Yankees Lost, Then Found

If last night's Yankees-Twins game was an episode of LOST, Mike Mussina would have been Desmond Hume. His mind stuck in 2 places, the present, and a week ago in Baltimore. Just like that game in the crab cake capital, a 1st inning Yankees error lead to a big Twins inning. But this time Desmond Mussina realized that Jose Molina was his "constant" (if you don't watch LOST, then you really are lost right now) and made it out of the 1st inning this time, down 4-1.

Mussina bounced back and the Yankees offense smacked around rookie Glen Perkins en route to a 6-5 escape from the island win. Trailing 4-2 in the 4th, Melky Cabrera's 2-run single tied the game in the 4th and Alex Rodriguez's RBI single put the Yankees ahead for good in the 5th.

The 1st inning showed just how much the Yankees need a defensive minded 1st Baseman. Neither Jason Giambi or Shelley Duncan can provide adequate defense at the position, and just like Giambi, Duncan's inability to make an accurate throw cost the Yankees.

With runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, Justin Morneau hit a potential double play grounder to Duncan. But the big 1st Baseman's throw pulled Derek Jeter off the 2nd Base bag to load the bases. Consecutive singles by Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, and Delmon Young put the Twins up 3-1 and they added a 4th run on Mike Lamb's ground out. Mussina finally retired Brendan Harris on a comebacker to end the inning.

But Perkins, who entered the game with a 2.77 ERA struggled throughout. Bobb Abreu lead off the 3rd with a triple and came home on A-Rod's single to cut the lead in half. In the 4th, Duncan walked and Robinson Cano singled through the left side. Jose Molina's sacrifice successfully moved the runners up a base and they came home on Cabrera's single to center for a 4-4 game.

Abreu singled to lead off the 5th and scored all the way from 1st on A-Rod's double. It also knocked Perkins out of the game. Abreu tripled again in the 7th and came home two batters later on Hideki Matsui's single for a big insurance run. The red hot Matsui, the AL's leading hitter, was 3-4 to raise his average to .339.

That 6th run was huge, because as usual Kyle Farnsworth gave up a run in the 8th. This time it was Morneau's 10th home run of the season. But just as undependable as Farnsworth is, Mariano Rivera is that dependable. The Yankees closer made it 14-14 in save opportunities with a relatively easy 9th inning. He issued his 2nd walk of the season with 1 out, but struck out Carlos Gomez and Craig Monroe to end the game.

News and Notes

Jorge Posada continued his throwing program and there's an outside chance he could re-join the team as early as next week. More likely it will be the following week.

Though the Yankees don't need another left-handed hitter, they do need to bring Ben Broussard up from Scranton to be a defensive replacement at 1st Base.

May 30, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	1	0	1	2	1	0	1	0	0		6	16	1
Minnesota	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		5	7	0

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jeter, SS	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.272
Abreu, RF	4	4	3	0	1	0	0	.296
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	3	2	0	0	1	.291
Matsui, LF	4	0	3	2	1	0	1	.339
Damon, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.288
Giambi, DH	5	0	1	0	0	1	7	.243
Duncan, S, 1B	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	.161
a-Betemit, PH-1B	3	0	0	0	0	1	6	.265
Cano, 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	2	.219
Molina, C	3	0	2	0	0	1	0	.219
Cabrera, CF	4	0	3	2	0	0	1	.266
Totals	37	6	16	6	3	4	21
a-Struck out for Duncan, S in the 5th.
BATTING 2B: Rodriguez 2 (11, Perkins, Guerrier). 3B: Abreu 2 (3, Perkins, Bass). TB: Abreu 7; Rodriguez 5; Matsui 3; Giambi; Cano; Molina 2; Cabrera 3. RBI: Matsui 2 (26), Rodriguez 2 (19), Cabrera 2 (23). 2-out RBI: Matsui. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Jeter; Cano; Betemit. S: Molina. GIDP: Matsui. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Abreu (4, 2nd base off Perkins/Mauer). CS: Cabrera (1, 2nd base by Perkins/Mauer). PO: Cabrera (1st base by Perkins). FIELDING E: Duncan, S (3, throw).

Minnesota	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gomez, CF	5	0	0	0	0	2	2	.286
Casilla, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.340
a-Monroe, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.235
Mauer, C	3	1	0	0	1	0	2	.318
Morneau, 1B	4	2	2	1	0	0	1	.309
Cuddyer, RF	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.228
Kubel, DH	4	0	1	1	0	2	0	.250
Young, LF	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	.257
Lamb, 3B	4	0	0	1	0	0	2	.245
Harris, SS	2	0	0	0	2	0	2	.253
Totals	35	5	7	5	3	6	12
a-Struck out for Casilla in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Casilla (3, Mussina). HR: Morneau (10, 8th inning off Farnsworth, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Casilla 3; Morneau 5; Cuddyer; Kubel; Young. RBI: Cuddyer (20), Kubel (27), Young (15), Lamb (23), Morneau (41). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Harris; Morneau; Mauer. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING Outfield assists: Cuddyer 2 (Giambi at 2nd base, Rodriguez at 2nd base). DP: 3 (Casilla-Harris-Morneau, Casilla-Morneau, Cuddyer-Harris). Pickoffs: Perkins (Cabrera at 1st base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 8-4)	6.0	6	4	2	1	4	0	4.26
Veras (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	1	0	0	4.35
Ramirez (H, 1)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Farnsworth (H, 5)	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	1	4.44
Rivera (S, 14)	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0.38

Minnesota	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Perkins (L, 2-2)	4.0	10	5	5	2	0	0	3.90
Bass	2.0	3	1	1	0	2	0	5.67
Reyes	1.2	2	0	0	0	2	0	2.70
Guerrier	1.1	1	0	0	1	0	0	3.19

Perkins pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.
Bass pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

IBB: Matsui (by Guerrier).
HBP: Rodriguez (by Bass).
Pitches-strikes: Mussina 109-73, Veras 9-3, Ramirez 5-5,
Farnsworth 11-9, Rivera 15-10, Perkins 78-52, Bass 25-19,
Reyes 19-11, Guerrier 18-8.
Ground outs-fly outs: Mussina 4-10, Veras 1-0, Ramirez 0-2,
Farnsworth 3-0, Rivera 1-0, Perkins 6-4, Bass 2-1, Reyes 0-2, Guerrier 1-3.
Batters faced: Mussina 26, Veras 2, Ramirez 2, Farnsworth 4, Rivera 4,
Perkins 21, Bass 9, Reyes 6, Guerrier 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Ramirez 1-0, Bass 1-0, Reyes 2-1, Guerrier 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Jerry Meals. 1B: Bill Miller. 2B: Chris Tiller. 3B: Gary Darling.
Weather: 68 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 3:04.
Att: 30,188.

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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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