George Steinbrenner celebrated his 77th birthday on Wednesday, but the Yankees couldn't present him with a win.
Jason Kubel broke a 2-2 in the seventh with a two-run Yankee Stadium homer and Johan Santana pitched seven solid innings as the Twins dropped the Yanks 6-2 on a gray, drizzly July 4th in the Bronx.
The Good:
Hideki Matsui. Godzilla has been slumping, but he entered the game with great numbers against Santana (.385 average) and those stats stayed true to form. Matsui evened the score at 1-1 in the second with his 9th homer of the season. He finished 1 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and drove in his 47th run of the year.
The Bad:
Mike Mussina. Mussina didn't pitch poorly, but the Yankees need wins and Mussina couldn't deliver. The Moose gave up an unearned run in the first and pitched well until the seventh when he gave up a two-run homer to Jason Kubel which gave the Twins a 4-2 advantage. All in all, it wasn't a horrible day for Mussina, but he just wasn't good enough. The Moose's totals: 6+ IP, 5 H, 4 (3 earned), 0 BB, 5 K, 1 killer HR.
Brian Bruney. It was doubtful that the Yanks were coming back in this one, but Bruney erased all hope when he gave up a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to light-hitting Luis Rodriguez. Rodriguez entered Wednesday's game batting .179 and had only 1 homer on the year, but he turned on a Bruney pitch and deposited it into the right field stands. Bruney's vitals: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 HR.
The Ugly:
Slip of the tongue. In the second inning, Paul O'Neill was trying to tell a humorous story about one of his kids, but it went horribly wrong. Michael Kay, Bobby Murcer and O'Neill were discussing the upcoming Old Timer's Day at The Stadium on Saturday when O'Neill said that his daughter referred to it as Alzheimer's Day. Now, O'Neill didn't mean any harm, but Kay lost his mother to the disease last year and you could just sense the air being sucked out of the booth after that comment. Talk about awkward.
The Twins and Yanks will wrap up their four-game set on Thursday afternoon. Kei Igawa will make his third start since being called up from Tampa. So far, the "new" Igawa has looked a lot like the "old" one -- crappy. The Twins will send Kevin Slowey to the hill. Slowey is 3-0 on the season despite a 5.13 ERA.
I wonder if The Boss tossed his birthday cake across the room after the Yankee loss.
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Michael Kay's comments are awkward and ludicrous (the adjective not rapper). And what's worse is he says them intentionally. Paul O'Neill should let loose one of his temper tantrums on Michael Kay and bash his face in with a bat. Thereby breaking his jaw and not allowing him to speak, saving us all from his delusional comments.