Saturday reading: The Yankees' big night, and the Mets' quick night

 Off the Yankees game, I wrote a column about, well, you know, the whole deal with George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard. 

It turned into one of those YES Network Classics. It was that kind of night. I love watching the Rays play, but on a night like last night, it feels like their middle relief corps just can't handle the Yankees' potent lineup. As a matter of fact, today, I'll compute the Rays bullpen's ERA against the Yankees this season.

Here's all of our Steinbrenner coverage. The death of The Boss will dominate today's Old Timers Day, but the Yankees will also take additional efforts to honor Sheppard.

--Nick Swisher was the star of the night, and goodness, where would the Yankees be without him? Even though he had a shaky night on the defensive side, he more than made up for it offensively.

--Jim Baumbach wrote a nice story on Paul Olden, Sheppard's replacement.

--The Mets got shut out by San Francisco for the second straight night, and if you read David Lennon's game story, you'll see some pointed criticism of Jerry Manuel. Why would he rest Angel Pagan on a night when Jose Reyes couldn't play? "So Jeff Francoeur could start against Barry Zito," is an answer that neither scores points with superiors nor scores actual runs.

--And in further bad news for the Mets, Mike Pelfrey has a neck problem, pushing his start back by two days.

--Bengie Molina hit for the cycle with the Rangers, and you start to wonder again a) whether there's any way the Angels can catch up to the Rangers, and b) whether there's any way the Red Sox can catch up with the Rays or Yankees.

--Have a great day.