Bronx & Beans

And with a funky little 27-hopper Sunday night off "Paps" (as my New England friends Whittlebon and Dennehy say), Brett Gardner pulled a Michael Corleone and got mixed up in the family business.

With two outs in the 10th inning and the score tied at 4, Gardner got just enough of the eighth pitch he saw from Jonathan "Sollozzo" Papelbon and as the ball bounced off a diving Alex "McCluskey" Cora, the Yankees picked up the 5-4 win against the Sawx.

Welcome to the rivalry, Brett.

Let's just hope now the Yankees don't send him away (minor leagues, trade, Sicily) for a year until things cool down. As Gardner injects life into this ball club, I hope they don't package him in a deal for a 37-year-old, fading righthanded National League reliever.

It's good to see a Yankee rookie get the game-winner. In fact, it's good to see any Yankee get a game-winner. Finally, someone stepping up.

And if the Yankees do decide to make a trade for a pitcher. How about this: He's having a down year, makes a lot of money, his team is in last place and even though he didn't pitch lights out against the Yankees, he had good stuff.........Roy Oswalt. All he needs is a change of location. He's got Reggie's number. Tellin' ya, it's meant to be.

-- Fernandez