Kudos to Roger Clemens.

With Scott Proctor now gone from the Yankee roster, he was going to have to be the guy that did it. A pitch right between the 1 and 5 on Alex Rios’ back. Perhaps one may argue that he set-up an inning in which the Blue Jays scored two runs and made things tighter, but you have to trust your pen with a seven-run lead. The bottom line is that Josh Towers went after A-Rod’s knee (the second Jays’ pitcher to do so in as many days) and such a dangerous pitch cannot be allowed to go unpunished. A-Rod is the Yankees’ best hitter…Rios is the currently the Jays’ best. The Rocket did the right thing by defending his teammate.

And then, of course, he got that look of crazy in his eyes when arguing with the home plate umpire. Yankee fans know what I’m talking about there.

Clemens went six solid for his team and then made a point. How this will all payoff in terms of community and camaraderie down stretch is unknown, but it certainly can’t hurt. The Yankees have been accused for years of being a team that lacked a cohesive core. Now they bring in a few kids who have some success, mix in a little veteran rage…perhaps they have a  little something cooking.

Here are a few notes from the game:

*Anyone notice Jason Giambi beat out the relay throw to first in his first at-bat back? He also managed to ground the ball the other way…Is this really Jason we have back?

*Um, sick slider you got there, Joba.

*Melky is smokin’ hot…two doubles and a triple. Fun.

*Damon stealing second up five in the eighth? That’s legit in this age in baseball.

*What about the kid Duncan ready to jump in there and protect A-Rod…? And then the hard slide at second base in the sixth? Love the moxie.

*Clemens should have thrown at Towers in the Jays’ dugout, not just Alex Rios…If the Jays don’t feel that they’ve gotten even for A-Rod’s ‘Ha’ after this then they’re just looking for a fight. And great retaliation by the Yanks…A-Rod gets hit, Posada hits a two-run double. The ultimate revenge.