The Daily Yankeeland - 9/24

Jon Heyman is reporting that the Steinbrenner boys have given Brian Cashman until next to decide if he wants to return to the Bronx.

Wade Boggs is among those are still very disappointed that Roger Clemens and Joe Torre were not part of Sunday's farewell festivities.

"When you look at what Joe Torre did with the Yankees - being a part of four championships - he was a part of it and so was Roger Clemens," said Boggs, who was signing copies of the 232-page "Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective" book for fans at Mickey Mantle's restaurant on Central Park South yesterday. "For what reason, I have no idea why they left them out. I don't know the mind-set of why they were left out. I did notice that Clemens wasn't in the collage of pictures and I don't know the speculation or reason behind it."

Read more...

If Mike Mussina wins his 20th on Sunday, he'll also tie Hall of Fame inductee Burleigh Grimes with 270 wins, 32nd base on the all-time list.

Phil Hughes will go after his first win once again this evening, in what has been a very disappointing season. The time off this season did allow Hughes to develop his cutter.

“It would be nice, but at the same time, I don’t think one win is really what I expected out of myself or anybody else expected,” said Hughes, who threw four innings in a no-decision last Wednesday. “I think it will still be, definitely, a negative year.”

Read more from Tyler Kepner and Michael S. Schmidt...

Another home run ball ownership controversy. This time it's Jose Molina's final Stadium blast.

"He couldn't get it through the net," Russo griped. "I'm the only one who had the ball."

Read more...

Mike Lupica throws some more dirt on the Yankees' grave.

Marty Noble of mlb.com looks back on a pair of players that had an affect on both New York stadiums - Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden.

Mariano Rivera was part of a contest, sponsored by Michael C. Fina, last week that gave a grand prize to a deserving recipient.

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A "Mo" Kind of Night

It's over. The final game at Yankee Stadium. The final Yankees batter? Derek Jeter (it was an out, but what the hell). The last pitcher on the mound? Mariano Rivera. And the last home run in Yankee Stadium? Jose Molina.

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Moose Throws Old Time Gem

Mike Mussina may be considered an old-timer by baseball standards, but yesterday he pitched a youthful masterpiece as the Yankees snapped their two game losing streak with an 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Mussina retired the last 17 men he faced, to earn his 14th win of the season, before a packed Yankee Stadium crowd, there to watch not only the game, but also the final Old-Timer's day festivities in the grand old park.

After a magnificent two hour show, featuring Hall of Fame members, Stadium favorites, surprises (Willie Randolph), and 72 old-timers in all, the Yankees sent the crowd home even happier after winning for just the second time in seven games.

On the 29th anniversary of the passing of Thurman Munson, it was appropriate that the Yankees catcher had a big day at the plate, and no- it was not Ivan Rodriguez. Jose Molina went 3-3 and hit his first home run of the season. He also scored three times and was in perfect sync all day with Mussina.

The Angels scored a pair of runs in the second inning when the Yankees failed to turn an inning-ending double play. With the bases loaded and one out, catcher Jeff Mathis bounced to Alex Rodriguez, who fired to second base to start a potential double play. But with Robinson Cano sitting out with a sore hand, Wilson Betemit, a stranger to the position, made a weak throw as Gary Matthews Jr. bore down on him. Jason Giambi not only couldn't scoop the one-hopper, but he batted it far enough away to allow a second run to cross home plate.

Betemit, who has been criticized right here often, quickly made up for his defensive lapse in the bottom of the second, hitting a 2-run home run off Jered Weaver to tie the game. The Yankees went ahead for good an inning later when Molina and Johnny Damon laced back to back singles. The Angels played back for the double play and that's exactly what they got when Jeter bounced into (yet another) twin-killing, with Molina scoring on the play. The red-hot Bobby Abreu then crushed his 15th home run of the season and his fourth in the last four games.

The story in this game, though, was Mussina. The 39-year-old baffled the Angels' hitters with his mix of speed and guile. He retired the side in order from the third through the seventh innings to earn his 264th career win. He now stands tied with Gus Weyhing for 38th on the all-time wins list. He needs two more wins to tie Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey, two Hall of Fame members.

The Yankees offense, so desperate for a run the night before, tacked on insurance runs in the fifth through seventh innings. In addition to Molina, Alex Rodriguez also went deep for the 24th time this season. Home run number 542 puts him six behind Mike Schmidt for 12th place on the career home run list.


News and Notes

It looked like it might be a long day for Mussina when home plate ump Joe West appeared to be squeezing him on tight pitches early in the game. We still wonder how West ever got re-hired after the umpire's strike. He's one of the worst in the game and is disliked by the players.

Molina has caught 21 of Mussina's 23 starts and there's no reason to think that Joe Girardi will change that combination.

Torii Hunter was placed on the bereavement list due to the death of his grandmother and will miss today's game as well.

Brian Bruney pitched the ninth inning, his first appearance since April 22.

August 2, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
LA Angels	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	3	0
NY Yankees	0	2	2	0	1	1	2	0	X		8	11	1

LA Angels	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Figgins, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	2	1	.278
Aybar, SS	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	.280
Teixeira, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.282
Guerrero, DH	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.282
Anderson, LF	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.284
Kendrick, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.333
Rivera, RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.233
Matthews, CF	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.228
Mathis, C	3	0	0	1	0	2	1	.218
Totals	30	2	3	1	4	8	9
BATTING 2B: Kendrick (24, Mussina). TB: Anderson; Kendrick 3. RBI: Mathis (37). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rivera. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING DP: 2 (Aybar-Kendrick-Teixeira 2).

LA Angels	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Weaver (L, 9-9)	5.0	8	6	6	1	5	4	4.37
Speier	1.1	3	2	2	1	1	0	4.89
O'Day	1.2	0	0	0	0	2	0	4.34

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, DH	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	.316
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.282
Abreu, RF	4	1	1	2	0	1	1	.286
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	1	2	1	0	2	1	.325
Giambi, 1B	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.252
1-Sexson, PR-1B	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.224
Nady, LF	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	.328
a-Christian, PH-LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.269
Betemit, 2B	4	1	2	2	0	2	0	.258
Cabrera, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.246
Molina, C	3	3	3	1	0	0	0	.237
Totals	33	8	11	7	2	8	7
a-Popped out for Nady in the 8th. 1-Ran for Giambi in the 6th.
BATTING HR: Betemit (5, 2nd inning off Weaver, 1 on, 2 out), Abreu (15, 3rd inning off Weaver, 0 on, 2 out), Molina (1, 5th inning off Weaver, 0 on, 0 out), Rodriguez, A (24, 6th inning off Weaver, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Abreu 4; Rodriguez, A 5; Nady; Betemit 5; Molina 6. RBI: Betemit 2 (17), Abreu 2 (75), Molina (12), Rodriguez, A (66), Jeter (50). 2-out RBI: Betemit 2; Abreu. GIDP: Jeter; Nady. Team LOB: 3. FIELDING E: Betemit (3, throw).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 14-7)	7.0	2	2	1	2	5	0	3.44
Veras	1.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	2.70
Bruney	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1.46

Weaver pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

Pitches-strikes: Weaver 99-70, Speier 28-18, O'Day 19-15,
Mussina 89-58, Veras 17-11, Bruney 20-11.
Ground outs-fly outs: Weaver 5-5, Speier 3-0, O'Day 1-2,
Mussina 11-5, Veras 0-0, Bruney 0-3.
Batters faced: Weaver 23, Speier 7, O'Day 5,
Mussina 25, Veras 4, Bruney 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Speier 1-0, O'Day 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Joe West. 1B: Ed Rapuano.
2B: Scott Barry. 3B: CB Bucknor.
Weather: 76 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, R to L.
T: 2:42.
Att: 54,170.

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Yankees Get 'Kneeded' Win

The Yankees failure to hit in the clutch, they left 21 men on, could have come back to haunt them yesterday, but thanks to Jose Molina's right knee they came away with a 4-3 win over the A's in 12 innings. Derek Jeter led off the inning with a single against reliever Lenny DiNardo and moved into scoring position on a Bobby Abreu ground out. DiNardo intentionally intentionally walked Alex Rodriguez and then unintentionally walked Richie Sexson to load the bases. Then an inside pitch banged off Molina's back knee to give the Yankees a "limp off" victory.

Rookie Dave Robertson picked up his first major league win, but it was Joba Chamberlain who left the biggest impression. He tossed a dominant 6 innings, throwing 96 pitches in 93 degree weather. Chamberlain allowed 1 run, 6 hits, and struck out 8 while walking just 1. He left with a 2-1 lead, built off A's starter Sean Gallagher, but a bases loaded wild pitch by Jose Veras in the 7th erased the deficit.

Mariano Rivera entered the game in the 9th and has happened often this season, he struggled in a tie situation. John Hannahan lead off with a single to left-center and pinch-runner Rajai Davis quickly stole 2nd base. Ryan Sweeney followed with a single to left to give the A's a 3-2 lead. Sweeney stole 2nd base as well as Jorge Posada's inability to throw out runners this season was further heightened by a wild pitch that ricocheted off his right hand. But Rivera bounced back to strike out the side to keep it a one run game.

A big at-bat by Jason Giambi against A's closer Huston Street to start the 9th looked like it would catapult the Yankees tinto a tie. Down 1-2 in the count, Giambi fouled off several pitches and eventually drew a walk. But pinch-runner Justin Christian stumbled and fell on a steal attempt and was chased down in a run down for the 1st out. Posada grounded out for the 2nd out, but red hot Robinson Cano doubled in the gap in left-center to give the Yankees one last chance. Wilson Betemit then did what the Yankees couldn't do all day, come through in the clutch. He singled back up the middle to score Cano with the tying run, allowing Molina to play Ricochet Rabbit and the hero for one day.


News and Notes

Johnny Damon took batting practice and said he's ready to be activated on Sunday.

It was the Yankees first hit by pitch walk off win since Clete Boyer took one for the team back on July 15, 1965.

Robinson Cano is hitting .333 (18-54) with a home run and 8 RBI in 14 July games.

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Yankees Strike Down Padres

The Mantlemurcers made their firs trip of the season yesterday, and except for the traffic getting to the GWB on the way home, it was a very successful day. The Yankees pitching, which was so mediocre the night before, dominated on Thursday afternoon. Joba Chamberlain and 3 relievers combined for 15 strikeouts as the Yankees completed a 3-game sweep of the San Diego Padres with a 2-1 win.

Joba wasn't around when the Yankees took the lead on an Alex Rodriguez single in the 6th, but he was pretty impressive in his 5.2 innings pitched. His final pitch, his 100th on the day, finished off his 9th strikeout. Joe Girardi was greeted with a chorus of boos as he came out to the mound and called on Jose Veras, wary that Joba would go far past his 105 pitch max limit should he face one more batter.

Those were the only boos on the day, well except when Kyle Farnsworth came out of the bullpen, on a beautifully sunny day. We had seats behind home plate about 2 or 3 rows from the top of the Stadium, but when we got there we nestled into some loge box seats by 3rd base and lucked out when their owners never showed up.

As for the game itself, Joba did indeed struggle with his control at times, walking 3, but his pitch location continued to improve and he regularly reached the upper 90s with his fastball. His strikeout prowess and some hustle avoided the Padres building a big inning in the 2nd.

Adrian Gonzalez drew a lead off walk and rookie Chase Headley poked a ground rule double into the left field corner. Former Yankee Tony Clark drew another walk to load the bases with no one out. But Joba brought the heat and blew strike three past Scott Hairston. With Khalil Greene hitting, a Joba pitch scurried past Jose Molina, but both players hustled and Molina threw to Joba, who actually blocked the plate, to tag out Gonzalez as he attempted to score. Greene then went down swinging, eliciting a modified fist pump from Joba for out number three.

The Yankees weren't doing much against Padres starter Josh Banks, who has an impressive array of pitches himself. He escaped a 1st inning jam after Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter lead off with back to back singles, striking out Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi after Damon had advanced to 3rd base on Bobby Abreu's fly out. He only allowed one base runner, hitting Giambi with a pitch, over the next 3 innings.

The Padres broke through first in the 4th inning. Brian Giles lead off with a single and Gonzalez drew a walk. Joba struck out out Headley, but Clark sliced a pitch into the left field corner for a ground rule RBI double. Pitching and defense then stopped the Padres from a big inning. Hairston grounded a pitch to A-Rod who came home with his throw. Gonzalez, running on contact, was a dead duck and lamely let himself be tagged out by Molina. (How do you not run over the catcher or slide?) Greene then lined to Abreu in deep right to end the inning.

The Yankees tied things up in the 5th by taking advantage of the Padres inability to throw out base stealers. Melky Cabrera drew a one out walk and stole 2nd and 3rd, easily beating throws from Michael Barrett. Molina shot to deep center easily plated Cabrera with the tying run.

The Yankees ran into another run an inning later when Jeter singled and stole 2nd base. The Yankees were 8 for 9 in thefts in the 3-game series. Abreu's ground out to the right side to move Jeter to 3rd and A-Rod brought him home with a line drive single to right for a 2-1 Yankees lead.

Jose Veras picked up the victory with 1.1 innings of worked and Farnsworth turned the boos to cheers when he struck out Headley and Clark to strand a Padres runner on 1st. Mariano Rivera then entered to deafening cheers, which got even louder when he struck out the side to record his 20th save in as many attempts.

News and Notes

The announced crowd was 54,000 plus, but looked to be 50,000 tops. In the AL the announced attendance is based on ticket sales rather than how many people actually go threw the turnstyles.

Hall of Famer Jerry Coleman, a Padres announcer and Phil Rizzuto's former double play partner on the Yankees, pulled the lever to reduce the number of home games from 46 to 45.

GWB $8
Parking $17
Hot Pretzel and a Diet Coke $8.75
Sitting in Yankee Stadium on a beautifully sunny day and winning PRICELESS

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Moose Keeps Yankees Streaking

If you look atop the American League pitching victories leader board this morning, you'll see two names, both of which are a surprise. It's hard to tell though which is the bigger one. Mike Mussina joined Cliff Lee with 10 wins last night when the Yankees beat the Houston Astros 8-4 to earn their third straight win. It also put the Yankees three games over .500 for the first time this season.

Mussina became the 5th pitcher in major league history to have at least 17 double digit win seasons. He tied Warren Spahn and Don Sutton, and trails only Greg Maddux (20), Cy Young (19), and Steve Carlton (18) for the most seasons in double figures. Last night's game didn't start out promising though.

With two men aboard in the 1st inning, Moose hung a breaking pitch, and Carlos Lee bashed it into the left field "Crawford Boxes" for a 3-0 lead. The Yankees came right back to cut the lead to 3-2 in the 2nd against Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez. Alex Rodriguez hit his 11th home run of the season into the right field stands with the help of an Astros fan. Right fielder Hunter Pence leaped and appeared to have a good shot of robbing A-Rod of his 529th career home run. But an Astros fan, glove in hand, reached across and collided with Pence's glove, ensuring the home run. A stunned Pence glared and had a few words for the fans in the area.

Jason Giambi and Melky Cabrera followed the home runs with back-to-back double to produce a second run and the Yankees were right back in the ball game. Mussina then retired the Astros with relative ease. He didn't walk a batter, threw 19 first pitch strikes to the 23 batters he faced, and retired 15 of the last 18 Astros overall. He also made us laugh snot out our noses with his line as reported by the Star Ledger's Ed Price.

"I didn't stop at 10 any of those years," Mussina pointed out. "I actually made it to 11. Just like 'Spinal Tap.'"

The Yankees took the lead for good in the 3rd on a Melky Cabrera bases loaded walk and Jose Molina's 2-run single. Brad Ausmus got the Astros back to within one with an RBI single off of Ross Ohlendorf, but the Yankees tacked on runs in the 8th (Robinson Cano pinch-hit single) and 9th (Wilson Betemit 2-run double) innings.

News and Notes
Mike Mussina's victory was the 260th of his career, tying him with Ted Lyons for 39th on the all-time list.

The combination of Mussina and Jose Molina neutralized the Astros running game. After being successful 4 times in 6 attempts on Friday, the Astros were 0-2. As a result of their success on Friday, Joba Chamberlain is working on his timing to the plate and a slide step.

Struggling Robinson Cano got the day off, though he delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the 8th inning. Recently recalled Alberto Gonzalez got the start in his stead. Peter Abraham spoke with Kevin Long about Cano's struggles. Long even spoke to Don Mattingly about it.


June 14, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	2	3	0	0	0	0	1	2		8	12	1
Houston	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		4	9	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	5	2	3	0	0	1	0	.324
Jeter, SS	5	0	1	0	0	1	3	.270
Abreu, RF	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.284
Rodriguez, 3B	3	3	2	1	2	0	0	.322
Giambi, 1B	3	2	1	0	1	0	2	.259
Betemit, 1B	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	.232
Cabrera, CF	2	1	2	2	3	0	0	.264
Molina, C	3	0	1	2	1	0	3	.219
Gonzalez, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	1	5	.200
a-Cano, PH-2B	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	.220
Mussina, P	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Ohlendorf, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-Matsui, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.323
Farnsworth, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ramirez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	35	8	12	8	7	4	19
a-Singled for Gonzalez in the 8th. b-Grounded into a double play for Ohlendorf in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Giambi (11, Rodriguez), Cabrera (8, Rodriguez), Damon (20, Geary), Betemit (3, Geary). HR: Rodriguez (11, 2nd inning off Rodriguez, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon 4; Jeter; Rodriguez 5; Giambi 2; Betemit 2; Cabrera 3; Molina; Cano. RBI: Rodriguez (34), Cabrera 2 (30), Molina 2 (8), Cano (21), Betemit 2 (9). 2-out RBI: Cabrera; Molina 2; Betemit 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Mussina; Gonzalez; Giambi; Molina. S: Molina. GIDP: Jeter; Gonzalez; Matsui. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Damon (12, 2nd base off Rodriguez/Ausmus). FIELDING E: Jeter (6, missed catch). DP: (Cano-Betemit-Jeter).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 10-4)	6.0	6	3	3	0	4	1	3.87
Ohlendorf (H, 4)	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0	5.80
Farnsworth (H, 6)	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	4.02
Ramirez	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2.37

Houston	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Pence, RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	.279
Matsui, 2B	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.277
Tejada, SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	2	.300
Berkman, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.360
Lee, LF	4	1	3	3	0	0	1	.276
Wigginton, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.277
Bourn, CF	4	1	2	0	0	2	2	.234
Ausmus, C	4	0	1	1	0	0	1	.235
Rodriguez, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a-Loretta, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.279
Byrdak, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Sampson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.105
Wright, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-Blum, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.241
Geary, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	33	4	9	4	1	6	12
a-Struck out for Rodriguez in the 5th. b-Grounded out for Wright in the 7th.
BATTING 2B: Pence (17, Mussina), Tejada (18, Mussina), Ausmus (6, Ohlendorf). HR: Lee (14, 1st inning off Mussina, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Pence 2; Tejada 2; Berkman; Lee 6; Bourn 2; Ausmus 2. RBI: Lee 3 (52), Ausmus (10). 2-out RBI: Lee 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bourn; Lee; Pence. S: Matsui. GIDP: Berkman. Team LOB: 4. BASERUNNING CS: Bourn (6, 2nd base by Mussina/Molina), Lee (1, 2nd base by Mussina/Molina). FIELDING DP: 3 (Matsui-Tejada-Berkman 2, Wigginton-Matsui).

Houston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Rodriguez (L, 2-3)	5.0	6	5	5	3	1	1	2.76
Byrdak	0.0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1.37
Sampson	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.64
Wright	1.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	3.70
Geary	2.0	4	3	3	2	1	0	2.55

Byrdak pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

IBB: Rodriguez (by Rodriguez), Rodriguez (by Geary),
Cabrera (by Geary).
Pitches-strikes: Mussina 89-65, Ohlendorf 10-7,
Farnsworth 13-7, Ramirez 15-12, Rodriguez 88-57,
Byrdak 9-1, Sampson 7-5, Wright 17-14, Geary 36-17.
Ground outs-fly outs: Mussina 8-5, Ohlendorf 2-1,
Farnsworth 2-1, Ramirez 0-1, Rodriguez 9-5, Byrdak 0-0, Sampson 3-0, Wright 0-1, Geary 4-1.
Batters faced: Mussina 23, Ohlendorf 5, Farnsworth 3,
Ramirez 4, Rodriguez 23, Byrdak 2, Sampson 2, Wright 5, Geary 11.
Inherited runners-scored: Sampson 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Eric Cooper. 1B: Marty Foster. 2B:
Derryl Cousins. 3B: Angel Hernandez.
Weather: 72 degrees, roof closed.
Wind: 0 mph, None.
T: 2:57.
Att: 43,409.

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Yankees Rally to Sweep Mariners

Just as they have been for most of this season, the Yankees were struggling against a left-handed starter. In this case it was the Mariners Jarrod Washburn. Thankfully, Mariners manager John McLaren pulled him after the 6th inning. The Yankees rallied for 4 runs in the 8th inning to beat the Mariners 6-5 and completed a 3-game sweep in the process. The victory also extended the Yankees winning streak to 5 games, and it was also the first game that the Yankees came back, in 23 attempts, this season to win when being down after the 7th inning.

Derek Jeter lead off the 8th with a walk against Sean Green and he came around to score on Bobby Abreu's double off of lefty Arthur Rhodes, cutting the lead to 5-3. McLaren quickly went to his closer J.J. Putz for a 6-out save, but the big right-hander walked Alex Rodriguez. Putz got a break when Jason Giambi was called out on strikes a 2-2 pitch that was well out of the strike zone, for the 1st out. But Hideki Matsui, pinch-hitting for Shelley Duncan, hit a little dribbler to the right out of the mound. Putz (1-2, BS 3) lunged for, going to his knees as he fielded it. His throw was wild to 1st Base, allowing Abreu to score and A-Rod to move to 3rd. Robinson Cano's sac fly to deep center not only tied the game at 5-5, but allowed Matsui to reach 2nd Base. Jose Molina then delivered a 2-out double to deep center to give the Yankees their first lead of the day, 6-5. Then it was all up to the Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and the king of the bullpen came through again with a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 12th save in as many chances.

The Yankees got the opportunity to win because reliever Edwar Ramirez gave them 1.2 innings of shutout relief after starter Chien-Ming Wang faltered. Ramirez (1-0) has now thrown 12.2 scoreless innings over 11 appearances this season. He's also struck out 15.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 3rd, Wang issued walks to Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, sandwiched around a single by Kenji Johjima, to load the bases. Yuniesky Betancourt singled through the left side for a 2-1 Mariners lead and Duncan mishandled Ichiro Suzuki's grounder to 1st to allow another runner to score. If not for an odd double play, the inning could have been bigger for the Mariners. Duncan dropped Jose Lopez's line drive, but threw home to force Johjima at the plate. Molina then fired to Cano at 2nd to complete an odd 3-2-6 double play.

The Mariners finally drove Wang to the showers in the 7th after Joe Girardi probably left him in too long. Wang allowed 1-out hits to Betancourt and Lopez to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Vidro then singled to right-center to plate both runners and pushed the Mariners lead to 5-2.

News and Notes

Derek Jeter's RBI double in the 2nd and Johnny Damon's RBI ground out in the 5th were the Yankees runs prior to the 8th.

The victory was the 2nd of Edwar Ramirez's brief major league career.

Ichiro Suzuki homered in the 2nd inning, his 3rd of the season.

May 25, 2008

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

Seattle	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Suzuki, CF	5	2	2	2	0	0	2	.289
Lopez, 2B	5	1	1	0	0	0	3	.299
Vidro, DH	5	0	2	2	0	1	0	.239
Ibanez, LF	4	0	0	0	1	1	1	.273
Beltre, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.253
Johjima, C	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.219
Sexson, 1B	3	1	0	0	1	3	1	.197
Balentien, RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	4	.215
Betancourt, SS	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	.278
Totals	36	5	9	5	4	6	15
BATTING 2B: Lopez (13, Wang). HR: Suzuki (3, 3rd inning off Wang, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Suzuki 5; Lopez 2; Vidro 2; Johjima 2; Betancourt 2. RBI: Suzuki 2 (13), Betancourt (18), Vidro 2 (24). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beltre; Suzuki. GIDP: Lopez. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Putz (1, throw). DP: 2 (Lopez-Betancourt-Sexson, Betancourt-Sexson).

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Washburn	6.0	4	2	2	3	2	0	6.54
Green (H, 4)	1.0	1	1	1	1	0	0	4.10
Rhodes	0.0	1	1	1	0	0	0	5.59
Putz (BS, 3)(L, 1-2)	1.0	2	2	2	1	1	0	4.50

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	1	1	1	0	0	2	.266
Jeter, SS	3	1	1	1	1	0	1	.287
Abreu, RF	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	.294
Rodriguez, 3B	2	1	1	0	2	0	0	.295
Giambi, DH	2	0	0	0	1	2	3	.230
Duncan, S, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	.176
a-Matsui, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.321
Ensberg, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.203
Cano, 2B	2	1	0	1	1	0	2	.229
Molina, C	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.216
Cabrera, CF	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.255
Totals	28	6	8	5	5	3	14
a-Singled for Duncan, S in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Damon (14, Washburn), Jeter (7, Washburn), Abreu (11, Rhodes), Molina (10, Putz). TB: Damon 2; Jeter 2; Abreu 2; Rodriguez; Matsui; Molina 3; Cabrera. RBI: Jeter (23), Damon (20), Abreu (32), Cano (19), Molina (5). 2-out RBI: Jeter; Molina. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Abreu; Jeter; Duncan, S; Cabrera. S: Cabrera. SF: Cano. GIDP: Cano; Duncan, S. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (2, 2nd base off Washburn/Johjima), Damon (6, 3rd base off Washburn/Johjima). FIELDING E: Duncan, S (2, fielding). DP: (Duncan, S-Molina-Jeter).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wang	6.1	7	5	5	4	2	1	3.82
Ramirez (W, 1-0)	1.2	2	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Rivera (S, 12)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.45

Green pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.
Rhodes pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

HBP: Giambi (by Washburn).
Pitches-strikes: Washburn 95-53, Green 16-9, Rhodes 9-6, Putz 18-11,
Wang 112-70, Ramirez 24-17, Rivera 16-12.
Ground outs-fly outs: Washburn 12-4, Green 3-0, Rhodes 0-0, Putz 1-1,
Wang 12-5, Ramirez 1-2, Rivera 0-1.
Batters faced: Washburn 24, Green 5, Rhodes 1, Putz 6, Wang 30,
Ramirez 7, Rivera 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Rhodes 1-1, Putz 1-1, Ramirez 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Tim McClelland. 2B: Mike DiMuro.
3B: Larry Vanover.
Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, Out to LF.
T: 3:10.
Att: 54,269.

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