The Closer: Damn, Yankees

Notes from a day in baseball:

• 1. A Bronx Tale. "Wooo, doggies," as Jed Clampett might say, had he not died. And speaking of left for dead, we present the New York Yankees, down 9-0 to the Texas Rangers in the second inning on Tuesday. And they were down 10-1 in the third. But by the ninth, Jorge Posada had connected for a game-winning, two-run homer with two outs, putting the finishing touches on the biggest comeback win in Yankees' history, 14-13. Derek Jeter was 4-for-5 with a homer, four RBI and a stolen base. And all of this with three of the Yankees' stars in the infirmary. All in all a busy day for Jay Mohr's favorite team.

• 2. Local Hero. When is the last time the home crowd gave one of their pitchers a standing ovation for hitting a batter? Meet Russ Springer, who not only hit Barry Bonds, but threw at him five times before finally connecting; one pitch sailing completely behind Bonds. Springer showed less accuracy than your tipsy dad at the carnival dunking booth, but got the same result when he eventually hit his mark; wild cheers. Springer was ejected of course, and the Giants went on to win 14-3. Bonds was 2-for-4 but homerless. And that night, Russ Springer slept the sleep of heroes.

• 3. AL East Pecking Order Explained.The Orioles took it to Boston's Curt Schilling on Tuesday, finally breaking through to win a game over the Red So ... oh wait, sorry. We meant to say that the Orioles lost as usual. Schilling gave up three home runs but was still the winning pitcher in Boston's 6-5 victory — its 13th straight win over Baltimore.

• 4. Fear The Might Of Mr. Met. His last name sounds like something Jerry Lewis would blurt out during sex, but Tom Glavine is a hell of a pitcher. He won his fourth straight start and Paul Lo Duca doubled home a run in the seventh to break a tie as the Mets beat the Cardinals in a battle between the two best records in the NL, 8-3. Scary moment when Albert Pujols slipped on the plastic on-deck logo while chasing a foul popup. But ... he's OK, girls! Albert will be attending the dance tonight!

• 5. Incoming! Poor Cubs. Their fans are throwing junk at them even when they win. Chicago beat Washington 4-0 behind the pitching of Carlos Zambrano, giving the Cubs a 2-12 record over their past 14 games. But just as outfielder Jacques Jones was beginning to enjoy it, someone winged a baseball at him from the right field bleachers. As it was a Cubs fan, the ball of course missed Jones and rolled to second base to begin a 4-6-3 double play. Cubs officials said that it was a drunken woman, who was detained, but not arrested. In fact, she's scheduled to call an inning in the broadcast booth with Rick Sutcliffe next week.