Another Day Another Loss

We knew better than to watch today. We didn't need the aggravation. But we did turn it on in the ninth inning to see K-Rod strike out the side and then Damaso Marte and Mariano Rivera combine to lose it in the Angels' half of the ninth.

Marte had come on in the eighth with a man on and did a great job, retiring Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter, and Garret Anderson. But in his second inning of work he gave up a lead off single to Yankees killer Howie Kendrick and issued a one out walk to Mike Napoli. Joe Girardi, desperate for a win, brought in Rivera to face Chone Figgins. Figgins hit a chopper that went through the right side, scoring Kendrick easily ahead of Bobby Abreu's throw. Wilson Betemit, not a natural first baseman, definitely looked like he might have had a play on it, but immediately retreated to cover the first base bag.

The Yankees had taken a 2-0 lead off of Angels' starter Joe Saunders in the first inning, but didn't break the game open like they could have. Johnny Damon led off the game with a single and Derek Jeter followed with a walk. A passed ball moved both runners up and they came around to score on a single by Abreu and a double by Alex Rodriguez. But with the infield in, Xavier Nady grounded to Kendrick at second base, who fired home to nail Abreu for the first out of the inning. Robinson Cano then bounced into an inning ending double play.

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte struggled, but pitched into the eighth inning. His biggest trouble came in the third when the Angels took a 3-2 lead. A single by Gary Matthews Jr. and a double by Mike Napoli put two men in scoring position with no one out. An infield single by Figgins cut the Yankees lead to 2-1 and Pettitte, uncharacteristically, balked the runners up. A single by Erik Abyar and a sacrifice fly by Mark Teixeira brought them home to give the Halos their first lead of the day.

The Yankees tied it up immediately in the fourth when A-Rod led off with a walk, moved to third on Nady's single, and scored on Cano's ground out. Richie Sexson drew a walk, but Justin Christian and Jose Molina both flew out to strand another runner in scoring position.

Nady maintained the tie when he threw out Matthews trying to score from second base, in the 4th inning, on a single by Napoli. Both teams stranded runners the remainder of the game until the Angels beat the Yankees for the fifth time in seven meetings.


News and Notes

Ian Kennedy was optioned down to Scranton before the game. He apologized for his remarks after speaking with Andy Pettitte and some other veterans. Billy Traber was recalled to help out the bullpen.