That's better

Sergio Mitre, huh?

All right, why not? The Yankees were facing Rich Hill, who was tossing 89 mph fastballs and 71 mph curves and lasted three innings.

Actually, Mitre didn't look horrible. He hung a curve to Melvin Mora and paid for it, but otherwise, he threw strikes and didn't hurt himself.

If only the Yanks weren't 0-8 against the Sox this season.

How about A-Rod, though? Helping the Yanks build a run without the benefit of a hit. Boy, makes up for the dozens of times he's failed to hit a sac fly, or a groundball to the right side to move a runner.

I have two new peeves:

First, the word "piece" when referring to a player. It's up there with "stud" and saying "position" after you say the position. We're talking about chess, we're talking about people ... mostly.

Second, the new-age, agent-created "hold," which is relevant only to said agents to toss out when negotiating contacts. A team could have a 10-run lead, and a reliever could give up nine runs and still be credited with a hold.