DEFINITELY A TOUGH WIN

***Yanks on top 3-2***
They probably couldn't have done it without Adam Dunn. Most first basemen use leather gloves; Adam's appeared to be made out of stone. Ozzie Guillen doesn't look too bright by putting Dunn in two critical spots: first base, where most of the outs are made and batting cleanup when he's 3-73 against lefties. And of course, the Yanks cooperated by hitting 4 of the first 5 balls in his direction and sending one of baseball's top lefties out to the mound. Dunn responded by turning solid ground balls into surprise singles in the field and at the plate by, as Andrew Marchand says, "...swinging like a man trying to kill mosquito's with a sledgehammer."
White Sox GM, Kenny Williams, is considered one of MLB's top execs, but I'm not sure why. He's feuded with his manager, his manager's son and his acquisitions certainly leave something to be desired. Jake Peavy pitched decently last night, but he'll never reach the level of performance that his pay level would lead you to expect. Alex Rios was a joke from the beginning and as for Adam Dunn, well you saw what happened last night.
Big test for Phil Hughes tonight. If he doesn't pitch well, and I mean very well, I think Ivan Nova will take over his spot in the rotation. As I've noted a couple of years ago, without having to pace himself, Hughes could turn it loose for a couple of innings and perhaps be very, very effective in the bullpen.

***AROUND THE LEAGUE***
## It looks like Clay Bucholz is done for the year with a stress fracture in his back. They normally heal by themselves without surgery, but rest is required. It's interesting that doctors claim it is caused by "overuse."
## There is a very interesting race for Cy Young in the American League between Jered Weaver, Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia. Verlander seems to be the fans choice, but Weaver has the best statistics. Even though he'll probably win the most games, Sabathia will end up third.
## It looks like the Pirates bubble has burst. They're now in third place, 5 1/2 games out and only one game over .500.
## The Giants signing of Carlos Beltran isn't looking too good right now. The Giants have lost 4 of 5 since Beltran joined the team. Carlos is 4-21 (.190) with no homers and one RBI.
## A headline on ESPN: "John Lackey got pounded." Awwww.
## A late addition to the name game: Colorado's Jhoulys Chachin. I don't know how to pronounce it, but I'll bet it sounds like a respiratory problem.
## A tee shirt currently being sold in Los Angeles: FRANKRUPTCY!
## Because the Yanks didn't make any George Steinbrenner-like moves, giving up 2 or 3 promising youngsters for one over-the-hill name, the press is saying the Yanks were big losers at the trade deadline. They can't seem to make up their minds how to denigrate NY.

***PICASNER'S RANT***
I'm beginning to change my mind about realignment of the MLB divisions. Since the emphasis for this idea seems to be that the Yanks and Boston keep other deserving AL East teams from making the playoffs, I suggest we exchange the Yanks and Cleveland. The Yanks would certainly win the Central Division and because they would play so many games against them, the rest of the Central probably wouldn't have very good records. But Tampa or Toronto would have better records because they would each play Cleveland 18 times a year. So what would this accomplish? It would add ANOTHER AL East team into the playoffs and eliminate one of the current AL Central teams from getting in. This is dumb enough to make Bud Selig think it will work. Please don't tell him about this.

CP-