Yankees Season Getting Wild

Mike Mussina threw 6 solid innings, and Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera each homered as the Yankees completed a 3 game sweep of the Kansas City Royals, 8-5. With the Detroit Tigers losing their 5th straight game, the Yankees pulled to within a half game in the wild card race.

Gil Meche, who pitched so well 11 days ago in his start against the Bombers in KC, was completely ineffective today. The Yankees jumped on him for 4 runs in the 2nd inning to take control of the afternoon. Meche retired the first 2 hitters of the innings, but walked Robinson Cano and Andy Phillips, and allowed a single to Wilson Betemit in between to load the bases. Cabrera singled in the first run of the game and Derek Jeter drew a 3-2 bases loaded walk for a 2-0 lead. Bobby Abreu lined a single to center to bring home Phillips and Cabrera for a 4-0 advantage.

The Yankees added single runs, in the 3rd on Matsui's 22nd home run. the 100th of his Yankees career, and in the 4th on Alex Rodriguez's sacrifice fly, for a 6-0 lead. A-Rod's RBI gave him a major league leading 109. The end of the 4th was also the end of Meche's day. He dropped to 7-9 with the loss.

Mussina's day was pretty easy, getting Mark Teahen to fly out to end a 2-on, 2-out jam in the 3rd, and held the Royals scoreless until Ross Gload's 2-run home run in the 6th. The Yankees have to be glad not to see Gload again as the 1st Baseman went 13-23 (.565) against them. Moose evened his record at 7-7 with his 3rd straight win.

As it turned out, the Yankees got some much needed insurance in the 6th. Cabrera matched his 2006 total with his 7th home run of the year, off of Leo Nunez. Derek Jeter, who also had a hit and was hit by a pitch, drew his 2nd walk of the day and stole his 12th base. Abreu moved Jeter to 3rd with a single and Matsui brought him home with fly ball to deep right for his 78th run batted in.

Those runs were needed because Brian Bruney and Mike Myers were ineffective for a change. Teahen singled to center off Bruney to drive home David DeJesus, and Esteban German scored when Cabrera booted the ball. When Joey Gaithright singled in a run off of Myers in the 8th, it was suddenly a save situation and Joe Torre did not hesitate in calling on Mariano Rivera.

Mo retired Jason Smith on a fly out to end the 8th and threw a 1-2-3, 9th inning for his 17th (consecutive) save.

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Johnny Damon could not have been happy about sitting out against a right-handed pitcher. Damon had a brief hot streak going before going 0-6 on Saturday.

Melky Cabrera, who started the season so poorly, is hitting .333 since June 1st, and .359 since July 1st.

Mike Mussina's victory was the 246th of his career. Mariano Rivera's save was his 430th.

The Yankees lineup has changed quite a bit over the last 2 months. When the game ended, Bobby Abreu had the lowest average of the starting 9 players - .286.

photos courtesy of AP

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Today's Lineup (8/5)

Meche vs. Mussina Royals D. DeJesus cf
E. German 2b
M. Teahen rf
E. Brown dh
R. Gload 1b
A. Gordon 3b
J. Buck c
J. Gathright lf
T. Pena Jr. ss

Yankees
M. Cabrera cf
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez dh
H. Matsui lf
J. Posada c
R. Cano 2b
W. Betemit 3b
A. Phillips 1b

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Yankees Phil Good

Alex Rodriguez's 500th home run made a Saturday's game a memorable one, but his teammates helped out too, with a 21-hit barrage in a 16-8 win over the Kansas City Royals. It wasn't such a good day for rookie phenom Phil Hughes, though it started out that way. But Hughes tired in the 5th and left with the game tied 6-6. But the Yankees bats would not be denied.

A 4-run lead may have been squandered, but it wouldn't matter on this day. Melky Cabrera's RBI ground out against John Bale (0-1) quickly gave the Yankees the lead back in the bottom of the 5th and then the Bombers began to break the game open in the 6th.

Bobby Abreu started it with his 11th home run off of Joel Peralta. 2 batters later, Jorge Posada walked and Robinson Cano followed with a double. Betemit, playing his very first game at 1st Base, ripped a 2-runs single off of David Riske for a 10-6 lead. Melky Cabrera doubled, this time out of the infield, in the gap in left-center to score Betemit with the inning's final run.

The Yankees poured it on in the 7th. RBI singles by Abreu and Matsui, a 2-run single by Cano, and an RBI double by Phillips in his first at-bat of the day. Mike Myers faced 2 batters, but it was enough to raise his record to 3-0.

Hughes was a handed a 4-0 lead after the 1st, on A-Rod's historic home run and Cano's RBI triple. He gave 2 runs back in the 3rd on David DeJesus' RBI single and a ribbie double by Mark Teahen. The Yankees got the runs back, but DeJesus touched up Hughes for a 2-run HR, his 6th to start the 5th. Joe Torre stayed with Hughes as long as possible, but when Billy Butler and Ross Gload delivered RBI doubles, Hughes' day was done.
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The Yankees had 6 players, Cano(4), A-Rod, Jeter, Abreu, Matsui, and Betemit with at least 3 hits each, for the first time in 65 years.

A-Rod officially became the youngest player to hit his 500th home run at 32 years, 8 days. That's 330 days faster than Jimmie Foxx.

Betemit has started 2 games as a Yankee and has driven in 3 runs in each.

Joba Chamberlain was dominant in his 2 inning appearance for Scranton last night, striking out 5 of the 7 batters he faced.

The Yankees are 10 games over .500 for the first time this season and have moved within 1.5 of the wild card leading Tigers. Detroit has lost 5 straight.

To make room for Hughes on the 40 man roster, Colter Bean was designated for assignment.

photos courtesy of AP

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The Magic Wang

It stands to reason that the longer a starting pitcher stays in the game, the better his chances are of figuring in the decision. Chien-Ming Wang improved to 13-5 by going 7 innings plus 1 batter into the 8th and the Yankees beat the Royals at The Stadium, 7-1. Wang has figured in all but 2 of the games he's started. After a rough outing against the Orioles on Sunday, he was back in complete control of the young Royals lineup.

It only took 7 batters for Wang to have a lead as Robinson Cano smacked his 11th home run of the season off of Odalis Perez (6-10). But 3 straight, 2-out singles, the last by Ross Gload, allowed the Royals to tie the game up in the 3rd. That would be the last time the Royals were in a position to win. Wang retired Billy Butler on a ground out, what else, to end the inning.

Shelley Duncan started the 4th with his first of 2 singles on the night. Cano singled and Andy Phillips moved both runners up a base with a successful sacrifice bunt. Jose Molina, playing in place of the injured Jorge Posada, flied to deep left-center to score Duncan and put the Yankees ahead for good, 2-1. Johnny Damon's gapper to right-center scored Cano for a 3-1 advantage.

The Yankees put the game away in the 6th with the help of a whacky bounce. Perez walked Cano to end his evening and Buddy Bell brought on Ryan Z. Braun. Phillips immediately greeted him with a sharp single to left to set up another bunting situation. But Molina bunted it right back to Braun, who easily threw out Cano at 3rd. Braun's good fortune quickly turned thought, when he walked Damon to load the bases. Melky Cabrera lined Braun's 1st pitch off of the Royal hurler's foot and the mound. The ball ricocheted sideways and flew up into the stands on the 1st base, for possibly, the shortest 2-run ground-rule double in the history of the game.

A Derek Jeter walk loaded the bases and set the stage for a dramatic Alex Rodriguez at-bat. Still looking for his 500th home run. But A-Rod got under Braun's pitch, sending a high fly to right that turned into a sacrifice fly and a 6-1 Yankees lead.

As usual, Wang pitched like a man with confidence. He threw 98 pitches, 68 for strikes, and recorded 12 ground ball outs. He was lifted after allowing Mark Grudzielenak's lead-off double in the 8th. Mike Myers and Luis Vizcaino finished up the inning, before Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 9th in a non-save situation.

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Alex Rodriguez's final at-bat in the 8th inning gave the crowd a quick thrill as he drove the ball to right-center, but it sunk for a fly out.

Robinson Cano had just 33 RBI at the end of June, but a huge July and a quick start to August has pushed his season total to 60. His 2 hits raised his average to .305.

Melky Cabrera's 3 hits raised his average to .292. The Yankees front office have to seriously be thinking about making Melky the long term centerfielder.

Johnny Damon is having another mini-revival, which must continue if he doesn't want to lose at-bats when Jason Giambi returns. Damon is 9-17 over the last 4 games with 4 RBI, and, more importantly, 8 runs scored.

Chien-Ming Wang's victory was the 40th of his short career. He now has a .714 lifetime winning percentage.


photos courtesy of AP

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Royal Roster Weekend

You better not shout, you better not cry...Kansas City's coming to town. Need a little snow to cool off a 90+ July day. Maybe old man Clemens has cooled down by now. The Yankees play the Royals for 3 this weekend before heading north to Toronto.

The Yankees will have some decisions to make over the next few days as far as roster moves are concerned. Phil Hughes will be activated to start Saturday's game. Joba Chamberlain is expected to join the team in Toronto. He threw a scoreless inning for Trenton the other night after stopping in NYC to get his passport.

Jason Giambi is finishing up his rehab assignment and will probably re-join the team some time next week. So what does this all mean for the roster?

With the addition of Wilson Betemit, it's possible that Miguel Cairo will be let go. Cairo is a solid player whom Torre trusts so it would be hard to imagine that would be the case, but there's just no room.

With the addition of Hughes and Chamberlain, who goes from the pitching staff? I would love to see Myers cut loose, but that's probably not going to happen. Farnsworth, he should be the 'F' in 'DFA' (designated for assignment). Karstens? Villone?

Johnny Damon is already making noises of, "I'd rather play somewhere else, rather than sit". All right Johnny, shut the hell up. You reported to camp out of shape, you've been hurt all year, and you've killed the team more times than not.

KC's manager Buddy Bell made an emotion resignation, effective at season's end, the other day. Bell wants to spend more time with his family, including a daughter who has Down Syndrome. We all hope Bell is healthy, as he battled cancer a couple of years back.

Probable Pitchers for this weekend

Friday - Odalis Perez (6-9, 5.73) vs. Chien-Ming Wang (12-5, 3.61)
Saturday - Kyle Davies (4-8, 5.76) vs. Phil Hughes (1-1, 3.38)
Sunday - Gil Meche (7-8, 3.70) vs. Mike Mussina (6-7, 4.75)

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Winning Streak Thuds to a Halt

Hopefully last night was the last night we are subjected to watching Kei Igawa on the mound- at least as a starter. The Yankees 6 game winnings streak, predictably, came to a quick and sudden stop as the Kanas Royals slapped Igawa around for 4 runs in the 2nd inning and cruised to a 7-0 victory.

Jorge De La Rosa and 2 reliever blanked the suddenly cold Yankees bats, limiting them to 6 hits. The Yankees hitters understandably may have a defeatist attitude when Igawa pitches. In addition to being bad, he works extremely slowly, easing his fielders to sleep.

Alex Gordon started things off with a 1-out double, and Tony Pena Jr. brought him with triple. Igawa recorded the 2nd out, striking out Jason LaRue, but walked Esteban German. David DeJesus followed with a ball in the gap in right-center for a 2-run double. Mark Grudzielanek tripled in DeJesus before Igawa finally got Billy Butler to pop out for the 3rd out.

De La Rosa meanwhile escape one jam after another. The Yankees had a runner(s) in scoring position in 5 of the first 6 innings, but couldn't get the key hit. Zack Greinke replaced De La Rosa with 2 on and 1 out in the 6th and the Royals defense flashed their leather.

Jose Molina, who had 2 hits and threw a would-be base stealer in his Yankees debut, hit a ball in the hole to deep short. Pena Jr. slickly backhanded the ball and fired a strike to 2nd. With Shelley Duncan bearing down on him with a take out slide, an airborne Grudzielanek threw to 1st to complete the double play.

6 of the 7 hits Igawa allowed were for extra bases, and the final 2 knocked him from the game in the 6th. Gordon picked up the 3rd Royal's triple of the night and came home on Pena Jr.'s double for a 5-0 lead. Joe Torre finally saw enough and went to Brian Bruney who picked up the final out.

Gordon homered off Sean Henn in the 9th to finish a single shy of the cycle.

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Alex Rodriguez went 0-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch in his 1st attempt at 500 home runs.

Hideki Matsui extended his hitting streak to 7 games with a single. Andy Phillips extended his streak to 8 games.

It's possible Igawa will not get another start, since the Yankees are off on Monday and could skip his spot in the rotation. Then Phil Hughes, with an extra day's rest, could take over.

The Yankees fell 7.5 behind Boston in the AL East, but remained 4.5 behind Cleveland in the wild card race as the Red Sox outscored the Indians, 14-9.


photo courtesy of AP

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Tonight's Lineups (7/26)

Igawa vs. De La Rosa

Yankees

M. Cabrera cf
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui lf
A. Phillips 1b
R. Cano 2b
S. Duncan dh
J. Molina c
Totals

Royals
E. German 3b
D. DeJesus cf
M. Grudzielanek 2b
B. Butler dh
R. Sanders rf
E. Brown lf
A. Gordon 1b
T. Pena Jr. ss
J. LaRue c

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Moose Bags a Big Game

Mike Mussina threw a solid 5.2 innings and Alex Rodriguez slugged career home run number 499 as the Yankees continued to roll with a 7-1 win over the Royals. It was the Yankees 6th straight win, 17th in their last 22 games, and locked up their 6th straight series win.

Mussina was coming off one of his worst outings, having allowed 6 runs in 4.2 innings last Friday night against Tampa. This time he was effective, mixing a good fastball with his array of pitches. And the Yankees quick start offense gave him immediate support.

After leaving 2 men on in the 1st, Robinson Cano singled off of Gil Meche with 1 out in the 2nd. Two batters later, Melky Cabrera belted his 5th home run of the season to right for a 2-0 lead. Meche was solid though through the 6th, keeping the Royals in the game.

Mussina (5-7) retired the 1st 2 batters in the 6th, but a double by Ross Gload and RBI single by Reggie Sanders sent him to the showers. Ron Villone came on and needed just one pitch to retire Alex Gordon on a fly to right.

The Yankees got the run right back in the 7th when Jorge Posada and Cano, who went 3-4, stroked back to back singles, Andy Phillips sacrificed them over, and Cabrera delivered his 3rd RBI with a sacrifice fly.

Meche (7-7) was still pitching an effective game, but manager Buddy Bell left him too long. Meche had a history of shoulder problems in Seattle, but Bell extended him to 120 pitches on the night. After allowing a lead off single to Derek Jeter in the 8th and retiring Bobby Abreu on a force out, Meche's 2-2 pitch to A-Rod was driven deep over the fence in right-center for a 2-run shot. It was A-Rod's 35th of the season, matching last year's total. It also gave him a major league leading 102 RBI.

Bell finally sent for lefty Jimmy Gobble, but the reliever would fare no better. Hideki Matsui greeted him with his 10th home run of July and number 18 on the season for a 6-1 lead. Phillips would add the final tally with an RBI double.

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The win kept the Yankees 4.5 back of Cleveland in the wild card and moved them within 6.5 of Boston in the AL East. Fausto Carmona out dueled Josh Beckett in a 1-0 Indians victory.

Royals closer Octavio Dotel, the subject of many trade rumors and a member of the '06 Yankees, pitched the 9th and hit Derek Jeter just above the left elbow. Jeter went down to 1st Base, but was in obvious pain and left for a pinch-runner. Between innings Dotel spoke with Yankees 1st Base coach Tony Pena, apparently to explain that he didn't hit Jeter on purpose. Needless to say, Pena was still not happy.

Robinson Cano's 3 hits raised his season average to .299, and is hitting .402 in July. He now has a 7 game hitting streak.

Johnny Damon got a hit in his final at-bat to join Hideki Matsui in extending their hitting streaks to 6 games.

Andy Phillips' RBI gave him 15 in 21 July games.

photos courtesy of AP

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Tonight's Lineup (7/25)

Mussina vs. Meche


Yankees

Johnny Damon LF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Hideki Matsui DH
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Andy Phillips 1B
Melky Cabrera CF


Royals

David DeJesus CF
Esteban German 2B
Mark Teahen RF
Billy Butler DH
Ross Gload 1B
Reggie Sanders LF
Alex Gordon 3B
John Buck C
Tony Pena Jr. SS

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Yankees Offensive Fireworks Continue

Joe Maddon, Buddy Bell, and their respective pitching coaches are wearing out the path between the dugout and the pitcher's mound. After pounding the Devil Rays 3 times out of 4, the Yankees blasted Bell's Royals on Monday night, 9-4. That trend continued tonight when the Yankees scored 7 times in the first 2 innings, drew 10 walks, and forced Bell to go to his bullpen 4 times.

Just as they did Monday night, the Yankees went right for the throat at the start of the game. Johnny Damon lead off the ball game with a walk and Derek Jeter followed with the first of his 4 hits. Damon raced to 3rd ahead of the throw and Jeter moved up to 2nd on the play. Bobby Abreu's sac fly brought home the 1st run off of Scott Elarton. Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch and Hideki Matsui walked to load the bases. Jorge Posada ripped a single to score two, and Robinson Cano doubled to left for a 4-0 lead.

The Yankees picked it up again in the 2nd as Damon singled and scored on a double by Abreu. Two batters later Matsui stroked and RBI single, ending Elarton's night. Reliever John Bale didn't fare much better as he intentionally walked Jorge Posada, but unintentionally walked Cano to load the bases. Cano, amazingly, walked 3 times on the night. A walk to Andy Phillips forced in the 3rd run of the inning and gave the Yankees a fat, 7-0 lead. The Yankees would receive 9 free passes on the night.

Chien-Ming Wang didn't seem comfortable all night, but with a big lead he could pitch to the scoreboard. Leading 8-2 in the 5th, he ran into real trouble. David DeJesus and Mark Grudzielanek stroked 1-out singles and moved up a base on a Wang wild pitch. Mark Teahen's sacrifice fly cut the lead to 8-3, and Billy Butler walked to put 2 men aboard again. That's when the Royals helped the Yankees out. Ross Gload singled back up the middle to drive home Grudzielanek, but Butler unwisely tried to go from 1st to 3rd, and was gunned out by Melky Cabrera to end the rally.

The Yankees got one of the runs back in the 6th when Cano walked, Phillips singled, and Damon delivered an RBI single off of Zack Greinke. Mike Myers, Kyle Farnsworth, and Brian Bruney threw an inning each to close out the game.

...

The win moved the Yankees to within 4.5 games of the Cleveland Indians in the wild card race, as the Indians lost 1-0 to Dice-K and the Boston Red Sox.

When the Yankees went down in order in the 8th it snapped a streak of 24 consecutive innings where the Yankees had at least 1 man on base.

Johnny Damon continued to show how important it is for him to set the table at the top of the order. He's now 9-21 in the last 5 games, with 8 RBI and 7 runs scored. He also stole his 18th base, in 20 attempts, tonight.

photos courtesy of AP

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Tonight's Lineup (7/24)

Wang vs. Elarton

Yankees

J. Damon dh
D. Jeter ss
B. Abreu rf
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui lf
J. Posada c
R. Cano 2b
A. Phillips 1b
M. Cabrera cf

Royals
D. DeJesus cf
M. Grudzielanek 2b
M. Teahen rf
B. Butler dh
R. Gload 1b
R. Sanders lf
A. Gordon 3b
J. Buck c
T. Pena Jr. ss

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Cut Out the Middle Man

The Yankees scored early and late in drubbing the Kansas City Royals tonight, 9-2. Roger Clemens threw 7 strong innings to earn his 3rd win, and the Yankees bats continued to sizzle. The win was the team's 52nd and put them 6 games over .500 for the first time this season.

The Bombers put two aboard in the 1st on a Melky Cabrera walk and Derek Jeter's single. Royals starter Odalis Perez retired Alex Rodriguez on a ground out that moved the runners up, and then Godzilla attacked. The red hot Hideki Matsui singled up the middle to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

In the 2nd, singles by Robinson Cano and Shelley Duncan put 2 on with 1 out for Johnny Damon. Damon (7-16 over the last 4 games) continued his resurrection with 3 hits, including a double that scored both runners.

With a 4-0 lead, the Rocket was dealing. He allowed a single base runner, a base hit by Tony Pena Jr., through the first 3, before allowing a run on a wild pitch in the 4th. He gave up a solo home run to Ross Gload in the 7th, but allowed just 4 hits on the night.

Luis Vizcaino grabbed on tightly to the reins as 8th inning set up man, retiring the side in order and striking out 2. With Mariano Rivera warming for a save situation, the Yankees blew the game open in the 9th.

Damon, Cabrera, and A-Rod stroked consecutive singles off of Ryan Z. Braun (not to be confused with the Brewer's slugger) to extend the lead to 5-2. It was A-Rod's 100th RBI in the Yankees' 98th game. Manager Buddy Bell sent for lefty Jimmy Gobble to face the Yankees lefties and switch-hitters. But Matsui walked to load the bases, and Jorge Posada ripped a 2-run single through the left side. Cano, who already had 2 hits, hit a sacrifice fly to center field, and a final run came home when 2nd Baseman Mark Grudzelaniek dropped Andy Phillips' routine pop up.

Mariano sat down and Ron Villone came on to close things out for the Yankees 4th consecutive win.

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The Yankees remain 7.5 out in the AL East, but since Boston beat Cleveland, they now trail the Indians by 5.5 (5 in the loss column) in the wild card.

The Yankees must want to keep their calendars pinned to July for the rest of the year. Hideki Matsui is 30-87 (.345) in July, with 9 HRs and 19 RBI in 21 games. Robinson Cano, who shared AL Player of the Week honors with B.J. Upton, has 8 multiple hit games in his last 9 games played. Cano is hitting .383 this month (31-81) with 5 HRs and 18 RBI. Melky Cabrera is hitting .363. Bobby Abreu, who had the night off, is at .370 with 22 RBI.

Alex Rodriguez is hitting just .247 for the month, but now has 6 HR and 21 RBI.

Roger Clemens had 3 strikeouts to increase his career total to 4,641. The win was the 351st of his career.

Luis Vizcaino now has a 1.04 ERA since June 1. That's 3 earned runs in 26 innings pitched.

Scott Proctor missed the game due to the birth of his son Cooper. He'll be back on Wednesday. Joe Torre must be beside himself without being able to Proctor in the game.

With the St. Louis Cardinals having an off day, Shelley Duncan's dad Dave, the Cards' pitching coach, and brother/left fielder Chris were in attendance, along with other members of Duncan's family.

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Tonight's Lineup (7/23)

Clemens vs Perez

Scott Proctor is unavailable, his wife gave birth today.


Yankees

J. Damon cf
M. Cabrera rf
D. Jeter ss
A. Rodriguez 3b
H. Matsui lf
J. Posada c
R. Cano 2b
A. Phillips 1b
S. Duncan dh

Royals
D. DeJesus cf
M. Grudzielanek 2b
M. Teahen rf
B. Butler dh
R. Gload 1b
A. Gordon 3b
E. Brown lf
J. Buck c
T. Pena Jr. ss

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I'm Going to Kansas City

I'm not really, but it's a great old song. The Yankees, however, are in Kansas City today for the start of a 4 game series with the resurgent Royals. It's an important series, because up in Cleveland, the Indians and Red Sox will also be meeting in a 4 game set of their own.

The Royals took 2 of 3 from Detroit over the weekend, and are 24-19 since June 1st. This is the 1st time this season that the 2 teams are meeting.

Pitching Probables

Monday - Roger Clemens (2-4, 3.88) vs. Odalis Perez (5-8, 5.84)

Tuesday - Chien-Ming Wang (10-5, 3.44) vs. Scott Elarton (2-3, 9.17)

Wednesday - Mike Mussina (4-7, 4.97) vs. Gil Meche (7-6, 3.63)

Thursday - Kei Igawa (2-2, 6.67) vs. Jorge De La Rosa (7-10, 5.61)

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