RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling hows bout those yankees for 2007 - cuz no other team matters

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PJP said:
this is the wrestling forum Rob....please stay on topic.

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Whoops. I mean:

Pitching in his second game after coming off the disabled list with a left hamstring strain, Mike Mussina threw six innings of three-hit ball, leading the Yankees to a 6-2 win over the Rangers on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. The win brought the Yankees back to the .500 mark at 16-16.
Mussina allowed two runs in the third inning, including a home run to Brad Wilkerson, but otherwise held the Rangers scoreless. Michael Young hit an RBI groundout to account for Texas' other run in Mussina's 85-pitch outing.

Derek Jeter led the Yankees offense with two hits and three RBIs, and Johnny Damon scored twice as the Yankees piled on Texas starter Robinson Tejeda for six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

The first four Yankees batters of the game reached base and scored, and backup catcher Wil Nieves got his first hit of the 2007 season in the sixth inning -- his first in the Major Leagues since 2002 with the Padres.

After Mussina threw the first six innings, the Yankees called upon Brian Bruney, Mike Myers and Scott Proctor to get through the seventh. Kyle Farnsworth pitched the eighth inning, and Mariano Rivera finished it off in the ninth as the Yankees defeated the Rangers for the fifth time in as many games this season and the eighth straight time dating back to last year.

Rookie Tyler Clippard splashed onto the Subway Series scene with aplomb, firing six innings of one-run ball and helping the Yankees salvage a 6-2 victory over the crosstown rival Mets on Sunday night at Shea Stadium.
Clippard, a 22-year-old right-hander, made his Major League debut in style. Summoned from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and added to the Yankees' roster before the game, Clippard limited the potent Mets lineup to three hits and struck out six in a 95-pitch performance, his only blemish being a second-inning home run by David Wright.

The Yankees' supported Clippard's first turn on the big stage with a strong showing against Mets right-hander John Maine, who was bounced after five innings.

After leaving five runners on through the first three innings, the Yankees cracked through with four runs in the fourth inning. Maine offered walks to Bobby Abreu and Doug Mientkiewicz before Johnny Damon came through with a bloop double to right-center field in front of diving right fielder Shawn Green, scoring the Yankees' first two runs.

Derek Jeter followed with his third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left and his second in as many games. In the fifth inning, Jorge Posada also homered for the second straight game, reaching Maine, who allowed five runs and eight hits, for a solo blast to right. Alex Rodriguez clubbed his Major League-leading 17th home run off Ambiorix Burgos in the seventh inning to provide insurance.

Clippard also proved to be no slouch with the bat. He dropped down a successful sacrifice bunt in the third inning and even added his first Major League hit in the victory, stroking a one-out double to right-center field off reliever Scott Schoeneweis in the sixth.

Ron Guidry's greeting was mixed as Chien-Ming Wang walked out of the shower on Monday night, fresh off a victorious evening of work against the Red Sox.

On one hand, the pitching coach said he was pleased -- especially since the Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 6-2, to take the opener of a three-game series. But Wang sensed frustration, stemming from the three walks he'd allowed while testing out a new soft-tossing style.

"You're not too happy," Wang told Guidry, who responded in the affirmative.

But as Wang went lighter on his trademark sinker and trusted his developing changeup and slider more, offering a new look to the Red Sox, the experiment came away with mostly positive results.

Alex Rodriguez clubbed his Major League-leading 18th home run, Jason Giambi homered, Johnny Damon had three hits and Robinson Cano added a two-run triple to blast the Yankees past Boston and starter Tim Wakefield.

Wang made one start against the Red Sox earlier this season, an April 29 effort at Yankee Stadium, and came away dissatisfied concerning how the potent lineup had pounced on him for four runs in six innings.

"It's not an easy club for him to pitch to," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Thus, the plan was hatched to soften things up the second time around. With catcher Jorge Posada calling the shots in a renewed approach, Wang discovered that he could work around the sinker, retiring the leadoff batter in each of the seven innings he started. Lesson learned.

"I can get a lot of guys out [with the new style]," said Wang, who improved to 3-4 in eight career starts against Boston.

Giving the Red Sox a new look for a night was one thing for Wang, who held the offensive output to two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five. But anyone expecting Wang to completely abandon his bowling ball-esque sinker -- as Guidry is fond of comparing it -- may have a long wait in store.

"It gives him more ammunition," said Torre. "He certainly has a variety of stuff, but his bread and butter is the sinker. We're not going to get away from that."

With Wakefield struggling to find the touch of his trademark knuckleball, Wang would soon have plenty of backing as he continued to see what his pitches could and could not do against the division's top team.

Rodriguez extended his Major League home run lead in the first inning, pouncing on the first pitch he saw for a two-run shot to deep left. It was the third consecutive game with a home run for Rodriguez, who slugged 14 in April to tie a big-league record and appears to be "back," according to Torre.

"I feel very comfortable," Rodriguez said. "It's frustrating, because you'd like to do something every at-bat, but I do feel more comfortable."

Back in the lineup after missing three starts due to a bone spur and plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Giambi led off the second inning with a solo home run to the upper deck in right field. He'd also later score from first base on a three-base hit, testing his orthotic inserts and reporting no issues.

"I never really felt like it was a matter of my swing," Giambi said. "I just felt like I couldn't push off. Every time I'd turn on that back foot, it'd feel like it'd just tear in half. It was kind of nice to swing and run the bases a little bit and not feel a ton of pain."

Derek Jeter added an RBI double off Wakefield, who has given the Yankees periodic fits over the years but provided no such headaches on Monday.

"This ballclub had a real good feel to it today," Torre said. "They felt real good about themselves."

Cano opened the floodgates in the fifth inning with a two-run triple off Wakefield, who allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings. The veteran right-hander walked five and struck out two before heading to the clubhouse, soon to be saddled with his fifth loss.

The victory would be big for the Yankees, Jeter said, if only because every game at this point is. Jeter facetiously said that even if the Yankees were playing a high school team and not their arch rivals, the game would be vital.

"You can't keep saying it's early," Jeter said. "You've got to come out ready to win."

Making his sixth start of the season, Wang flexed his control of the Red Sox early. The right-hander wriggled out of two-out jams in the first two innings before settling in, retiring eight of nine batters before surrendering back-to-back doubles to Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz in the fifth, accounting for Boston's first run.

Wang scattered seven hits, walking three and striking out five, before finally running out of steam in the seventh. The right-hander left to a standing ovation after allowing a one-out double to Youkilis.

Ortiz reached left-hander Mike Myers for a sacrifice fly, scoring Julio Lugo, but right-hander Brian Bruney struck out Manny Ramirez looking to end the inning.

The Yankees escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth as Scott Proctor got Lugo to ground out on a deft play by Cano, who flipped the ball to second base for a fielder's choice and averted an oncoming disaster in the making.

"We don't have the luxury to throw games away," Rodriguez explained it.

Kyle Farnsworth recorded three outs in the ninth inning for the Yankees, who recorded their second straight victory after losing seven of their previous nine games. Giambi described the ensuing mood of the clubhouse as positive.

"The one great thing about this team is that we have a lot of veteran players," Giambi said. "They've been upbeat, trying to know that we can dig our way out of this hole. We've had a lot of fight. It hasn't been like we haven't been in games. We just haven't gotten over the hump."

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Joe Mama said:
Retarded LL Cool J wants his strawberry Quik, please.



Oh, and he needs his bike helmet.

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Captain Sammitch said:
Remember the days when that news wouldn't have even elicited a reaction?

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oh its true....

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Rob Kamphausen said:
nah, the reaction used to be: " " ( plus x a brazillion ) from every other team.

and jla'd say "theeee $$$yankee$$$ win! "

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Rob Kamphausen said:
nah, the reaction used to be: " " ( plus x a brazillion ) from every other team.

and jla'd say "theeee $$$yankee$$$ win! "

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How does it feel to know that Boston OWNS you, Bobo?

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Captain Sammitch said:
Remember the days when that news wouldn't have even elicited a reaction?

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Rob Kamphausen said:
looks like you were right all along!

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Boston 11, NY Yankees 6

Preview - Box Score - Recap

By JIMMY GOLEN, AP Sports Writer
June 2, 2007

BOSTON (AP) -- Mike Lowell dished out the big hits -- with his body and his bat.

Lowell homered to start a Red Sox comeback and also flattened two Yankees in a pair of basepath collisions on Saturday as Boston beat New York 11-6. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was taken from the field on a cart after banging his head on Lowell's hip while trying to one-hop a bad throw from shortstop Derek Jeter.

"That was like a football game," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "I think everybody leaves these games just mentally and physically exhausted. Just a lot of hard baseball."

The Yankees scored four in the sixth inning to take a 5-3 lead, but Boston tied it in the bottom half on back-to-back homers by Lowell and Jason Varitek. Jeter homered in the seventh to give New York the lead before committing errors on consecutive plays during Boston's five-run seventh.

The Red Sox loaded the bases with nobody out against Scott Proctor (0-3) before Lowell hit a grounder to second. Robinson Cano flipped to second for the force, but Jeter spun around and threw an 85-footer that Mientkiewicz tried to backhand on the outfield side of the bag.

As his momentum pulled him into the baseline, Lowell ran through the base and sent Mientkiewicz sprawling. The ball bounced off his glove and into foul territory as Manny Ramirez scampered home with the second -- and go-ahead -- run.

"It seemed like every time we scored, they scored some runs," Jeter said. "And I didn't help them."

Mientkiewicz remained on the ground for several minutes while the Yankees' medical staff attended to him, testing his vision and his reaction; Lowell stood nearby in obvious concern. Mientkiewicz, a defensive replacement who gloved the final out in Boston's 2004 World Series victory, was helped into a golf cart and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Tests on Saturday night revealed a mild concussion, cervical sprain and a fractured bone in his right wrist. He will be kept overnight for observation and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to Sunday's game, the team said.

"I feel bad for Doug. You don't want anything like that to happen," said Lowell, who played against Mientkiewicz in high school and worked out with him in the offseason. "He knows me well enough. ... I wanted to say something, but they were being so careful."

Dustin Pedroia had three hits for Boston for the second consecutive game, and Hideki Okajima (1-0) retired all four batters he faced for his first major league victory. Kevin Youkilis, who came in with a 23-game hitting streak, was the only Red Sox starter who didn't get a hit; he drew a walk in the eighth to end the streak.

Melky Cabrera went 3-for-4 with a homer, and Jorge Posada hit a three-run shot for the Yankees, who fell back to 13 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL East race.

"Our ballclub is in great spirits right now. We wish we had a seventh inning we could do over again," Torre said. "We're fighting now. We haven't been through this in a while."

Help isn't coming any time soon: Pitcher-for-hire Roger Clemens was scratched from Monday's start against Chicago because of groin fatigue.

It's not clear when the 44-year-old, seven-time Cy Young winner, who signed for a prorated $28 million, will make his 2007 debut. Red Sox fans taunted the Yankees in the ninth with a chant of "Where is Roger?"

A night after Lowell took a pitch off his left wrist -- one of five hit batsman in the game -- he had three hits and four RBIs. He was also involved in a little basepath payback in the fourth when he slammed his right shoulder -- and a little bit of his elbow -- into Cano in an attempt to break up a double play.

Cano bounced the ball to first as he fell to the dirt, just getting Varitek at first.

"I never had a problem with him before," Cano said. "Today he threw his elbow."

But Torre said it was a clean play. Lowell, who spent his first four professional seasons in the Yankees organization, insisted he meant no harm.

"They taught me how to do it," he said.

Proctor allowed five runs -- two of them earned -- on three hits and three walks, two of them intentional. He also coughed up the lead in Mike Mussina's previous start.

Both Mussina and Red Sox starter Curt Schilling struggled after a 29-minute rain delay in the fourth inning. Neither made it out of the sixth.

"The rain delay didn't help," Francona said. "Didn't help Schilling; didn't help Mussina."

Notes

Posada has 205 career homers, tying Dave Winfield for ninth on the Yankees all-time list. ... The Red Sox reached 1 million in attendance in their 28th home game, tying last season's franchise record for quickest to the mark. ... Mussina is winless in four starts. ... J.D. Drew was out of the lineup with a right hamstring strain.

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Chi White Sox 6, NY Yankees 4


Preview - Box Score - Recap

By ANDREW SELIGMAN, AP Sports Writer
June 5, 2007

CHICAGO (AP) -- The Rocket was nowhere in sight. Matt DeSalvo was there in his place -- but not for long.

DeSalvo got knocked out early, then knocked right back to the minors after the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 6-4 on Monday night. As for Roger Clemens, the Yankees aren't concerned about when he will make his 2007 debut.

It is expected to happen Saturday against Pittsburgh.

A more immediate issue is restoring the good vibe they created over the weekend, which got washed away by Jon Garland's pitching and a three-run second inning that chased DeSalvo all the way back to Triple-A.

DeSalvo, starting because Clemens pushed back his 2007 debut after experiencing some groin pain, left with one out in the second after the White Sox scored three times to take a 3-1 lead.

"Obviously, Roger can go out there and shut them down, but we'll wait for Roger," Johnny Damon said.

Garland (4-3) pitched into the ninth inning, allowing seven hits while striking out three and walking three for Chicago, which won for just the second time in nine games.

Jim Thome hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, and Paul Konerko added a solo shot in the seventh. Konerko and Tadahito Iguchi had three hits each.

"I guarantee there's no team in the central that's counting us out," Garland said. "I feel we can go out and pull off a streak, and win 10 in a row or ten out of twelve and be right back where we need to be."

DeSalvo (1-3) simply didn't have it, and the defense didn't help.

DeSalvo allowed three runs -- two earned -- on four hits after being recalled from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier in the day. He walked one batter and hit Rob Mackowiak after Konerko led off the second with a single.

After Juan Uribe singled to load the bases, Joe Crede sent a slow roller toward third baseman Alex Rodriguez -- who stepped on the base but bounced the throw to first. Konerko scored the first run, and the second one came in when first baseman Josh Phelps threw the ball into left field trying to start a double play on Jerry Owens' grounder.

Iguchi then drove in Crede with a single to right-center that made it 3-0, and Yankees manager Joe Torre decided he had seen enough of DeSalvo.

"We're asking him to do something he may not be ready to do just yet," Torre said. "You've got to sort of give him a pass, even though when you pitch at this level, expectations are higher. In all fairness to him, he certainly didn't figure in our plans."

So he gets a pass back to the minors.

"I belong here, I think," DeSalvo said. "I just need to get myself situated, get my pitches back. ... Some days, you just don't have your best stuff."

Thome made it 5-1 when he hit the 480th homer of his career and his eighth this season. Konerko added his eighth with one out in the seventh.

The Yankees rallied in the ninth, getting an RBI single from Phelps to make it 6-2. Bobby Jenks came on to close and gave up a sacrifice fly to Melky Cabrera, scoring Robinson Cano, and in infield single to Damon that scored Miguel Cairo. Jenks then got Derek Jeter to ground out for his 16th save in 17 chances.

For the Yankees, the only good news came on the medical front.

Clemens' MRI exam on Monday in Tampa, Fla., revealed some disrupted scar tissue -- nothing that should prevent The Rocket from starting Saturday. And Andy Pettitte felt better after leaving Sunday's start with a stiff lower back. He expects to pitch Friday against the Pirates.

Chicago was looking for a jolt after going 1-6 on a trip to Minnesota and Toronto, so manager Ozzie Guillen dropped Konerko to sixth and Crede to ninth in the batting order.

"We've been scraping and battling," Konerko said. "We haven't exactly broke out yet. There's been some games here and there. We scored some runs. We know it's a big hole to dig out of, but we can't be that bad for that long, so sooner or later we've gotta bust out."

Notes

Yankees RHP Carl Pavano is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Tuesday. ... The Yankees placed 1B Doug Mientkiewicz on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured right wrist. ... The White Sox shook up their struggling bullpen Monday, optioning Mike MacDougal and David Aardsma to Triple-A Charlotte while purchasing the contracts of pitchers Ryan Bukvich and Bret Prinz from the minor league club. They also transferred utility player Pablo Ozuna from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list. He has a fracture in his lower right leg and a shoulder injury.


Updated on Tuesday, Jun 5, 2007 12:04 am EDT

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