Vazquez Has a Grandy Time in Cleveland

No one is saying they want to see Javier Vazquez in a crucial playoff game, but the just turned 36-yr old has stuck it to many of the nay-sayers he booed him mercilessly at the start of the season. Monday night Vazquez limited the Indians to two runs and five hits over seven innings and got a boost from a late Curtis Granderson home run for a 3-2 Yankees win.

Vazquez has allowed three earned runs or less in eight of his last 10 starts and has gone 6-2 over that time frame. Last night he gave up a solo home run to Travis Hafner in the 2nd inning and fell behind 2-1 when he surrendered an RBI double in the 5th to Shin-Soo Choo.

But Granderson bailed him out when he drilled a Jake Westbrook delivery into the right field seats with a man aboard for a 3-2 Yankees lead in the 8th. Joe Girardi allowed Vazquez, who had thrown 92 pitches to that point, to start the bottom of the 8th, but quickly pulled him when he walked the lead off hitter. David Robertson got Asdrubel Cabrera to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play before Boone Logan came on to strike out Choo for the final out of the inning. Mariano Rivera earned his 21st save with a scoreless 9th inning.

The Yankees had managed just two hits off of Westbrook through the first seven innings, though one of them was a Nick Swisher solo home run. Posada led off the 8th with a single through the left side to set the stage for Granderson, who has now hit three home runs in the last two games.

Notes

After hitting .240 in the first half of the season, Granderson is hitting at a .306 clip since the All-Star break. He also has a .958 OPS in his last 10 games.

CC Sabathia makes his 2nd start against his old team tonight. He'll face 25-yr old right-hander Josh Tomlin, who is making his major league debut.

Alex Rodriguez will go for his 600th home run tonight on his 35th birthday.

Hey, It's Andy Pettitte

Forgot this tidbit about yesterday's game. As we were approaching the parking garage, doors opened in the middle of the Stadium, and a black SUV pulled out on to the road.

It was none other than Andy Pettitte behind the wheel. I jokingly said to my wife, "let's chase him".

By the time we got out of the parking garage he could have been in Florida.

The above pic, courtesy of Yahoo Sports, is from today's game. That's this year version of the holiday-let's make money off the consumers hat. Not as bad as last year's all red, but hideous nonetheless.

10-4 Does Not Mean Over and Out

Give me 10 runs and the ace of the pitching staff and I'll get a win 99 out of 100 times. Unfortunately for the Yankees, today was that one time when everything went from all good to all bad in a hurry. Leading 10-4, the Yankees bullpen imploded and the Cleveland Indians pulled out a 13-11 victory before a stunned Yankee Stadium crowd.

The crowd had already had already gone silent earlier in the game with Alex Rodriguez smoked a line drive off the left side of Indians pitcher David Huff's head. Huff lay motionless for several minutes before he was placed on a back board and carted off the field. He gave a thumbs to the YS crowd as they gave him a standing ovation. Huff apparently never loss consciousness and was taken to the hospital for an MRI. The results were good, but Huff was being kept for observation.

Yankees starting pitcher and ace CC Sabathia (6 IP, 5 ER) had his second rough outing in three starts, but departed the game with a 10-5 lead. That's when the wheels came off. Back muscles too. David Robertson replaced Sabathia to start the 7th and hit Trevor Crowe to start the inning. Three batters later and the lead cut to 10-6, Robertson threw ball one to Jhonny Peralta and grabbed his back. Enter the Joe Girardi merry-go-round.

Sergio Mitre came on and despite having as much warm up as needed, proceeded to walk Peralta. That was apparently enough for Girardi, who sent for Damaso Marte to face lefty pinch-hitter Russell Branyan. That was the only move that worked as Marte retired Branyan for the second out of the inning. Signal to Joba Chamberlain. Signal end of lead.

To put it mildly, Chamberlain was awful. He gave up an RBI single to Mark Grudzielanek, walked Matt LaPorta, surrendered back to back 2-run doubles to Lou Marson and Jason Donald, and a come full circle, RBI single to Crowe. Seven runs and 12-10 deficit.

Just to show he's consistent, Chad Gaudin gave up a long ball to Branyan in the 9th. It was the second home run in as many games for Go-away. I mean Gaudin.

Needless the Yankees fandom was furious. Yours truly included. And while Joe Girardi isn't the guy throwing the pitches, he is the guy mixing and matching too much.

Remember when relievers faced right and lefty hitters? When a guy wasn't the "7th inning guy" or the "8th inning guy". Other than the long man and the closer there is no reason for any reliever to have a specific inning assignment.

Twitter was atwitter with frustrated tweets galore during the debacle and after. I for one was upset that Girardi yanked Mitre after one batter. One follower said he's not used to pitching on consecutive days. If that's the case then why was he the one brought in? While no fan of Gaudin, he is used to pitch consecutive games, so Girardi could have opted for him first.

Chamberlain on the other hand, has some major issues going on. He's been scored upon in three of his last five games (5 IP 10 ER) and has been hit extremely hard. There is a genuine overreaction towards his outings, good or bad, based on his 2007 work. Some were saying he would better off working on things in the minors. While far from perfect, he had a 2.16 ERA prior to those five games. And while a reliever's ERA can be misleading, Chamberlain had been decent.

Brian Cashman needs to work the phones for sure though. This is much of the same pen that won a title last year, but that was because Phil Hughes was added and David Robertson emerged.

Chan Ho Park is garbage. I can't say that enough times. One good year in the NL does not make a solid AL reliever. Mitre and Gaudin are mediocre. Marte is downright scary. Even Mariano isn't as reliable these days, but I do believe that is a physical issue that is not completely healed. Mariano is the man and will still go out there whether his cutter is biting or not.

Throw it all away and come back tomorrow and win..especially since we will be there.

Notes

Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano continued their torrid streaks. Though Swisher, representing the tying run, struck out to the end the game, he had three more hits, a walk, a ribbie and two runs scored.

Cano was 3-4 with 3 RBI and a run scored as well. He's 10-16 over the last four games.

photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports

The Daily Yankeeland - 5/5

The Yankees are enjoying a beautiful day off today before starting a 3-game series with the Cleveland Indians at the Stadium. The Tribe took 2 of 3 last week when the two teams met at the "Jake".

Andy Pettitte faces Fausto Carmona on Tuesday. That will be followed by a match up of two hot pitchers, Chien-Ming Wang and Cliff Lee on Wednesday night. On Thursday, the series wraps up with a pair of wily veterans as Mike Mussina opposes Paul Byrd.

Kyle Farnsworth will have his 3-game suspension appeal heard on Tuesday. You would think they would do it on the Yankees day off.

Mike Puma of the NY Post has a piece on the coming of age of Melky Cabrera.

Johnny Damon has reached base in 19 straight games, the longest streak this season.

Jason Giambi has worn his pant legs high the past two days, a la Doug Mienkiewicz, but says he'll only give it more game to try to turn his luck. Perhaps if he would stop pulling every pitch that might help too.

The Daily Yankeeland - 5/5

The Yankees are enjoying a beautiful day off today before starting a 3-game series with the Cleveland Indians at the Stadium. The Tribe took 2 of 3 last week when the two teams met at the "Jake".

Andy Pettitte faces Fausto Carmona on Tuesday. That will be followed by a match up of two hot pitchers, Chien-Ming Wang and Cliff Lee on Wednesday night. On Thursday, the series wraps up with a pair of wily veterans as Mike Mussina opposes Paul Byrd.

Kyle Farnsworth will have his 3-game suspension appeal heard on Tuesday. You would think they would do it on the Yankees day off.

Mike Puma of the NY Post has a piece on the coming of age of Melky Cabrera.

Johnny Damon has reached base in 19 straight games, the longest streak this season.

Jason Giambi has worn his pant legs high the past two days, a la Doug Mienkiewicz, but says he'll only give it more game to try to turn his luck. Perhaps if he would stop pulling every pitch that might help too.

FOURRRRRRRRR!

The Yankees held off the Cleveland Indians today, 5-3, to pull within 4 games of the Boston Red Sox. Shortly after Mariano Rivera closed out the Tribe for his 18th consecutive game, the Orioles' Miguel Tejada hit a game tying home run off of Eric Gagne. In the 10th, the former king of the Red Sox idiots, made them wish he was still there. Kevin Millar hit a walk-off 3-run HR off of Kyle Snyder to give the O's the win. But back to the Yankees.

The Yankees pitching staff held the Indians to 6 runs in the 3 games, and today it was Andy Pettitte dazzling a slumping Cleveland lineup. He and Jake Westbrook were locked in a scoreless duel until the 4th when Jason Giambi hit a laser into the right field seats, with a man aboard, for a 2-0 Yankees lead. It was Giambi's 9th home run and his in 3 at-bats, going back to his pinch-hit appearance on Saturday.

Robinson Cano continued his torrid hitting with 3 more singles, including an RBI base hit in the 6th. In the 7th, Melky Cabrera extended his career high hitting streak to 18 games with a solo HR, his 8th.


The Indians rallied against Pettitte in the bottom of the 7th with no one out, but Pettitte picked Jhonny Peralta off of 1st, retired Jason Michaels on a sac fly out, and got Chris Gomez to ground out to end the inning. A potentially huge inning turned into a 1 run frame.

Mariano Rivera relieved Luis Vizcaino in the 8th and had a shaky 9th before ending the game. Mo gave up 3 straight hits including an RBI double by Franklin Guitierrez that put the tying runs in scoring position. But Mo struck out Asdrubel Cabrera and Grady Sizemore, and retired Casey Blake on a game ending fly out to Bobby Abreu in right.

...

Ron Guidry was ejected in the 8th inning by home plate ump Tim McLelland for arguing balls and strikes.

FOURRRRRRRRR!

The Yankees held off the Cleveland Indians today, 5-3, to pull within 4 games of the Boston Red Sox. Shortly after Mariano Rivera closed out the Tribe for his 18th consecutive game, the Orioles' Miguel Tejada hit a game tying home run off of Eric Gagne. In the 10th, the former king of the Red Sox idiots, made them wish he was still there. Kevin Millar hit a walk-off 3-run HR off of Kyle Snyder to give the O's the win. But back to the Yankees.

The Yankees pitching staff held the Indians to 6 runs in the 3 games, and today it was Andy Pettitte dazzling a slumping Cleveland lineup. He and Jake Westbrook were locked in a scoreless duel until the 4th when Jason Giambi hit a laser into the right field seats, with a man aboard, for a 2-0 Yankees lead. It was Giambi's 9th home run and his in 3 at-bats, going back to his pinch-hit appearance on Saturday.

Robinson Cano continued his torrid hitting with 3 more singles, including an RBI base hit in the 6th. In the 7th, Melky Cabrera extended his career high hitting streak to 18 games with a solo HR, his 8th.


The Indians rallied against Pettitte in the bottom of the 7th with no one out, but Pettitte picked Jhonny Peralta off of 1st, retired Jason Michaels on a sac fly out, and got Chris Gomez to ground out to end the inning. A potentially huge inning turned into a 1 run frame.

Mariano Rivera relieved Luis Vizcaino in the 8th and had a shaky 9th before ending the game. Mo gave up 3 straight hits including an RBI double by Franklin Guitierrez that put the tying runs in scoring position. But Mo struck out Asdrubel Cabrera and Grady Sizemore, and retired Casey Blake on a game ending fly out to Bobby Abreu in right.

...

Ron Guidry was ejected in the 8th inning by home plate ump Tim McLelland for arguing balls and strikes.

Today's Lineups (8/12)

Pettitte vs. Westbrook

YANKEES

Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Cano 2B
Phillips 1B
Molina C

INDIANS

Sizemore CF
Blake DH
Martinez C
Garko 1B
Peralta SS
Michaels LF
Gomez 3B
Gutierrez RF
Cabrera 2B

Today's Lineups (8/12)

Pettitte vs. Westbrook

YANKEES

Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Cano 2B
Phillips 1B
Molina C

INDIANS

Sizemore CF
Blake DH
Martinez C
Garko 1B
Peralta SS
Michaels LF
Gomez 3B
Gutierrez RF
Cabrera 2B

Young and Old Alike

The focus has been on the Yankees bats during their 21-6 streak since the All-Star break, but the starting pitching has been just as important. That was the case in the first two games of this weekend's series with the Indians. The young guns, Phil Hughes, using a nasty curveball, and Joba Chamberlain, with his filthy slider, dominated the slumping Indians for 8 Indians. Yesterday it was the old man, though young in comparison to Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina who threw his best outing of the season in a dominant performance.

Friday night, Hughes (2-1) shook off poor start against the Royals last Sunday and gave Joe Torre 6 solid innings. He allowed 1 run while striking out 6. Chamberlain then came in, with a fastball that topped out at 99 mph, and retired all 6 men he faced. With 4 strikeouts, Chamberlain has 6 in 4 innings pitched. Oh, in case the Indians hoped to rally in the 9th, Mariano Rivera came in for a non-save situation to close things out in a Yankees 6-1 win.

Last night was vintage Moose (8-7) as the Yankees romped 11-2. He threw 89 pitches, an amazing 69 of which were strikes. He gave up 2 runs in 7.2 innings, but it would have been 1 run had Johnny Damon not misplayed a ball in left field. It was Moose's 100th career victory as a Yankee and the 247th of his career. He became only the 9th player to win 100 games with 2 different teams, and the first Yankees pitcher to accomplish that feat.

Of course, let us not forget the offense. Alex Rodriguez started the scoring on Friday with a 410-ft blast to centerfield. His 37th of the season and #501. He topped himself on Saturday with a pair of 2-run blasts, giving him 39 and 503 respectively.

Derek Jeter had 3 hits in both games, and with a .388 average, has the best average among all hitters with at least 100 at-bats at Jacobs Field.

With a base hit in both ball games, Melky Cabrera extended his career high hitting streak to 16 games.

Jorge Posada sat out both games with a stiff neck, but Jose Molina filled in nicely, including rapping out a career 4 hits on Saturday.

At one point last night, Robinson Cano had 46 hits in last 100 at-bats. In the 30 games since the All-Star break, he's batting .416 with 7 HRs and 28 RBI.

Joe Torre plans on using Jason Giambi as the DH today, so he put him in for one at-bat last night. Giambi promptly crushed his 8th HR of the season, a moonshot that rose above the upper deck before settling down below.

The Indians honored the late, great Larry Doby on Friday night. Doby was the 1st African-American ball player to play in the American League. Every Indians player wore Doby's number 14.

Joe Torre served his one game suspension, for the bean brawl in Toronto, on Friday night and Don Mattingly filled in nicely. He looked quite comfortable in Torre's chair during post-game interviews. Torre watched the game up in the press box with NBA coach Mike Fratello.

Young and Old Alike

The focus has been on the Yankees bats during their 21-6 streak since the All-Star break, but the starting pitching has been just as important. That was the case in the first two games of this weekend's series with the Indians. The young guns, Phil Hughes, using a nasty curveball, and Joba Chamberlain, with his filthy slider, dominated the slumping Indians for 8 Indians. Yesterday it was the old man, though young in comparison to Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina who threw his best outing of the season in a dominant performance.

Friday night, Hughes (2-1) shook off poor start against the Royals last Sunday and gave Joe Torre 6 solid innings. He allowed 1 run while striking out 6. Chamberlain then came in, with a fastball that topped out at 99 mph, and retired all 6 men he faced. With 4 strikeouts, Chamberlain has 6 in 4 innings pitched. Oh, in case the Indians hoped to rally in the 9th, Mariano Rivera came in for a non-save situation to close things out in a Yankees 6-1 win.

Last night was vintage Moose (8-7) as the Yankees romped 11-2. He threw 89 pitches, an amazing 69 of which were strikes. He gave up 2 runs in 7.2 innings, but it would have been 1 run had Johnny Damon not misplayed a ball in left field. It was Moose's 100th career victory as a Yankee and the 247th of his career. He became only the 9th player to win 100 games with 2 different teams, and the first Yankees pitcher to accomplish that feat.

Of course, let us not forget the offense. Alex Rodriguez started the scoring on Friday with a 410-ft blast to centerfield. His 37th of the season and #501. He topped himself on Saturday with a pair of 2-run blasts, giving him 39 and 503 respectively.

Derek Jeter had 3 hits in both games, and with a .388 average, has the best average among all hitters with at least 100 at-bats at Jacobs Field.

With a base hit in both ball games, Melky Cabrera extended his career high hitting streak to 16 games.

Jorge Posada sat out both games with a stiff neck, but Jose Molina filled in nicely, including rapping out a career 4 hits on Saturday.

At one point last night, Robinson Cano had 46 hits in last 100 at-bats. In the 30 games since the All-Star break, he's batting .416 with 7 HRs and 28 RBI.

Joe Torre plans on using Jason Giambi as the DH today, so he put him in for one at-bat last night. Giambi promptly crushed his 8th HR of the season, a moonshot that rose above the upper deck before settling down below.

The Indians honored the late, great Larry Doby on Friday night. Doby was the 1st African-American ball player to play in the American League. Every Indians player wore Doby's number 14.

Joe Torre served his one game suspension, for the bean brawl in Toronto, on Friday night and Don Mattingly filled in nicely. He looked quite comfortable in Torre's chair during post-game interviews. Torre watched the game up in the press box with NBA coach Mike Fratello.

Weekend Series Looms Large

The Yankees head to Cleveland for a big 3 game series with the Centreal Division leading Indians. The Tribe entered today's action, 1/2 game ahead of the Detroit Tigers.

Pitching Probables

Friday - Phil Hughes vs. Fausto Carmona
Really looking forward to this one. Dr. Phil Good has all our expectations quite high and Carmona is a young star on the rise.

Saturday - Mike Mussina vs. Paul Byrd
The kids on Friday, the old farts on Saturday

Sunday - Andy Pettitte vs. Jake Westbrook
The Yankees need Pettitte to keep going smoothly.

A little bit more on the recently completed Blue Jays series. Brian Butterfield complained about take out slides at 2nd Base from Johnny Damon (Monday) and Shelley Duncan (Tuesday). Considering the Blue Jays threw at A-Rod on Monday, and again on Tuesday, you've got no room to say word one.

And how about Josh Towers. What has this little sh*t done in the majors to mouth off about Tony Pena. Pena was one of the best, grittiest catchers in baseball. We don't know his reasoning for leaving KC as manager, but Towers should be eating a fastball sandwich for his remarks.

"I heard somebody chirping when I was talking to Lyle (Overbay) and I didn't think it was Alex and I asked who it was," said Towers. "And Tony Pena is running his mouth and I was like, 'What's this guy running his mouth for? This dude is a quitter, he managed a team and quit in the middle of the season because he couldn't hack it. He's going to run his mouth to me?' So I ended up getting into it with Alex a second time."

Some credit to the Jays' Alex Rios. He took a Roger Clemens fastball between the shoulder blades, and though pissed, went right to 1st Base. Perhaps he realized his pitched screwed up.

Joba Chamberlain had a successful debut Tuesday night. His fastball was consistently clocked at 96 mph and he had a nasty slider that he struck 2 hiters out with. The biggest surprise was seeing him shake off Jorge Posada several times. It was also nice to see the game ending double play. He doesn't just have to blow hitters away...not that there is anything wrong with that.

Weekend Series Looms Large

The Yankees head to Cleveland for a big 3 game series with the Centreal Division leading Indians. The Tribe entered today's action, 1/2 game ahead of the Detroit Tigers.

Pitching Probables

Friday - Phil Hughes vs. Fausto Carmona
Really looking forward to this one. Dr. Phil Good has all our expectations quite high and Carmona is a young star on the rise.

Saturday - Mike Mussina vs. Paul Byrd
The kids on Friday, the old farts on Saturday

Sunday - Andy Pettitte vs. Jake Westbrook
The Yankees need Pettitte to keep going smoothly.

A little bit more on the recently completed Blue Jays series. Brian Butterfield complained about take out slides at 2nd Base from Johnny Damon (Monday) and Shelley Duncan (Tuesday). Considering the Blue Jays threw at A-Rod on Monday, and again on Tuesday, you've got no room to say word one.

And how about Josh Towers. What has this little sh*t done in the majors to mouth off about Tony Pena. Pena was one of the best, grittiest catchers in baseball. We don't know his reasoning for leaving KC as manager, but Towers should be eating a fastball sandwich for his remarks.

"I heard somebody chirping when I was talking to Lyle (Overbay) and I didn't think it was Alex and I asked who it was," said Towers. "And Tony Pena is running his mouth and I was like, 'What's this guy running his mouth for? This dude is a quitter, he managed a team and quit in the middle of the season because he couldn't hack it. He's going to run his mouth to me?' So I ended up getting into it with Alex a second time."

Some credit to the Jays' Alex Rios. He took a Roger Clemens fastball between the shoulder blades, and though pissed, went right to 1st Base. Perhaps he realized his pitched screwed up.

Joba Chamberlain had a successful debut Tuesday night. His fastball was consistently clocked at 96 mph and he had a nasty slider that he struck 2 hiters out with. The biggest surprise was seeing him shake off Jorge Posada several times. It was also nice to see the game ending double play. He doesn't just have to blow hitters away...not that there is anything wrong with that.

A-Rod Walks Off a Hero...AGAIN

Down 6-2 with 2 out in the 9th today, a Yankees comeback against the Indians seemed improbable.

Then Josh Phelps hit a solo HR

Then Jorge Posada singled

Then Johnny Damon walked

Then Derek Jeter singled in a run

Then Bobby Abreu singled in a run

And then it happened..again. Alex Rodriguez belted a walk-off 3-run HR to CF, well over 400 ft., and the Yankees had themselves an 8-6 win.

I'm still stunned by it.

Sean Henn gets the win in relief. Jason Giambi also homered.


More later.

A-Rod Walks Off a Hero...AGAIN

Down 6-2 with 2 out in the 9th today, a Yankees comeback against the Indians seemed improbable.

Then Josh Phelps hit a solo HR

Then Jorge Posada singled

Then Johnny Damon walked

Then Derek Jeter singled in a run

Then Bobby Abreu singled in a run

And then it happened..again. Alex Rodriguez belted a walk-off 3-run HR to CF, well over 400 ft., and the Yankees had themselves an 8-6 win.

I'm still stunned by it.

Sean Henn gets the win in relief. Jason Giambi also homered.


More later.

Yankees vs. Indians Preview (4/19)

Day Baseball in the Bronx - 1:00




Fausto Carmona 0-1, 12.46



vs.



Darrell Rasner 0-1, 4.66



LINEUPS

Indians

CF Sizemore
LF Dellucci
DH Hafner
C Martinez
1B Garko
3B Blake
2B Peralta
2B Rouse
RF Michaels

Yankees

CF Damon
SS Jeter
RF Abreu
3B Rodriguez
DH Giambi
2B Cano
LF Cabrera
1B Mientkiewicz
C Nieves


Carmon has entered 3 games in relief against the Yankees and pitched to a 2.70 ERA. He had a tryout as the heir apparent to closer Bob Wickman last year, but failed miserably.

This is Rasner's 1st appearance against the Tribe.

Yankees vs. Indians Preview (4/19)

Day Baseball in the Bronx - 1:00




Fausto Carmona 0-1, 12.46



vs.



Darrell Rasner 0-1, 4.66



LINEUPS

Indians

CF Sizemore
LF Dellucci
DH Hafner
C Martinez
1B Garko
3B Blake
2B Peralta
2B Rouse
RF Michaels

Yankees

CF Damon
SS Jeter
RF Abreu
3B Rodriguez
DH Giambi
2B Cano
LF Cabrera
1B Mientkiewicz
C Nieves


Carmon has entered 3 games in relief against the Yankees and pitched to a 2.70 ERA. He had a tryout as the heir apparent to closer Bob Wickman last year, but failed miserably.

This is Rasner's 1st appearance against the Tribe.

Gettin' Iggy wit it

The Yankees continued to take their road trip frustrations out on the Cleveland Indians tonight. One night after battering Jake Westbrook, the Bombers singled and double Jeremy Sowers to an early shower. Better than that, Kei Igawa had his best performance of the season, with 6 very good innings.

The Yankees started early with a lead off walk to Johnny Damon and a wind blown double by Derek Jeter, the first of his 3 hits on the night. Bobby Abreu's sac fly brought home Damon for a 1-0 lead.

The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the 3rd, but the Yankees bounced right back and bounced Sowers in the process. Jeter started it with career double #350, and came home on Abreu's single. AfterAlex Rodriguez hit into a force out, Jason Giambi put the Yankees ahead for good with an RBI double. Robinson Cano, Josh Phelps, and Damon each added RBI singles for a 5-run inning.

Igawa threw 92 pitches, 62 for strikes, in allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, with a walk and 5 strikeouts. He had his best control of the regular season in doing so. The bullpen continued to excel as well, with Scott Proctor, Sean Henn, and Chris Britton each tossing a scoreless frame.

The offense decided to add some more as well. A-Rod continued his torrid April with a 2-run HR, his 9th, in the 6th inning. Giambi followed with a solo shot (3) of his own for back to back blasts.

~~~

A-Rod has had a hit in all 13 games played and leads the majors in RBI with 23, in addition to HRs. The RBI record for April of 29 is well within his reach.

Entering the game, the Yankees bullpen had the 2nd best ERA (2.39) in the AL, 2nd only to Cleveland (2.32).

Chien-Ming Wang is scheduled to throw for Tampa tomorrow, and hopefully will be activated from the DL early next week. Hideki Matsui is very close to starting a rehab assignment as well.

Gettin' Iggy wit it

The Yankees continued to take their road trip frustrations out on the Cleveland Indians tonight. One night after battering Jake Westbrook, the Bombers singled and double Jeremy Sowers to an early shower. Better than that, Kei Igawa had his best performance of the season, with 6 very good innings.

The Yankees started early with a lead off walk to Johnny Damon and a wind blown double by Derek Jeter, the first of his 3 hits on the night. Bobby Abreu's sac fly brought home Damon for a 1-0 lead.

The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the 3rd, but the Yankees bounced right back and bounced Sowers in the process. Jeter started it with career double #350, and came home on Abreu's single. AfterAlex Rodriguez hit into a force out, Jason Giambi put the Yankees ahead for good with an RBI double. Robinson Cano, Josh Phelps, and Damon each added RBI singles for a 5-run inning.

Igawa threw 92 pitches, 62 for strikes, in allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, with a walk and 5 strikeouts. He had his best control of the regular season in doing so. The bullpen continued to excel as well, with Scott Proctor, Sean Henn, and Chris Britton each tossing a scoreless frame.

The offense decided to add some more as well. A-Rod continued his torrid April with a 2-run HR, his 9th, in the 6th inning. Giambi followed with a solo shot (3) of his own for back to back blasts.

~~~

A-Rod has had a hit in all 13 games played and leads the majors in RBI with 23, in addition to HRs. The RBI record for April of 29 is well within his reach.

Entering the game, the Yankees bullpen had the 2nd best ERA (2.39) in the AL, 2nd only to Cleveland (2.32).

Chien-Ming Wang is scheduled to throw for Tampa tomorrow, and hopefully will be activated from the DL early next week. Hideki Matsui is very close to starting a rehab assignment as well.

Yankees vs. Indians Preview (4/18)

7:05 Start Time



Jeremy Sowers 0-0, 2.08



vs.



Kei Igawa 0-0, 7.84




LINEUPS

Indians

CF Sizemore
RF Michaels
DH Hafner
1B Garko
3B Blake
SS Peralta
LF Dellucci
2B Barfield
C Shoppach

Yankees

CF Damon
SS Jeter
RF Abreu
3B A-Rod
DH Giambi
C Posada
2B Cano
1B Phelps
LF Melky


Sowers beat the Yankees last year in his only career appearance against them. He allowed 2 runs over 7 innings. Both runs came off the bat of a Jason Giambi HR.