I didn't hear no bell!!

It looked bleak early for the Yanks on Sunday.  Roger Clemens struggled out of the starting gate and the Indians jumped The Rocket for an early 3-0 lead, but Phil Hughes held serve in relief and Johnny Damon ripped a three-run homer in the fifth as the Yankees roared back to an 8-4 victory at The Stadium.  The Bombers are still alive and now trail the best of five series 2 games to 1.

The Good:

Johnny Damon.  Positively Damonic!!  It can't be stressed enough how important Damon is to the Yanks when he's on.  Johnny D's RBI-single infused hope back in the Bronx and cut the Cleveland lead to 3-1 in the third inning.  Then Johnny blasted his biggest hit in pinstripes -- a three-run bomb in the fifth to give the Yanks a 5-3 lead and the Bombers were off and running.  Not only did Damon's homer give the Yankees the lead, but it swung the fickle mistress known as momentum back in New York's favor.  Atta boy, Johnny!  Damon finished 3 for 4 with a run scored and 4 big ribbies.

Phil Hughes.  It's the obvious pun, but I'll use it -- Hughes' performance in relief was "huge."  Philip entered the game with Yankee morale at its lowest point of the season and he put the Bombers on his back.  It was a bumpy beginning for the rookie -- he uncorked a wild pitch on his second pitch and gave up a bloop RBI-double that extended Cleveland's lead to 3-0 -- but he collected himself and was terrific the rest of the way.  The kid looked sharp during his three full innings and was poised in his first-ever Bronx post-season appearance. There's no way the Yanks come back in this one without Hughes' effort.  The kid picked up his first playoff victory with this: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 WP.

Robinson Cano.  Robbie Cano -- don't cha know!  Damon's dinger put the Yanks on top, but Cano's RBI-single with the bases loaded in the sixth was the death blow.  Sure, Robbie was helped by Trot Nixon's error in right that allowed two more runs to score, but Cano has been shaky in his young career when batting with the sacks full.  He entered the at-bat with an uncharacteristic .232 career average with the bases juiced -- far below his career average of .314 in three big league seasons.  Way to come through, Canu.  Cano finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI.

The Bad:

Roger Clemens.  The Rocket gave it a go on Sunday, but he had nothing out there.  He wasn't helped in the first inning when Derek Jeter threw wildly to first on a play that should have been an out (the play was scored an infield hit, but it should have been an error), but he allowed a two-out hit that gave the Indians an early 1-0 lead.  In the second inning, Clemens gave up a laser homer to Trot Nixon and you could tell he was running on fumes.  The Yankee medical staff checked on Clemens' status twice before Joe Torre finally pulled the plug on The Rocket in the third.  Clemens later said that he aggravated his hamstring again, but he looked like a broken-down pitcher as he walked off the mound.  This may have been Roger's swan song.  If it was, at least Clemens struck out Victor Martinez on his final pitch.  Clemens' disappointing effort: 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.

Derek Jeter.  Jeter has made his name by making big plays in the post-season, but he's been scrapping so far this October.  DJ's bad throw in the first led to a Cleveland run and his two double play groundouts killed Yankee rallies within the first three innings.  Not what you expect to see from No. 2.  Jeter is batting .083 so far in the series, but I have to believe he'll turn it around before this ALDS is over.  The Captain finished 0 for 4 with a K and left three runners on base.

The Ugly:

The Boss speaks.  George Steinbrenner issued a warning to Joe Torre before Game 3 -- win or else.  I'm not sure why George decided to punch Torre in the stomach before a possible elimination game, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  He's really just echoing what people have been thinking and talking about.  Still, the timing was awful and I don't think his words were motivational.  Also, I have to believe that someone dropped the ball in allowing Steinbrenner to give a phone interview at this point.  The man has been invisible this entire season and now he speaks?  No way.

This was a great win, but it wasn't all rosy for the Bombers.  For some reason Torre decided to pitch Joba Chamberlain for two innings on Sunday.  Strange.  The Yanks weren't nursing a one-run lead in this game and it seemed totally unnecessary to stretch out the rookie.  Joba breezed through the seventh, but he labored in the eighth, gave up a run and finished up by throwing 38 pitches.  Kyle Farnsworth is not my favorite Yankee, but the eighth inning seemed like a good time to bring him in, or at the very least, Luis Vizcaino.  The Yankees were up 8-3 at that point and if either got into trouble you could always go to Mariano Rivera.  Keeping Chamberlain in there made no sense.  I understand Torre wanted to secure the win, but why is Farnsworth on this roster?       

Yes, there will be a Game 4 on Monday.  For those interested, the starting time for this one has been moved from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  Torre has decided to go with Chien-Ming Wang on three-days rest instead of Mike Mussina.  It's the smart move.  Wang had a rough Game 1, but expect him to pitch much better on Monday.  Two reasons: a) a little fatigue for a sinkerball pitcher is a good thing and b) Wang's numbers at Yankee Stadium this season are outstanding (10-4, 2.75 ERA).

Surprisingly, Eric Wedge and the Indians are going to go with Paul Byrd instead of bringing C.C. Sabathia back on three-days rest.  Byrd has had a nice season for Cleveland (15-8, 4.59 ERA), but he's not the guy I'd want out there if I'm an Indian booster.  The Yanks destroyed Byrd earlier in the year and have had success against him in the past.

This sucker ain't over yet.