TORONTO _ ESPN blinked.
Caved might describe it even better.
The World Wide Leader infuriated the Yankees last Friday by flexing their 1 p.m. July 8 game in Toronto to Sunday Night Baseball, meaning an 8 p.m. start.
With the Yankees a day before settling on July 9 for a doubleheader with the Orioles in Baltimore a Sunday Night Baseball game would have required the Yankees to essentially play three games in a 24-hour span.
Under pressure from the Yankees _ both players and management _ the Players Association as well as Commissioner Rob Manfred, who got involved Monday, ESPN flexed again Tuesday. The Yankees/Blue Jays game returned to its original 1 p.m. start and the network picked up the Angels/Dodgers contest for that day's SNB telecast.
"Obviously really good news we got today," Said Aaron Boone who, despite his previous job as an ESPN analyst, blasted his former employer over the weekend. "I think a lot of people behind the scenes _ I think the Commissioner was very involved _ just really grateful to him and to ESPN and to the Yankees and all the people involved I think clearly ended up doing the right thing here in considering the product and player safety and all those kinds of things."
