WHY SEPTEMBER LOSSES TO DIVISION RIVALS STINKS

The Yankees lost today. That's 2 in a row to last place Baltimore, but more importantly, it was 2 losses to Buck Showalter who, at this point in the season has 1 mission; beat the Yankees. The season's over for the Orioles, there is nothing else to try and prove. All Showalter needs to do now is play each game against the Yankees and win it like it was Game 7 of the World Series. He did that today and he won.

Ivan Nova didn’t have great stuff today and look, it’s going to happen. Nova’s had a good run, but a combination of he, Boone Logan, Scott Proctor and Rafael Soriano contributed to the loss. People can blame only the bullpen today and yes they contributed, but it's not only on them. You can also solely blame Nova, but that’s only part of it too. Today was a classic "team loss", the pitching wasn’t great all around.

In the 11^th today, Proctor allowed Robert Andino to hit a ball to left to knock in the winning run. Before that, in the 8^th, Andino knocked in the tying run against Soriano. Hey, we can at least give Andino credit for having a great game. That's baseball.

Earlier in the game, Boone Logan, who’s the Yankees lefty reliever who's put into games to get lefty hitters out, couldn’t get a lefty hitter out, and so, Girardi took the his lefty reliever out after the lefty Orioles hitter, well, hit him. That gave the Orioles their 3^rd run of the game, but that run was Nova’s, not Boone's. Boone's sole job was to get out the lefty and not let the run score.

The Yankee offense consisted of Derek Jeter and Eric Chavez both contributing to 2 RBIs each. Jeter got a 2 run single in the second inning. Chavez had 2 hits today.

For me though, the biggest plays were defensive and both were made at home plate. Between the strong throws and Francisco Cervelli nailing the O’s at home, twice, there was nothing better. In the 7^th, Nick Markakis was trying to score from first base on a Vladmir Guerrero double and was nailed at the plate. In the 8^th inning, Mark Reynolds was trying to score on a Chris Brown single, the Yankees got him. It was well exceuted and well done. As Cervelli told ESPN, "[Home plate] is my house, so nobodies going to come inside."

Bottom line, you never want to lose to a division rival in September, and we did. Time to get serious Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s getting late early. We need to get as many wins as possible now, it's the only way to get to the playoffs.

Final Score: Orioles 5 – Yankees 4.

The Yanks are going back to Cali now for a series against the Angels starting tomorrow night.. Bartolo Colon is set to go against a very good Jered Weaver. Let me also say that Weaver is hitable and the Yankees have hit him in the past. This game is winnable. Colon needs to get back to his own self and pitch his heart out. Quite simply, if we can snipe a few runs off of Weaver and Colon can hold the Angels through 6, there’s no reason why we can’t win this game.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

WHY IT WAS MUDVILLE IN THE BRONX

There are many reasons why the Yankees lost the game today. You can blame the nasty weather and sloppy play all day. You can blame AJ Burnett for giving the Orioles the runs back that the Yankees kept taking the lead with or you can blame Eduardo Nunez’s error in the late inning that eventually came around to score in what was probably the most ridiculous baseball game I have ever witnessed. Nunez actually made 2 errors today, but who’s counting at this point? Oh yeah, Me, that’s who.

It looked like a football game out there. Mud everywhere and the cameras we constantly covered in mist. At moments the rain slowed but I don’t think it ever stopped. These types of games scare me. Players get hurt in these type of games. Luckily, we’re OK today but don’t forget, it’s now off the Baltimore for probably another wet game at 1pm tomorrow with Ivan Nova on the mound. But enough about the weather, why did my Yankees lose? I’d like to blame Eduardo Nunez because I hate errors, but with the weather being such a factor today, I need to attach that along with some not-so-great starting pitching in the mix. AJ Burnett just kept letting the Orioles come back and to me, that’s disappointing, especially if we’re possibly looking for AJ to be part of the rotation. There are too many rotation question marks at the wrong point of the season Ladies and Gentlemen. You want these question marks in April, not September. Today AJ’s line looked like this: 6 innings pitched, 4 runs on 7 hits. He struck out 7 and walked 4. Joe Girardi can tell you that they liked the way he threw the ball today all he wants, I didn't think so. Look, we need to win all division rival games now, these tough losses suck and can't happen.

The 4 run offense was simple for New York today. Alex Rodriguez hit a 2 run double and Jesus Montero hit a 2 run single. This is a kid that has come up and brought new life to the already electric New York Yankees. Yes, we lost today, but just to see this kid contribute day in and day out is something special. The whole team looks better... except of course for Eduardo Nunez and his sloppiness. Look, I rip this kid because of the errors, he does it often. Today, while I don't want to completely give him a slide, I need to a bit. Anyone who saw the game today, either at the park or on TV understands. The weather was tough and I'm sure it was tough to play in. That being said, once again, an error by Nunez cost us today.

Mark Reynolds hit the tie breaking hit to make it 5-4 in the 11th inning. Hector Noesi got the loss.

The last out of the game was a tough one. Eric Chavez hit the ball hard with the tying run at third. If that ball goes through, the Yankees tie it, and probably win with momentum on their side. But the O's shortstop went for it, dropped it but quickly picked it up and tossed to second to get Granderson by a hair. Dems the breaks. Game over. Nice try.

Final Score: Orioles 5 - Yankees 4.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.