All Things Bubba

Aug. 2. 2006: N.Y. Yankees 7, Toronto 2

Bubba makes the catch for the final out, then tosses the ball to Cairo

In contrast to the previous game, this one was easier than the score suggests. Tiger was lights-out for eight innings. They put Villone in for the 9th, and he gave up two runs, spoiling the shutout.

A lot of people are starting to call Wang our ace (with apologies to Moose). Not bad for a kid the Yanks never thought would amount to much.

Bubba came in at the top of the ninth, as a sub for Damon. I don't know if it was as a LIDR or just to give Johnny some rest. The score was 7-0, not exactly close. OTOH, despite the heat, I'm not sure how much good half an inning off would do Damon. Maybe Joe just wanted to give Bubba some playing time.

Bubba had a pretty busy half-inning. Wells hit a grounder that got past Cairo into CF. Then Villone gave up a homer, which Bubba dutifully chased to the wall, despite the fact that he'd have had to be about 30 feet tall to catch it. Myers started warming, but Villone struck out the next two batters. Then Jason Phillips flied out to shallow CF to end the game. Bubba sped in, waved off Cairo, and made the catch easily.

During the 6th inning, there was a shot of the dugout, showing Wang, Melky, and Bubba talking. (I was wondering what language they were speaking. ;-) Whatever Bubba said must have been funny, because Wang and Melky both laughed. Wang and Melky are both so shy and quiet, it was nice to see them opening up a bit.