Angels Weave Another Victory

Yankees vs. Angels. Who do you think won? The Yankees preferred to keep Ian Kennedy in the minors, but injuries forced them to bring him up for last night's game. Only two innings in, the front office was probably already ruing their decision. Kennedy did no better than his previous starts this season, getting hammered for 5 runs in two official innings. He actually faced five batters in the third inning, but retired none of them and the Angels went on to a 10-5 victory.

The Yankees closed the gap to within 6-5, but Darrell Rasner and Brian Bruney let the game get out of reach again and there would be no comeback like last Sunday's improbable Yankees win over the Angels.

Kennedy remains a conundrum. He rocketed through the Yankees farm system last year, and perhaps that was the problem- getting to the majors too quickly. This year he's been like an amateur golfer who can't put two good shots in a row together.

Singles by Eric Aybar and Vlad Guerrero put two men aboard with two outs in the first inning and both runners scored on a Torii Hunter double. Hunter's career numbers against the Yankees are mediocre, but this season he's homered twice and driven in 8 runs in just three games.

The Yankees managed to briefly hold the lead, 3-2 after Alex Rodriguez belted a solo home run, his 25th, in the second inning, and the Yankees loaded the bases in the third. Jason Giambi drew a bases-loaded walk from Jered Weaver and Xavier Nady reached on an infield single. With a chance to do more damage, Robinson Cano continued his poor hitting with the bases loaded by bouncing into an inning-ending ground out.

The lead would be short lived as the Angels jumped on Kennedy in the third, sending him to an early shower. A Mark Teixeira double followed by a Guerrero single tied the game, and consecutive singles by Hunter, Garrett Anderson, and Howie Kendrick brought home two more for a 5-3 lead. None of the balls were hard hit, but they were hits nonetheless.

Trailing 6-3 in the sixth, the Yankees made it a game again when Nady hit his 5th home run in 13 games in Pinstripes. It was also his 13th RBI as a Yankee. Cano followed with a triple and scored on a Melky Cabrera ground out to cut the Angels lead to 6-5. But there would be no more joy in Anaheim for the Yankees.

Hunter opened the seventh inning with a home run off of Rasner and the Angels piled 3 more runs on in the inning to finish off the Bombers. But really they were finished off when Ian Kennedy took the mound.


News and Notes

Howie Kendrick, 4-5 last night, is batting .507 (36-71) in 18 career games against the Yankees. He's also sporting a 1.263 OPS.

Joba Chamberlain said he'd be ready to go the first week of September, but Joe Girardi is taking a much more conservative approach, mainly so Chamberlain doesn't try to rush back.

Alex Rodriguez's home run was the 548th of his career.

The Yankees dropped to 6.5 games back in the AL East after Tampa beat Seattle 5-3. Boston lost to Chicago, so the Yankees remain 3 back in the Wild Card.

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Yankees Waste Ponson Effort

Sidney Ponson gave the Yankees more than they ever could have expected last night against the Los Angeles Angels. Ponson hadn't thrown 7 shutout innings since 2004, so when the happens against the team with the best record in baseball, you had better win the game. But the Yankees couldn't do anything against Angels starter Ervin Santana and Mariano Rivera once again coughed up a run in a tie game. The outcome was a 1-0 loss, the Yankees fifth in their last six games.

No blame could placed on the large shoulders of Ponson, who allowed just 2 hits over 7 innings, and escaped a number of jams. In the 5th, he loaded the bases with one out by walking Juan Rivera and Jeff Mathis after Garret Anderson had singled to break up the no-hitter. But Chone Figgins helped him out by popping up on a 2-0 pitch and Maecir Itzturis flied out to Johnny Damon in left.

In the 7th, Ponson allowed a lead off single by Mark Teixeira, but it was quickly erased when Vlad Guerrero bounced in a 6-4-3 double play. Meanwhile, Ervin Santana was matching Ponson's zeros.

The Yankees appeared to be off to a good start when Johnny Damon started the bottom of the 1st inning with a walk and Derek Jeter singled through the right side. But Santana struck out Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez, and retired the slumping Jason Giambi on a pop up.

In the 4th, Abreu singled with one out and stole 2nd base, but was eventually stranded at 3rd, when Giambi and Robinson Cano both flied out. In the 6th, Damon singled and stole 2nd base after there were two away, but the Angels intentionally walked A-Rod and Giambi failed again, striking out for the inning's final out.

Second guessers had a field day after Damaso Marte retired the side in order in the 8th, including a pair of strikeouts, but wasn't brought back for a second inning. Doubting Mariano Rivera? It's become the new thing in non-save situations. And unfortunately, Rivera lived up to that new founded attitude.

He walked Mark Teixeira to start the 9th, just the 5th walk he has allowed in 48.1 innings. Guerrero then singled to right, allowing pinch-runner Reggie Willits to easily reached 3rd base. With the infield in, Torii Hunter hit a bullet off the mound and into center field for the game's lone run.

Francisco Rodriguez made easy work of the Yankees in the 9th. He struck out A-Rod looking on a 3-2 pitch, and Giambi and Cano on routine fly outs for his major league leading 45th save.


News and Notes

Brian Bruney was recalled before the game and Chris Britton was sent back down to Scranton.

August 1, 2008

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

LA Angels	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Figgins, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	.281
Izturis, SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	.263
Teixeira, 1B	2	0	1	0	2	0	0	.284
1-Willits, PR	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	.185
Quinlan, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.262
Guerrero, RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.285
Hunter, CF	4	0	1	1	0	0	1	.281
Anderson, DH	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.284
Kendrick, 2B	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.331
Rivera, LF	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.240
Mathis, C	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	.222
Totals	29	1	4	1	5	4	17
1-Ran for Teixeira in the 9th.
BATTING TB: Teixeira; Guerrero; Hunter; Anderson. RBI: Hunter (59). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Izturis 2. GIDP: Guerrero; Kendrick. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING DP: (Kendrick-Izturis-Teixeira).

LA Angels	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Santana (W, 12-5)	8.0	5	0	0	2	8	0	3.38
Rodriguez, F (S, 45)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.42

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	0	1	0	1	1	0	.315
Jeter, SS	4	0	2	0	0	1	1	.282
Abreu, RF	4	0	1	0	0	2	4	.286
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	2	3	.323
Giambi, DH	4	0	0	0	0	1	5	.253
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.260
Betemit, 1B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.250
Rodriguez, I, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.292
Cabrera, CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.249
Totals	31	0	5	0	2	9	15
BATTING TB: Damon; Jeter 2; Abreu; Betemit. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Giambi 2; Cano. GIDP: Rodriguez, I. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Damon (16, 2nd base off Santana/Mathis), Abreu (14, 2nd base off Santana/Mathis). FIELDING DP: 2 (Jeter-Cano-Betemit, Jeter-Betemit).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ponson	7.0	2	0	0	4	1	0	4.23
Marte	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3.60
Rivera (L, 4-4)	1.0	2	1	1	1	1	0	1.49

WP: Santana.
IBB: Rodriguez, A (by Santana).
Pitches-strikes: Santana 118-73, Rodriguez, F 13-7,
Ponson 96-48, Marte 15-10, Rivera 19-13.
Ground outs-fly outs: Santana 7-9, Rodriguez, F 0-2,
Ponson 5-15, Marte 0-1, Rivera 2-0.
Batters faced: Santana 30, Rodriguez, F 3, Ponson 26,
Marte 3, Rivera 5.
Umpires: HP: CB Bucknor. 1B: Joe West.
2B: Ed Rapuano. 3B: Ed Hickox.
Weather: 81 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 9 mph, L to R.
T: 2:32.
Att: 53,997.

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Jackie Robinson Day

Today is the annual celebration of Jackie Robinson, the Hall of Fame player who broke baseball's color barrier in 1947. As part of this tradition, the number 42, which was retired by all teams in 1997, can be worn by any player, coach, or manager at the major league level. Mariano Rivera remains the only player to still wear the number full-time.

Last year the Dodgers celebrated the 60th anniversary of Robinson's debut by having the entire squad wear #42. This year they will be joined by the Angels, Mets, A's, Pirates, Rangers, Rays, Nationals, and Cardinals.

But not every player is happy about how baseball honors Robinson. Angels outfielder Torii Hunter feels that having so many players wearing #42 actually dilutes the significance of Robinson's achievement.

"When you have a team that doesn't have any African American players on the team, and then everybody on the team wears it, yes, it's watered down, because they don't have blacks to represent Jackie Robinson over there," Hunter said.

"It's pretty weird. That's just my opinion."

Hunter also felt it was absurd for the Houston Astros, a team with no white players, to have the entire team wear 42. Hunter was ridiculously labeled a racist for those remarks, when his intentions were really to know why the Astros had no black players (this year's Colorado Rockies squad has no black players either).

We have mixed feelings on the subject. While it's a great tribute is there anything meaningful about a white player wearing #42? But we agree with LA Times columnist Bill Shaikin that commemorating the feat helps educate those who did not know much about Robinson or his legacy.

Here's the complete list of those wearing 42 today.

Team	Player
Arizona Diamondbacks	Eric Byrnes
	Orlando Hudson
	Lee Tinsley
	Justin Upton
	Chris Young
Atlanta Braves	Mark Kotsay
Baltimore Orioles	Adam Jones
Boston Red Sox	Coco Crisp
	DeMarlo Hale
	David Ortiz
Chicago Cubs	Derrek Lee
	Gerald Perry
	Lester Strode
	Daryle Ward
Chicago White Sox	Harold Baines
	Jeff Cox
	Jermaine Dye
	Ozzie Guillen
	Nick Swisher
	Jim Thome
Cincinnati Reds	Dusty Baker
	Ken Griffey Jr.
Cleveland Indians	C.C. Sabathia
	Grady Sizemore
Colorado Rockies	Matt Herges
	Willy Taveras
	Yorvit Torrealba
Detroit Tigers	Curtis Granderson
	Jacque Jones
	Lloyd McClendon
	Gary Sheffield
	Dontrelle Willis
Florida Marlins	Bo Porter
Houston Astros	Michael Bourn
	Cecil Cooper
Kansas City Royals	Joey Gathright
	Jose Guillen
	Trey Hillman
	Luis Silverio
Los Angeles Angels	Entire team
Los Angeles Dodgers	Entire team
Milwaukee Brewers	Prince Fielder
Minnesota Twins	Matt Guerrier
	Livan Hernandez
	Craig Monroe
	Denard Span
	Jerry White
	Delmon Young
New York Mets	Entire team
New York Yankees	Robinson Cano
	Joe Girardi
	Derek Jeter
	*Mariano Rivera
Oakland Athletics	Entire team
Philadelphia Phillies	Jimmy Rollins
Pittsburgh Pirates	Entire team
San Diego Padres	Tony Clark
	Callix Crabbe
	Scott Hairston
San Francisco Giants	Ray Durham
Seattle Mariners	Miguel Batista
	Adrian Beltre
	Yuniesky Betancourt
	Mike Morse
St. Louis Cardinals	Entire team
Tampa Bay Rays	Entire team
Texas Rangers	Entire team
Toronto Blue Jays	Shannon Stewart
	Frank Thomas
	Vernon Wells
Washington Nationals	Entire team

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Around the Horn - 4/8

Astros closer Jose Valverde blew a 3-run lead to the Cards in the top of the 9th, but Miguel Tejada saved his bacon with a walk 2-run HR in the bottom of the 9th (Astros 5 Cards 3). It was the Astros 4th home run of the game. The loss snapped the Cardinals 5-game winning streak.

Pat Burrell hit a pair of home runs to power the Phillies past the Reds 5-3. Brad Lidge earned his first save in a Phils uniform to get a win for Cole Hamels.

Mark Reynolds homered twice and he and Orlando Hudson drove in 3 runs each as the Dbacks topped the Dodgers 9-3. Reynolds is off to a hot start - .333-4-9 and 7 runs scored. Dan Haren picked up his 1st NL win in the process.

Adrian Gonzalez had 4 hits, including a home run, and Greg Maddux won his 348th career game in the Padres 8-4 win over the Giants. The team by the bay has lost 6 of their first 7 games.

Tom Glavine threw 6 scoreless innings for the Braves, but Blaine Boyer surrendered a 2-run HR to Matt Holliday in the 8th to give the Rockies a 2-1 win. Boyer may not be long for the majors- his ERA is nearly 8.00 and he's been tagged with 2 of the Braves 4 losses.

The Cubs blew a 7-0 lead before beating the Pirates in 12 innings, 10-8. Cubs starter Ted Lilly is off to an awful start, having allowed 9 earned runs in 8.1 innings pitched.

Hanley Ramirez homered and drove in 3 in the Marlins 10-7 clubbing of the Nationals. Not a good game for phenom Andrew Miller though. The rookie allowed 6 runs in 3.1 innings. The Nats have lost 5 straight after winning their first 3.

Francisco Rodriguez blew the Angels 2-1 lead to the Indians in the 9th, and then had to leave the game with an injured ankle. But Torii Hunter got K-Rod off the hook, blasting a walk-off grand slam against Joe Borowski in the bottom of the 9th. Borowski and April, not perfect together.

Joe Crede grand slammed the White Sox to their 5th straight win, a 7-4 victory over the Twins. Javier Vazquez struck out 8 in 7 innings of work for his first win of the season.

Aubrey Huff's 8th inning home run snapped a 4-4 tie and gave the Orioles a 5-4 win over the Mariners. It was the O's improbable 5th straight win.

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Around the Horn - 4/1

The Yankees may have been rained out yesterday, but plenty of other teams did get their seasons under way.

American League

Wild one in Cleveland, that saw the Indians blow a 7-2 lead against the Chicago White Sox before winning 10-8. Mark Buehrle lasted on 1.2 innings and allowed 7 runs as the Tribe hammered him. The bad news for Cleveland- catcher Victor Martinez injured his hamstring and was sent for an MRI. So far he's listed as day-to-day. White Sox slugger Jim Thome homered twice.

It only took Miguel Cabrera two at-bats to his first AL home run, but Justin Verlander blew a 3-0 lead and the Detroit Tigers lost to the Kansas City Royals 4-3 in 11 innings. The victory made it a successful debut for new manager Trey Hillman. But Hillman lost spark plug David DeJesus to an ankle injury.

The Tampa Bay Rays have a modified name and are hoping to reach .500 for the first time. They got off to a good start yesterday with a 6-2 win against the hapless Baltimore Orioles.

Former Oriole Erik Bedard gave up just 1 run in his Seattle Mariners debut. But the left-hander issued 4 walks in 5 innings. Seattle pulled out a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers.

The Twins ruined Torii Hunter's homecoming with a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. New Twin Livan Hernandez went 7 strong innings and Hunter went 0-4 in his return to the homer dome.

National League

Johan Santana's NL debut was a successful one. The much sought after left-hander allowed just 3 hits and struck out 8 in 7 innings. David Wright drove in 3 runs at the Mets rolled over the Florida Marlins 7-2.

Jake Peavy matched up against Roy Oswalt last night as the San Diego Padres and the Houston Astros met. Peavy allowed just 3 hits in 7 innings and the Padres blanked the 'stros 4-0.

Break up the Nationals. The Washingtonians improved to 2-0 with an 11-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. One night after christening their new ball park with a Ryan Zimmerman walk-off win, the Nats scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th with the help of 4 doubles.

Brandon Webb picked up his first win as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-2. The Dbacks slugged 3 home runs.

Great starting pitching and bad closing marked the Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers game. Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets put up goose eggs in front of the Wrigley faithful into the 7th inning. The Brewers finally got to Kerry Wood in the 9th for 3 runs, but Kosuke Fukudome gain instant fan favorite status with a game tying 3-run HR off of Eric Gagne. The Brewers got Gagne off the hook in the 10th the game winning run.

Joe Torre's LA debut was a triumphant one as the Dodgers thumped Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants, 5-0. Zito once again proved what a mistake the Giants made signing him by giving up 4 runs in 5 innings.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves played the first ugly contest of the season, a 12-11 non-pitcher's duel. The Braves blew 3-0 and 4-1 leads and the Pirates squandered an 8-4 advantage. Finally the Braves blew a 9-8 lead in the 9th before their 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th fell just short. Tom Glavine had a semi-successful return to Atlanta with 5 innings of 2 run (1 earned) ball. Xavier Nady smacked 2 HRs for the Pirates.

Albert Pujols overcame his elbow problems to slug his 1st home run, but the St. Louis Cardinals couldn't fight off the rain too. The Cards 5-1 lead over the Colorado Rockies was washed out by heavy rains. Jeff Francis must be grinning from ear to ear today. He allowed all 5 runs in 1+ innings.

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Angels Hunt Down Torii

We didn't see this one coming. They already had Gary Matthews Jr., but the Angels have signed free centerfielder Torii Hunter to a 5 year, $90 million contract. This means that either Matthews moves to left and Garrett Anderson becomes the full-time DH, or Matthews is on his way out of LA.

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