Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Before the season started, me and Mrs. Mantlemurcer bought tickets to a couple of games, one today and one in August. I half seriously said back in May that at the rate the Yankees were going they would be 15 games out by the time we went to a game. Unfortunately, I wasn't far off. With the Red Sox rolling over the Devil Rays and the Yankees losing to Johann Santana and the Twins on Wednesday, the Yankees entered today's action 12 games back in the AL East. Topping it off was the knowledge that, barring a rain out earlier in the week, Kei Igawa would be on the hill for the Yankees.

Igawa lived up to the negative hype, blowing a 5-2 lead and generally pitching like crap. Thankfully the Yankee bats and pen got him off the hook in a 7-6 win. What makes Igawa even more intolerable to watch is how slow he is between pitches. Between Igawa's struggles and the Yankees hitting, against Twins starter Kevin Slowey, the game was still in the bottom of the 2nd after an hour.

You can even see it in his body language as he walks, even slower than he pitches, off the mound between innings. The only time he ran to the dugout was after blowing the lead in the 4th. This guy needs to go back to the minors, or better yet, back to Japan for a refund.

Now back to the action:

Melky Cabrera's first home run in 112 at-bats, with two aboard, gave the Yankees a 5-2 lead after 2. In the 4th, Igawa allowed a lead off double to Jeff Cirillo before retiring the next two hitters. But Igawa's control problems continued when he walked Nick Punto.

Jason Bartlett hit frozen rope that hit the base of the wall in left for a 2-run double, cutting the lead to 5-4. Joe Mauer's line drive to center tied the game up before Igawa finally retired Michael Cuddyer, exiting the mound to a chorus of boos.

Luis Vizcaino, Scott Proctor, and Kyle Farnsworth (1-1) each tossed a scoreless inning of relief, giving the Yankees a chance to pull out a victory. The Bombers weren't able to solve Dennis Reyes or Matt Guerrier, but finally reached Pat Neshek in the 8th.

Neshek (3-1) who entered the game with 1.34 ERA and 49 Ks in 40.1 innings, started out strong, striking out Johnny Damon and Melky to start the inning. But Derek Jeter worked a walk, setting up a confrontation with Hidedi Matsui, who had looked bad in 3 earlier at-bats.

Neshek fell behind 3-0 and as expected Joe Torre gave Matsui the green light. The result was a tapper foul. The next pitch was a shot. Godzilla lived up to his nickname, driving a shot 10 rows back in the bleachers in right-center for a 7-5 lead. Needless to say the remaining fans (probably half of the original crowd) went crazy.

Then it was time for some Metallica and Mariano Rivera. Mo didn't get it done without walking the tightrope though. Luis Rodriguez and pinch-hitter Jason Kubel singled to put runners on the corners with none out. Mo struck out Bartlett, but pinch-runner Jason Tyner stole 2nd just ahead of Jorge Posada's throw. With the infield playing back to concede a run, Mauer grounded out to Jeter for the 2nd out and cut the lead to 7-6. Then it came down to Cuddyer, who had a good at-bat workind the count to 3-2. With a little help from 1st Base ump Wally Bell the Yankees pulled it out, as Bell ruled Cuddyer went around on Mo's next delivery. Mo's 11th save was the 424th of his career, tying him with John Franco for 3rd on the all-time list.

The Twins scored a pair of runs in the 1st, but could have had more if not for the arm of Cabrera. Cuddyer lined an RBI single to left, and tried to stretch it into a double. But Melky's throw to 2nd arrived well ahead of Cuddyer, who was eventually run down by Robinson Cano for the 1st out of the inning.

Cano's 5th HR of the season cut the Twins lead to 2-1 in the 2nd, before Miguel Cairo's double tied things up.

~~~

After a poor April and May, Melky hit .298 in June and is 10-22 (.455) to start July.

As expected, A-Rod sat out the game and went for an MRI. As reported by Peter Abraham of the Journal News, Joe Torre said in his post-game remarks that the MRI was negative.

Phil Hughes will making his 1st rehab start in Tampa on Monday. Hopefully he can come back and boot Igawa from the rotation.

Johnny Damon's caveman look has gone the opposite way- he's sporting a crew cut and no side burns.