Yankees Still Can't Beat Reds at Home

It's been a long time since the Big Red Machine invaded Yankee Stadium, but the Yankees aren't having any more success now then they did then. This Cincinnati team pales in comparison to the squad that won World Series titles in 1975-1976, but they have won the first two games of this 3-game series just as those squads did, with good pitching and defense and timely hitting.
Dan Giese pitched his heart out in his first major league start, but came up on the short end of a 6-0 score. The Yankees had opportunities against Reds starter Daryl Thompson, who was making his major league debut, but couldn't come up with the big hit when it was needed. The game was scoreless until the 7th when the Yankees defense let down their guard.

After allowing a lead off single to Ken Griffey Jr., Giese fielded Brandon Phillips' comebacker for what should have been an easy double play. But Giese's throw pulled Robinson Cano off the 2nd base bag and everyone was safe. Then it was an Alex Rodriguez mental error that helped the Reds cause. A-Rod fielded Joey Votto's slow grounder to 3rd, but instead of going to 2nd to at least get a force out, he attempted to tag Griffey, but missed. His only play then was to get Votto at 1st base.

Giese looked like he might escape the 2nd and 3rd, 1-out jam, when he struck out Adam Dunn, but he left a fastball over the plate for Edwin Encarnacion, who lined it to left field for a 2-run single. Giese left to a big hand, but obviously was disappointed in the way the inning turned out. It got even worse when Jose Veras came on and immediately surrendered a 2-run home run to Corey Patterson off the facing up the upper deck in right field.

The Yankees looked like they would make it a short day for Thompson when they loaded the bases with no one out in the 2nd inning. A-Rod lead off with a double, Hideki Matsui reached on an infield single, and Jason Giambi walked. But Thompson struck out Jorge Posada, got Robinson Cano to foul out, and struck out Melky Cabrera to escape unscathed.

An inning later the Yankees tried again when Johnny Damon drew his second walk of the game and Derek Jeter singled. But again Thompson came back, retiring Bobby Abreu, A-Rod, and Matsui on consecutive fly outs. Thompson came out after 5 innings and didn't figure in the decision, but the Yankees could do no better against the Reds bullpen.

Cincinnati put the game out of reach in the 8th, putting two men aboard against Billy Traber. Ross Ohlendorf came on, wild pitched the runners up a base and then gave up a 2-run single to Phillips for a 6-0 Reds lead.


News and Notes

Alex Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to 9 games, while Derek Jeter hit in his 10th straight.

Babe Ruth's daugher, Julia Ruth Stevens, made her final visit to Yankee Stadium yesterday. The 91-yr old, who was accompanied by her children and grandchildren, presented A-Rod with the 2007 Babe Ruth Award for leading the major leagues in home runs.


















June 21, 2008

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

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Bruce, RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.302
Janish, SS	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.183
Griffey, DH	4	2	2	0	0	1	0	.248
Phillips, B, 2B	4	1	2	2	0	0	0	.267
Votto, 1B	4	0	2	0	0	1	3	.289
Dunn, LF	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	.220
Hopper, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.290
Encarnacion, 3B	4	1	1	2	0	0	1	.242
Patterson, CF	4	1	1	2	0	0	0	.193
Bako, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.230
Totals	36	6	9	6	0	5	8
BATTING 2B: Phillips, B (15, Giese). HR: Patterson (6, 7th inning off Veras, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Janish; Griffey 2; Phillips, B 3; Votto 2; Encarnacion; Patterson 4. RBI: Encarnacion 2 (29), Patterson 2 (16), Phillips, B 2 (43). 2-out RBI: Encarnacion 2; Patterson 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Votto. Team LOB: 3. FIELDING DP: (Thompson-Janish-Votto).

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Thompson	5.0	4	0	0	4	2	0	0.00
Bray (W, 2-0)	1.1	1	0	0	1	0	0	2.38
Weathers (H, 7)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.86
Burton	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2.52
Affeldt	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.33

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	2	0	0	0	3	0	0	.327
Jeter, SS	5	0	2	0	0	1	3	.278
Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	.270
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.333
Matsui, DH	3	0	1	0	1	0	2	.324
Giambi, 1B	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	.260
Posada, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	6	.303
Cano, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	6	.229
Cabrera, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	4	.253
Totals	33	0	7	0	6	3	29
BATTING 2B: Rodriguez (17, Thompson). TB: Jeter 2; Rodriguez 2; Matsui; Giambi 2; Cabrera. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera 2; Matsui; Abreu; Cano 2. GIDP: Jeter. Team LOB: 12. FIELDING E: Giese (2, throw). Outfield assists: Damon (Phillips, B at 2nd base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Giese (L, 1-2)	6.2	4	3	0	0	5	0	0.64
Veras	0.1	1	1	1	0	0	1	3.38
Traber	0.1	2	2	2	0	0	0	5.59
Ohlendorf	0.2	2	0	0	0	0	0	5.54
Hawkins	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.46

WP: Ohlendorf.
Pitches-strikes: Thompson 96-59, Bray 22-13, Weathers 7-5,
Burton 17-12, Affeldt 17-11, Giese 75-53, Veras 4-2,
Traber 6-5, Ohlendorf 16-8, Hawkins 8-7.
Ground outs-fly outs: Thompson 4-9, Bray 2-2, Weathers 0-1,
Burton 2-1, Affeldt 1-2, Giese 6-9, Veras 0-1, Traber 1-0,
Ohlendorf 0-1, Hawkins 2-1.
Batters faced: Thompson 22, Bray 6, Weathers 2, Burton 5,
Affeldt 4, Giese 25, Veras 2, Traber 3, Ohlendorf 3, Hawkins 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Weathers 2-0, Veras 1-1, Ohlendorf 2-2.
Umpires: HP: Scott Barry. 1B: Charlie Reliford.
2B: Greg Gibson. 3B: Brian Runge.
Weather: 77 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 5 mph, Out to LF.
T: 2:55.
Att: 54,509.