Band-aids Take 2 of 3 From O's

Injury, Illness, Shoddy Bullpen Mark Series

The Yankees were beset by stomach viruses, injuries, poor relief pitching, and poor starting pitching, but still managed to take 2 of 3 from the more hapless Baltimore Orioles this weekend. Probably one of the biggest things helping the Yankees was their hometown crowd. Well, to be more succinct, it was the enormous number of Yankee fans that took over Camden Yards this weekend. Peter Angelos' poor ownership is a story for another day though.

Friday Night

The Yankees learned early on that Alex Rodriguez would not be available for Friday or Saturday's game due to a stomach virus. Joe Torre was tipped off when A-Rod could barely keep from nodding off in the team meetings.

Jaret Wright pitched an effective 6 innings on Friday, leaving with a 3-3 tie. His own error contributed to the tying run scoring. The Yankees went ahead 5-3 in the top of the 7th on an RBI single by Derek Jeter and a wild pitch, and turned things over to the bullpen.

Ron Villone worked a scoreless 7th and struck out Corey Patterson to start the 8th. With right-hander Jeff Conine announced as a pinch-hitter for lefty Nick Markakis, Joe Torre once again overmanaged and pulled Villone. Now it would be one thing to pull Villone in favor of a solid right-hander, but Torre signaled for Scott Erickson. This guy can't be dispatched from the team fast enough. The move really made no sense since righties are only hitting .224 against Villone. Erickson promptly hit Conine with a pitch and gave up an RBI double to Luis Matos. The O's cut the lead to 1 and had the tying and winning runs in scoring position. Erickson intentionally walked Brian Roberts and was pulled in favor of the overworked Kyle Farnsworth.

Farnsworth was making his 8th appearance in the last 11 days and was coming off of Thursday's nightmare in Detroit. Farnsworth got what he wanted, a double play grounder by Melvin Mora, but the hard shot ate up Miguel Cairo, filling for A-Rod at third, and the tying run came across as Cairo forced Roberts at 2nd. Farnsworth intentionally walked Miguel Tejada before getting Ramon Hernandez to fly out for the final out of the inning.

Derek Jeter leads the Yankees in hitting with RISP and came through again in the top of the 9th with a little help from Brian Roberts. Johnny Damon attempted to steal 2nd with 2 outs, but was gunned down by Hernandez - well, he initially was. 2nd Base ump Lance Barksdale signaled out, but Roberts dropped the ball as he brought his glove up to show Barksdale. Damon was called safe as O's manager Sam Perlozzo argued to no avail. Jeter took advantage by singling through the right side to score Damon and give the Yankees the lead back at 6-5. Farnsworth retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning and the Yankees had pulled out the first game of the series.

Saturday was more of the same. Joining A-Rod on the sidelines with a stomach bug was Jason Giambi. Rookie Kevin Thompson got his first big league start in right field. Randy Johnson was given a 1-0 lead in the first, but has so often been the case this year, he gave it right back and then some. It looked like it was going to be a long day for the long lefty as the O's touched him up for 3 runs. Ramon Hernandez capped it off with a 2-run homer. But Johnson settled down after the first and pretty much cruised along until the eighth.

Meanwhile the Yankee bats took over. The Yankees told a 4-3 lead in the 5th off rookie starter Adam Loewen on an RBI double by Jeter and a sac fly by Bernie Williams, his 3rd RBI of the day. Red hot Andy Phillips tacked one on in the 7th with his 3rd home run of the season. But then the Yankees had to go to their overworked pen. Mariano Rivera was still out with back spasms and Farnsworth was unavailable (probably couldn't lift his arm).

Johnson issued a one-out walk to Brian Roberts in the 8th. The pitch was his 114th and with the heart of the O's order coming up, Torre called on Mr. Everydayman, Scott Proctor. Proctor has been getting lit up since mid-May and Saturday was no different. After Melvin Mora flied out, Roberts stole 2nd and came home on Miguel Tejada's double. Tejada was 8-14 in the 3 game set. The O's got some help from the umps with Ramon Hernandez up. Hernandez clearly went around trying to check his swing on a 2 strike pitch. But neither home plate ump Mike Winters or Barksdale, now down at 1st, saw it. Hernandez took advantage stroking a game tying RBI double. Hernandez went 7-12 on the weekend.

The teams went to the 10th where Johnny Damon drilled a line drive home run over the center field wall off of O's closer Chris Ray. Damon thought it was the best swing he ever had. It certainly was the best anyone had on that day. With a worn out pen, Torre turned to starter Chien-Ming Wang to close it out. Wang quickly retired the first two hitters, before Tejada and Hernandez bounced singles through the right side. I admittedly held my breath as Javy Lopez hit a deep drive to right and was able to peacefully exhale as Thompson closed his glove around the ball to close out the win.

Sunday was a complete disaster. A-Rod sleep-walked his way through the game as DH. Jeter got nailed on his right thumb by a pitch and had to leave the game. Jorge Posada moved to 1st base for the first time since 2001. Giambi still had his head in the toilet. And Aaron Small got lit up like a Christmas tree.

Small didn't make it out of the 3rd, giving up home runs to Lopez, Kevin Millar, and Bill Fahey. The Yankees were down 7-0 before they barely had time to take their kaopectate. Matt Smith provided some nice relief, throwing 1 1-3 scoreless innings. But then Erickson came out on the mound again. Lopez smacked a second homer with a couple of men aboard and Erickson got torched for another 4 runs. He's got a lovely 13.50 ERA in his last 3 appearances. GET HIM OFF MY TEAM...NOW!

About the only bright spot on the day was the first 3 RBI of Kevin Thompson's career. It came one day after he got his 1st Major League hit. Thompson cleared the loaded bases in the 7th with a double.

All in all 2 out of 3 is good. Good thing it was Baltimore.