It ... Is ... ALIVE!

Notes from a day in baseball:

• Unlike Sisyphus, The Yankees Always Get Time Off For A Tasty Post-Game Buffet. OK, call us juvenile, take away our X-Box for a week, whatever: We still giggle each time we read this headline. Sorry. Led by Alex Rodriguez (third homer in three games) and Chien-Ming Wang, New York beat Boston 6-2 on Monday to climb within a mere 9 1/2 games of the division-leading Red Sox in the AL East. Even the beleaguered Jason Giambi got back into the act, ending a 1-for-26 slump with an upper-deck homer after, what we believe, was a direct order from Bud Selig to get back on the juice and keep his mouth shut about it. Tim Wakefield was less than stellar for Boston, walking five and giving up six runs. But don't worry Red Sox fans! Julian (Throwdini) Tavares takes the mound tonight against Mike Mussina in Game 2. To the sharp art! Incidentally, we hope that Wang celebrated a bit more elegantly than Tyler Clippard did on Sunday.

• PF Flyers. Prince Fielder had never homered in Dodger Stadium before Monday, when he hit two — which went a combined 900 feet, we're told — as the Brewers beat the Dodgers 9-5. Rickie Weeks had four hits for Milwaukee and Tony Gwynn Jr. had a two-run double in the sixth.

• There's Something About Rudy. Gerald Laird, whose name sounds like he should be the Attorney General or at the very least the new president of the World Bank, instead plays for the Rangers. He hit a grand slam in the fifth to lead Texas over Minnesota 14-4 (Texas had beaten Houston on Sunday 14-1). Texas hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo is considering quitting now while he's ahead.

• Randy Winn And The Very Big Wish. Randy Winn now has a 20-game hitting streak, Ryan Klesko hit a ball into McCovery Cove (fair!) and Noah Lowry threw seven shutout innings in San Francisco's 4-0 victory over the Astros. Yes, that was a Giants highlight; enjoy.