This is one of those strange evenings where the Yankees are playing on ESPN, and yours truly is already in the next city on the schedule. Detroit.

The past two games have been exhausting for the players. And probably some viewers. Not sure if you tuned in, given the beautiful weather and the fact that YES didn’t have the Saturday game, but A.J.’s postgame was pretty compelling. He was upset with himself about pitch selection at critical moments – including the Varitek home run – and blamed solely himself, not Posada. (Actually, he was upset with himself, period. Pitch selection was a contributing factor.) He lines up to face the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium a week from Tuesday. That will be an intriguing start.

Not surprisingly, Damon is out of the lineup after getting beaten up yesterday by the scoreboard on the Lowell double.

Yikes! The Red Sox’s numbers against Pettitte are scary. And the Yankees need about eight innings from Andy.

In the short term, it seems the Sox are better with Youkilis and Lowell than they would have been with Teixeira and Youkilis. If Alex can come back from hip surgery the way Lowell has, the Yankees will be thrilled.

I find Pedroia incredibly likable. I just do.

The Yankees will be a very tired group when they play the Tigers at 7 p.m. tomorrow. And no, no one’s looking for sympathy. It’s just the way it is.

In hindsight, I wish I’d asked Buck and McCarver what they ate before the FOX broadcast yesterday. Can you imagine how that question would have gone over?

Today’s flight from Newark to Detroit (yes, I stopped in Jersey) might have been one of the most annoying in history. The two guys behind me were gabbing like women – we can say that – for the entire two hours. About every single person who works in their office. About the one guy’s carpal tunnel syndrome, which is exacerbated by his having very small hands. (Fella, you might want to keep that to yourself.) About how the carpal-tunnel guy burned his hand when he accidentally picked up a cast iron skillet from the stove, and he treated it with cold water then ice. On and on and on.

Something tells me our friend, Pete Abraham, is going to have a very interesting travel night/morning. Let’s hope he blogs about it. (Of course he’ll blog about it! He blogs 34 times a day!)