Pavano (W 1-0)

We had the craziest dream last night. Carl Pavano pitched and won a game for the 2008 Yankees. We woke up laughing. Then we picked up the sports page and remembered that it really did happen. After a bit of a shaky start, fragile Carl threw 5 yeoman-like innings to earn his first win since April 9, 2007.

The Orioles had three runs and a number of runners on base by the end of the second inning, but Pavano began to pitch better after that and the Yankees got enough runs off O's starter Jeremy Guthrie to get Pavano a 5-3 win.

With two away in the third inning, Guthrie tattooed Alex Rodriguez in the left arm with a 96 mph fastball. The next hitter, Jason Giambi, tattooed the baseball into the seats in right-center field for his 25th home run of the season and a 4-3 Yankees lead.

Hideki Matsui's 9th home run of the year, and the second since his return from the DL, gave the Yankees a big insurance run in the seventh inning. It wouldn't be needed as Brian Bruney, Jose Veras, and Mariano Rivera easily put the O's away over the final four innings. Rivera reached the 30 save mark for the 11th time in his career. (A 28-save 2002 season stopped it from being 12 years in a row).

But all eyes were on Pavano in this one, and it seemed to affect him in the early going. The Yankees handed him a 2-0 lead in the first with the help of the Orioles defense, but it appeared Pavano would give it right back. A fine defensive play by Robinson Cano, however, bailed him out.

Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis led off the bottom of the first with singles, but Melvin Mora hit a blooper up the middle that Cano grabbed and, in one motion, tagged out Roberts, who was returning to second base. Roberts put up a mild protest to umpire Ed Hickox, but manager Dave Trembley didn't argue the call. The play proved to be huge when Aubrey Huff followed with what would have been a run-scoring single to center field. Pavano then retired Ramon Hernandez on an inning-ending ground out.

The injury prone right-hander wasn't so lucky in the second inning. Luke Scott led off the inning with a double and Pavano, who struggled with his control early on, walked Kevin Millar. Jay Payton's single then loaded the bases with no one out. Juan Castro's deep fly to left-center brought home one run and both runners advanced when the weaker-armed Johnny Damon called off Xavier Nady, who was poised to throw to second base. Instead, Payton easily moved into scoring position. A Roberts ground out brought home the tying run and Markakis' single to center gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead.

The inning ended in controversy when Mora struck out on a pitch in the dirt. He started to walk away and then- realizing the ball had bounced in the dirt- ran towards first base. Both he and Markakis advanced another base as the Yankees continued off the field. The umpires were going to allow it at first, but Joe Girardi came out and vehemently argued with home plate ump Joe West, who then gathered the other umpires for a conference. It resulted in Mora being called out for the final out, which sent Trembley into a rage that would get him ejected from the ball game.

“The hitter walked toward the dugout to throw his bat and helmet away. He, in doing so, has abandoned his effort to reach the next base,” West said. “He’s called out, according to the rule.”

Given the lead back in the third, Pavano retired the O's in order, for the only time, in the bottom of the third. He got in trouble in the fourth, hitting Millar, possibly in retaliation for A-Rod being hit, and allowed a single to Payton. But then he struck out Castro, Roberts, and Markakis in order, getting the latter two looking at beautifully located pitches on the outside corner. Pavano hit Mora to start the fifth, but retired the final three batters he faced to give the Yankees a chance to gain ground on Boston in the wildcard race.


News and Notes

Jason Giambi's home run was the 389th of his career. Between Japan and the U.S., Hideki Matsui now has 444 home runs.

Alex Rodriguez is 3-8 in the series with all three hits being doubles. Derek Jeter picked up hit number 2,501 and is just 17 hits away from Babe Ruth and second place on the all-time Yankees hit list.

Phil Hughes was hammered in his start Friday night for Scranton. He allowed 8 runs in just 3.1 innings pitched.

August 23, 2008

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

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	4	1	1	0	1	0	1	.311
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.296
Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	3	.293
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	.309
Giambi, 1B	4	1	2	3	0	0	0	.253
Ransom, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
Nady, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.327
Matsui, DH	4	1	1	1	0	1	2	.312
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.263
Rodriguez, I, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.285
Totals	35	5	8	5	1	9	8
BATTING 2B: Rodriguez, A (29, Guthrie). HR: Giambi (25, 3rd inning off Guthrie, 1 on, 2 out), Matsui (9, 7th inning off Guthrie, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Rodriguez, A 2; Giambi 5; Nady; Matsui 4; Cano. RBI: Rodriguez, A (78), Giambi 3 (76), Matsui (38). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez, A; Giambi 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Matsui; Abreu. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING DP: (Cano).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pavano (W, 1-0)	5.0	7	3	3	1	5	0	5.40
Bruney (H, 5)	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2.11
Veras (H, 8)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2.72
Rivera (S, 30)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.57

Baltimore	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Roberts, 2B	5	0	1	1	0	1	4	.298
Markakis, RF	5	0	2	1	0	2	2	.302
Mora, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.281
Huff, DH	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.301
Hernandez, R, C	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.257
Scott, LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.272
Millar, 1B	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	.248
Payton, CF	4	1	3	0	0	0	1	.246
Castro, J, SS	2	0	0	1	0	2	3	.198
a-Cintron, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.278
Totals	34	3	9	3	1	9	20
a-Grounded out for Castro, J in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Scott (23, Pavano). TB: Roberts; Markakis 2; Huff; Hernandez, R; Scott 2; Payton 3. RBI: Castro, J (10), Roberts (46), Markakis (77). 2-out RBI: Markakis. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hernandez, R; Markakis; Roberts. SF: Castro, J. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Payton (6, 2nd base off Bruney/Rodriguez, I).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Guthrie (L, 10-10) 6.2 7 5 5 1 7 2 3.28 Castillo, A 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.79 Cormier 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.47

HBP: Millar (by Pavano), Mora (by Pavano), Rodriguez, A (by Guthrie). Pitches-strikes: Pavano 91-54, Bruney 29-19, Veras 21-13, Rivera 10-6, Guthrie 115-76, Castillo, A 4-3, Cormier 28-18. Ground outs-fly outs: Pavano 5-4, Bruney 2-3, Veras 1-0, Rivera 2-0, Guthrie 7-6, Castillo, A 0-0, Cormier 3-2. Batters faced: Pavano 24, Bruney 7, Veras 4, Rivera 3, Guthrie 29, Castillo, A 1, Cormier 7. Inherited runners-scored: Castillo, A 2-0. EjectionsBaltimore Orioles Manager Dave Trembley ejected by HP umpire Joe West. (2nd). Umpires: HP: Joe West. 1B: Ed Rapuano. 2B: Ed Hickox. 3B: CB Bucknor. Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 8 mph, Out to LF. T: 3:08. Att: 48,817.

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The Pennant Race - 8/21

You just get the feeling that for the second straight year, the Mets and Phillies will come down to the final weekend to determine the NL East winner. The Mets are playing good baseball, but they haven't been able to put much cushion between themselves and the Phillies since moving into first place.

Mike Pelfrey has really stepped up this season and did again last night, limiting the Braves to three hits in a complete game, 6-3 Mets victory. David Wright continued his run at the NL MVP with his 24th home run and 97th RBI. Rookie Dan Murphy's two RBI gave him 11 in 18 games and he's batting .404 in 47 at-bats.

The Phillies got a complete game of their own from Brett Myers, who scattered nine hits in shutting down the Nationals 4-0. Washington has lost 12 straight. After a brief stint in the minors, Myers has returned to form and is 3-1, 1.47 in his last five starts.

The Marlins' hopes are fading away. They dropped a 6-5 game to the Giants last night that put them 5 games behind the Mets and 7.5 behind the wildcard-leading Brewers. Florida rallied for 3 runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, but Bengie Molina's sac fly won it for the Giants in the bottom of the ninth.

Speaking of the Brewers, they got themselves back to within 5 games of the Cubs with a 5-2 win over the Astros. J.J. Hardy hit a 2-run home run to help Manny Parra win his 10th game. Ryan Braun sat out for the 9th time in 11 games due to lower back soreness.

The Reds edged the Cubs 2-1 despite starter Ted Lilly allowing just two hits over seven innings.

The Cardinals remained 2.5 behind the Brewers in the wildcard with an 11-2 thumping of the Pirates. Todd Wellemeyer won his career-high 11th game and reached the century mark in strikeouts for the first time.

The Diamondbacks moved two games ahead of the Dodgers with an 8-6 win over the Padres. Neither starter Dan Haren nor Jake Peavy was good, but after allowing four runs in the first inning, Haren settled down to get the win. Adam Dunn belted a 3-run home run, his 34th of the season.

The Rockies played spoilers, beating the Dodgers 4-3. The Dodgers lead 3-0 early, but Brad Hawpe almost single-handedly beat LA. He reached on an error that cut the lead to 3-2, singled in the game-tying run in the seventh, and singled again in the ninth to drive in the go-ahead run.


There was no movement in the AL Central standings as both the White Sox and Twins were daytime winners. Chicago got four home runs in a 15-3 rout of the Mariners. Ken Griffey Jr. tied Sammy CheaterSosa with his 609th career home run, and his first in Chicago. Gavin Floyd earned his 13th win.

Francisco Lirano and four pitchers pitched the Twins to a 3-1 win over the A's. Little-used reserve Mike Redmond drove in two runs.

The AL East's top two teams remained 4.5 apart as they both lost last night. The Angels beat the Rays 5-4, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit, and then winning after blowing a 4-3 lead. Garret Anderson's ninth inning single was the game winner. K-Rod notched his 48th save.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but it was all Baltimore after that as the Orioles won it 11-6. Melvin Mora, who had four RBI, and Ramon Hernandez each hit 3-run home runs. Clay Buchholz was hammered for five runs in 2.1 IP and is reportedly headed back to Pawtucket.

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Pettitte Puts on the Brakes

Andy Pettitte beat the Baltimore Orioles for the 24th time in 30 career decision and the Yankees ended a two game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the O's. Jason Giambi hit another bomb and Johnny Damon continued a torrid trip to the harbor.

Pettitte was shaky early, but got stronger as the game went on, retiring the first two batters in the 7th before departing for Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain threw 2 innings before turning things over to Mariano Rivera who picked up his 13th save in as many tries.

The Yankees had taken an early lead when Hideki Matsui, the AL's leading hitter, doubled and scored on Giambi's RBI single off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie. But Pettitte surrendered a 2-run home run to Melvin Mora, the Orioles 8th home run in the 3-game series, for a 2-1 O's lead.

Giambi hit his 2nd home run of the series on to Eutaw seats beyond the right field seats to tie the game 2-2 in the 4th. State Trooper Giambi is 14-34 (.412) with 4 HR and 7 RBI over his last 10 games. The streak has raised his average from .181 to .244.

Melky Cabrera, trying to bust out of a month long slump, had his second double of the game in the 5th and moved to 3rd on Johnny Damon's single. Derek Jeter's sacrifice fly to left brought home Cabrera to give the Yankees the lead for good. Damon, who went 8-14 in the series to raise his average 23 points, added an insurance run in the 9th with an infield RBI single.

Pettitte (5-5) worked out of a two on, none out jam in the 1st and ran into trouble again in the 5th. But the tricky left-hander, who has picked off many runners, this time nailed Brian Roberts, who had doubled, at 2nd Base for the 2nd out of the inning. It would prove to be huge out, because Pettite than walked Mora and gave up a double to Nick Markakis. But Pettite came back to retire Kevin Millar on an inning ending fly out.

Chamberlain ran into trouble with the same batters when he entered the game with 2 outs in the 7th. Mora singled to right and Markakis walked, prompting a quick trip to the mound by pitching coach Dave Eiland. Whatever he said apparently worked as Chamberlain blew a 96-mph fastball by Millar for strike three. Chamberlain tossed an easy 8th inning and then went to the bullpen to complete his throwing.

Rivera breezed through the 9th though the Orioles were able to bring the tying run to the plate when pinch-hitter Luke Scott's grounder went through Alex Rodriguez's legs. Thankfully for A-Rod, Mo was on the mound and not LaTroy Hawkins. The greatest closer of all time retired Roberts and Mora on consecutive infield pop ups and the Yankees 2-game losing streak was over.

News and Notes

When Derek Jeter was picked off of 2nd Base in Tuesday night's game it was even rarer than you thought. He hadn't been picked off since September, 1998. Jeter played in his 1,882nd game last night, moving past Roy White for 6th place on the all-time team list.

Hideki Matsui was 2-4 and is 14-27 over the last 7 games, 5 of which have been multi-hit games.

Of the 42 home runs hit on to Eutaw St., 3 of the last 5 have been by Jason Giambi.

May 28, 2008

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

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	5	0	3	1	0	0	1	.288
Jeter, SS	4	0	0	1	0	1	5	.280
Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.286
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.276
Matsui, DH	4	2	2	0	0	0	0	.330
Giambi, 1B	3	1	2	2	1	0	0	.244
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.219
Moeller, C	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	.250
Cabrera, CF	4	1	2	0	0	2	3	.254
Totals	35	4	9	4	2	5	17
BATTING 2B: Matsui 2 (11, Guthrie, Walker), Cabrera 2 (7, Guthrie, Guthrie). HR: Giambi (11, 4th inning off Guthrie, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Damon 3; Matsui 4; Giambi 5; Cabrera 4. RBI: Giambi 2 (27), Jeter (25), Damon (24). 2-out RBI: Giambi; Damon. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Abreu; Rodriguez; Jeter 2. SF: Jeter. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING E: Rodriguez (5, fielding). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Roberts at 2nd base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte (W, 5-5)	6.2	8	2	2	1	3	1	4.11
Chamberlain (H, 12)	1.1	1	0	0	1	3	0	2.28
Rivera (S, 13)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.39

Baltimore	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Roberts, 2B	5	1	3	0	0	0	1	.271
Mora, 3B	4	1	3	2	1	0	1	.258
Markakis, RF	3	0	1	0	1	0	2	.251
Millar, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	3	6	.241
Huff, DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.244
Hernandez, R, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.222
Payton, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.238
Jones, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.253
Cintron, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.412
a-Scott, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.247
Totals	36	2	9	2	2	7	14
a-Reached on error for Cintron in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Roberts (13, Pettitte), Markakis (7, Pettitte). HR: Mora (7, 3rd inning off Pettitte, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Roberts 4; Mora 6; Markakis 2; Payton; Jones. RBI: Mora 2 (29). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Huff 2; Millar 3; Mora. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Markakis (7, 2nd base off Pettitte/Moeller). CS: Roberts (5, 3rd base by Pettitte/Moeller). PO: Roberts (2nd base by Pettitte).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Guthrie (L, 2-6) 7.0 6 3 3 0 4 1 3.64 Johnson 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.23 Walker 0.2 2 1 1 2 1 0 4.60 Bradford 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.65

WP: Guthrie. IBB: Moeller (by Walker). Pitches-strikes: Pettitte 96-59, Chamberlain 28-16, Rivera 18-11, Guthrie 104-68, Johnson 15-10, Walker 27-14, Bradford 1-1. Ground outs-fly outs: Pettitte 8-8, Chamberlain 1-0, Rivera 0-2, Guthrie 9-8, Johnson 2-1, Walker 1-0, Bradford 1-0. Batters faced: Pettitte 28, Chamberlain 6, Rivera 4, Guthrie 27, Johnson 4, Walker 6, Bradford 1. Inherited runners-scored: Bradford 3-0. Umpires: HP: Ted Barrett. 1B: Dana DeMuth. 2B: Lance Barksdale. 3B: Doug Eddings. Weather: 74 degrees, clear. Wind: 3 mph, In from CF. T: 2:53. Att: 24,791.

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This Just In...Yankees Win!

It happened, it really did, the Yankees won a ball game tonight. And they won it by a lot. Darrell Rasner (3-0) pitched a gem and the Yankees blew out the Baltimore Orioles 8-0. If only the Yankees could follow this blue print more than once a week. A well pitched game, timely hitting, and runs scored with and without home runs.

It all started with Rasner though. The guy throws strikes and pitches with confidence. Even before this success we always wondered what Jim Bowden was thinking when he released him from the Washington Nationals. Tonight he allowed just 5 hits through 7 innings and struck out 6 to earn the win. Joba Chamberlain completed the final 2 innings to preserve the shutout. And in a quick on field post-game interview Joe Girardi admitted to Kim Jones that the team is starting to stretch Joba out in an effort to make him a starter.

The Yankees are ecstatic to have Alex Rodriguez back in the lineup. One night after a long 2-run home run, A-Rod was back at it again tonight, with 3 hits, including a tremendous solo home run in the 3rd inning. He was also deprived of a home run in the 6th inning, much like Carlos Delgado was Sunday night. A-Rod's drive to deep right-center careened off the stairs to the bleachers and back on the field. A-Rod slid head first into 2nd for an RBI double and immediately yelled to the umpires that it was a home run. But after a meeting of the umpiring crew it remained a double.

The Yankees jumped on Orioles starter Garret Olson (3-1) in the 2nd inning. Shelley Duncan started the rally with a 1-out single and came home on Robinson Cano's double to right-center for a 1-0 lead. Chad Moeller roped a single to left to score Cano and the Yankees had a hit with runners in scoring position. Derek Jeter's ground out brought home the final run of the inning for a 3-0 lead.

After A-Rod's home run in the 4th, Johnny Damon delivered a bases loaded 2-run single to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead. Rasner meanwhile moved down the O's despite not having pitched since May 10. Then it was Joba Chamberlain throwing 35 pitches as he begins the transition to starter.

News and Notes

Melvin Mora had to leave the game in the 3rd inning after being inadvertently spiked on the hand when Hideki Matsui slid into 3rd base.

A-Rod's home run gave him 524 for his career, moving him to within 10 blasts of Jimmy Foxx.

Darrell Rasner has allowed just 4 earned runs in 19 this season (1.89 ERA) and has issued just 2 walks.

Yes, that was the Yankees running. Bobby Abreu and Derek Jeter both stole bases.

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