Having spent the actual time of yesterday's Yankee game at my 1st, but officially the 5th annual Surly Beer Fest, I wasn't quite ready to settle into what the baseball game turned out to be. The beer fest, held at their brewery in Brooklyn Center, was a great day out in some rather fast Fall weather but especially to taste a couple of their beers that haven't been - or won't be - available ever.

The big smash was their Cacao Bender variation on their standard Bender-style. Dark and rich and brewed with chocolate nibs most notably, was a big pow on the taste buds and could stay with you all day. We probably should have washed out our steins before moving on the to next beer as the Cacao had staying power. The Fest was a very tasty autumnal beer, even if they said it wasn't an Octoberfest style. The Fiery Hell, a rather peppery take on their lager, was perhaps slightly too spicy. It paired well with my mini Lobster roll, but I wished I had gotten the food right as I got the beer.

My fourth and final 1/2 litre was the good, ol' Furious. Spared the can and any kind of travel whatsoever, the Surly Furious was probably the best right at the brewery. Glad that I don't have to wait til next year; Surly Darkness Days are coming up to.

In the 5th or 6th I told the friend I was watching with that the Yankee game was going to go to extras. I wasn't expecting 14 though. But after 3 scoreless innings, Freddy Garcia got pounded in the top of the 13th. When all was said and done, the A's had 3 longballs and a 9-5 lead. But the Yanks battled back and tied it up on a two run smash by Raul Ibanez.

The craziness came in the 14th. Melka Mesa, making his major league debut as a pinch-runner, over-ran 3rd base on what should have been a game-winning, walk-off hit by A-Rod, but the kid had to go back to the bag and was forced at the plate on the next play. As the entire team was on the dugout steps, this poor kid was wandering the dugout alone -- not quite crying.

But when the A's firstbaseman botched a spinning groundball off of Nunez's bat, Ichiro scored the winning run and the Yanks could all laugh with Mesa.

Today, proving you can't win em all - the Yankees had for a week - the A's took the last game 5-4. The O's lost to the bosox so status quo.