Drubbed Again, Naturally

The Yankees could have shaken off Sunday night's miserable loss to Boston by starting out their homestand on the right foot against Baltimore last night. But Mike Mussina was knocked around like Jerry Quarry and the Yankees were thrashed for the second straight night, this time by the last place Orioles, 13-4. The offense was also anemic once again, this time against Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie.

It's games like these last two that makes it difficult to fully get behind this Yankees ball club. The Yankees offensive numbers over the past 10 games, of which they have won 8, looks quite impressive. But they did nothing in three games against Oakland and weren't effective against two of the three Red Sox starters.

It didn't help that Mike Mussina put his teammates in a quick hole. Moose escaped the 1st inning unscathed, thanks to a relay from Xavier Nady to Derek Jeter to Jose Molina, to nail Brian Roberts at home plate. But Yankees killer Kevin Millar struck in the 2nd inning, blasting a 3-run home run. Millar is now hitting .300-20-54 in 103 games against the Yankees. Ramon Hernandez went back to back with Millar for a 4-0 Orioles lead.

The Yankees went down in order in the first three innings before Johnny Damon led off the 4th with a single. That was quickly erased when Derek Jeter bounced into, yet, another double play. Bobby Abreu followed with a walk, but Alex Rodriguez tapped out to Hernandez to end the inning.

The Orioles extended their lead in the 5th when Adam Jones followed Roberts' double with an RBI triple and scored on an Aubrey Huff sac fly. A 6-0 lead after 5 and Mussina's night was done. The Orioles slammed David Robertson and Kyle Farnsworth for 7 more runs, including a grand slam by Jones.

Down 11-0 in the 7th, the Yankees finally got on the board on Xavier Nady's first American League home run and a 3-run shot by Damon. But it was much too little and definitely much too late.

Things don't get easier tonight with the erratic Darrell Rasner going for the Bombers against Daniel Cabrera. A feel good 8-game winning streak could easily become an ugly 3-game losing streak. The Yankees only bit of good fortune last night was losses by both the Rays and Red Sox.


July 28, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Baltimore	0	4	0	0	2	5	0	2	0		13	17	1
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0		4	9	0

Baltimore	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Roberts, 2B	4	2	2	0	2	1	0	.286
Jones, CF	6	3	3	5	0	1	4	.280
Markakis, RF	4	0	1	0	1	1	2	.290
Huff, DH	4	1	2	3	0	1	2	.295
Mora, 3B	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.249
a-Fahey, PH-SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.241
Scott, LF	5	2	2	0	0	2	1	.262
Millar, 1B	5	2	3	3	0	1	0	.245
Hernandez, R, C	4	1	2	1	0	0	2	.252
Castro, J, SS-3B	5	1	1	1	0	2	3	.135
Totals	42	13	17	13	3	10	16
a-Popped out for Mora in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Markakis (30, Mussina), Huff (31, Mussina), Roberts (39, Mussina), Millar (17, Veras). 3B: Jones (6, Mussina). HR: Millar (15, 2nd inning off Mussina, 2 on, 0 out), Hernandez, R (12, 2nd inning off Mussina, 0 on, 0 out), Jones (7, 6th inning off Robertson, 3 on, 1 out), Huff (21, 8th inning off Farnsworth, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Roberts 3; Jones 8; Markakis 2; Huff 6; Mora; Scott 2; Millar 7; Hernandez, R 5; Castro, J. RBI: Millar 3 (53), Hernandez, R (43), Jones 5 (48), Huff 3 (67), Castro, J (1). 2-out RBI: Huff 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Huff; Scott; Jones 2. SF: Huff. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING E: Roberts (5, throw). DP: (Roberts-Castro, J-Millar).

Baltimore	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Guthrie (W, 7-8)	6.1	3	1	1	2	4	1	3.49
Cormier	0.0	2	3	2	0	0	1	4.05
Bierd	1.1	3	0	0	1	2	0	1.47
Walker	1.1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4.70

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, DH	5	1	2	3	0	1	3	.317
Jeter, SS	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.285
Betemit, SS	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	.254
Abreu, RF	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	.279
Sexson, 1B	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	.219
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.323
Moeller, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.225
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	2	3	.249
Christian, RF	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.250
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.267
Nady, LF	3	1	1	1	0	1	1	.323
Cabrera, CF	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.250
Molina, C	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.229
Totals	36	4	9	4	3	6	14
BATTING 2B: Molina (15, Cormier), Cano (23, Bierd). HR: Nady (14, 7th inning off Guthrie, 0 on, 1 out), Damon (7, 7th inning off Cormier, 2 on, 1 out). TB: Damon 5; Jeter; Betemit; Sexson; Cano 2; Nady 4; Cabrera; Molina 2. RBI: Nady (58), Damon 3 (43). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Giambi 2; Damon 2. GIDP: Jeter. Team LOB: 10. FIELDING Outfield assists: Nady (Roberts at home).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (L, 13-7)	5.0	8	6	6	1	4	2	3.56
Robertson	0.1	4	5	5	2	0	1	4.97
Ramirez	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.35
Marte	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	3.38
Farnsworth	1.0	2	2	2	0	2	1	3.65
Veras	1.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	2.86

Cormier pitched to 3 batters in the 7th.

WP: Robertson.
HBP: Nady (by Guthrie), Rodriguez, A (by Guthrie),
Hernandez, R (by Veras).
Pitches-strikes: Guthrie 102-62, Cormier 23-15,
Bierd 38-21, Walker 19-13, Mussina 95-63, Robertson 31-14,
Ramirez 7-6, Marte 15-9, Farnsworth 22-13, Veras 18-12.
Ground outs-fly outs: Guthrie 9-6, Cormier 0-0,
Bierd 1-1, Walker 1-3, Mussina 5-5, Robertson 0-1,
Ramirez 0-2, Marte 0-1, Farnsworth 0-1, Veras 0-1.
Batters faced: Guthrie 25, Cormier 3, Bierd 8, Walker 5,
Mussina 23, Robertson 7, Ramirez 2, Marte 4, Farnsworth 5, Veras 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Walker 3-0, Ramirez 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Sam Holbrook. 1B: Chad Fairchild.
2B: Mark Wegner. 3B: Jeff Kellogg.
Weather: 83 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 8 mph, R to L.
T: 3:31.
Att: 54,120.