Gardner Sparks Yankees to 3rd Straight Win

No one knows who will be manning center field for the Yankees next season, but Brett Gardner left an impression last night of what he's capable of. Gardner doubled in a run, robbed Luke Scott of a home run, and threw out Nick Markakis at the plate, in the Yankees 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

The victory was the Yankees third in a row and moved them back into sole possession of third place in the AL East, ahead of Toronto. Carl Pavano provided an adequate five innings of work (2 ER, 6 hits, 1 BB, 2 K) to earn his 4th win of the season.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Aubrey Huff's RBI single, but Gardner threw out Markakis at home plate and had runners on the corners with no one out in the second. But Pavano escaped with just a sacrifice fly by Lou Montanez for a 2-0 advantage.

The Yankees tied the game up in the third against O's starter Radhames Liz, when Robinson Cano led off the inning with his 14th home run of the season, and Ivan Rodriguez singled, stole second base, and came home on Gardner's double to the gap in left-center field. What has become the norm for the 2008 Yankees then kicked in as Gardner was stranded.

Gardner then flashed the leather in the fourth when Scott drove a pitch to deep center field. Gardner raced back to the 408-ft sign, leapt, caught the baseball, and slammed into the wall. He sat on the warning track momentarily shaken up while Scott cursed on the base paths.

The Yankees have been more aggressive on the bases of late and it paid off in the fifth inning when Johnny Damon singled with one out, stole second base, and moved to third base on Derek Jeter's single. Liz retired Bobby Abreu on a foul out, but then wild pitched home Damon with the go ahead run. The Yankees again had a chance for more when Alex Rodriguez walked, but Jason Giambi grounded out to end the inning.

The Yankees refreshed pen has been looking better of late and they combined for four shutout innings last night. Phil Coke struck out the first two hitters in the sixth before a walk to Adam Jones and a Giambi throwing error (what else?) put two aboard. Joe Girardi sent for Brian Bruney, who made it a 'K' trifecta by striking out Montanez looking to end the threat.

Bruney and Damaso Marte combined for a scoreless seventh inning and Joba Chamberlain struck out the side in the eighth. Then it was on to Mariano Rivera, whose usual ovation was even louder as the days at home are dwindling. The greatest closer of all-time made things interested when a pair of two out singles and an error put runners on the corners, but he got Brian Roberts to pop out to Ivan Rodriguez, on the first pitch, to pick up save number 37.


News and Notes

Mariano Rivera's save was career number 480. Ivan Rodriguez had trouble at first picking up the final pop up and gave Mo a hug of relief after catching it.

Derek Jeter donated the spikes he wore in his record breaking hits game to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Yankees vs. Orioles - May 28

Andy Pettitte will try to stop the Yankees 2-game losing streak when he faces the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Camden Yards. Pettitte's stopped many a losing streak, even a 1-game skid, and the Yankees need him to do it again tonight. Pettitte's had trouble in the middle innings of late, but the Yankees probably don't need more than 6 innings from him tonight. That's because Joe Girardi plans to use Joba Chamberlain on a 50-55 pitch outing (cover your years while Michael Kay keeps count). Tonight could very well be Joba's last relief appearance for the time being since his pitch count will need to increase further and there's now an opening in the rotation with Ian Kennedy sidelined with a strained Lat.

Jeremy Guthrie gets the call for the O's tonight as the Yankees face a right-handed starter for the first time in the series. Guthrie 1-0, 4.74 in 4 career appearances, 3 of them starts, against the Yankees.

Yankees vs. Guthrie

Abreu 2-8 1 HR 1 RBI
Betemit 1-1 1 HR 2 RBI
Cabrera 3-7 2 RBI
Cano 1-8 1 RBI
Damon 3-9 1 HR 2 RBI
Jeter 3-9
Matsui 2-8
Molina 1-2
Posada 2-8 1 RBI
A-Rod 2-8

Pettitte pitched 7 scoreless innings in the Yankees 7-1 win over the O's on April 20. He's dominated the O's in his career, going 23-6, 3.77 in 35 appearances (33 starts).

Orioles vs. Pettitte

Cintron 3-8 2 RBI
R. Hernandez 7-21 1 HR 6 RBI
L. Hernandez 1-4
Huff 4-23
Jones 1-3
Markakis 6-18 1 HR 3 RBI
Millar 8-28 1 RBI
Mora 7-27 4 RBI
Payton 6-30 1 HR 2 RBI
Quiroz 0-2
Roberts 9-43 1 HR 2 RBI
Scott 0-3


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Congrats to former Yankee Andy Phillips, who was recalled today by the Cincinnati Reds. He'll be Jay Bruce's backup at 1st Base.

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Roger Clemens has added "intentional infliction of emotional distress" to his defamation suit against Brian McNamee. Just let it go already, would ya.

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My boy Drew Jr. over at Scott Proctor's Arm has come up with a Michael Kay drinking game based on the things fivehead says during the game. The only problem is you could die from alcohol poisoning before the 3rd inning.

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And in case you missed it yesterday, nice piece by the Daily News' Mark Feinsand on Darrell Ranser.

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Peter Abraham has reported that Chris Britton is back, yet again, to replace Ian Kennedy. And here's are tonight's Yankees lineup

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Moeller C
Cabrera CF

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Back to the Norm

The Yankees 5-game winning streak came to a halt this afternoon when the Baltimore Orioles won 6-1 at Camden Yards. The Yankees got another great start from Darrell Rasner, who allowed just a solo home run by Nick Markakis in 6 innings, but the Yankees bullpen imploded and the offense managed just 5 hits on the day.

The Orioles were clinging to a 1-0 lead when LaTroy Hawkins entered the game to start the 7th. He allowed a lead off single to Ramon Hernandez, but struck out Adam Jones and Freddie Bynum for a quick 2 outs. It would be a while before the Yankees got that final out.

Hawkins walked Brian Roberts and then allowed an RBI single to Melvin Mora for a 2-0 lead. Joe Girardi opted for Jose Veras, who pitched worse than Hawkins. After allowing an RBI single to Markakis, he served up a gopher ball to Aubrey Huff who put the game out of reach with a 3-run home run.

The Yankees managed just 3 hits off of starter Garrett Olson over 7 innings, after pounding him at Yankee Stadium last week. The Yankees did manage a couple of rallies, but a lack of key hitting and some Orioles defense thwarted their efforts. With two on and two out in the 2nd inning, Melky Cabrera grounded out to short. Cabrera is 12-62 since May 6 and has seen his average dip from .291 to .249.

The Yankees had another 2-out shot in the 3rd. With Johnny Damon on 2nd and Alex Rodriguez on 1st, Hideki Matsui singled through the right side, but Markakis, who leagues the AL in assists, gunned down Damon at home.

Rasner allowed just 3 hits through the first 5 innings as he extended his scoreless streak to 12 innings. But Markakis' 9th home run snapped the scoreless tie and helped to hand Rasner his first loss in four decisions.

The Yankees finally broke up the shutout in the 9th when Matsui doubled, for his 3rd hit of the day, and scored 3 batters later on a base hit by Chad Moeller.

News and Notes

Jorge Posada went 0-5 in an extended spring training game.

May 26, 2008

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

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.265
Jeter, SS	3	0	0	0	1	2	1	.282
Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.288
Rodriguez, 3B	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	.289
Matsui, DH	4	1	3	0	0	0	1	.331
Duncan, S, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	2	3	.164
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.224
Moeller, C	2	0	1	1	1	1	0	.265
Cabrera, CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.249
Totals	31	1	5	1	4	8	15
BATTING 2B: Matsui (9, Walker). TB: Damon; Matsui 4; Moeller. RBI: Moeller (8). 2-out RBI: Moeller. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez; Cabrera; Duncan, S. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (3, 2nd base off Olson/Hernandez, R), Jeter (3, 2nd base off Olson/Hernandez, R).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Rasner (L, 3-1)	6.0	5	1	1	1	3	1	1.80
Hawkins	0.2	2	3	3	1	2	0	6.08
Veras	1.1	2	2	2	0	1	1	4.50

Baltimore	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Roberts, 2B	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	.258
Mora, 3B	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	.239
Markakis, RF	4	2	3	2	0	0	0	.258
Huff, DH	4	1	2	3	0	0	1	.246
Scott, LF	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.250
Payton, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.237
Millar, 1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	.236
Hernandez, R, C	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.215
Jones, CF	4	0	1	0	0	2	1	.253
Bynum, SS	3	0	0	0	0	2	4	.234
Totals	33	6	9	6	2	6	10
BATTING 2B: Markakis (6, Rasner), Huff (11, Rasner). HR: Markakis (9, 6th inning off Rasner, 0 on, 1 out), Huff (8, 7th inning off Veras, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Mora; Markakis 7; Huff 6; Millar; Hernandez, R; Jones. RBI: Markakis 2 (24), Mora (25), Huff 3 (28). 2-out RBI: Mora; Markakis; Huff 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bynum 2; Huff; Millar. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING Outfield assists: Markakis (Damon at home).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Olson (W, 4-1) 7.0 3 0 0 4 7 0 4.09 Bradford 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.70 Walker 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 4.20

HBP: Moeller (by Olson). Pitches-strikes: Rasner 98-68, Hawkins 20-12, Veras 19-11, Olson 107-60, Bradford 14-9, Walker 12-7. Ground outs-fly outs: Rasner 4-11, Hawkins 0-0, Veras 1-2, Olson 4-9, Bradford 1-1, Walker 1-2. Batters faced: Rasner 24, Hawkins 5, Veras 6, Olson 28, Bradford 3, Walker 5. Inherited runners-scored: Veras 2-2. Umpires: HP: Lance Barksdale. 1B: Doug Eddings. 2B: Ted Barrett. 3B: Dana DeMuth. Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 10 mph, Out to CF. T: 2:46. Att: 34,928.

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Yankees vs. Orioles - 5/21

The Yankees are need of some razzuhmuhtazz, as Shelley Duncan would put it. We're talking about Darrell Rasner of course, who the Yankees are counting on tonight to stop their 4 games slide. Rasner hasn't pitched in 11 days since he beat the Detroit Tigers on May 10. He's been hammered in 2 starts against the O's in the past.

Rookie Garret Olson is on the hill for the Orioles. The Yankees, even when not struggling, generally have trouble with pitchers they haven't seen before. On top of that, Olson is a left-handed, which knocks down the possibility of scoring runs even more.

Derek Jeter will be in tonight's lineup after getting hit on the hand last night by a Daniel Cabrera pitch. Here's tonight's Yankees lineup

Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Duncan 1B
Cano 2B
Moeller C
Cabrera CF
Rasner RHP


Orioles vs. Rasner

Nick Markakis 5-5
Kevin Millar 2-3 1 HR 2 RBI
Ramon Hernandez 1-2 1 HR 3 RBI
Brian Roberts 1-5
Aubrey Huff 0-2
Melvin Mora 0-4

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O's Roll Yankees With a 7

Phil Hughes was going along smoothly, looking like was going to give the Yankees taxed bullpen some much needed rest, but then the 6th inning came and Hughes (0-3) and LaTroy Hawkins were used as a battering ram by the O's hitters. The 7-run inning gave the Orioles a 8-2 victory in the first game of the three game series.

Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera escaped a bases loaded jam in the top of the 6th and the Orioles took advantage. Consecutive singles by Nick Markakis, Kevin Millar, and Luke Scott snapped a 1-1 tie and put runners on the corners with no one out. Hughes retired Aubrey Huff on a pop up, but Adam Jones beat out a chopper to Alex Rodriguez, and he and Scott moved up a base on A-Rod's errant throw to 1st Base.

Joe Girardi then called on Hawkins, who had been unscored upon his last five outings. After issuing an intentional walk to Ramon Hernandez, Hawkins allowed a 2-run single to right by pinch-hitter Jay Payton for a 5-1 O's lead. Brian Roberts grounded out for the second out of the inning, but Payton moved to 2nd on the play and came home on Melvin Mora's single to right.

Edwar Ramirez replaced a dejected Hawkins and allowed an RBI single to Markakis before Millar finally struck out to end the inning.

Cabrera (1-0) was about as good as he gets, scattering 6 hits over 6 innings and walking just 2 hitters. His outing was cut short by a 108-pitch count. But as has been the case all season, the Yankees couldn't get the big hit when it counted. Not that they had that many opportunities.

In the 4th, Bobby Abreu was cut down at home plate by Markakis trying to score from 2nd on a Hideki Matsui single. Melky Cabrera struck out with the bases loaded to end the 6th.

The Yankees last gasp came in the 7th when Chad Moeller lead off with his first home run and Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon followed with singles. But Abreu, A-Rod, and Matsui were retired consecutively to end the frame.

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	5	0	1	0	0	0	2	.203
Jeter, SS	5	0	1	0	0	1	2	.304
Abreu, RF	4	0	2	0	0	0	2	.313
Rodriguez, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	1	4	.296
Matsui, DH	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.328
Cano, 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	3	.171
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.116
Cabrera, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.314
Moeller, C	3	1	1	2	0	0	0	.313
a-Posada, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.262
Totals	34	2	8	2	2	4	19
a-Flied out for Moeller in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Cabrera (1, Cabrera, D). HR: Moeller (1, 7th inning off Cabrera, D, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Abreu 2; Matsui; Cano; Cabrera 2; Moeller 4. RBI: Moeller 2 (3). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jeter; Cabrera 2; Matsui. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (1, 2nd base off Cabrera, D/Hernandez, R). FIELDING E: Rodriguez (2, throw). DP: (Jeter-Cano-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hughes (L, 0-3)	5.1	9	5	5	2	1	0	8.82
Hawkins	0.1	2	3	3	1	0	0	9.64
Ramirez	2.1	1	0	0	1	3	0	0.00

Baltimore	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Roberts, 2B	5	0	0	0	0	0	3	.258
Mora, 3B	5	1	1	2	0	1	0	.231
Markakis, RF	3	1	3	1	1	0	0	.345
Millar, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	3	.238
Scott, LF	4	2	2	1	0	1	0	.389
Huff, DH	2	0	1	0	2	0	2	.233
Jones, CF	4	1	1	1	0	1	3	.259
Hernandez, R, C	3	1	1	0	1	0	1	.163
Hernandez, L, SS	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.226
a-Payton, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0	0	.269
Fahey, SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.071
Totals	34	8	12	7	4	4	14
a-Singled for Hernandez, L in the 6th.
BATTING 2B: Markakis (3, Hughes), Scott (9, Hughes). TB: Mora; Markakis 4; Millar; Scott 3; Huff; Jones; Hernandez, R; Hernandez, L; Payton. RBI: Scott (8), Jones (5), Payton 2 (4), Mora 2 (9), Markakis (8). 2-out RBI: Mora 2; Markakis. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hernandez, L; Millar. GIDP: Jones. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING E: Mora (2, fielding). Outfield assists: Markakis (Abreu at home). DP: (Hernandez, L).

Baltimore	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Cabrera, D (W, 1-0)	6.0	6	2	2	2	3	1	5.16
Bierd	0.2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Walker	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.40
Albers	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.73

Cabrera, D pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

IBB: Hernandez, R (by Hawkins).
HBP: Matsui (by Cabrera, D), Matsui (by Cabrera, D).
Pitches-strikes: Hughes 97-60, Hawkins 14-5, Ramirez 36-23, Cabrera, D 108-64, Bierd 17-10, Walker 15-11, Albers 10-8.
Ground outs-fly outs: Hughes 4-10, Hawkins 1-0, Ramirez 1-3, Cabrera, D 8-6, Bierd 0-2, Walker 0-4, Albers 1-1.
Batters faced: Hughes 25, Hawkins 4, Ramirez 9, Cabrera, D 27, Bierd 4, Walker 4, Albers 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Hawkins 2-2, Ramirez 1-1, Walker 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Ed Montague. 1B: Jerry Layne. 2B: Phil Cuzzi. 3B: Jim Wolf.
Weather: 80 degrees, clear.
Wind: 7 mph, Out to LF.
T: 3:12.
Att: 40,653.

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