Around the Horn - 6/24

Limited schedule last night, but some interesting match ups none the less.

Felix Hernandez belted a grand slam off of Johan Santana, but sprained his ankle one out shy of 5 innings. The bullpen did its his job in his place and the Mariners beat the Mets 5-2.

Another duel in Fenway between the Diamondbacks Dan Haren and the Red Sox Josh Beckett. Chris Young and Chris Snyder each drove in a run in the 7th to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 win. The Red Sox also lost 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis in the game when a between inning warm up throw from Mike Lowell resulted in a black eye.

John Lackey missed the beginning of the season with arm trouble, but he looks like his old self on the mound. Last night he dominated the Nationals over 8 innings in the Angels 3-2 win. K-Rod picked up his 31st save after Garrett Anderson's 8th inning single snapped a 2-2 tie.

The Royals are loving interleague play. They're now 10-3 after beating up on the Rockies 8-4. Mark Teahen's 1st inning, 3-run home run got KC off to a fast start. Brian Bannister allowed 3 unearned runs in 7 innings for his 6th win.

The American League now holds a 99-77 advantage in this year's play.

In intralague play, Mike Cameron belted a 2-run home run to lead the Brewers over the Braves 4-1. Ben Sheets tossed a complete game 4-hitter and struck out 7.


News

Looking to beef up their squad, the Indians signed veterans Tony Graffanino and Juan Rincon to minor league deals.

Poor Nick Johnson's season is done again. The Nats 1st baseman will have surgery on his wrist to repair a torn ligament.

Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard may be headed back to the DL with a bad back, according to the Seattle Times.

It was done under the radar, compared to the Willie Randolph firing, but the Mets may have made a significant move when they hired Wayne Krivsky as assistant GM. Owner Fred Wilpon said GM Omar Minaya is doing a "great job", but ya never know.

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Giese for Now, Who for Later?

Dan Giese will step into Chien-Ming Wang's cleats (don't hurt yourself) this Saturday (we erroneously reported Sunday yesterday) against the Cincinnati Reds. But the question remains, will it be a long term solution, will the Yankees look inside the organization, or elsewhere. Let's take a look at the option.

Dan Giese: Let's start right with the guy who gets the first crack. Giese was a journeyman who had only appeared in 8 games last season with the Giants. But he blossomed as a starter (4-2, 1.98 in 13 games, 10 starts) this season at Scranton and that earned him the right to be Joba Chamberlain's back up for his first two starts. Now that Joba is ready to go out and throw 90-100 pitches, the plan would have been for Giese to be the long man out of the pen. Wang's injury changed all that.

Internal Options:

That guy incredibly bad import from Japan: We so don't want him back here we won't even mention him by name. But you know who he is and how bad he is. 'nuff said.

Ian Kennedy: Kennedy was tremendous last season, dominating at 3 levels in the minors and getting the notice of fans with an impressive September debut. But this year he has been just plain awful. He already made one very brief trip down to Scranton and then was DL'ed with a Lat injury shortly after his return. This is guy whose confidence has to be shaken right now since he has never had anything other than success prior to this season. At the moment he's a number 5 starter. With Wang out, possibly for the season, the Yankees need better than a number 5.

Dan McCutchen: McCutchen has made just 5 starts at the Triple-A level and from Brian Cashman's comments yesterday, doesn't seem like a viable solution for that precise reason. His numbers at Scranton have been decent (1-4, 3.62 21 K/4 BB) after an outstanding start at Trenton (4-3, 2.55 52 K in 53 IP).

Alan Horne: Horne missed two months of the season with a bicep injury and has thrown only 18.1 innings this season. Cashman won't throw him into the fire.

Jeff Karstens: Karstens is a decent pitcher who can't seem to stay healthy. He looked like he was going to go north with the club out of spring training and got hurt. He was nearly done with his rehab and got hurt. Now he's coming back again, but we already know what he can do and its not fantastic.

Jason Jones: This would be a very long shot. Jones has spent a year and a half at the Double-A level and is having an outstanding season (8-2, 2.30), but Cashman doesn't like to rush the Yankees prospects and is unlikely to pull up a guy who hasn't pitched at Triple-A.

Outside Solutions:

Obviously the biggest name out there is the biggest guy out there, C.C. Sabathia. The left-hander is set to become a free agent after the season and, you would have to think, the Yankees would want a window to negotiate a new contract with him before approving a deal. Indians GM Mark Shapiro is also going to want a bundle for him. Brian Cashman would look foolish if he threw a package of Phil Hughes and others together to get him after turning down a deal for Johan Santana. At worst, the Indians will get 2 draft picks as compensation if Sabathia stays the season and leaves as a free agent.

Ben Sheets: Sheets will turn just 30 this summer, but has spent significant time on the DL. He hasn't made more than 24 starts since 2004. He's missed some time this season already with triceps stiffness. Sheets is off to a great start this season (7-1, 2.42), but the Brewers are scuffling after being in contention all of last season. Sheets will also be a free agent after the season.

Randy Wolf: Another pending free agent who will be starting tonight against the Yankees when the San Diego Padres come to town. The up side is that he's left-handed, the down side is that he's not fantastic. He's got a career ERA of 4.23 (5-4, 3.83 in '08) with all 10 years of major league service in the National League. We've seen how average NL pitchers do in the AL and so it doesn't make sense to us unless you can get him cheap. He also had Tommy John Surgery and missed significant chunks of 2005 and 2006. He also suffered from shoulder soreness last season.

Rich Harden and Joe Blanton: A pair of talented right-handers from Oakland. Harden is a free agent after the season while Blanton can't be a free agent until 2011. He is arbitration eligible. GM Billy Beane would surely command a king's ransom for either pitcher just as he has when he dealt Dan Haren, Mark Mulder, and Tim Hudson in the past. Harden, when healthy is fantastic (4-0, 2.53 67 K in 53.1 IP in '08), but that's a big if. He threw 72.2 innings combined in '06 and '07 and has spent time on the DL this year as well. Blanton has control trouble at times, but is still a very good pitcher. The biggest down side as we mentioned earlier is that Beane would want too many prospects back.

Freddy Garcia: Garcia is sitting at home right now, getting in shape for when the phone rings. He had 7 seasons of 200 or more innings and it seemed to catch up to him last year when he threw just 58 innings due to a shoulder injury. Whether he's got enough left in the tank remains to be seen.

A.J. Burnett: The much embattled, much injured right-hander has worn out his welcome in Toronto. GM J.P. Ricciardi publicly questioned his heart and guts and Burnett recently made comments that he wouldn't mind playing for the Cubs. He then threw grease on the fire by saying he didn't care what the fans reaction to his comments would be. The guy's got talent, no doubt, but his physical problems and mental toughness probably will make Cashman shy away (we already have Carl Pavano). He still has 2 years remaining on a 5-year, $55 million deal, but he can opt out of it after this season, which makes his departure from Toronto even more likely.

Gil Meche: He's in the 2nd year of a 5-year, $55 million deal with the Royals. After having an outstanding season in '07, he's been pretty mediocre this year and the Royals are floundering. His contract really isn't that bad by today's standards and the Royals need someone to put in the seats, so its not likely he would be available.

Erik Bedard: Would seem to be odd for him tobe on the market already, but the Mariners stink and there's a question of just how focused Bedard is on baseball. The Blue Jays were thought to be very interested in him, but have backed off.

There are other names (Jarrod Washburn, Livan Hernandez, Kevin Millwood, etc.) that we are sure will be bandied about, but none really intrigue us. We would give Giese the job for now, but would definitely take a look at how Garcia is progressing, and start making the rounds calling up about guys like Sabathia. With so many teams still in division and wild card hunts though, it's not likely that a major deal would get done too soon.


So what would you do? Please participate in our poll at the top of My Pinstripes.

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Around the Horn - 5/29

Can things get much worse in Kansas City? The Royals looked like they would snap their 9 game losing streak. They lead the Twins 8-3 in the 9th. Before you could say George Brett, the Twins tied the game, the capper being a Craig Monroe 3-run homer, and then won it in the 10th on Justin Morneau's home run. Trey Hillman must have known he might have to endure a 10-game losing streak, no?

The White Sox blew one lead, but came back from two deficits to beat the Indians 6-5 and take 2 of 3 in their series. Carlos Quentin drove in 3 runs and has flown under the radar with an AL 2nd best 47 RBI on the season.

The Tigers salvaged the finale of their 3-game series with the Angels, 6-2. Marcus Thames belted a pair of 2-run HRs. Joe Saunders lost for just the 2nd time in 10 decisions.

The Rays topped the Rangers 5-3 in an afternoon contest. The game ended weirdly when closer Troy Percival collapsed on the mound with a hamstring injury as he was striking out Brandon Boggs for the 2nd out of the inning. Dan Wheeler got the final out for his first save of the season.

RH night in Oakland. Roy Halladay facing off against Rich Harden and both lived up to their reputations. Armando Rios' RBI double snapped a 1-1 tie in the 9th to give Halladay the victory. Harden allowed 1 run over 7 in getting a no decision.

Yuniesky Betancourt's home run was the lone run in the Mariners 1-0 victory over the Red Sox. Erik Bedard outdueled Tim Wakefield, who threw a complete game. The Red Sox have lost 5 of their last 6.

The Mets got a much needed win against the NL East leading Marlins. Endy Chavez hit a pinch-hit home run off of closer Kevin Gregg to tie it in the 9th, and down a run in the 12th, Fernando Tatis doubled in 2 to give the Mets a 7-6 win.

Adam Wainwright dominated the Astros, allowing just 3 hits over 8 innings in the Cardinals 6-1 win. Yadier Molina and Caesar Izturis drove in 2 runs each.

The Phillies completed a 3-game sweep of the Rockies with a 6-1 win. Chase Utley and Geoff Jenkins each homered and drove in 3 runs. Utley's 17 dingers leads the majors.

Jeff Suppan and Jo Jo Reyes hooked up in a great pitcher's duel in Milwaukee. Richie Weekes' 8th innings triple drove in the game lone run to give Suppan the victory. The two teams combined for just 7 hits.

The Reds pounded the Pirates 9-1 behind 4 RBI from David Ross. Jay Bruce was 1-3 with 2 more walks and his 2nd stolen base.

The Cubs rallied against the Far East to beat the Dodgers 2-1 in 10 innings. Geovanny Soto's sac fly against Japan's Takashi Saito tied the game in the 9th and Alfonso Soriano's single off of Korea's Chan-Ho Park won it in extras.

The Giants beat up on the division leading Diamondbacks for the 2nd straight night. Ray Durham homered and drove in 4 as the Giants won 11-3.

Jesus Flores hit a grand slam and Lastings Milledge added a solo shot in the Nationals 6-4 win over the Padres. Odalis Perez picked up the win after getting a root canal earlier in the day.

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Pettitte, Duncan Sink Mariners

Joe Girardi only got to watch last night's game sitting in George Steinbrenner's private box, but he had to enjoy what he saw. The Yankees clobbered Erik Bedard and the Mariners 13-2 as Girardi sat out a one game suspension for his actions in Thursday night's game against Baltimore. Bench coach Rob Thomson took over the helm and guided the Yankees to the easy win.

It didn't start out that way as struggling Andy Pettitte was shaky early on in this one, but his team trailed just 1-0 when they came to bat in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Hideki Matsui, who started both run scoring rallies on Thursday, came through again with a lead off single. Jason Giambi drew a walk and then Shelley Duncan golfed a sinking fastball into the left field seats for a 3-run home run, his first of the season. The Yankees would never trail again.

Pettitte settled in, striking out 9 in 6 innings, including Ichiro Suzuki twice. Seattle manager John McLaren was tossed from the game after arguing with home plate ump Mike Dimuro after Ichiro's 2nd strikeout. Pettitte allowed one more run on an RBI double by Adrian Beltre in the 3rd inning, but his teammates opened the flood gates.

The Yankees added to the lead on a 2-run single by Robinson Cano in the 4th and then blew the game open with an 8-run 5th inning. Derek Jeter was hit by a pitch yet again and Bobby Abreu followed with a single to put runners on the corners with no one out. Jeter was thrown out at home on Alex Rodriguez's fielder's choice, but Matsui brought home a pair with a single to center. Giambi followed with a single, sending Bedard to the showers, but Sean Green would fare no better after striking out Duncan.

Cano's second single brought home one run and Chad Moeller's single plated two more. Abreu would single home a pair in his second at-bat of the inning and A-Rod knocked in the final run of the inning with a single off of R.A. Dickey.

The rest of the night was just counting the outs until the victory.

News and Notes

Wilson Betemit began his current rehab from a hamstring injury by playing for Scranton last night. He was 0-2 with a walk and struck out twice.

With Johnny Damon sitting out against a tough left-hander, Derek Jeter batted lead off and Bobby Abreu hit second.

Edwar Ramirez pitched the 9th inning for his 10th scoreless appearance (11 innings) this season. He walked two batters, but also struck out two.

May 23, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Seattle	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	9	1
NY Yankees	0	3	0	2	8	0	0	0	X		13	13	0

Seattle	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Suzuki, CF	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.289
Bloomquist, LF	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.162
Lopez, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.293
Vidro, DH	4	1	3	0	0	1	1	.225
Ibanez, LF	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.286
Reed, LF-CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.286
Beltre, 3B	3	1	3	1	0	0	0	.258
Cairo, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.171
Sexson, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.200
Balentien, RF	3	0	1	0	1	2	1	.224
Burke, C	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	.219
Betancourt, SS	4	0	1	1	0	1	2	.262
Totals	35	2	9	2	2	12	19
BATTING 2B: Vidro 2 (8, Pettitte, Hawkins), Beltre (9, Pettitte). TB: Lopez; Vidro 5; Beltre 4; Balentien; Betancourt. RBI: Betancourt (17), Beltre (23). 2-out RBI: Betancourt; Beltre. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ibanez; Suzuki; Sexson; Burke; Bloomquist. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Lopez (5, fielding).

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bedard (L, 3-3)	4.1	8	9	9	1	3	1	4.70
Green	0.1	4	4	4	1	1	0	3.91
Dickey	2.1	1	0	0	1	1	0	5.56
Lowe	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0	3.79

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	.295
Gonzalez, SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.214
Abreu, RF	5	1	2	2	0	2	0	.292
Rodriguez, 3B	4	1	1	1	0	1	2	.292
Ensberg, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.205
Matsui, LF	5	3	3	2	0	0	2	.311
Giambi, DH	3	3	2	0	2	0	0	.217
Duncan, S, 1B	4	1	1	3	1	1	4	.188
Cano, 2B	4	1	2	3	1	0	0	.214
Moeller, C	5	1	1	2	0	2	5	.255
Cabrera, CF	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.248
Totals	38	13	13	13	5	6	14
BATTING 2B: Giambi (7, Bedard), Cano (7, Bedard). HR: Duncan, S (1, 2nd inning off Bedard, 2 on, 0 out). TB: Abreu 2; Rodriguez; Matsui 3; Giambi 3; Duncan, S 4; Cano 3; Moeller; Cabrera. RBI: Duncan, S 3 (6), Cano 3 (17), Matsui 2 (22), Moeller 2 (7), Abreu 2 (27), Rodriguez (16). 2-out RBI: Cano; Moeller 2; Abreu 2; Rodriguez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera; Matsui; Moeller 2. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING Outfield assists: Matsui (Vidro at home). DP: (Matsui-Moeller).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte (W, 4-5)	6.0	8	2	2	0	9	0	4.27
Hawkins	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	5.09
Ramirez	1.0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0.00

HBP: Jeter (by Bedard).
Pitches-strikes: Bedard 74-48, Green 25-17, Dickey 38-25,
Lowe 22-11, Pettitte 105-75, Hawkins 24-15, Ramirez 23-13.
Ground outs-fly outs: Bedard 5-5, Green 0-0, Dickey 2-4,
Lowe 0-2, Pettitte 8-1, Hawkins 1-3, Ramirez 0-1.
Batters faced: Bedard 23, Green 6, Dickey 9, Lowe 6, Pettitte 26,
Hawkins 6, Ramirez 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Green 2-2, Dickey 2-1.
EjectionsSeattle Mariners Manager John McLaren ejected
by HP umpire Mike DiMuro. (2nd).
Umpires: HP: Mike DiMuro. 1B: Larry Vanover. 2B: Mike Everitt.
3B: Tim McClelland.
Weather: 65 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 14 mph, Out to CF.
T: 2:58.
Att: 52,005.

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The Daily Yankeeland - 5/23

The Yankees (22-25) open a 3-game series with the Mariners (18-30) tonight at the Stadium before hitting the road for Baltimore. The Yankees have already swept a 3-game home series from the Mariners on May 2-4 (just who exactly comes up with these schedules?).

Andy Pettitte tries to get his season back on track when he goes up against tough lefty Erik Bedard. Pettitte is trying to snap a 4-game losing streak and has not won a game in his last 5 starts. The 2nd time around the batting order seems to be the bugaboo he'll try to correct tonight. Pettitte is 8-10, 4.81 in 18 career starts against the M's.

Bedard was out pitched by Chien-Ming Wang in May 2nd's 5-1 Yankees win. Bedard was charged with 1 earned run in 7 inninngs that night. He gave up an RBI single to Hideki Matsui in the 1st and a 2-run double to Melky Cabrera in the 2nd. For his career, Bedard is 4-4, 3.28 against the Yankees in 11 starts plus 1 relief appearance. The Yankees will be glad to have A-Rod back in the lineup for this one. He's 10-24 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI against Bedard.

Mariners vs. Pettitte

Beltre 0-2
Betancourt 1-3
Burke 0-3
Cairo 9-33 (.273) 2 RBI
Ibanez 5-12 (.417) 2 RBI
Lopez 0-2
Sexson 4-12 (.333) 1 HR 2 RBI
Ichiro 10-23 (.435) 5 RBI 1 SB
Vidro 5-19 (.263) 1 HR 3 RBI

Mike Mussina goes on 3 days rest Saturday against Felix Hernandez, and the series concludes on Sunday with Chien-Ming Wang against Carlos Silva.


Dan Graziano has a nice feature in today's Star Ledger on Mariano Rivera's conversion from mediocre starter from Hall of Fame closer.

Kristie Ackert of the Daily News has a piece on Joba's excitement about starting.

Eric Barrow of the News talks about the odd sports betting ticker in the Yankee Stadium visitor's clubhouse. How exactly has that been allowed?

UPDATE 5/23 6:15 pm Felix Hernandez has been scratched from his Saturday start due to his calf strain. Carlos Silva will be moved up to Saturday and Jarrod Washburn will go on Sunday.

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Around the Horn - 5/8

You can tack another loss on to Barry Zito's record. The Giants gave Zito a start yesterday and held their breath. Throwing 99 pitches in 5 innings is not good, but he gave his team a chance to win by allowing 2 runs in 5 innings. But the Giants bats couldn't do anything against Pirates starter Phil Dumatrait and the bullpen. They finally broke up the shutout in the 9th, but still lost, 3-1.

The Rockies looked like they were going down to defeat again after the Cards' Adam Wainwright shut them down for 7 innings. But Kyle McLellan, Randy Flores, and Jason Isringhausen each did their part to blow the game. The Rocks scored 4 times off of the 3 Cards pitchers in the 8th inning with Chris Ianette delivering the decisive blow- a 2-run game winning triple.

The Astros won their second straight over the Nationals in their final at-bat. In both cases, Carlos Lee delivered the game winning hit. Tuesday night Lee doubled in a pair with the Astros trailing by a run. Last night's game was tied in the bottom of the 9th when Lee singled home Kaz Matsui with the winning run a 4-3 contest.

The Marlins moved 5 games over .500 with a 6-2 win over the Brewers. Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla each homered against a Brewers team that fell back under the .500 mark.

The Mets took out their frustrations from the prior two games and pounded the Dodgers 12-1. Four different Mets drove in 2 runs each and John Maine came within 2 outs of a complete game shutout.

Tim Hudson picked up his 140th career win in the Braves 5-2 thumping of the Padres. The game was tied 2-2 in the 7th when newly acquired Greg Norton put the Braves ahead with a pinch-hit single. The Padres fell to 12-23, but got to watch Bobby Cox get ejected for the 137th time in his managerial career.

As we told you yesterday, Joey Votto smacked 3 home runs and the Reds totalled 7 in all in a 9-0 whitewashing of the Cubs.

The Phillies came back from 3-1 and 4-3 deficits to beat the Diamondbacks 5-4. Eric Bruntlett and Chase Utley each knocked in runs in the go-ahead 8th inning.

Carlos Gomez hit for the cycle in the Twins 13-1 win over the White Sox. Gomez had the two hardest hits, a home run and triple, by the end of the 5th inning. He's the first Twin to achieve the feat since Kirby Puckett in 1986. Meanwhile the White Sox have dropped 7 out of 8.

Detroit blew a 3-run lead, but rallied against Jon Papelbon in the 9th inning to beat the Red Sox 10-9. Curtis Granderson tied it with an RBI ground out before Placido Polanco's 5th hit brought home the game winner for the Tigers. Kevin Youkilis homered twice for Boston.

Mark Ellis belted a walk-off home run in the A's 6-5, 10 inning win over the Orioles. The loss was a season high 5th straight for the O's.

Zach Grienke improved to 4-1 (1.80 ERA) and David DeJesus belted a 3-run HR in the Royals 9-4 thumping of the Angels. Jered Weaver was tagged for 8 runs in just 3.1 innings.

Shaun Marcum allowed just 1 hit over 8 innings before losing the shutout in the 9th, but he came away with the win in the Blue Jays 6-2 triumph over the Rays. Scott Rolen hit his 2nd home run in Jays uni.

Vincente Padilla won his 3rd straight game as the Rangers blanked the anemic Mariners 2-0. Padilla has allowed just 1 earned run over his last 21.2 innings Erik Bedard took the hard luck loss and is just 2-2 despite a 1.99 ERA. The Mariners, who have scored 2 or less runs in 6 of their last 7 games, dropped into sole possession of last place in the AL West.

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Wang With a W

The Yankees have come to rely on Chien-Ming Wang to do what he does best- win. Last night The Wanger ended the Yankees 3-game losing streak and won after a Yankees loss for the 11th time in his career. Wang was on his game as was the defense behind him as the Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 5-1. Defense let down Mariners starter Erik Bedard with 4 errors that lead to a pair of unearned runs.

The first of those four errors bit the Mariners in the 1st inning. Derek Jeter reached on a miscue by fellow shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and came around on singles by Bobby Abreu and Hideki Matsui. Adrian Beltre's error of a Morgan Ensberg hot shot started the 2nd and Ensberg was credited with a stolen base after Jose Lopez dropped Kenji Johjima's throw to 2nd Base. Alberto Gonzalez followed with a single and both runners came home on Melky Cabrera's lined double into the left field corner.

Wang, who had to leave after 6 innings and 90 pitches due to a hand cramp, only allowed one runner to reach 2nd Base through 5 innings. In the 6th, Ichiro Suzuki singled, stole 2nd and 3rd, and came home on a Raul Ibanez ground out for the lone Mariners run.

The Yankees came up with a pair of insurance runs in the 8th to seal the deal. Ensberg's single scored Abreu and Jose Molina brought home another run with a sacrifice fly. That made it a non-save situation for Mariano Rivera who retired the Mariners in order in the 9th to finish off the win.

News and Notes

Derek Jeter scored his 1,391st run to pass Joe Dimaggio for sole possession of 4th place on the all-time team list.

Chien-Ming Wang is now 6-0, 3.00 on the season and 7-0 lifetime against the Mariners.

Jose Molina, who started the season red hot, is now in an 0-22 slump.

As expected, Bobby Murcer returned to the YES booth last night, joining Michael Kay and Paul O'Neill.

May 2, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Seattle	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0		1	4	4
NY Yankees	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	X		5	7	0

Seattle	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Suzuki, CF	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.273
Lopez, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.298
Ibanez, LF	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	.294
Beltre, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.283
Clement, DH	3	0	0	0	1	2	1	.167
Sexson, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.223
Balentien, RF	3	0	0	0	0	2	1	.182
Burke, C	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.158
a-Vidro, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Johjima, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.175
Betancourt, SS	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.290
Totals	30	1	4	1	2	8	10
a-Grounded out for Burke in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Ibanez (6, Wang). TB: Suzuki 2; Ibanez 2; Betancourt. RBI: Ibanez (21). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Sexson; Lopez. GIDP: Betancourt. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING SB: Suzuki 3 (10, 2nd base off Chamberlain/Molina, 2nd base off Wang/Molina, 3rd base off Wang/Molina). FIELDING E: Betancourt (5, fielding), Beltre (6, fielding), Lopez (3, missed catch), Burke (1, fielding). Seattle IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Bedard (L, 2-1) 7.0 4 3 1 1 6 0 1.82 Rowland-Smith 0.1 2 2 2 1 1 0 6.23 Green 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.7 NY Yankees AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Cabrera, CF 4 0 1 2 0 0 0 .284 Jeter, SS 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 .275 Abreu, RF 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .284 Duncan, S, 1B 3 1 1 0 1 2 2 .190 Matsui, LF 4 0 1 1 0 1 3 .313 Giambi, DH 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 .160 Ensberg, 3B 4 1 1 1 0 1 2 .235 Molina, C 3 0 0 1 0 1 3 .218 Gonzalez, 2B 4 1 1 0 0 2 2 .269 Totals 32 5 7 5 2 8 16 BATTING 2B: Cabrera (3, Bedard). TB: Cabrera 2; Abreu 2; Duncan, S; Matsui; Ensberg; Gonzalez. RBI: Matsui (14), Cabrera 2 (14), Ensberg (4), Molina (3). 2-out RBI: Matsui. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Giambi; Abreu; Molina; Gonzalez. SF: Molina. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING CS: Ensberg (1, 2nd base by Bedard/Burke). FIELDING DP: (Gonzalez-Jeter-Duncan, S). NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Wang (W, 6-0) 6.0 3 1 1 2 5 0 3.00 Farnsworth (H, 3) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3.77 Chamberlain (H, 7) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.46 Rivera 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 HBP: Giambi (by Bedard). Pitches-strikes: Bedard 103-72, Rowland-Smith 22-13, Green 7-7, Wang 90-53, Farnsworth 14-10, Chamberlain 19-12, Rivera 15-10. Ground outs-fly outs: Bedard 6-9, Rowland-Smith 0-0, Green 0-1, Wang 8-5, Farnsworth 1-0, Chamberlain 2-1, Rivera 1-1. Batters faced: Bedard 29, Rowland-Smith 4, Green 3, Wang 22, Farnsworth 3, Chamberlain 4, Rivera 3. Inherited runners-scored: Green 3-2. Umpires: HP: Mike Winters. 1B: Paul Schrieber. 2B: Laz Diaz. 3B: Wally Bell. Weather: 49 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 16 mph, L to R. T: 2:57. Att: 52,199.

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Yankees Hope to be Mariners Alabatross

Or is it Albaladejo? The Yankees open a 3-game series tonight against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium. Chien-Ming Wang hopes to put an end to the Yankees 3-game slide as he goes up against Erik Bedard.

The Mariners, who we picked to win the AL West have started out as badly as the Yankees, going 13-16 in their first 29 games. Bedard had a stint on the DL as did closer J.J. Putz, who has still not fully recovered command of his pitches. The Mariners woes can't be attributed to starting pitching. Three starters have an ERA under 3.00 - Bedard, 2.04, Saturday's starter Felix Hernandez, 2.22, and Carlos Silva, 2.79.

But the Mariners offense has been scuffling for runs. With a lack of output from the right field and DH positions, the Mariners recently cut veteran Brad Wilkerson and benched Jose Vidro against right-handers. The M's called up prospects Jeff Clement to DH and Wladimir Balantien to play right field. Balentien homered in his first major league game.

Raul Ibanez is off to another fine start with 5 home runs and 20 RBI to go along with a .296 average, and though Adrian Beltre also has 5 home runs, he's only driven in 11 runs. 1st Baseman Richie Sexson recently had a hot stretch that gave him 6 home runs and 17 RBI, but he's still hitting just .230. The offensive malaise has even effected Ichiro Suzuki, who enters tonight's play at just .266. His countrymen, catcher Kenji Johjima is below the Mendoza line at .175.

The Yankees are hoping Wang can repeat his dominant performance from his last start against the Indians. Wang has won all 6 career starts against the Mariners with a 2.51 ERA. He had a perfect game going in the 8th inning against the Mariners last May 5 at the Stadium. Ben Broussard hit a solo home run with one out in the inning to break up the perfection, the no-no, and the shutout.

Mariners vs. Wang

Beltre 3-15 1 HR 1 RBI
Betancourt 2-10 1 RBI
Ibanez 3-17 1 RBI
Johjima 2-10
Lopez 2-7 1 RBI
Sexson 4-13
Ichiro 4-20
Vidro 1-7

Yankees vs. Bedard

Abreu 3-17 1 RBI
Cabrera 1-10
Cano 3-14
Damon 3-20 1 RBI
Giambi 3-13 1 HR 3 RBI
Jeter 6-26
Matsui 5-16 1 RBI
Molina 1-8


Bedard will be happy not to have to face A-Rod (.417-2-6) and Jorge Posada (.286, 1 RBI).

Cano sits tonight and Duncan once again in the clean up spot (ouch).

Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Duncan 1B
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Ensberg 3B
Molina C
Gonzalez 2B

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Around the Horn - 4/15

Scores

The Red Sox rallied from a 4-1 deficit to beat the Indians 6-4 last night. Manny Ramirez capped the comeback with a game winning 2-run HR in the 9th off of Joe Borowski. It was career HR number 493 for Man-child. Many people, us included, picked the Indians to win the AL Central based on the strength of their bullpen. The ERAs of their top 3 in the pen? Borowski (18.00 - actually not a shock), Rafael Betancourt (5.14), and Rafael Perez (8.41). Borowski also said after the game that his arm felt tired. He hit only 83 mph on the radar gun.

UPDATE 1:50 p.m EDT: Joe Borowski has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained tricep. One day too late.

The Tigers got the offensive explosion they've been waiting for all year, in an 11-9 win over the Twins. Detroit scores 6 runs in the 8th to rally from a 9-4 deficit. Carlos Guillen and Ivan Rodriguez drove in 3 runs each.

Miguel Olivo had 3 hits, including a home run, in the Royals 5-1 win over the Mariners. Zach Grienke tossed a complete game 4-hitter to improve to 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA.

Kevin Millar homered and drove in 3 in the Orioles 4-3 win over the Blue Jays. The win kept the O's in 1st place in the AL East.

Ervin Santana improved to 2-0 with 7 solid innings in the Angels 7-4 triumph over the Rangers. More importantly, Scot Shields and K-Rod were lights out in relief.

Greg Smith went 7 innings to earn his first major league win in the A's 2-1 triumph over the White Sox. Mark Buerhle (7 IP 2 ER) was the hard luck loser. Kurk Suzuki went 4-4 with an RBI and is hitting .370.

Nate McLouth hit a game winning 3-run HR in the 9th off Takashi Saito in the Pirates 6-4 win over the Dodgers. The win put the Pirates a game over .500 (7-6).

Randy Winn had 2 RBI and 2 stolen bases in the Giants come from behind 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks. Arizona, which has lost 2 straight, welcomed back Randy Johnson. The Big Unit allowed 3 unearned runs in 5 innings, walked 4, and struck out 7.

News

Erik Bedard is hoping to avoid the disabled list with a sore hip. The Mariners left-hander will throw a side session to determine where he goes from here.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal is reporting that the Brewers have signed free agent pitch Jeff Weaver to a 1-year, incentive laden deal.

Mets GM Omar Minaya said Pedro Martinez will be out until at least the middle of May and possibly the beginning of June. Not good news for our projected comeback player of the year.

Angels 2nd Baseman Howie Kendrick is out until at least the weekend with a strained hamstring. He may yet end up on the DL.

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