Tigers, Rain and Another Bad Night in the Bronx

Had Phil Hughes not gone on the disabled list, Darrell Rasner may very well have been replacing Ian Kennedy in the starting rotation. On the same day it was discovered that Hughes has a stress fracture in his rib cage and will be out for 2 months, Kennedy let down the Yankee Stadium faithful again last night. He lasted just 4.2 innings in a Detroit Tigers 8-4 victory that completed their first 3-game sweep in the Bronx in 42 years.

Kennedy hasn't come close to resembling the pitcher the Yankees recalled last September, who went 1-0, 1.89 in 3 starts. Things looked hopeful as the Yankees took a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning on a Bobby Abreu home run off Tigers starter Nate Robertson and Kennedy retired 6 of the first 7 Tigers hitters, but after retiring the lead off man in the 3rd inning, everything came apart for the 23-year old.

Ramon Santiago doubled, moved to 3rd Base on a Kennedy wild pitch and scored on Curtis Granderson's ground out. It seemed harmless at the time. But Placido Polanco doubled into the right field corner and Gary Sheffield followed with a walk. Magglio Ordonez then jumped on a hanging pitch and drilled a 2-run double to right-center to tie the game. Miguel Cabrera went the opposite way as well for an RBI triple to put the Tigers ahead 4-3 before Kennedy finally retired Carlos Guillen on an inning ending ground out.

Shelley Duncan's RBI single in the 5th got Kennedy off the hook, but Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera both failed to bring home Abreu from 2nd Base, and the Yankees bullpen offered little relief.

Jonathan Albaladejo took the loss after giving up a 2-run triple to Santiago in the 6th inning and a 2-run home run to Miguel Cabrera in the 8th.

News and Notes

Chris Britton, who had just been returned to the minors, was recalled due to the injury to Hughes. He got into last night's game and threw 2.2 scoreless innings.

Derek Jeter scored 2 runs in the game, giving 1,390 for his career, which tied him with Joe Dimaggio for 4th place on the all-time Yankees list. It will be a while before Jeter can catch the 3rd place holder, Mickey Mantle, who has 1,677 runs scored.

Bobby Abreu's home run was his 4th of the season and career shot number 225.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	4	0	0	2	2	0	0		8	11	2
NY Yankees	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		4	10	0

Detroit	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Granderson, CF	5	0	0	1	0	1	1	.310
Polanco, 2B	5	1	1	0	0	1	1	.226
Sheffield, DH	3	1	0	0	2	0	0	.176
Ordonez, RF	5	2	3	2	0	0	0	.315
Cabrera, 1B	4	1	2	3	1	1	2	.279
Guillen, 3B	4	1	2	0	1	0	2	.330
Jones, J, LF	4	1	1	0	0	0	2	.188
Raburn, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.238
Inge, C	3	0	0	0	1	1	2	.247
Santiago, SS	4	1	2	2	0	0	2	.375
Totals	38	8	11	8	5	4	13
BATTING 2B: Santiago (3, Kennedy), Polanco (4, Kennedy), Ordonez (8, Kennedy), Jones, J (2, Albaladejo), Guillen (9, Albaladejo). 3B: Cabrera (1, Kennedy), Santiago (1, Albaladejo). HR: Cabrera (6, 7th inning off Albaladejo, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Polanco 2; Ordonez 4; Cabrera 7; Guillen 3; Jones, J 2; Santiago 5. RBI: Granderson (6), Ordonez 2 (21), Cabrera 3 (22), Santiago 2 (8). 2-out RBI: Ordonez 2; Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Guillen; Cabrera; Polanco; Santiago. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Guillen (4, throw), Granderson (1, fielding).

Detroit	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Robertson (W, 1-3)	5.2	7	4	4	2	3	1	6.82
Seay	0.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3.00
Miner (H, 1)	2.1	2	0	0	1	1	0	7.79
Cruceta	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	1	1	0	1	1	1	.275
Jeter, SS	4	2	2	0	1	0	1	.286
Abreu, RF	4	1	2	3	1	0	3	.277
Duncan, S, 1B	5	0	1	1	0	1	1	.167
Matsui, DH	5	0	1	0	0	0	4	.316
Cabrera, CF	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	.286
Ensberg, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.234
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.155
Moeller, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.333
Totals	38	4	10	4	4	4	22
BATTING HR: Abreu (4, 1st inning off Robertson, 2 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Jeter 2; Abreu 5; Duncan, S; Matsui; Ensberg; Cano; Moeller. RBI: Abreu 3 (19), Duncan, S (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Moeller; Cabrera 2; Abreu 2; Jeter. Team LOB: 11.

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Kennedy	4.2	5	4	4	3	1	0	8.37
Albaladejo (L, 0-1)	1.2	6	4	4	0	3	1	5.23
Britton	2.2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.00

Seay pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.

WP: Kennedy.
Pitches-strikes: Robertson 106-64, Seay 5-3, Miner 37-22,
Cruceta 15-7, Kennedy 96-57, Albaladejo 46-30, Britton 40-20.
Ground outs-fly outs: Robertson 4-10, Seay 0-0, Miner 5-1, Cruceta 2-1,
Kennedy 3-10, Albaladejo 0-2, Britton 3-5.
Batters faced: Robertson 27, Seay 1, Miner 10, Cruceta 4,
Kennedy 22, Albaladejo 11, Britton 10.
Inherited runners-scored: Seay 1-0, Miner 2-0, Albaladejo 2-0, Britton 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Rick Reed. 1B: Jeff Kellogg. 2B: Mark Wegner. 3B: Chad Fairchild.
Weather: 54 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, Out to CF.
T: 3:30.
Att: 50,993.