FullCountPitch - Total Domination

If you live in the metropolitan area you’ve seen the commercial hundreds of times. Two car rental agents sit around the break room talking about the prior night’s New York Yankees game. One refers to it as “Total domination”.

You can bet today there are plenty of workers sitting around their break room, standing by the vending machines or watercoolers, discussing last night’s Yankees game and using the phrase “Total dimination” with regularity.

That’s because last night CC Sabathia was about as good as you can be without throwing a perfect game. Granted, his opponent was the hapless Seattle Mariners, but that doesn’t make 27 up and 27 down any easier to do. From the 1st inning on though it appeared Sabathia might just have a date with “baseball immortality” as Yankees’ radio man John Sterling likes to put it.

Sabathia breezed through the first three innings and then the Mariners bats made a breeze as Sabathia struck out the side in the 4th and 5th innings. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and you could tell by the 5th that a rain delay was imminent.

Lightning lit up the sky and it began to drizzle as the Mariners came to bat in the 6th inning. This was no Roy Hobbes story though. Sabathia struck out Mike Carp, for his seventh straight K, to start the frame. But then the skies opened up and rain came down in sheets. A 31 minute delay interrupted what appeared to be destiny calling.

There was no question Sabathia would come out after the relatively short delay. He kept loose throwing underneath the stands and re-took the mound to face rookie Greg Halman. Sabathia retired him…but on a pop up. Suddenly contact was made. The next batter, Chone Figgins, grounded out to Derek Jeter to end the inning.

18 up, 18 down, but Sabathia’s location was a little off and bat was meeting ball. Sabathia struck out Ichiro to start the 7th, but quickly fell behind 2-0 to Brendan Ryan and then let a 94 mph fastball get too much of the plate. Ryan slapped it in to left-center field for the Mariners first and only hit of the night. Sabathia bounced right back and blew away Dustin Ackley and Miguel Olivo for his 13th and 14th strikeouts (a new personal high) on the night.

Read more about Sabathia's game and the Mariners' July demise at FullCountPitch.com, where the content is always free.

Yankees Pen Dominates M's in Win

Yankees Strike Out Mariners Hopes

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Alex Rodriguez • Derek Jeter • Ichiro • jose lopez • Luke French • mariano rivera • nick swisher • Sergio Mitre • Yankees 8/15 recap • Yankees vs. Mariners

The Yankees pitching has been outstanding last since the All-Star break and it continued last night as the Yankees won their 5th straight, 5-2, over the Seattle Mariners. Sergio Mitre pitched an effective 5 1/3 innings, allowing 1 earned run and the Yankees bullpen threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings with 8 of the 11 outs recorded via strikeout.

Nick Swisher’s 2-run home run highlighted a 4-run 3rd inning after the Yankees fell behind 1-0 in the 1st. With Robinson Cano aboard on a single and 1 out, Franklin Gutierrez couldn’t handle Melky Cabrera’s fly ball for what would prove to be a costly error. Jose Molina tied the game with a single and Derek Jeter put the Yankees ahead 2-1 with a sacrifice fly. Jeter would add an insurance run in the 9th with his 15th home run of the season. Swisher, batting from the right side against left-hander Luke French, ripped a hook shot down the left field line that stayed inside the foul pole for a 4-1 Yankees lead.

Mitre was tagged for single runs in the 1st and 4th innings, but retired Josh Wilson with a man on 2nd and 2 outs in the 4th. He left after loading the bases with one out in the 6th, but David Robertson struck out Wilson swinging and got Ryan Langerhans looking on a 3-2 pitch that appeared to be out of the zone.

The Yankees caught a big break in the 7th thanks to a rare fundamental mistake by Ichiro Suzuki. The right-fielder led the inning off with a single and moved to 2nd base on Jose Lopez’s 1-out single. Phil Coke came on to strike out Ken Griffey Jr. for the 2nd out. Then with Russell Branyan at the plate, Ichiro attempted to steal 3rd, but was thrown out by Molina to end the threat.

The M’s put two aboard against Mariano Rivera in the 9th, but the Yankees closer picked up his league leading 35th save by striking out Gutierrez and retiring Lopez on a fly to Swisher in right.

Game Notes

After sitting out 2 games with a sore elbow, Alex Rodriguez returned to the lineup and was 1-2 with 2 walks. Johnny Damon got the night off.

Godzilla Outshines Ichiro

Didn't think we would be awake for all of last night's game, but in fact we were. It was a big night for Hideki Matsui (2 HR, 5 RBI) and CC Sabathia (8 IP 10 K) as the Yankees clobbered Ian Snell and the Seattle Mariners, 11-1, in the series opener.

Any time Matsui or Ichiro play, it's big ratings back in Japan, so when both are on the field at the same time you can really expect big numbers. And Matsui gave them plenty to talk about.

Godzilla put the Yankees up 5-0 in the 3rd with a 2-run shot, added an RBI single in the 3-run 7th, and put some icing on the cake with a 2-run shot in the 8th that barely got over the glove of a leaping Ichiro.


CC was dominant from the start. His 10 Ks were a season high and he allowed just 3 hits. In winning his last 2 starts Sabathia has allowed 1 earned run, 5 hits and has struck out 19 in 15.2 innings pitched. Overall, he's now 13-7, 3.64 in 25 starts) 170.2 innings pitched. Sabathia has had his ups and downs this year, but he's clearly the best free agent signing the Yankees have had in years.


Had a good debate on Twitter last night with some fellow Yankees fans concerning the 2010 prospects for Matsui and Johnny Damon. Almost everyone agrees that Matsui shouldn't be back next year. As much as I love Godzilla, I agree. It's not good to have one player, unless it's a really dominant player, be a full time DH. Matsui isn't as productive as he was, though as he is doing right now, he can still get hot in stretches. But he's become too injury prone and even more prone to ground out to 2nd.


Damon is having a resurgent season- a resurgent season in a contract year. While he's had decent numbers during his time in New York, he's be'll 36 in November and his body seems to be older. Though he's rarely been on the DL, he's been a constant source of bumps, bruises, and injuries. His play in left field has become a nightly adventure and his arm is weaker than my 10-month old nephew's. While the consensus seems to be to keep him, I think the Yankees should let him go.


It's too easy to fall in love with the players you like and root for. For example, Scott Brosius was tremendous for the Yankees in 1998, but signing him to a long term deal and trading Mike Lowell was, in hindsight, a mistake.

Austin Jackson may not be ready next season, but Brett Gardner should get a shot at center field every day. Melky Cabrera could play a corner, be a 4th outfielder, or be dealt. There are free agent options such as Jason Bay, and trade options like Jermaine Dye and Carl Crawford to fill the outfielder. The main is to get younger and better.

The Pennant Race - 9/25

Pandemonium in Flushing. Mets fans woke up this morning with a September hangover, unsure if it was 2007 or 2008. The Mets blew a 5-1 lead to the Cubs last night, blew a chance to win it in the ninth inning, and then lost to the Cubs in 10 innings, 9-6.

Dan Murphy tripled off of Bobby Howry to lead off the bottom of the ninth, sending the Shea faithful into a frenzy. But Howry struck out David Wright and after intentionally walking the Carloses, Beltran and Delgado to load the bases, got Ryan Church to ground to second baseman Ronny Cedeno, who forced Murphy at home. Howry then made a better escape than David Blaine could any day, by striking out Ramon Castro to retire the side.

Derek Lee doubled in the go ahead run in the tenth and Aramis Ramirez put the game away with a 2-run home run.

C.C. Sabathia pitched the Brewers into a tie for the wildcard lead with the Mets in Milwaukee's 4-2 win over the Pirates. The big left-hander won his 10th game in 16 Brew Crew starts, and his 16th win overall, by limiting Pittsburgh to one run and four hits in seven innings, while striking out 11. Sabathia was working on three days rest and is expected to duplicate that feat again on Sunday.

The Twins beat the White Sox for the second straight night, this time 3-2, to move within one-half game of the AL Central lead. Nick Blackburn threw a solid five innings and four relievers limited the White Sox to just one hit from the sixth inning on. Gavin Floyd faces Kevin Slowey in tonight's series finale.

The Dodgers magic number to clinch the NL West is down to one. Manny Ramirez hit his 17th home run since "going west coast" and the Dodgers pounded the Padres 12-4. Meanwhile, Adam Wainwright and four relievers limited the Diamondbacks to two runs in the Cardinals 4-2 win over Arizona. A Dodgers win or Diamondbacks loss today will give LA the western crown.

While the Angels are prepping for the playoffs, Francisco Rodriguez is improving his resume. K-Rod added to his record setting season with his 62nd save of the season.

The Rays maintained their three game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East with an 11-6 win over the Orioles. Aki Iwamura drove in three runs and Edwin Jackson, despite allowing six runs in 5.1 innings pitched, won his career high 13th game.

The Red Sox won their second consecutive 5-4 decision over the Indians. Mark Kotsay snapped a 4-4 tie with an RBI double in the eighth inning. Fausto Carmona got yanked after just one inning and an inconceivable 51 pitches thrown.

News and Notes

Twenty year veteran first baseman Mickey Vernon has passed away at the age of 90. The seven time All-Star won two batting titles and spent most of his career playing for the down trodden Washington Senators.

The Seattle Times is reporting that there is much animosity in the clubhouse towards All-Star Ichiro Suzuki. Teammates have nearly come to blows with the outfielder's selfish attitude.

The Diamondbacks' Mark Reynolds became the first player in major league history to strike out 200 times in a season when he k'ed this afternoon against the Cardinals. Reynolds had broken Ryan Howard's year old single season record last night. The record may not hold though since Reynolds has just four more than Howard this year. Oh, and Reynolds has committed 34 errors.

The Rockies' Todd Helton has opted for back surgery next week to correct a disk problem.

The Pennant Race - 9/25

Pandemonium in Flushing. Mets fans woke up this morning with a September hangover, unsure if it was 2007 or 2008. The Mets blew a 5-1 lead to the Cubs last night, blew a chance to win it in the ninth inning, and then lost to the Cubs in 10 innings, 9-6.

Dan Murphy tripled off of Bobby Howry to lead off the bottom of the ninth, sending the Shea faithful into a frenzy. But Howry struck out David Wright and after intentionally walking the Carloses, Beltran and Delgado to load the bases, got Ryan Church to ground to second baseman Ronny Cedeno, who forced Murphy at home. Howry then made a better escape than David Blaine could any day, by striking out Ramon Castro to retire the side.

Derek Lee doubled in the go ahead run in the tenth and Aramis Ramirez put the game away with a 2-run home run.

C.C. Sabathia pitched the Brewers into a tie for the wildcard lead with the Mets in Milwaukee's 4-2 win over the Pirates. The big left-hander won his 10th game in 16 Brew Crew starts, and his 16th win overall, by limiting Pittsburgh to one run and four hits in seven innings, while striking out 11. Sabathia was working on three days rest and is expected to duplicate that feat again on Sunday.

The Twins beat the White Sox for the second straight night, this time 3-2, to move within one-half game of the AL Central lead. Nick Blackburn threw a solid five innings and four relievers limited the White Sox to just one hit from the sixth inning on. Gavin Floyd faces Kevin Slowey in tonight's series finale.

The Dodgers magic number to clinch the NL West is down to one. Manny Ramirez hit his 17th home run since "going west coast" and the Dodgers pounded the Padres 12-4. Meanwhile, Adam Wainwright and four relievers limited the Diamondbacks to two runs in the Cardinals 4-2 win over Arizona. A Dodgers win or Diamondbacks loss today will give LA the western crown.

While the Angels are prepping for the playoffs, Francisco Rodriguez is improving his resume. K-Rod added to his record setting season with his 62nd save of the season.

The Rays maintained their three game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East with an 11-6 win over the Orioles. Aki Iwamura drove in three runs and Edwin Jackson, despite allowing six runs in 5.1 innings pitched, won his career high 13th game.

The Red Sox won their second consecutive 5-4 decision over the Indians. Mark Kotsay snapped a 4-4 tie with an RBI double in the eighth inning. Fausto Carmona got yanked after just one inning and an inconceivable 51 pitches thrown.

News and Notes

Twenty year veteran first baseman Mickey Vernon has passed away at the age of 90. The seven time All-Star won two batting titles and spent most of his career playing for the down trodden Washington Senators.

The Seattle Times is reporting that there is much animosity in the clubhouse towards All-Star Ichiro Suzuki. Teammates have nearly come to blows with the outfielder's selfish attitude.

The Diamondbacks' Mark Reynolds became the first player in major league history to strike out 200 times in a season when he k'ed this afternoon against the Cardinals. Reynolds had broken Ryan Howard's year old single season record last night. The record may not hold though since Reynolds has just four more than Howard this year. Oh, and Reynolds has committed 34 errors.

The Rockies' Todd Helton has opted for back surgery next week to correct a disk problem.

Yankees Rally to Sweep Mariners

Just as they have been for most of this season, the Yankees were struggling against a left-handed starter. In this case it was the Mariners Jarrod Washburn. Thankfully, Mariners manager John McLaren pulled him after the 6th inning. The Yankees rallied for 4 runs in the 8th inning to beat the Mariners 6-5 and completed a 3-game sweep in the process. The victory also extended the Yankees winning streak to 5 games, and it was also the first game that the Yankees came back, in 23 attempts, this season to win when being down after the 7th inning.

Derek Jeter lead off the 8th with a walk against Sean Green and he came around to score on Bobby Abreu's double off of lefty Arthur Rhodes, cutting the lead to 5-3. McLaren quickly went to his closer J.J. Putz for a 6-out save, but the big right-hander walked Alex Rodriguez. Putz got a break when Jason Giambi was called out on strikes a 2-2 pitch that was well out of the strike zone, for the 1st out. But Hideki Matsui, pinch-hitting for Shelley Duncan, hit a little dribbler to the right out of the mound. Putz (1-2, BS 3) lunged for, going to his knees as he fielded it. His throw was wild to 1st Base, allowing Abreu to score and A-Rod to move to 3rd. Robinson Cano's sac fly to deep center not only tied the game at 5-5, but allowed Matsui to reach 2nd Base. Jose Molina then delivered a 2-out double to deep center to give the Yankees their first lead of the day, 6-5. Then it was all up to the Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and the king of the bullpen came through again with a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 12th save in as many chances.

The Yankees got the opportunity to win because reliever Edwar Ramirez gave them 1.2 innings of shutout relief after starter Chien-Ming Wang faltered. Ramirez (1-0) has now thrown 12.2 scoreless innings over 11 appearances this season. He's also struck out 15.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 3rd, Wang issued walks to Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, sandwiched around a single by Kenji Johjima, to load the bases. Yuniesky Betancourt singled through the left side for a 2-1 Mariners lead and Duncan mishandled Ichiro Suzuki's grounder to 1st to allow another runner to score. If not for an odd double play, the inning could have been bigger for the Mariners. Duncan dropped Jose Lopez's line drive, but threw home to force Johjima at the plate. Molina then fired to Cano at 2nd to complete an odd 3-2-6 double play.

The Mariners finally drove Wang to the showers in the 7th after Joe Girardi probably left him in too long. Wang allowed 1-out hits to Betancourt and Lopez to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Vidro then singled to right-center to plate both runners and pushed the Mariners lead to 5-2.

News and Notes

Derek Jeter's RBI double in the 2nd and Johnny Damon's RBI ground out in the 5th were the Yankees runs prior to the 8th.

The victory was the 2nd of Edwar Ramirez's brief major league career.

Ichiro Suzuki homered in the 2nd inning, his 3rd of the season.

May 25, 2008

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

Seattle	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Suzuki, CF	5	2	2	2	0	0	2	.289
Lopez, 2B	5	1	1	0	0	0	3	.299
Vidro, DH	5	0	2	2	0	1	0	.239
Ibanez, LF	4	0	0	0	1	1	1	.273
Beltre, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.253
Johjima, C	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.219
Sexson, 1B	3	1	0	0	1	3	1	.197
Balentien, RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	4	.215
Betancourt, SS	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	.278
Totals	36	5	9	5	4	6	15
BATTING 2B: Lopez (13, Wang). HR: Suzuki (3, 3rd inning off Wang, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Suzuki 5; Lopez 2; Vidro 2; Johjima 2; Betancourt 2. RBI: Suzuki 2 (13), Betancourt (18), Vidro 2 (24). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beltre; Suzuki. GIDP: Lopez. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Putz (1, throw). DP: 2 (Lopez-Betancourt-Sexson, Betancourt-Sexson).

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Washburn	6.0	4	2	2	3	2	0	6.54
Green (H, 4)	1.0	1	1	1	1	0	0	4.10
Rhodes	0.0	1	1	1	0	0	0	5.59
Putz (BS, 3)(L, 1-2)	1.0	2	2	2	1	1	0	4.50

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	1	1	1	0	0	2	.266
Jeter, SS	3	1	1	1	1	0	1	.287
Abreu, RF	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	.294
Rodriguez, 3B	2	1	1	0	2	0	0	.295
Giambi, DH	2	0	0	0	1	2	3	.230
Duncan, S, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	.176
a-Matsui, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.321
Ensberg, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.203
Cano, 2B	2	1	0	1	1	0	2	.229
Molina, C	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.216
Cabrera, CF	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.255
Totals	28	6	8	5	5	3	14
a-Singled for Duncan, S in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Damon (14, Washburn), Jeter (7, Washburn), Abreu (11, Rhodes), Molina (10, Putz). TB: Damon 2; Jeter 2; Abreu 2; Rodriguez; Matsui; Molina 3; Cabrera. RBI: Jeter (23), Damon (20), Abreu (32), Cano (19), Molina (5). 2-out RBI: Jeter; Molina. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Abreu; Jeter; Duncan, S; Cabrera. S: Cabrera. SF: Cano. GIDP: Cano; Duncan, S. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (2, 2nd base off Washburn/Johjima), Damon (6, 3rd base off Washburn/Johjima). FIELDING E: Duncan, S (2, fielding). DP: (Duncan, S-Molina-Jeter).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wang	6.1	7	5	5	4	2	1	3.82
Ramirez (W, 1-0)	1.2	2	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Rivera (S, 12)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.45

Green pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.
Rhodes pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

HBP: Giambi (by Washburn).
Pitches-strikes: Washburn 95-53, Green 16-9, Rhodes 9-6, Putz 18-11,
Wang 112-70, Ramirez 24-17, Rivera 16-12.
Ground outs-fly outs: Washburn 12-4, Green 3-0, Rhodes 0-0, Putz 1-1,
Wang 12-5, Ramirez 1-2, Rivera 0-1.
Batters faced: Washburn 24, Green 5, Rhodes 1, Putz 6, Wang 30,
Ramirez 7, Rivera 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Rhodes 1-1, Putz 1-1, Ramirez 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Tim McClelland. 2B: Mike DiMuro.
3B: Larry Vanover.
Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, Out to LF.
T: 3:10.
Att: 54,269.

Yankees Rally to Sweep Mariners

Just as they have been for most of this season, the Yankees were struggling against a left-handed starter. In this case it was the Mariners Jarrod Washburn. Thankfully, Mariners manager John McLaren pulled him after the 6th inning. The Yankees rallied for 4 runs in the 8th inning to beat the Mariners 6-5 and completed a 3-game sweep in the process. The victory also extended the Yankees winning streak to 5 games, and it was also the first game that the Yankees came back, in 23 attempts, this season to win when being down after the 7th inning.

Derek Jeter lead off the 8th with a walk against Sean Green and he came around to score on Bobby Abreu's double off of lefty Arthur Rhodes, cutting the lead to 5-3. McLaren quickly went to his closer J.J. Putz for a 6-out save, but the big right-hander walked Alex Rodriguez. Putz got a break when Jason Giambi was called out on strikes a 2-2 pitch that was well out of the strike zone, for the 1st out. But Hideki Matsui, pinch-hitting for Shelley Duncan, hit a little dribbler to the right out of the mound. Putz (1-2, BS 3) lunged for, going to his knees as he fielded it. His throw was wild to 1st Base, allowing Abreu to score and A-Rod to move to 3rd. Robinson Cano's sac fly to deep center not only tied the game at 5-5, but allowed Matsui to reach 2nd Base. Jose Molina then delivered a 2-out double to deep center to give the Yankees their first lead of the day, 6-5. Then it was all up to the Yankees closer Mariano Rivera and the king of the bullpen came through again with a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 12th save in as many chances.

The Yankees got the opportunity to win because reliever Edwar Ramirez gave them 1.2 innings of shutout relief after starter Chien-Ming Wang faltered. Ramirez (1-0) has now thrown 12.2 scoreless innings over 11 appearances this season. He's also struck out 15.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 3rd, Wang issued walks to Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, sandwiched around a single by Kenji Johjima, to load the bases. Yuniesky Betancourt singled through the left side for a 2-1 Mariners lead and Duncan mishandled Ichiro Suzuki's grounder to 1st to allow another runner to score. If not for an odd double play, the inning could have been bigger for the Mariners. Duncan dropped Jose Lopez's line drive, but threw home to force Johjima at the plate. Molina then fired to Cano at 2nd to complete an odd 3-2-6 double play.

The Mariners finally drove Wang to the showers in the 7th after Joe Girardi probably left him in too long. Wang allowed 1-out hits to Betancourt and Lopez to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Vidro then singled to right-center to plate both runners and pushed the Mariners lead to 5-2.

News and Notes

Derek Jeter's RBI double in the 2nd and Johnny Damon's RBI ground out in the 5th were the Yankees runs prior to the 8th.

The victory was the 2nd of Edwar Ramirez's brief major league career.

Ichiro Suzuki homered in the 2nd inning, his 3rd of the season.

May 25, 2008

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

Seattle	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Suzuki, CF	5	2	2	2	0	0	2	.289
Lopez, 2B	5	1	1	0	0	0	3	.299
Vidro, DH	5	0	2	2	0	1	0	.239
Ibanez, LF	4	0	0	0	1	1	1	.273
Beltre, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	0	3	.253
Johjima, C	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.219
Sexson, 1B	3	1	0	0	1	3	1	.197
Balentien, RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	4	.215
Betancourt, SS	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	.278
Totals	36	5	9	5	4	6	15
BATTING 2B: Lopez (13, Wang). HR: Suzuki (3, 3rd inning off Wang, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Suzuki 5; Lopez 2; Vidro 2; Johjima 2; Betancourt 2. RBI: Suzuki 2 (13), Betancourt (18), Vidro 2 (24). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beltre; Suzuki. GIDP: Lopez. Team LOB: 8. FIELDING E: Putz (1, throw). DP: 2 (Lopez-Betancourt-Sexson, Betancourt-Sexson).

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Washburn	6.0	4	2	2	3	2	0	6.54
Green (H, 4)	1.0	1	1	1	1	0	0	4.10
Rhodes	0.0	1	1	1	0	0	0	5.59
Putz (BS, 3)(L, 1-2)	1.0	2	2	2	1	1	0	4.50

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	1	1	1	0	0	2	.266
Jeter, SS	3	1	1	1	1	0	1	.287
Abreu, RF	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	.294
Rodriguez, 3B	2	1	1	0	2	0	0	.295
Giambi, DH	2	0	0	0	1	2	3	.230
Duncan, S, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	.176
a-Matsui, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.321
Ensberg, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.203
Cano, 2B	2	1	0	1	1	0	2	.229
Molina, C	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.216
Cabrera, CF	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.255
Totals	28	6	8	5	5	3	14
a-Singled for Duncan, S in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Damon (14, Washburn), Jeter (7, Washburn), Abreu (11, Rhodes), Molina (10, Putz). TB: Damon 2; Jeter 2; Abreu 2; Rodriguez; Matsui; Molina 3; Cabrera. RBI: Jeter (23), Damon (20), Abreu (32), Cano (19), Molina (5). 2-out RBI: Jeter; Molina. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Abreu; Jeter; Duncan, S; Cabrera. S: Cabrera. SF: Cano. GIDP: Cano; Duncan, S. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (2, 2nd base off Washburn/Johjima), Damon (6, 3rd base off Washburn/Johjima). FIELDING E: Duncan, S (2, fielding). DP: (Duncan, S-Molina-Jeter).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wang	6.1	7	5	5	4	2	1	3.82
Ramirez (W, 1-0)	1.2	2	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Rivera (S, 12)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.45

Green pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.
Rhodes pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

HBP: Giambi (by Washburn).
Pitches-strikes: Washburn 95-53, Green 16-9, Rhodes 9-6, Putz 18-11,
Wang 112-70, Ramirez 24-17, Rivera 16-12.
Ground outs-fly outs: Washburn 12-4, Green 3-0, Rhodes 0-0, Putz 1-1,
Wang 12-5, Ramirez 1-2, Rivera 0-1.
Batters faced: Washburn 24, Green 5, Rhodes 1, Putz 6, Wang 30,
Ramirez 7, Rivera 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Rhodes 1-1, Putz 1-1, Ramirez 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Tim McClelland. 2B: Mike DiMuro.
3B: Larry Vanover.
Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, Out to LF.
T: 3:10.
Att: 54,269.

Moose Calls Return to the Stadium

Mike Mussina has been hearing more boos than calls of "Moose" over the past 2 seasons, but the boo birds were in hiding today as Moose mastered the Seattle Mariners 6-1.

One night after Chien-Ming Wang dominated the M's, Mussina did the same on Saturday afternoon. He pitched a relatively unscathed 6 innings, allowing a run on 7 hits, and recorded 5 strikeouts, including K'ing the side in his final inning of work. More importantly he didn't walk a batter.

For the second straight game, the Yankees struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first on a lead off double by Johnny Damon and an RBI single by Bobby Abreu. Ichiro Suzuki singled in the tying run in the top of the 3rd, but the Yankees took control in their half of the inning against Mariners starter Felix Hernandez.

Damon stroked his second double, the 400th of his career with one out, and came home on Derek Jeter's historic double for a 2-1 lead. Hernandez retired Abreu for the 2nd out, but Hideki Matsui slapped a fastball over the 3rd Base bag for an RBI single. Matsui advanced to 2nd Base on the play when left fielder Raul Ibanez's throw slipped from his hand and went sideways. The Yankees took advantage of the miscue two batters later when Melky Cabrera lined an RBI single to center for a 4-1 lead.

The Yankees got to Hernandez one more time in the 6th when Molina snapped an 0-23 skid with a single and came around on Damon's 4th home run of the year.

Meanwhile, Mussina threw his pitches where he wanted, and unlike the Mariners in this series, the Yankees, for the most part, backed him up with solid defense. Mussina induced double play balls to thwart rallies in both the 3rd and 4th innings. But his big moment came in the 6th.

Mussina struck out Raul Ibanez swinging. After Adrian Beltre reached on Morgan Ensberg's error, Mussina struck out both rookie Jeff Clement and veteran Richie Sexson swinging to finish his day with a bang.

LaTroy Hawkins, Edwar Ramirez, and recently recalled Jose Veras each worked one scoreless inning to preserve the win.

News and Notes

Mike Mussina's win was his 3rd straight and number 254 for his career, putting him in a tie for 39th place on the all-time wins list with Jack Morris and Red Faber. Mussina struck out Sexson with an 89 mph fastball.

“I cut it loose!” Mussina said with a chuckle. “I know the ball’s not going to come out of my hand going 93 ever again. So I’ve got to go with what I have, and so far it’s been OK.” (- Mike Fitzpatrick, AP Baseball Writer)

Both Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter had 3 hits to raise their averages to .290.

Ichiro Suzkuki stole his 11th base of the season and 4th in 2 games. With Yuniesky Betancourt's theft, the Mariners are 5-5 in the series.

The slumps continue- both Robinson Cano (.150) and Jason Giambi (.154) were 0-3.

Hideki Matsui was 2-5 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

Moose Calls Return to the Stadium

Mike Mussina has been hearing more boos than calls of "Moose" over the past 2 seasons, but the boo birds were in hiding today as Moose mastered the Seattle Mariners 6-1.

One night after Chien-Ming Wang dominated the M's, Mussina did the same on Saturday afternoon. He pitched a relatively unscathed 6 innings, allowing a run on 7 hits, and recorded 5 strikeouts, including K'ing the side in his final inning of work. More importantly he didn't walk a batter.

For the second straight game, the Yankees struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first on a lead off double by Johnny Damon and an RBI single by Bobby Abreu. Ichiro Suzuki singled in the tying run in the top of the 3rd, but the Yankees took control in their half of the inning against Mariners starter Felix Hernandez.

Damon stroked his second double, the 400th of his career with one out, and came home on Derek Jeter's historic double for a 2-1 lead. Hernandez retired Abreu for the 2nd out, but Hideki Matsui slapped a fastball over the 3rd Base bag for an RBI single. Matsui advanced to 2nd Base on the play when left fielder Raul Ibanez's throw slipped from his hand and went sideways. The Yankees took advantage of the miscue two batters later when Melky Cabrera lined an RBI single to center for a 4-1 lead.

The Yankees got to Hernandez one more time in the 6th when Molina snapped an 0-23 skid with a single and came around on Damon's 4th home run of the year.

Meanwhile, Mussina threw his pitches where he wanted, and unlike the Mariners in this series, the Yankees, for the most part, backed him up with solid defense. Mussina induced double play balls to thwart rallies in both the 3rd and 4th innings. But his big moment came in the 6th.

Mussina struck out Raul Ibanez swinging. After Adrian Beltre reached on Morgan Ensberg's error, Mussina struck out both rookie Jeff Clement and veteran Richie Sexson swinging to finish his day with a bang.

LaTroy Hawkins, Edwar Ramirez, and recently recalled Jose Veras each worked one scoreless inning to preserve the win.

News and Notes

Mike Mussina's win was his 3rd straight and number 254 for his career, putting him in a tie for 39th place on the all-time wins list with Jack Morris and Red Faber. Mussina struck out Sexson with an 89 mph fastball.

“I cut it loose!” Mussina said with a chuckle. “I know the ball’s not going to come out of my hand going 93 ever again. So I’ve got to go with what I have, and so far it’s been OK.” (- Mike Fitzpatrick, AP Baseball Writer)

Both Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter had 3 hits to raise their averages to .290.

Ichiro Suzkuki stole his 11th base of the season and 4th in 2 games. With Yuniesky Betancourt's theft, the Mariners are 5-5 in the series.

The slumps continue- both Robinson Cano (.150) and Jason Giambi (.154) were 0-3.

Hideki Matsui was 2-5 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.