Tigers Bag a Moose

Was there any doubt in anyone's mind that what took place at Yankee Stadium was inevitable. Mike Mussina had won in his previous 4 decisions, but this was the Tigers lineup. Justin Verlander would be somewhere between fair and great, but the Yankees needed to get to him early. Gary Sheffield would get on base, albeit, without taking a fastball to the ribs. And the Yankees would lose. 8-5 was the final.

Carlos Guillen belted a grand slam off of Mussina (8-8) in the top of the 1st and the game was pretty much over. Don't let the final score fool you, the game was never close after the first pitch. It was Guillen's 3rd career slam and 2nd this season. Hideki Matsui got a run back in the bottom of the 1st with an RBI single, but the Tigers responded with 2 more runs in the 2nd.

Bobby Abreu's 2-run HR, his 13th, cut the lead to 6-3 in the 3rd. Verlander (13-4) was on the ropes, but the Yankees couldn't deliver a solid knock out blow. Mussina lasted only 5 innings, and took the full brunt of the blame afterwards. He left trailing 7-3.

Jason Giambi's 1-out single in the 6th finally sent Verlander to the showers after a gritty 119 pitch performance. Verlander and other Tigers were battling a viral infection. Melky Cabrera's 2-out single kept the inning going, but Zach Miner struck out pinch-hitter Shelley Duncan to end the threat.

Strikeouts by Cabrera and Wilson Betemit end another potential rally in the 8th. Matsui's 2-out RBI double and Jorge Posada's RBI single accounted for the final runs in the 9th off of Todd Jones, who was in for a non-save situation.

...

Prior to the game, Alex Rodriguez was presented with a key to the city by NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. Rumors were false that A-Rod asked if he could use the key to opt out.

Brian Cashman stated on WFAN yesterday that the Yankees will not re-sign A-Rod if he opts out. They are open to extension since Texas would still be putting money towards that, but a new contract is not financially reasonable.

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