Disgusting Display in the Bronx

That's the best way to describe last night's game between the Los Angeles and the Yankees. The Yankees had Pudge Rodriguez in their lineup. Manny Ramirez was out of the American League. It should have been a day to celebrate. But instead Andy Pettitte got rocked, the defense looked shoddy, and the bats were asleep. Don't let the final score of 12-6 fool you. This game wasn't close after the 2nd inning.

Pettitte had come into the contest on a tremendous roll, having allowed 6 earned runs in his last 28 innings. But the nemesis Angels put that many runs on the board in the 3rd inning alone. Both Torii Hunter and Juan Rivera took Pettitte deep with two men aboard. In the blink of an eye, Pettitte, who struggled with his command all night, and the Yankees were in a huge 6-0 hole.

The Yankees teased the crowd a bit with a couple of runs off of Jon Garland. Bobby Abreu hit his third home run in two days and Johnny Damon added an RBI single. But up 6-2 in the 6th, the Angels blew the game open. A Jeff Mathis double was followed by an RBI single by Chone Figgins. A walk to Erik Aybar finally ended Pettitte's night to forget, but things only got worse. Chris Britton came on and surrendered yet another 3-run home run, this time to Vlad Guerrero.

The Angels would sprinkle a few runs on and the Yankees would tease the crowd, what was left of it, some more with 3 runs in the 9th before an out was recorded. But it was clear early on that this game was over barely after it had started.


News and Notes

Phil Hughes was activated from the DL and optioned to Charleston, where he will pitch tonight. Ian Kennedy continued to impress of late, allowing 3 hits over 6 innings on Tuesday night. He could be the quickest option to replace Ponson or Rasner in the starting rotation.

Chris Britton was recalled last night, because the Yankees aren't happy with Brian Bruney's command thus far.

Including the 2003 playoffs, the Angels have won 30 of the last 48 meetings between the two meetings. It won't get any easier tonight when Sidney Ponson goes up against Ervin Santana.

It was a tough first game for Ivan Rodriguez, who went 1-3 and was 0-3 throwing out would be base stealers. He was also called out at the plate on a play that he was clearly safe on.

Chone Figgins had 4 hits and is batting .331 lifetime against the Bombers.


July 31, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
LA Angels	0	0	6	0	0	4	0	2	0		12	18	2
NY Yankees	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	3		6	12	0

LA Angels	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Figgins, 3B	5	3	4	1	0	0	0	.285
Aybar, SS	4	2	1	1	1	1	2	.284
Teixeira, 1B	4	1	2	1	1	0	3	.283
Guerrero, RF	4	1	1	3	1	1	4	.285
Willits, RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.185
Hunter, CF	5	1	1	3	0	2	2	.281
Quinlan, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.262
Anderson, DH	5	1	4	0	0	0	0	.285
1-Budde, PR-DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Kendrick, 2B	5	1	3	0	0	0	1	.335
Rivera, LF	4	1	1	3	0	0	2	.244
a-Matthews, PH-CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.229
Mathis, C	5	1	1	0	0	1	3	.224
Totals	42	12	18	12	3	5	19
a-Hit into a double play for Rivera in the 9th. 1-Ran for Anderson in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Mathis (7, Pettitte), Anderson (17, Britton). 3B: Aybar (4, Britton). HR: Hunter (18, 3rd inning off Pettitte, 2 on, 2 out), Rivera (6, 3rd inning off Pettitte, 2 on, 2 out), Guerrero (18, 6th inning off Britton, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Figgins 4; Aybar 3; Teixeira 2; Guerrero 4; Hunter 4; Anderson 5; Kendrick 3; Rivera 4; Mathis 2. RBI: Hunter 3 (58), Rivera 3 (19), Figgins (13), Guerrero 3 (58), Aybar (26), Teixeira (79). 2-out RBI: Hunter 3; Rivera 3; Guerrero 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hunter; Mathis 3. GIDP: Guerrero. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Kendrick (8, 2nd base off Pettitte/Rodriguez), Teixeira (1, 2nd base off Pettitte/Rodriguez), Figgins (21, 2nd base off Pettitte/Rodriguez). CS: Anderson (3, 3rd base by Pettitte/Rodriguez). PO: Anderson (2nd base by Pettitte). FIELDING E: Garland (1, throw), Guerrero (3, fielding). DP: 2 (Aybar-Kendrick-Teixeira, Oliver-Aybar-Mathis).

LA Angels	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Garland (W, 10-6)	6.0	7	3	3	1	3	2	4.30
Oliver	2.0	2	0	0	0	1	0	3.14
O'Day	0.0	3	3	3	1	0	0	4.54
Arredondo	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.16

Garland pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.
O'Day pitched to 4 batters in the 9th.

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, DH	4	0	1	2	1	0	3	.315
Jeter, SS	5	0	0	1	0	0	4	.280
Abreu, RF	5	1	1	2	0	0	1	.287
Rodriguez, A, 3B	5	0	1	0	0	1	1	.326
Giambi, 1B	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.257
a-Sexson, PH-1B	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.225
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.263
Nady, LF	3	2	2	1	1	0	0	.328
Rodriguez, C	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.295
b-Betemit, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.248
Cabrera, CF	4	2	3	0	0	0	0	.251
Totals	38	6	12	6	2	4	14
a-Singled for Giambi in the 8th. b-Singled for Rodriguez in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Rodriguez, A (23, Garland). 3B: Cabrera (1, Garland). HR: Abreu (14, 4th inning off Garland, 0 on, 1 out), Nady (15, 7th inning off Garland, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Abreu 4; Rodriguez, A 2; Giambi; Sexson; Nady 5; Rodriguez; Betemit; Cabrera 5. RBI: Abreu 2 (73), Damon 2 (46), Nady (61), Jeter (49). 2-out RBI: Damon. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cano; Jeter. GIDP: Rodriguez. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING DP: 2 (Rodriguez, A-Cano-Giambi, Cano-Sexson). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Anderson at 2nd base).

NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Pettitte (L, 12-8) 5.1 11 9 9 3 4 2 4.18 Britton 3.2 7 3 3 0 1 1 3.38

Garland pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. O'Day pitched to 4 batters in the 9th. WP: Britton. Pitches-strikes: Garland 105-67, Oliver 20-14, O'Day 15-10, Arredondo 6-3, Pettitte 110-62, Britton 53-32. Ground outs-fly outs: Garland 8-7, Oliver 2-2, O'Day 0-0, Arredondo 3-0, Pettitte 3-8, Britton 2-7. Batters faced: Garland 26, Oliver 7, O'Day 4, Arredondo 3, Pettitte 29, Britton 16. Inherited runners-scored: Oliver 1-0, Arredondo 3-2, Britton 2-2. Umpires: HP: Ed Hickox. 1B: CB Bucknor. 2B: Joe West. 3B: Ed Rapuano. Weather: 86 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 11 mph, R to L. T: 3:16. Att: 53,405.

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Yankees vs. Twins - May 30

The Yankees open a 4-game series tonight with the Minnesota Twins in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". It's the first time the Yankees have faced the Twins, who have changed quite a bit since the last time the two teams met, this season.

Johan Santana is across the Hudson at Shea, Francisco Liriano is working his way back from Tommy John surgery in the minors, and the heart and soul of the team, Torii Hunter, is in Anaheim/LA. But the Twins are known for developing good players and that continues this year.

The Twins don't have scoring power, but their starting pitching and bullpen have helped them to a 28-25 record, 2 games behind the even more surprising Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The starting rotation has one veteran, Livan Hernandez, and a bunch of kids.

El Duque's kid brother started out like a house afire, going 6-2, 3.88, but he's been pounded in his last 2 starts, both no decisions, against the Royals and Rangers.

Rookie right-hander Nick Blackburn tops the team in ERA, 3.39, while posting a 4-3 record. He's walked just 11 hitters in 71.2 innings.

Glen Perkins, tonight's starter, was worked in as a reliever for his first 23 big league appearances over the last 2 years, but he's back as a full-time starter now. Perkins was called up due to injuries and has been the goods thus far, going 2-1, 2.77 with 16 strikeouts and 4 walks in 26 innings.

Kevin Slowey returned from the DL last night to record his first complete game. He's only 2-4 despite a 3.38 ERA. Slowey is another Twins starter with a great K/BB ratio of 4:1.

Boof Bonser is the lone Twins starter to struggle, so it would seem he would be the likely casualty when Scott Baker comes back from the DL. Bonser has 2-6, 6.16

The Twins still have one of the best closers in the business in Joe Nathan, but they lost super set up man Pat Neshak for the season.

Offensively, the Twins still rely on their two big JM's, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, and Michael Cuddyer. Morneau is on pace for his usual type of season, .305-9-40, but although Mauer is hitting .324, he has just 21 RBI and has yet to hit a home run. Cuddyer is hitting just .228-1-19 and spent some time on the DL.

Carlos Gomez, acquired in the Santana trade, is the spark plug at the top of the lineup. He's hitting .293-4-22 with 31 runs scored, 9 doubles, 3 triples, and 17 steals in 22 attempts. Earlier this season he became the first Twins player since Kirby Puckett to hit for the cycle.

Delmon Young, acquired for Matt Garza, started out strongly, but has been treading water since, hitting just .258 with no home runs and 14 RBI.


Pitching Probables for the Series

Friday: Mike Mussina (7-4, 4.39) vs. Glen Perkins (2-1, 2.77)
Saturday: Chien-Ming Wang (6-2, 3.82) vs. Boof Bonser (2-6, 6.16)
Sunday: Darrell Rasner (3-1, 1.80) vs. Nick Blackburn (4-3, 3.39)
Monday: Andy Pettitte vs. Livan Hernandez (6-2, 4.60)


Mike Mussina is looking to get back on path after 2 straight rough outings, one of which he won. He's 20-6, 3.18 in 30 career starts against the Twins.

Twins vs. Mussina

Casilla 1-1
Clark 1-3
Cuddyer 2-13 1 RBI
Harris 1-4 1 RBI
Kubel 1-7 1 HR 2 RBI
Lamb 6-16 1 HR 3 RBI
Mauer 0-6
Monroe 2-8
Morneau 4-11 1 RBI
Punto 0-2
Young 2-11

Glen Perkins will be facing the Yankees for the first time.

UPDATE 5:57 PM EDT

Tonight's lineups

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

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Tuesday Hot Stove

The White Sox are hard at work trying to bring in Torii Hunter to be their new centerfielder. A deal could be announced within a week. Source

The Houston Astros are close to bringing Kaz Matsui to be their new 2nd baseman. Here's the view of one reporter who thinks it's a big mistake.

Ken Rosenthal feels the Dodgers have moved back into the lead for the team most likely to land Miguel Cabrera. The reason - more major league ready prospects. Btw, Joe Girardi was on with Mike and the Dog yesterday and had nothing but good things to say about the much maligned Miggy. Source

The Brewers are hoping to finalize a deal with Jason Kendall before the Thanksgiving holiday. The signing would enable them to trade current starter Johnny Estrada. Source

Now that the White Sox have added Orlando Cabrera, the Rays are interesting in bringing in the suddenly available Juan Uribe. Source

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