Yankees Fight For A Little Recognition

As New York continued to spit vitriol at Bonds (the Daily News came up with the gimmick of actually putting him on trial), it kind of forgot that the Yankees and Mets also played on Tuesday. In fact, the Yanks won; got into a scuffle with the Blue Jays, and crept to within five games of the Red Sox in the East. Sure, it was a typical baseball altercation in which no punches were actually thrown. But Roger Clemens was ejected, so that's something! (The Mets lost 7-3 to the Braves).

The Jays are still somewhat miffed over that infield yelling thing that Alex Rodriguez did to them a few weeks back and retaliated by plunking him during Tuesday's game. Benches cleared ... including the bullpen benches, which is always comical, because by the time the pitchers run all the way across the field to reach the action, no one can remember what the fight was about. Clemens returned the favor by hitting Alex Rios in the seventh, prompting his dismissal from the premises, along with Torre. Think they then played Battleship in the clubhouse? Jumanji? The Yankees won 9-2. Oh, and Giambi activated from the DL!

• You Mess With Tom Gorzelanny, You Get the Horns. Arizona's 19-year-old rookie Justin Upton, making his home debut, was spledorrific; falling just a single short of hitting for the cycle. But it was all for naught, as Tom Gorzelanny struck out a career-high nine over seven innings in the Pirates' 8-3 win. Also the Diamondbacks are a little lighter in the wallet today than they were on Monday, courtesy of Eric Byrnes.

• Padres 4, Cardinals 0 ... It's the score that appeared on the ESPN crawl at the exact moment that Bonds hit his home run on Tuesday ... Padres 4, Cardinals 0 ... Jake Peavy extending his scoreless streak to 19 innings, San Diego earning its major league-leading 16th shutout of the season ... Padres 4, Cardinals 0 ... forever frozen in time ... Padres 4, Cardinals 0 ...

• The Devil Rays Are In the Details. Nate Robertson left in the eighth with a four-run lead, whistling all the way to his locker where he treated himself to a Milky Way bar in honor of the victory. Oops. Detroit's bullpen blew the whole thing. No candy for you! But the Tigers came back and won anyway, 9-6.

• Because Every Hoofed Mammal Deserves A Second Chance. Perhaps in response to Will's call for reason and sanity on Monday, Mariner Moose will not be punished for nearly running over Boston's Coco Crisp during Sunday's game at Safeco Field. He must, however, attend a driver's safety class for his record to be expunged.