Global Warming Doesn't Reach Yankees

No matter who they are playing, when they are playing, where they are playing, the Yankees have just not heated up this season. It continued yesterday when they failed to end the current home stand with a 3-game winning streak and instead lost to the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

Mike Mussina pitched remarkably well in near 100 degree heat, posting his first 8 inning outing in 2 years. But the Yankees couldn't muster any offense against Royals rookie Luke Hochever. The game was scoreless through six innings before both teams broke through.

Miguel Olivo blasted a 2-run home run to give the Royals the lead and they threatened for more. Consecutive hits by John Buck and Mike Aviles put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs, but Mussina retired Joey Gathright on a ground out to Alex Rodriguez to end the inning.

The Yankees answered right back when A-Rod followed a lead off double by Bobby Abreu with a 2-run blast of his own. It was his 10th of the season and knocked Hochevar from the game. But the Yankees would fare no better against Ramon Ramirez or Yashiku Yabuta.

With the game tied 2-2 in the 9th, Mariano Rivera got taken deep for the 2nd time in 3 days. This time it was Jose Guillen, who killed the Yankees all series. His 11th of the season gave them Royals a 3-2 lead and Joakim Soria came on in the 9th to nail his 14th save when a Yankees rally fell short.

Rodriguez lead the inning off with a single and one out later Jason Giambi drew a walk to put the tying run in scoring position. But Robinson Cano struck out swinging for the 2nd out, and Melky Cabrera, after Chad Moeller was hit by a pitch to load the bases, grounded out to end the game.

News and Notes

Jose Guillen was 9-16 in the series with 4 home runs and 10 RBI.

Mike Mussina lowered his ERA to 3.82, the lowest its been since April 7. He threw just 89 pitches.

June 9, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Kansas City	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1		3	8	1
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0		2	6	0

Kansas City	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
DeJesus, LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.298
Grudzielanek, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.287
Teahen, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.249
Guillen, RF	4	2	2	1	0	0	0	.269
Gordon, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.263
Olivo, DH	4	1	2	2	0	1	0	.289
Buck, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.252
Aviles, M, SS	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	.294
Pena, SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.155
Gathright, CF	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.240
Totals	33	3	8	3	0	5	7
BATTING 2B: Guillen (21, Mussina), Aviles, M (3, Mussina). HR: Olivo (8, 7th inning off Mussina, 1 on, 2 out), Guillen (11, 9th inning off Rivera, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Guillen 6; Gordon; Olivo 5; Buck; Aviles, M 3. RBI: Olivo 2 (25), Guillen (48). 2-out RBI: Olivo 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Grudzielanek; Gathright 2. S: Gathright. GIDP: Buck. Team LOB: 4. FIELDING E: Guillen (2, fielding).

Kansas City	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hochevar	6.0	4	2	2	0	4	1	4.91
Ramirez	1.2	1	0	0	1	2	0	3.30
Yabuta (W, 1-0)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.91
Soria (S, 14)	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1.61

Hochevar pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.326
Jeter, SS	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.276
Abreu, RF	4	1	1	0	0	1	3	.289
Rodriguez, 3B	4	1	2	2	0	1	1	.317
Matsui, DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.323
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.254
2-Betemit, PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.240
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.231
Molina, C	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.217
a-Posada, PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.311
1-Moeller, PR-C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.254
Cabrera, CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.270
Totals	32	2	6	2	2	7	13
a-Singled for Molina in the 8th. 1-Ran for Posada in the 8th. 2-Ran for Giambi in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Abreu (14, Hochevar). HR: Rodriguez (10, 7th inning off Hochevar, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Abreu 2; Rodriguez 5; Cano; Posada. RBI: Rodriguez 2 (31). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez; Molina; Abreu; Cabrera 2. S: Cabrera. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Damon (11, 2nd base off Hochevar/Buck). FIELDING DP: (Cano-Jeter-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina	8.0	7	2	2	0	3	1	3.82
Rivera (L, 2-2)	1.0	1	1	1	0	2	1	0.93

Hochevar pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

HBP: Moeller (by Soria).
Pitches-strikes: Hochevar 87-56, Ramirez 29-16, Yabuta 7-4,
Soria 18-10, Mussina 89-65, Rivera 13-12.
Ground outs-fly outs: Hochevar 7-7, Ramirez 2-1, Yabuta 1-0,
Soria 1-1, Mussina 12-9, Rivera 1-0.
Batters faced: Hochevar 22, Ramirez 7, Yabuta 1, Soria 6,
Mussina 30, Rivera 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Yabuta 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Chris Tiller. 1B: Ed Montague. 2B: Jim Wolf.
3B: Phil Cuzzi.
Weather: 94 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 11 mph, Out to RF.
T: 2:47.
Att: 53,633.

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Damon Proves to be a Royal Pain

If Thursday's come from behind win against the Toronto Blue Jays was improbable then yesterday's win against the Kansas Royals was improbable plus one. The Yankees rallied from 5-1, 10-6, and 11-10 deficits for a 12-11 win in the bottom of the 9th.

The Yankees fell behind 11-10 in the top of the 9th inning in another improbable fashion. Mariano Rivera surrendered a solo home run to New Jersey native David DeJesus, just the second run Rivera has allowed all season. Kansas City closer Joakim Soria was perfect in 13 save attempts this season, and 16 straight dating back to last season, but the Yankees had one more rally up their sleeves.

With one out, Jorge Posada drilled a pitch into the right field seats, for his first home run since his return from the DL, to tie the game once again. Soria retired Robinson Cano for the 2nd out, but walked Wilson Betemit and gave up a single to Melky Cabrera. That brought up Johnny Damon, who was already 5-5 on the day including a 2-run single in the 8th inning.

In his post-game comments, Damon said he wasn't thinking the odds of him getting another hit were not too good, but that's exactly what he did. He became the first Yankee to go 6-6 in Yankee Stadium when he ripped a pitch into the right field corner for a game winning single. It set off the second wild post-game celebration in three days and once again moved the Yankees back to the .500 mark (31-31).

The Royals had jumped on Yankees starter Andy Pettitte for a 5-1 lead when the Yankees made their first rally of the day in the 4th inning. Alex Rodriguez lead off with a single and Jason Giambi followed with a walk to set the wheels in motion. The Yankees scored consecutive runs on a double by Posada, a single by Cano, and Betemit's sacrifice fly. After a Melky Cabrera single, Damon singled home Cano to tie the game. The Yankees attempt to go ahead was thwarted when Cabrera was thrown out at home by Jose Guillen when he tried to score on Derek Jeter's fly ball to right.

Giambi finally gave the Yankees the lead in the 5th when he blasted his 13th home run of the season in the upper deck in right field, but Pettitte would not be able to hold it. Alberto Collaspo lead off the 7th with a double and Estaban German beat out a bunt to put runners on the corners with no one out. A Joey Gaithright single to left tied the game back up at 6-6. After Dejesus successfully sacrificed the runners up a base, the Yankees chose to intentionally walk Mike Aviles to load the bases. The move paid off when Pettitte struck out the left-handed hitting Mark Teahen, but Joe Girardi left his veteran pitcher in one batter too many.

Girardi said afterwards that it was Pettitte's game to win or lose. Considering his pitch count was well over 100 and the temperature was near 100, that was a mistake. Jose Guillen had already driven in 3 runs in the game, including a 2-run home run in the 1st inning. When Pettitte left a pitch up in the zone, Guillen jumped all over it for a grand slam and a seemingly insurmountable 10-6 lead.

But the Yankees came back again when A-Rod crushed a 2-run home run, his 9th, in the 7th and Damon's 5th hit tied in the 8th. Then it was just down to some more drama in the 9th. These days, nothing is cut and dried in the Bronx.

News and Notes

Alex Rodriguez's home run was the 527th of his career.

After his 14-game hitting streak ended on Friday night, Johnny Damon decided it was time to get rid of his mustache, which was both bad looking and itchy. After going 0-4 against the Mets on May 17, Damon was hitting .250. Since then he's gone 35-71 (.493) to raise his average to .326, 4th best in the American League.

Hideki Matsui completely sat out of a game for the first time since April 27th. He was 2-9 in his last 2 games, but is still hitting an AL 3rd best .332.

Jose Guillen's grand slam was the fourth of his career and his first since 2002. His 7 RBI matched a team record.

Home plate umpire Jerry Layne was forced to leave the game after a foul tip drilled him in the jaw. Jorge Posada had to grab on to him to keep him from tumbling over. Layne was diagnosed with a mild concussion and kept overnight for observation in a local hospital.

June 7, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Kansas City	2	0	3	0	0	0	5	0	1		11	12	0
NY Yankees	1	0	0	4	1	0	2	2	2		12	19	0

Kansas City	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
DeJesus, LF	4	2	2	1	0	0	0	.304
Aviles, M, SS-3B	4	2	1	1	1	1	0	.300
Teahen, 1B-RF	4	2	1	0	0	1	3	.258
Guillen, RF	4	2	3	7	0	0	0	.262
Gload, 1B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.246
Olivo, DH	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.291
Buck, C	3	0	1	1	1	0	0	.252
Callaspo, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.292
German, 3B	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.161
Pena, SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.155
Gathright, CF	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.247
Totals	36	11	12	11	2	6	8
BATTING 2B: Teahen (9, Pettitte), Callaspo (2, Pettitte). 3B: Aviles, M (1, Pettitte). HR: Guillen 2 (9, 1st inning off Pettitte, 1 on, 2 out; 7th inning off Pettitte, 3 on, 2 out), DeJesus (5, 9th inning off Rivera, 0 on, 0 out). TB: DeJesus 5; Aviles, M 3; Teahen 2; Guillen 9; Buck; Callaspo 3; German; Gathright. RBI: Guillen 7 (45), Aviles, M (1), Buck (17), Gathright (11), DeJesus (27). 2-out RBI: Guillen 6; Buck. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gathright. S: DeJesus. GIDP: Callaspo. Team LOB: 2. BASERUNNING SB: Callaspo (1, 2nd base off Veras/Posada). FIELDING Outfield assists: Guillen 2 (Cabrera at home, Damon at 2nd base). DP: 2 (Aviles, M-Callaspo-Teahen, Guillen-Buck).

Kansas City	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bannister	3.1	8	5	5	2	1	0	4.98
Peralta	1.1	1	1	1	1	1	1	5.64
Tomko	1.2	3	2	2	0	0	1	6.34
Ramirez (BS, 2)	1.0	3	2	2	0	2	0	3.49
Gobble	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0	6.06
Yabuta	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.97
Soria (BS, 1)(L, 0-1)	0.2	3	2	2	1	0	1	1.67

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	6	1	6	4	0	0	0	.326
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.280
Abreu, RF	5	1	1	0	0	0	3	.286
Rodriguez, 3B	4	2	2	2	1	1	2	.304
Giambi, DH	4	2	2	2	1	1	0	.259
Posada, C	4	2	2	2	1	0	2	.310
Cano, 2B	5	2	2	1	0	0	1	.230
Betemit, 1B	3	1	0	1	1	2	1	.240
Cabrera, CF	5	1	3	0	0	0	0	.279
Totals	40	12	19	12	4	4	12
BATTING 2B: Damon (19, Bannister), Posada (7, Bannister). HR: Giambi (13, 5th inning off Peralta, 0 on, 2 out), Rodriguez (9, 7th inning off Tomko, 1 on, 1 out), Posada (2, 9th inning off Soria, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Damon 7; Jeter; Abreu; Rodriguez 5; Giambi 5; Posada 6; Cano 2; Cabrera 3. RBI: Giambi 2 (33), Posada 2 (13), Cano (20), Betemit (7), Damon 4 (31), Rodriguez 2 (27). 2-out RBI: Giambi 2; Damon. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Posada; Rodriguez. S: Jeter. SF: Betemit. GIDP: Jeter. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Damon (10, 2nd base off Peralta/Buck). FIELDING Outfield assists: Cabrera (Buck at 2nd base). DP: (Cano-Jeter-Betemit).

NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Pettitte 6.2 10 10 10 2 3 2 4.99 Veras 1.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 4.11 Rivera (W, 2-1) 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0.67

WP: Ramirez. IBB: Aviles, M (by Pettitte). HBP: Teahen (by Pettitte). Pitches-strikes: Bannister 71-43, Peralta 20-10, Tomko 26-18, Ramirez 28-18, Gobble 10-4, Yabuta 1-1, Soria 21-13, Pettitte 111-70, Veras 19-13, Rivera 10-9. Ground outs-fly outs: Bannister 5-4, Peralta 1-1, Tomko 2-2, Ramirez 0-1, Gobble 0-1, Yabuta 1-0, Soria 1-1, Pettitte 12-4, Veras 1-1, Rivera 1-1. Batters faced: Bannister 19, Peralta 5, Tomko 7, Ramirez 6, Gobble 2, Yabuta 1, Soria 6, Pettitte 31, Veras 5, Rivera 4. Inherited runners-scored: Peralta 2-0, Tomko 1-0, Gobble 1-0, Yabuta 2-0. Umpires: HP: Jerry Layne. 1B: Phil Cuzzi. 2B: Jim Wolf. 3B: Ed Montague. Weather: 90 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, Out to CF. T: 3:50 (:11 delay). Att: 53,611.

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Royals Phil'et Hughes

Today went from bad to worse for the Yankees. The day started out with rainy, cold weather, the latter remaining throughout this afternoon's contest. Then came word that Derek Jeter would miss at least the entire Royals series and could still land on the DL. Phil Hughes then went out and was God awful, and didn't make it out of the 4th inning. To top on the things off, on the heels of a 5-2 loss, the Yankees announced they were sending Jorge Posada for an MRI on his sore right shoulder.

Aprils in recent years have not been kind to the Yankees. They have won just 44 of 93 contests in April (incl. 2 games in March in '04) over the last 4 seasons. This year's 4-4 start would indicate more of the same. And just as happened last season, key players are off to miserable starts.

These Yankees batting averages read as follows after today's game:

Johnny Damon .200
Derek Jeter .208
Robinson Cano .188
Jason Giambi .071
Jorge Posada .176
Wilson Betemit .154

Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera, and Alex Rodriguez have hit the ball well, though A-Rod's golden sombrero in today's game dropped his average 44 points (.276).

There's going to be growing pains with young pitching, as already evidenced by Ian Kennedy's performance against Tampa Bay on Friday and Phil Hughes' start today. Whether the cold weather had an affect remains to be seen, but Hughes never had "it" today.

Joey Gathright singled to lead off the ball game and stole the first of three bases on the day. One batter later he came home on Mark Teahen's double. The Yankees gave Hughes the lead in the 2nd on an RBI single by Betemit and a bases loaded walk to Damon, but Hughes gave it right back again.

Alex Gordon lead off with a single and advanced to 2nd when Abreu over ran the ball in right. A ground out and John Buck's sac fly tied the game. Hughes issued back-to-back two out walks in the 3rd to load the bases before escaping the jam. He wouldn't be so lucky in the 4th.

Gathright singled, stole 2nd and 3rd, and came home on Mark Grudzielanek's single. That spelled the end of the day before the young right-hander, who lost his first game of the season. Ross Ohlendorf pitched impressively to prevent further damage in the inning, but he let the game get away in the 5th, giving up a 2-run single to Ross Gload.

The Yankees had Royals starter Brian Bannister on the ropes for most of his 5 innings, but couldn't deliver the knock out blow. After scoring the 2 runs in the 2nd inning, Robinson Cano stuck out with the bases loaded to end the threat. The pitch was well out of the strike zone, an issue that remains a problem for the 2nd Baseman.

Singles by Abreu and Matsui gave the Yankees a chance with one out in the third, but Posada flied out and Giambi grounded out. Bannister allowed just one base runner over the next two innings before turning things over to the bullpen.

Veteran Ron Mahay got himself in a jam by allowing a walk to Jason Giambi and a two out single to Melky Cabrera in the 6th, but Damon struck out. Then the Royals young, hard throwers (Ramon Ramirez, Luis Nunez, Joakim Soria) came in, and the Yankees were toast.

News and Notes

Ever day, in every way, we are less and less impressed with Wilson Betemit. He can't hit right-handed at all and barely hits from the left side. He also dropped two throws today that might have caught would-be base stealers.

Apparently the Yankees can't handle anyone with the name Wilson, whether it be first or last. Think Enrique and Craig.

The only bright spots on the day were scoreless innings tossed by Billy Traber and LaTroy Hawkins.

The Royals have now won their last 2 home openers. Last season they pounded Curt Schilling and the Red Sox. There's a phrase we always like seeing in writing.

The Royals were successful in 5 of 6 steal attempts. Time to get Phil Hughes working on a slide step.

We're now going to take a big swig of Listerine in hopes of washing this game out of our mouths and our memories.

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	0	1	1	2	0	2	.200
Cano, 2B	5	0	1	0	0	2	5	.188
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.379
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	4	2	.276
Matsui, DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	.357
Posada, C	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	.176
Molina, C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.286
Giambi, 1B	2	1	0	0	2	1	2	.071
Betemit, SS	4	0	1	1	0	3	1	.154
Cabrera, CF	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.294
Totals	33	2	7	2	5	11	17
BATTING TB: Damon; Cano; Abreu; Matsui; Posada; Betemit; Cabrera. RBI: Betemit (1), Damon (1). 2-out RBI: Betemit; Damon. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano 2; Giambi; Damon. GIDP: Abreu. Team LOB: 9. FIELDING E: Abreu (1, fielding). DP: (Cano-Betemit-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hughes (L, 0-1)	3.0	6	3	3	4	2	0	5.00
Ohlendorf	3.0	4	2	2	0	3	0	3.86
Traber	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Hawkins	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	15.75

Kansas City	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gathright, CF	4	2	2	0	0	1	1	.214
Grudzielanek, 2B	4	0	2	1	1	0	1	.417
1-German, PR-2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Teahen, LF	4	0	2	1	1	1	4	.296
Guillen, RF	5	0	0	0	0	2	4	.138
Butler, DH	4	1	2	0	0	1	2	.414
Gordon, 3B	4	2	2	0	0	1	1	.300
Gload, 1B	3	0	2	2	1	0	1	.360
Buck, C	2	0	0	1	1	1	1	.200
Pena, SS	3	0	0	0	1	1	4	.048
Totals	33	5	12	5	5	8	19
1-Ran for Grudzielanek in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Teahen 2 (3, Hughes, Ohlendorf), Gordon (2, Ohlendorf). TB: Gathright 2; Grudzielanek 2; Teahen 4; Butler 2; Gordon 3; Gload 2. RBI: Teahen (3), Buck (4), Grudzielanek (2), Gload 2 (2). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Butler 2; Teahen 2; Pena 2; Gathright; Guillen. SF: Buck. GIDP: Teahen. Team LOB: 11. BASERUNNING SB: Gload (1, 2nd base off Traber/Molina), Gathright 3 (5, 2nd base off Hughes/Posada, 2nd base off Hughes/Posada, 3rd base off Hughes/Posada), Pena (1, 2nd base off Hughes/Posada). CS: Gload (2, 3rd base by Traber/Molina). FIELDING DP: (Grudzielanek-Pena-Gload).

Kansas City	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bannister (W, 2-0)	5.0	5	2	2	4	6	0	1.50
Mahay (H, 2)	1.1	2	0	0	1	2	0	1.93
Ramirez (H, 2)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Nunez (H, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Soria (S, 4)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

Hughes pitched to 2 batters in the 4th.

HBP: Gathright (by Hughes).
Pitches-strikes: Hughes 87-47, Ohlendorf 36-23, Traber 13-8, Hawkins 14-9, Bannister 97-58, Mahay 31-18, Ramirez 11-7, Nunez 13-9, Soria 14-10.
Ground outs-fly outs: Hughes 3-4, Ohlendorf 4-2, Traber 0-0, Hawkins 2-0, Bannister 6-3, Mahay 0-2, Ramirez 0-1, Nunez 0-1, Soria 1-2.
Batters faced: Hughes 20, Ohlendorf 12, Traber 3, Hawkins 5, Bannister 23, Mahay 7, Ramirez 2, Nunez 3, Soria 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Ohlendorf 1-0, Ramirez 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mark Wegner. 1B: Chad Fairchild. 2B: Rick Reed. 3B: Jeff Kellogg.
Weather: 46 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 10 mph, L to R.
T: 3:15.
Att: 37,296.

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