Colin Curtis hits his 1st career home run after a wild sequence that featured Brett Garder getting ejected from the game in the 7th inning. (AP)

YANKEE STADIUM -- Talk about an unlikely hero.

With the score 7-5 in favor of New York after DH Juan Miranda's solo home run (3) in the bottom of the seventh, rookie Colin Curtis was just another dugout spectator watching left fielder Brett Gardner hitting against Angels reliever Scott Shields with men at the corners, 1 out and an 0-1 count.

Shields' next pitch, a 90 mph fastball Gardner laid off because he felt it was out of the zone, was called a strike. Gardner spun around in frustration and said something that prompted home plate umpire Paul Emmel to eject him from the game.

"I was scratching my head, and that's all I'm going to say about it," said manager Joe Girardi, who got thrown out of yesterday's 10-2 loss, of Gardner's swift ejection.

Brett Gardner took the same laconic stance on his ousting.

"It's the first time I've been tossed ... ever, and hopefully the last," said Gardner. "I rather not talk about it; it's like beating a dead horse."

The stunning development left Girardi with no choice but to send 25-year-old Colin Curtis out to hit in an 0-2 hole in what was a crucial moment in the game.

After taking a few warmup swings, the lefty-hitting Curtis stepped into the batter's box and battled Shields to a full count. On Shields' 3-2 pitch, a 91 mph fastball, the product of Issaquah, Washington, did the unbelievable: he hit a 3-run home run into the right field stands - the 1st of his career - to give the Yankees a 5-run cushion at 10-5.

New York (59-34) would eventually go on to beat the Angels (51-46), 10-6.

Colin connects, and the 47,000-plus roard as the Yankees were on their way toward splitting the 2-game set with the Angels. (AP)

It wasn't pretty, but Javier Vazquez (W, 8-7) got the win despite giving up 5 runs in 5 innings of work. (Photo by Bill Menzel)

Former Yankee Hideki Matsui's .248 batting average isn't much to brag about, but New York wouldn't mind getting 12 HRs and 51 RBIs from the DH slot a little over the halfway point of the season. (AP)

Cuba would have increased the competitive drive of the games (Photo LSV)

Mayagüez, PR: Cuba is notably absent from these games and that is a shame. As the Greater of the Antilles, Cuba is a major force in Sports and has usually dominated in many of the sports venues. In the 2006 Games held in Cartagena, Columbia Cuba led in total medal count with 285 of which 138 were Gold, 86 Silver and 61 Bronze. Unfortunately, the political status of Puerto Rico was one of the contributing factors in Cuba pulling itself out of these games.

Though Puerto Rico competes in world games as a separate an independent country, the internal politics are those of a U.S. Commonwealth, or as it really is, a U.S. Colony. Thus Cuba, who would not have a problem traveling anywhere else, would have to go through a lengthy bureaucratic process to enter Puerto Rico. Apparently, the Cuban's were not allowed to land their Cubana De Aviación planes directly from Havana to Puerto Rico. The State Department required the Cuban planes to fly to Miami and there board an American air carrier to bring the delegation that would have numbered close to a thousand to Puerto Rico. The Cubans and many other countries found that to be unresonable.

The Cubans were also asking for certain security measures and visa processing that the U.S. State Department was not willing to accept. Finally, the Cubans have been going through a serious economic crisis. So if you put all these issues together, you have the reasons why Cuba, a serious sports competitor did not come to the XXI games.

On the other hand this has given many countries the opportunity to upscale their athletic abilities without Cuba’s presence and that has been a blessing to many athletes giving them more exposure and a drive to excel and capture a medal that perhaps otherwise they would not be able to get.

Total medal count from the 2006 Games held in Cartagena, Columbia:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Cuba	138	86	61	285
2	Mexico	107	82	86	275
3	Colombia	72	70	77	219
4	Venezuela	49	90	124	263
5	Puerto Rico	24	19	53	96
6	Dominican Republic	22	31	44	97
7	Jamaica	9	6	7	22
8	El Salvador	6	12	30	48
9	Barbados	6	2	11	19
10	Guatemala	5	13	30	48
11	Panama	2	5	7	14
12	Costa Rica	2	1	2	5
13	Netherlands Antilles	2	1	1	4
14	Trinidad and Tobago	1	9	11	21
15	Cayman Islands	1	2	0	3
16	U.S. Virgin Islands	1	2	0	3
17	Guyana	1	1	0	2
18	British Virgin Islands	1	0	0	1
19	Bahamas	0	6	4	10
20	Haiti	0	5	3	8
21	Honduras	0	2	3	5
22	Grenada	0	2	0	2
23	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0	1	2	3
24	Saint Lucia	0	1	1	2
25	Nicaragua	0	0	4	4
26	Antigua and Barbuda	0	0	1	1
27	Bermuda	0	0	1	1
28	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0	0	1	1
29	Suriname	0	0	1	1
	TOTAL	449	449	564	1,462

The Angels bedeviled Phil Hughes for 6 runs on 9 hits in New York's 10-2 loss. (Photo by Bill Menzel)

YANKEE STADIUM -- It was clear from the beginning of the Yankees' 2-game series-opening, 10-2 defeat at the hands of the L.A. Angels of Anaheim (51-45) that New York starter Phil Hughes never had it.

In 5 innings (plus 2 hitters), the Angels rocked Hughes for 6 runs on 9 hits, which included 2-run home runs from shortstop Maicer Izturis (2 for 4, HR, 3 RBI) and catcher Mike Napoli (3 for 5, HR, 4 RBI).

"My command really wasn't there," Phil Hughes (L, 11-3) said after the game. "I feel like I made some strides in Seattle. Tonight was a step in the wrong direction. I got to make better pitches earlier."

"It came down to location," Jorge Posada added moments later. "It's frustrating because we scored early, but I told him [after the game] to keep his head up."

As the veteran catcher alluded to, New York (58-34) went ahead in the first inning, 2-0, after Nick Swisher hit his 17th home run of the season and Mark Teixeira scored on Jorge Posada's RBI groundout (4-6 fielder's choice) with the bases loaded.

It appeared as though the Yankees were going to make quick work of 22-year-old starter Sean O'Sullivan (W, 1-0), but said appearance couldn't have been any more deceptive.

O'Sullivan threw 5 scoreless and hitless innings after the first, finishing his night with 6 innings pitched with 2 runs allowed on 2 hits.

"He mainly had a changeup and slider after [the first inning]; he had our number," Nick Swisher told writers. "That's baseball, man. It happens."

Following the Yankees' 2-spot in the first inning, the Angels got one back in the second, cutting the lead in half on short stop Maicer Izturis' RBI single up the middle.

In the third, Tori Hunter (2 for 3, RBI) tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI single up the middle that scored Erick Aybar from second. Hughes, facing former Yankee Hideki Matsui (2-run HR, 2R) with men at the corners, induced the left-handed hitting DH to hit into a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Hughes, however, wouldn't be as fortunate in the fourth, as Izturis, who got L.A. on the board earlier with a run-scoring single, hit a 2-run homer (3) to right that gave the Angels a 4-2 lead.

Hughes' night came to an abrupt end in the sixth, when catcher Mike Napoli hit a 2-run homer (17) of his own to extend the Angels' lead to 6-2.

"He didn't have command of his fastball and got beat with his cutter," said Joe Girardi of his 24-year-old starter's rough outing. "When you don't have command, it's hard to compete at a high level."

New York manager Joe Girardi was ejected in the sixth for arguing a play at first base, and in the seventh, Hideki Matsui ejected reliever Chan Ho Park's 0-1 changeup into the right field stands - a 2-run blast - for his 11th homer.

About his ejection, Girardi said, "First of all, I don't think I should've been thrown out. I didn't say anything to get thrown out; I was shocked when I got tossed.

Manager Joe Girardi wasn't enamored with the umpiring crew last night. (Photo by Bill Menzel)

In garbage time, i.e., the ninth inning, Napoli added to his RBI total for the game, knocking in a pair off reliever Chad Gaudin with a 2-run single that made it 10-2, the eventual final score. Napoli finished with 4 runs batted in last night, and with his 3 hits in 5 at-bats, he currently has a career .391 (27-for-69) batting average against the Yankees.

The Yanks will look to bounce back this afternoon (1:05 p.m.) behind Javier Vazquez (7-7. 4.45 ERA), who'll take the mound opposite Angels starter Joel Pineiro (10-6, 3.95 ERA) in game 2 of the 2-game set.

Puerto Rico's female Voleyball squad celebrates their win over Mexico in 3 consecutive sets. (Photo LSV)

Aguada, PR: This small Western town, in the Porta De Sol corridor of towns that are also part of these Central American & Caribbean Games had a big victory today when Enrique Martínez from Vieques, PR defeated Venezuela's, Armando Maita in the finals of the 55 kilograms competition to win Puerto Rico’s the seventh Gold medal in Judo.

In the next competition, San Juan’s Carlos Santiago won a Bronze medal Vs. Diego Ochoa from El Salvador in the heavy weight class.

In the history of these games, Puerto Rico has won more medals in swimming than any other sport. However, in these XXI Games, Puerto Rico is beginning to surprise many in the sport of Judo with a total of 13 medals, seven Gold, two Silver and four Bronzes.

The Puerto Rico female Volleyball team is ranked 10th in the world (Photo LSV)

Meanwhile over five thousand spectators packed the Palacio Del Deporte in Mayagüez to watch Puerto Rico’s female volleyball team defeat Mexico’s top sextet in three consecutive sets. Puerto Rico’s female team is ranked 10th in the world and Mexico’s is ranked 14th. This now sets the stage for what will be the showdown between Dominican Republic (ranked 11th) and Puerto Rico for the gold. Now that will be one packed game since these two are the Boston Red Sox & Yankees of female volleyball in the Caribbean.

Enrique Martínez won PR's seventh Gold Medal in judo. His emotions say's it all. (Olimpo Ramos/META)

In baseball, the town of Aguadilla hosted the Puerto Rico’s win Vs. Guatemala by a score of 9-0 in shortened game due to rains that have not given the West Coast a break since these games began.

One another front, Ponce, Puerto Rico witnessed history as the Dominican Republic won it’s first ever Gold medal in bowling.

The following is the updated medal count as of July 20, 2010;

	oro	plata	bronce	Total
Colombia	33	21	22	76
Venezuela	25	27	24	76
México	25	27	28	80
Puerto Rico	10	16	14	40
República Dominicana	7	6	21	34
Jamaica	3	1	1	5
Guatemala	2	3	6	11
Panamá	1	0	4	5
El Salvador	1	2	8	11
Bahamas	1	2	2	5
Barbados	1	1	0	2
Bermuda	0	0	2	2
Costa Rica	0	0	3	3
Dominica	0	0	0	0
San Kitts y Nevis	0	0	0	0
San Vicente y las Granadinas	0	0	0	0
Granada	0	0	0	0
Santa Lucía	0	0	0	0
Surinam	0	0	0	0
Guyana	0	0	1	1
Trinidad y Tobago	0	0	1	1
Haití	0	1	1	2
Honduras	0	0	0	0
Islas Caimán	0	1	1	2
Antigua y Barbuda	0	0	0	0
Islas Vírgenes Británicas	0	0	0	0
Antillas Holandesas	0	1	0	1
Islas Vírgenes Estadounidenses	0	0	0	0
Aruba	0	0	0	0
Belice	0	0	0	0
Nicaragua	0	0	0	0

 You can listen to the games daily updates on www.wpra990.com & www.wkjb710.com with Raymond Stewart, Wilfredo Torres, Bebo Avellanet and guest, Julio Pabón.

Mayagüez, PR: On this second day of competition in these XXI Central American & Caribbean Games being held here in the Porta Del Sol area of Puerto Rico where Mayagüez is the major hub, Puerto Rico has won a total of 28 medals. With the absence of Cuba, Columbia has emerged as the leading country with a total of 49 medals.

For Puerto Rico, one of the highlights of today’s competitions was Vanessa Garcia a young Puerto Rican swimmer that has been slowly developing as one of Puerto Rico’s top athlete’s. Vanessa won the Gold in the 100-meter freestyle with a record of 55 seconds beating her own best record time set in Cartagena of 55.80.

	oro	plata	bronce	Total
Colombia	23	13	13	49
México	14	14	17	45
Venezuela	12	15	16	43
Puerto Rico	7	12	9	28
República Dominicana	5	5	15	25
Jamaica	2	0	0	2
Barbados	1	1	0	2
Panamá	1	0	1	2
Guatemala	1	1	5	7
Bahamas	1	2	1	4
Belice	0	0	0	0
Nicaragua	0	0	0	0
Bermuda	0	0	0	0
Costa Rica	0	0	3	3
Dominica	0	0	0	0
San Kitts y Nevis	0	0	0	0
El Salvador	0	2	4	6
San Vicente y las Granadinas	0	0	0	0
Granada	0	0	0	0
Santa Lucía	0	0	0	0
Surinam	0	0	0	0
Guyana	0	0	0	0
Trinidad y Tobago	0	0	2	2
Haití	0	1	0	1
Honduras	0	0	0	0
Islas Caimán	0	0	1	1
Antigua y Barbuda	0	0	0	0
Islas Vírgenes Británicas	0	0	0	0
Antillas Holandesas	0	1	0	1
Islas Vírgenes Estadounidenses	0	0	0	0
Aruba	0	0	0	0