the Giants suck so much this year. Plus, while the crab can take abuse, he can also seriously dish it out.