Pavano (W 1-0)

We had the craziest dream last night. Carl Pavano pitched and won a game for the 2008 Yankees. We woke up laughing. Then we picked up the sports page and remembered that it really did happen. After a bit of a shaky start, fragile Carl threw 5 yeoman-like innings to earn his first win since April 9, 2007.

The Orioles had three runs and a number of runners on base by the end of the second inning, but Pavano began to pitch better after that and the Yankees got enough runs off O's starter Jeremy Guthrie to get Pavano a 5-3 win.

With two away in the third inning, Guthrie tattooed Alex Rodriguez in the left arm with a 96 mph fastball. The next hitter, Jason Giambi, tattooed the baseball into the seats in right-center field for his 25th home run of the season and a 4-3 Yankees lead.

Hideki Matsui's 9th home run of the year, and the second since his return from the DL, gave the Yankees a big insurance run in the seventh inning. It wouldn't be needed as Brian Bruney, Jose Veras, and Mariano Rivera easily put the O's away over the final four innings. Rivera reached the 30 save mark for the 11th time in his career. (A 28-save 2002 season stopped it from being 12 years in a row).

But all eyes were on Pavano in this one, and it seemed to affect him in the early going. The Yankees handed him a 2-0 lead in the first with the help of the Orioles defense, but it appeared Pavano would give it right back. A fine defensive play by Robinson Cano, however, bailed him out.

Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis led off the bottom of the first with singles, but Melvin Mora hit a blooper up the middle that Cano grabbed and, in one motion, tagged out Roberts, who was returning to second base. Roberts put up a mild protest to umpire Ed Hickox, but manager Dave Trembley didn't argue the call. The play proved to be huge when Aubrey Huff followed with what would have been a run-scoring single to center field. Pavano then retired Ramon Hernandez on an inning-ending ground out.

The injury prone right-hander wasn't so lucky in the second inning. Luke Scott led off the inning with a double and Pavano, who struggled with his control early on, walked Kevin Millar. Jay Payton's single then loaded the bases with no one out. Juan Castro's deep fly to left-center brought home one run and both runners advanced when the weaker-armed Johnny Damon called off Xavier Nady, who was poised to throw to second base. Instead, Payton easily moved into scoring position. A Roberts ground out brought home the tying run and Markakis' single to center gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead.

The inning ended in controversy when Mora struck out on a pitch in the dirt. He started to walk away and then- realizing the ball had bounced in the dirt- ran towards first base. Both he and Markakis advanced another base as the Yankees continued off the field. The umpires were going to allow it at first, but Joe Girardi came out and vehemently argued with home plate ump Joe West, who then gathered the other umpires for a conference. It resulted in Mora being called out for the final out, which sent Trembley into a rage that would get him ejected from the ball game.

“The hitter walked toward the dugout to throw his bat and helmet away. He, in doing so, has abandoned his effort to reach the next base,” West said. “He’s called out, according to the rule.”

Given the lead back in the third, Pavano retired the O's in order, for the only time, in the bottom of the third. He got in trouble in the fourth, hitting Millar, possibly in retaliation for A-Rod being hit, and allowed a single to Payton. But then he struck out Castro, Roberts, and Markakis in order, getting the latter two looking at beautifully located pitches on the outside corner. Pavano hit Mora to start the fifth, but retired the final three batters he faced to give the Yankees a chance to gain ground on Boston in the wildcard race.


News and Notes

Jason Giambi's home run was the 389th of his career. Between Japan and the U.S., Hideki Matsui now has 444 home runs.

Alex Rodriguez is 3-8 in the series with all three hits being doubles. Derek Jeter picked up hit number 2,501 and is just 17 hits away from Babe Ruth and second place on the all-time Yankees hit list.

Phil Hughes was hammered in his start Friday night for Scranton. He allowed 8 runs in just 3.1 innings pitched.

August 23, 2008

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

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	4	1	1	0	1	0	1	.311
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.296
Abreu, RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	3	.293
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	.309
Giambi, 1B	4	1	2	3	0	0	0	.253
Ransom, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
Nady, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.327
Matsui, DH	4	1	1	1	0	1	2	.312
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.263
Rodriguez, I, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.285
Totals	35	5	8	5	1	9	8
BATTING 2B: Rodriguez, A (29, Guthrie). HR: Giambi (25, 3rd inning off Guthrie, 1 on, 2 out), Matsui (9, 7th inning off Guthrie, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Rodriguez, A 2; Giambi 5; Nady; Matsui 4; Cano. RBI: Rodriguez, A (78), Giambi 3 (76), Matsui (38). 2-out RBI: Rodriguez, A; Giambi 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Matsui; Abreu. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING DP: (Cano).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pavano (W, 1-0)	5.0	7	3	3	1	5	0	5.40
Bruney (H, 5)	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2.11
Veras (H, 8)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2.72
Rivera (S, 30)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.57

Baltimore	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Roberts, 2B	5	0	1	1	0	1	4	.298
Markakis, RF	5	0	2	1	0	2	2	.302
Mora, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.281
Huff, DH	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.301
Hernandez, R, C	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.257
Scott, LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.272
Millar, 1B	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	.248
Payton, CF	4	1	3	0	0	0	1	.246
Castro, J, SS	2	0	0	1	0	2	3	.198
a-Cintron, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.278
Totals	34	3	9	3	1	9	20
a-Grounded out for Castro, J in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Scott (23, Pavano). TB: Roberts; Markakis 2; Huff; Hernandez, R; Scott 2; Payton 3. RBI: Castro, J (10), Roberts (46), Markakis (77). 2-out RBI: Markakis. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hernandez, R; Markakis; Roberts. SF: Castro, J. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Payton (6, 2nd base off Bruney/Rodriguez, I).

Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Guthrie (L, 10-10) 6.2 7 5 5 1 7 2 3.28 Castillo, A 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.79 Cormier 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.47

HBP: Millar (by Pavano), Mora (by Pavano), Rodriguez, A (by Guthrie). Pitches-strikes: Pavano 91-54, Bruney 29-19, Veras 21-13, Rivera 10-6, Guthrie 115-76, Castillo, A 4-3, Cormier 28-18. Ground outs-fly outs: Pavano 5-4, Bruney 2-3, Veras 1-0, Rivera 2-0, Guthrie 7-6, Castillo, A 0-0, Cormier 3-2. Batters faced: Pavano 24, Bruney 7, Veras 4, Rivera 3, Guthrie 29, Castillo, A 1, Cormier 7. Inherited runners-scored: Castillo, A 2-0. EjectionsBaltimore Orioles Manager Dave Trembley ejected by HP umpire Joe West. (2nd). Umpires: HP: Joe West. 1B: Ed Rapuano. 2B: Ed Hickox. 3B: CB Bucknor. Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 8 mph, Out to LF. T: 3:08. Att: 48,817.