The Yankees can hit mediocre pitching. Barry Zito on Saturday was a mediocre pitcher. Ken Macha has got to recognize when Zito doesn’t have it and get him out of the game. Of course, the move is not made if the prospective reliever is not perceived to be able to do a better job than the pitcher removed from the game. I guess that is what Macha thought when he looked down the left field line and saw John Halama warming up.

What is up with Zito? As I said earlier when this tailspin started, he can’t locate his pitches and he doesn’t have the fastball to get by when his curve is on vacation either playing the guitar or on the David Letterman Show.

Today, classic lefty battle between two pitchers who will be looked upon as the two best lefties of their eras in the AL, when their careers are judged in 20 years: Mark Mulder versus Andy Pettitte.

Click below for moreThe A’s are not playing sound fundamental baseball. Intersting that they are now going public with the private criticism that has existed for years about Ramon Hernandez shying away from contact at home plate. It used to drive Art Howe crazy to watch Hernandez take throws five feet away from the dish.

John Olerud got hot last night, two homers for “Ole” as he is known around the team. Ryan Franklin rebounded from his last game to throw another gem for Seattle.

The 72-74 A’s were a very good team and their motivation and bond as a team stemmed from their dislike for owner Charlie Finley. The 2002-03 Mariners are forming such a bond with their public criticism of Seattle’s ownership, which refuses to add players at the needed time. Seattle can either suck it up and play hard or pout about it and let the season slip away. I’m not sure which way they will go, but I will tell you this I would dump the loudest critic Jeff Nelson who has lost his fastball anyway to avoid a rotten apple in the clubhouse.

Gil Meche throws his first ” August dog day” start against Mark Buehrle who is due for a lousy game. Frank Thomas has gone four games without a hit since looking for hit number 2000.

The AP reported yesterday’s doubleheader in Philadelphia as the first at the Vet since 1985. I was there last June with about 30,000 other fans to watch the A’s and Phillies play two on a Sunday unless I’m mistaken.

Jake Peavy is one terrific young pitcher outdueling Randy Wolf in game one at the Vet Saturday.

It helps San Diego to have Phil Nevin back in the lineup, he can hit.

Can Oliver Perez follow up his last game with another good one today against the Phils who lead Miami by two in the NL wild card race?

The Giants have to have some concern that the league may be catching on to Jerome Wiliamses stuff.

Injuries and tired bats are catching up with SF who will welcome the cool breeze of the Bay Area next week as much as welcoming the wonderful sight of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Next weekend the Phillies may present a more difficult task. Sidney Ponson pitches Wednesday against Pittsburgh and will miss the Phillies on the weekend, there must be some strategy behind placing Ponson on the mound Wednesday, so he will miss the Phils.

Shawn Estes pitched a beautiful game Saturday against the Diamondbacks only to see a “W” go away when Joe Borowski blew the save.

Is Brian Anderson for real, the Cleveland lefty has thrown very well over his last eight starts, tonight he faces Texas in Texas, so we will see if he can shut down a very potent home team in Arlington.

If KC doesn’t come up with some starting pitching soon, the dog days will eat up any chance they have of winning the Central. They will not win this division outslugging their opponents the rest of the way. Having Jose Lima on the DL is killing them. Can you believe that.

Same goes for Minnesota, the bull pen is not bailing out the starters like they did last year causing numerous late inning losses for the Twins. If Minnesota doesn’t get seven innings from at least three of its starters on a regular basis, they will not make it either.

Shannon Stewart is a great pick up for the Twins, the A’s should have gotten him, I wonder why they couldn’t match the Minnesota offer of Bobby Kielty with a similar package?

Kevin Appier’s elbow hurts, that is why he has gotten his release from the Angels who move Scott Shields another terrific young arm into the starting rotation today.

KC looks for magic in a bottle with Jeremy Gobble, making his major league debut today starting on the hill against Tampa Bay’s best pitcher Jeremi Gonzalez.

Boston needs a good game from Tim Wakefield today to avoid a sweep by the O’s. The Orioles can hit and are one big slugger away from being a legitimate hitting team.

Is Ramiro Mendoza back in Boston’s bull pen for good?

The law of baseball averages generally catch up with a team at some point and I don’t think the 2003 Red Sox are going to break the slugging record of the 27 Yankees which they are on a pace to do.

With 14 games coming up starting August 11th against the A’s and the Mariners, it is time for the Red Sox to start pitching better.

I just can’t see Milton “I’m out of control” Bradley leading the AL in hitting, even though he is second, ten points behind Ichiro.

It will happen only if the ghost of all time head case, Alex Johnson is corking his bat.

Boston leads the A’s by one half game in the wild card, the Sox can’t feel good about that.

Is anyone home in the St. Louis front office? The Mets scored five in the ninth only to fall short 10-9. How many more of these games do the Cards braintrust have to see before at least trying to add some legit pithcers?

Albert Pujols is still hitting above .370, that is some story in itself.

The Cards are closer to the NL wild card lead than the Diamondbacks.

Colorado’s Darren Oliver 9-6 and given up for dead is one of the good stories of 2003.

Dustin Hermanson versus Jimmy Haynes in Cincy today and on national television, can you believe this matchup? The Giants may need another pitcher before too long if Jason Schmidt is not completely healthy which is not far fetched either.

Arizona’s Brandon Webb before 40,000 in Wrigley, now that’s a game worth seeing.

Garrett Stephenson threw beautifully for the Cards in his last start, today he takes his surgically repaired body to the mound in Shea to see if he can do it two times in a row. I say he can’t, no matter how bad the Mets are.

Is Russ Ortiz the leading Cy Young candidate in the league? I would take John Smoltz if I had a vote. Ortiz goes for number 16 today and if he gets it, I’ll guarantee you Smoltz saves the game.

Jared Fernandez and his knuckleball against the Marlins and lefty Mark Redman, I feel a big game for Jeff Kent today if his wrist isn’t bothering him.

Can rookie manager Bob Melvin keep his clubhouse together in Seattle?

Javier Vazquez and his golden arm resurfaced yesterday as the righty went nine, striking out 11 Brewers without a walk.

Barry Zito needs to dedicate himself to pitching and block out anything else going on in his life which is something 25 year olds sometimes have a difficult time doing. He is an exceptional young man in many ways, so I’m in his corner all the way.

A’s Yankees it doesn’t get much better than this, in fact I think it is better than Giants Dodgers comparing these teams today.

Now that is saying something.