Just Another Day in Paradise

It was another miserable night in the Bronx last night and it had nothing to do with the torrential rain that fell earlier in the day. Derek Jeter made a critical 1st inning error and Mike Mussina couldn't recover from a rocky start as the Baltimore Orioles pounded the Yankees 12-2.

The Orioles had a 1 -0 lead with 2 on and 2 out in the 1st when Luke Scott hit a routine grounder to Jeter. The captain scooped it up and turned to flip the ball to Robinson Cano covering 2nd Base, but Cano wasn't close to the bag. Jeter quickly changed his plans and threw to 1st Base, but his throw was high, pulling Jason Giambi off the bag. The error opened the flood gates.

Mussina (6-4) walked Ramon Hernandez to force in a run and then Adam Jones hit a back breaking 3-run double to the gap in right-center field. RBI hits by Freddie Bynum and Brian Roberts followed and Mussina was making his earliest exit since he was an Oriole back in 1995.

In these types of games the Yankees rarely recover. They flop over on their backs and make any pitcher look like a hall of fame candidate. Daniel Cabrera was the fortunate recipient last evening. We have to give Cabrera credit too though, he's been a much better pitcher this year, the type the Orioles have been waiting for. Cabrera has not walked a batter in his last 2 starts. That's a major accomplishment for a guy who topped the century mark in that category 2 years in a row. One of Cabrera's pitches did have a bad impact though.

Derek Jeter was hit on the left hand in the 3rd inning and had to leave the game. X-Rays were negative and he's listed as day-to-day. Of course he expects to play today, but that remains to be seen. The injury also will lead to another Yankees suspension.

That's because LaTroy Hawkins did a poor job of retaliating for the pitch. He went head hunting after Luke Scott in the 6th inning, causing both benches to empty. No punches were thrown, but there was plenty of yelling back and forth. Home plate ump Chuck Meriweather immediately booted Hawkins, who will be hearing from league disciplanarian Bob Watson shortly.

The Yankees only runs came in the 6th when Alex Rodriguez, fresh off the disabled list, crushed a 2-run home run into the Orioles bullpen. It was his 5th of the season and career shot number 523.

Adam Jones had a big night for the O's going 4-5 with 4 RBI. Perhaps now Yahoo Sports can update his picture. Seriously in this day and age, you have to use what amounts to a bad driver's license photo or one that looks like it was taken in the morgue?

Kevin Millar, one time king of the idiots, continues to kill Yankees pitching. He had 2 hits, including a home run last night. For his career he's hitting .297 with 17 HR and 48 RBI in 97 games.

Edwar Ramirez had another scoreless inning last night and has not given up a run in 19 innings (10 with the Yankees, 9 with Scranton) combined between the majors and minors. As Ed Price of the Star Ledger reported on Monday, Ramirez got some very useful off season advice from Pedro Martinez.

"I've seen you pitch," Martinez said, as Ramirez recalled yesterday. "and you've got an incredible changeup. You don't know what you have."

It was the changeup that enabled Ramirez, a right-hander, to climb from an independent league team in Edinburg, Texas, to the majors in less than a year. But Martinez's advice to Ramirez: Use your fastball more.

Joe Girardi has stated that he may use Ramirez against left-handers in situations where a lefty specialist would normally be used.