Of course it was Papi who broke up Roger Clemens’ no-hitter with an upper deck home run in the sixth inning. He’s THE single greatest thorn the Yankees have ever had in their side. Manny Ramirez wasn’t even batting behind him in the line-up tonight. It was all muscle, all Papi.

I watched David Ortiz from the field during batting practice today — you can’t miss the man, listed at 6′ 4″ and a generous 230 lbs. He is a Goliath who waits his turn and slams his bat on home plate like a blacksmith with a hammer before every swing. Of the four or five pitches that came at him during each turn through the BP rotation, he hit at least one into the upper deck. No one else came close to hitting them like that — not even A-Rod. There were hardly even any fans up there hunting loose balls, they all know to wait in the lower deck where balls usually go.

Love or hate the Red Sox, you have to respect Papi. And if you want one of his souvenirs, I recommend sitting in the upper deck of right field during his BP sessions. You’ll get a few hit your way.

He’s been a very serviceable pitcher for the Yankees, but Mike Mussina’s days as a starter are done for now. It’s sad that he had to go down like this (3 IP, 9 hits, 6 ER) in a 16-0 thumping against the Tigers that leaves the Yankees only hoping for the Wild Card. Takes quite a bit of excitement out of the Boston coming to the Bronx, eh? Now it’s just another tough series the Yankees will have to try to win to stay alive in the Wild Card chase.

So what happened? I don’t really care to revisit it. Seriously, the most awkward runner in MLB, Sean Casey, legged out a triple against the Yanks. That’s more unheard of than Jorge Posada doing it. ‘Nuff said.

Eight behind Boston, either two or three behind Seattle for the Wild Card (pending the outcome of their game against LA)…perhaps Ian Kennedy will do better in five days.

With Yankee hats coming in red, baby blue, green and every other color, you figure this sort of thing is happening anyway. Nonetheless, “official” gang symbols have made it onto New Era Yankee hats that are now being recalled…someone’s getting fired for this one.

The Yankee media relations department just released this statement:

STATEMENT FROM NEW YORK YANKEES

RE: CONDEMNING GANG-RELATED NEW ERA APPAREL

The New York Yankees were completely unaware that caps with gang-related logos and colors had been manufactured with the New York Yankees logo on them. These caps were made under a licensing agreement between New Era and Major League Baseball and were not subject to the Yankees’ approval nor shown to the New York Yankees at any point prior to their retail distribution.

The New York Yankees oppose any garment that may be associated with gangs or gang-related activity. Upon learning of the existence of these caps this morning, the New York Yankees contacted Major League Baseball. We were notified by the Commissioner’s Office that steps had already been taken to recall the caps from all points of sale. The league ensured that no such product will be manufactured in the future.

All year long there has been a consistent theme during the Yankees’ times of struggle: the old guard of Jeter, Posada and Pettitte have gotten out and pushed the broken down car. Just imagine where the Yankees would be without the fifth and sixth highest averages in the AL on their team…two guys who had too much pride to watch the season get away as they stayed among the league leaders in hitting all year — even while A-Rod went cold in May.

And Andy Pettitte. Even when Kei Igawa was getting the ball every five days and Joe Torre was watching no-name kids get crucified on the mound (filling the void Carl Pavano left behind), Pettitte went out there and brought some form of sanity to the Yankee starting five.

Then the Yankees began win after the All-Star break…until they reached their old enemies out in L.A. Honestly, I don’t know what’s worse: losing a game in ten innings that you’ve battled back to tie, or getting crushed 18-9. Either way, the Yankees had lost two in a row as well as two games in the Wild Card and Divisional races.

Which is when the old guard stepped in. Andy Pettitte went out at pitched seven innings of one-run ball (he’s now 5-0 in August) while Jorge Posada got three hits and a pair of RBIs. Meanwhile, Derek Jeter only had one hit, but drove in the third run. These guys weren’t the only heroes tonight in the Yankees 8-2 victory, but they produced when the game was on the line.

It’s now back to five in the East and 1.5 in the Wild Card…and perhaps more importantly, the Yankees are done with the Angels for the regular season.

Yeah, I stayed up for the whole thing. Ten innings, West Coast time…it was close to two in the morning when all was said and done and the Yankees had lost 7-6 to the team they cannot beat, the L.A. Angels. Ugh!

And the real thing was that both team’s best players had battled each other to a 6-6 tie through nine…A-Rod had homered, K-Rod had gotten out of trouble against Bobby Abreu in the ninth…and then it was back up catcher Ryan Budde hitting a game-winning shot to the right-center field gap off the Yankees’ last option, Sean Henn. I guess that’s the way extra-inning games are often won and lost — with stars on the bench and second tier guys on the field.

So it’s back to work tonight at 10pm.  Mike Mussina takes on Kelvim Escobar in a game that hopefully ends closer to 1am.

Belatedly, here are some notes about Saturday’s game — that’s what you get for having a girlfriend whose friend was having a house warming on Staten Island, keeping you away from your computer on a Saturday night…anyway, here are some thoughts on yesterday’s 5-2 Yankee win over the Tigers:

*Kyle Farnsworth blew through the heart of the Tigers’ order like a hot knife through butter, striking out Magglio Ordonez and Gary Sheffield with some high heat. He went to Sheff’s strength…and won. After the game Joe Torre verbally lifted Kyle out of the doghouse.

*Roger Clemens’ 2-1-1 double play on a strike out/tag out of Marcus Thames and Brandon Inge was something the Rocket called “Instinct”. Whatever it was, this play in the top of the third was one of many ways that Clemens let batters reach base but kept them from scoring. The Rocket gave up ten hits but just two earned runs in six innings. He struck out eight batters (including several important ones when he needed them) and did not issue a walk. This is why you sign a 45-year old Hall of Famer — he may not have the stuff he had a decade ago, but he hasn’t forgotten how to battle.

*While standing in Joe Torre’s office after the game I noticed a scorecard with Joba Chamberlain’s named crossed out from the “available” players list. So far the Yankee brass are sticking to their guns by not pitching this wonderful talent two days in a row.

Starter or future closer? Let the debates begin.

*Two of Roger’s boys (Kevin or Kyle or Kobe or Karson or Kirk or Kane or Kirby or Kaleb or Keith) were running around the locker room yesterday, hanging out with uncle Andy while the media waited for Dad.

*Friday night I had the pleasure of booing Gary Sheffield from the stands at Yankee Stadium…today I was at work in the locker room and got to ask Sheff first-hand about the crowd’s reaction to him. When asked whether the crowd bothered him he answered, “Did it look like it bothered me?” — referring to his 3-for-5 afternoon. Then I asked if he felt his three years in the Bronx were tarnished and he said that people booed because he was “special”.

“Special?” I asked.

“Only special people can get that kind of reaction from 60,000 people. It just means I am special.”

Hey, whatever helps you sleep, bro.

I’m sitting up in the press box today with my buddy, an ex-umpire who gets paid to evaluate crews who come through NYC. Whenever it looks like an ump blows a call we all stare at him…and he pretty much ignores us and jots down some notes.

One of his jobs is to time breaks between innings to see if the umpires are doing their job in moving the game along. Now, I knew FOX games go long, and he just informed me of one of the many reasons. FOX broadcasts tack an extra 20 seconds onto every commercial break. That only adds up to an extra six minutes a game, but for some reason it feels like forever between half-innings.

Maybe I’m just kevetching…or trying to get even with Fox for insisting upon making Buck and McCarver their top baseball coverage team. Either way you slice it, I’ll take a local broadcast any day.

So, who sits?

I have to admit that when I saw the line-up card last night I exhaled a grunt of frustration and thought to myself, ‘Damn, Melky’s out…Giambi’s return is screwing everything up.’ Yeah, we know how this story works after watching Joe Torre shuffle through Jason Giambi, Melky Cabrera, Bernie Williams and Gary “Play me at first? You treat black players differently…but I never said you were a racist” Sheffield last season.

Torre will find a way to get everyone in the game which means there will be nights where Johnny Damon is in center, left, at DH or on the bench. There will be nights where Hideki Matsui DHs or plays left. Giambi will mostly just DH, but at times push the productive Andy Phillips to the bench and play first. Shelly Duncan will get few chances to prove he’s more than a fluke while Wilson Betemit prays for a starter to get injured. And, of course, there will be nights where Melky Cabrera, the Yankees’ best outfielder, also sits on the bench.

This last fact is really the biggest shame of all. You have a kid who is once again blossoming with regular playing time now forced to wonder when he gets to play. You hope that he continues to push that average over .300, but I wonder…the kid is 23 years-old. Can he produce when he has to sit twice a week?

Also factor this in when you consider Melky…how will a slump by Melky effect Robinson Cano? I’m not saying that it will, but those two are attached at the hip — they even live in the same building. Both started the season cold and then they both got hot and seemed to be inflating the Yankees with energy in July and August…is that something you really want to mess with?

Just a little food for thought.

So back to Giambi last night. When I saw that Torre had finally sat Melky while keeping BOTH Johnny Damon AND Jason Giambi in the line-up, I let out an exasperated deep breath. But then Giambi stepped up and hit two home runs that pretty much clinched an important game against the Tigers. And then I started thinking…why doesn’t Damon (who went 0-for-4 and needs to rest an injury-plagued body anyway) sit for a little while and we’ll see where this “Giambi at DH, Melky in center” concept goes.

It might be enough to keep everyone but Damon happy…and the Yankees winning.

You just saw it getting away tonight. Sheff receiving all the boos he deserved, grounding out to third…and reaching on A-Rod’s error. Mike Mussina walking his first batter in 22.1 innings while facing the dangerous Magglio Ordonez…setting the scene that would end this one before it started. It was Carlos Guillen stepping in next to take Moose deep…and that really was that in the Tigers 8-5 win over the Yankees.

Justin Verlander finally won since the All-Star break and the Yankees now look mortal for the first time since then. It was inevitable that they would cool down and start losing a few, particularly with the junior varsity teams off the schedule. So now it’s Sox by 5.5 and Seattle by a half game. There’s plenty of baseball left for the Yanks to survive a short skid…that is, of course, as long as the skid is short…

On a side note, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give props to the fan who reached into Brandon Inge’s glove and yanked out Hideki Matsui’s foul ball in the first inning…it was a legit play that any home fan should have made and it allowed Matsui to single home Derek Jeter one pitch later. This is what home field advantage is all about. Kudos, brother.

Alright, I’m not saying that Roger Clemens could have inspired the Yankees to have had more than two hits against Daniel Cabrera and the O’s bullpen during their 12-0 loss tonight. I’m not saying that Clemens would have kept the Yankees close enough to want to rally on an evening when they were mourning the loss of the Scooter. But I’ll go out on a limb and say that the Yanks don’t lose twelve-zip with the Rocket on the hill.

And why was Jeff Karstens (God bless him for trying) starting on a night that Clemens is slated to go? Because he was suspended for defending his teammate in Toronto. Yes, Alex Rodriguez’s knee was attacked twice and Clemens couldn’t tell the Jays to back off by drilling Alex Rios? This is still a joke to me.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame the umpires or anyone who enforces rules that are already in place. They’re just doing their jobs by ejecting/suspending Clemens. But why do we have to watch another pitcher choose between suspension and letting an attack on his player go unanswered?

Clemens did the right thing in defending A-Rod. It’s a shame that the Yankees had to suffer a one-sided beating as a result.