The After-"Shock"

A few things before tomorrow's game:

• According to Yankee beat writer Pete Abraham, Posada will be unavailable the last two games.
• In the same post, you'll note that Wil Nieves is 0 for 21 since 2002. He has no real backup unless the MFYs make a roster move.
• In the same post, realize the inaccuracy of Mariano's reported velocity. I didn't get to hear it, but my Dad said the ESPN mediots were saying that it was down, topping out at 93 (confirmation, anyone?). It's only 1 or 2 off from the norm, but should still be seen as significant. Still, he's still Mo, and only took 14 pitches to blow the game last night. (i.e. his availability for tomorrow and/or Sunday shouldn't be in question)
• Crisp is still a superhero. Or at least he would have been. There's no way to knock the effort he put in on that second A-Rod HR tonight (doubt anyone would anyway), glad to see that he wasn't too shaken up to contribute potentially THE hit of the night.
• Until/if the league figures him out, Okajima needs to be the consistent 8th inning guy. He looked good tonight, even if he was being squeezed. ("Ball" one to Abreu sticks out, you might have your own example)
• Speaking of the bullpen, Timlin, Pineiro, Papelbon, and Donnelly should all be fresh and ready to go if needed tomorrow. Beyond Okajima, the "A"-team, so to speak.
• A-Rod was basically a one-man show, contributing to 5 of the 6 MFY runs. Could this information be exploited?
• Also, his second HR? The call on that pitch would seem to be a mistake. Curt had him 1-2, with 2 outs. A breaking ball or a splitter would have seemed more appropriate than a fastball on the outer half.
• Crisp and Tek were great tonight. And while not being involved in any of the Sox runs, Drew continues to be as advertised. Hopefully Manny will take advantage of that at some point.
• If you didn't go absolutely crazy after Coco's 3B, I'm not sure how to help you.

Winner: JC Romero: Hard to give one out, but Romero was just bad.