No surprise here:

Girardi says Andy Pettitte has replaced Buchholz on AL roster

Now this gives Girardi another chance to add Weaver or Felix. I say he adds Weaver first due to the home field thing, and Felix next if he has to replace Cahill (if he is starting on Sunday).

And it gives me another chance to post my FireMarshallClay pictures. So there.

Here are your AL All Stars, 2010 edition.

Good moves:

• Naming CC, only because he will start on Sunday, thereby allowing Girardi to name a more deserving pitcher (looking at you, Pettitte or Weaver or Liriano) to make the team. [Although, looking ahead, it seems that Weaver is going to be lined up to pitch on Sunday as well.]
• Trevor Cahill: Nice selection of a guy totally flying high under the radar. Cahill is lined up for Sunday, so if Weaver isn’t pitching himself on Sunday…
• Neftali Feliz: He good.
• Phil Hughes: Yeah, I said it.
• Jose Bautista: I never thought he’d be selected, but 21 HR at the break (as of now!) certainly deserves it. Not your typical all star name but if you look up the definition of “an All Star this year and this year only“, you’d see Bautista as the 2010 entry.

Pans:

• Fausto Carmona? Really? Let’s give a hip-hip-hooray to mandatory representation in a game that “counts”! The now-injured Shin Soo Choo would a better choice.
• Not finding a spot for Weaver or Liriano or Pettitte. You can’t put them all in, I know.
• Matt Thornton over teammate Paul Konerko? I know Thornton has been very good, but if you have to pick just one guy from the WhiteSox, Konerko is more deserving
• ARod? Not deserving, sorry.
• Torii Hunter over teammate Jered Weaver? I love Torii Hunter, but if there is only going to be one Angels player selected in their home park, it should have been Weaver. Worth repeating… (see next bullet)
• Only one Angels player selected
• Rafael Soriano‘s having a darn good year, too.
• King Felix gets to have a long break, amazingly enough.
• Youkilis not selected? Sorry, this guy has carried the Sox, even moreso that Papi. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be on this team, ahead of ARod.
• Brennan Boesch was certainly worthy, but you can’t have everyone.
• Ditto for Swisher. It would have been great to see Swisher named.
• Ditto for Gardner. But that’s awfully piggish of me, ain’t it? Or at least too homerish.

For the AL, there’s still the Final Vote, consisting of Delmon Young, Youkilis, Swisher, Konerko and Michael Young.

OK friends, what are your thoughts? Remember, if you put a snubbed player in, you have to take someone out. And that can’t be any team’s sole selection.

The Bronx saw some early fireworks on the Fourth of July.  The New York and Toronto offenses did their best to duke out the series finale, filling the game with plays at the plate, homers and extra innings, before a big single by Marcus Thames gave the Yankees a 7-6 victory, along with some of A.J. Burnett’s walk-off pie.

Phil Hughes got the start, having just been named to the AL All-Star team, but didn’t quite seem to have his A game working.  He gave up a solo homer to Lyle Overbay to start the third inning, giving Toronto the early lead.  The Yankees struck back quickly, however, with back-to-back singles by Brett Gardner and Ramiro Pena, who moved to second and third on a sac bunt by Derek Jeter.  A sac fly by Mark Teixeira tied the game up, before Alex Rodriguez’s single put the Yankees up 2-1.

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After the Mariners first two pitchers held the Yankees bats in check, New York looked to avoid the sweep Thursday afternoon.  Sending CC Sabathia to the mound, the Yankees got a couple early runs and the big man went deep before some late inning heroics by Alex Rodriguez secured the 4-2 victory for the Pinstripes.

Derek Jeter started the bottom of the first with a single back at the pitcher.  A double by Nick Swisher put Jeter on third and he scored when Mark Teixeira grounded out to first.  The Yankees held their 1-0 lead through the first three innings with both pitchers keeping the opposing hitters guessing.

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If you care even just one iota about baseball (and if you’re here, you qualify) and you can only read and watch only one thing this entire month, this might be it.

And be warned, this is the greatest display (video) about what makes Mo awe-inspiring as I have ever seen.

Go watch it. Twice, at least.

Seriously, go. I’ll wait here.

Javier Vazquez hit a few bumps early in his outing Wednesday evening, but he recovered and kept the Yankees in the game.  Unfortunately, the Yankee bats could not catch up with Felix Hernandez who pitched a complete game shut-out, as the Mariners’ bullpen continued to get some rest.  In the end, the Yankees bullpen let the game get away and New York took the 7-0 loss.

Vazquez pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, while the Yankees made Hernandez throw a few pitches in the bottom of the inning.  Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez both worked walks, but they were unable to score.  Milton Bradley started off the second inning with a solo homer, before Vazquez got Jose Lopez to fly out.  Ryan Langerhans singled, but Vazquez struck out Jack Wilson and Rob Johnson to get out of trouble, keeping Seattle’s lead to 1-0.

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