Alex Rodriguez homered in his return to the Bronx, but it wasn't nearly enough.
Mike Mussina couldn't recover from a two-out error in the first that eventually led to six unearned runs, Ross Ohlendorf was victimized by more spotty defense in the second and Derek Jeter left the game in the third after getting drilled in the hand as the
Orioles slammed the Yanks 12-2 at The Stadium. It was basically three innings from hell if you were a Yankee booster Tuesday night. And if you were at this game and stayed for the duration, you have my deepest respect and condolences.
LaTroy Hawkins tried to get Jeter's back in the sixth, but even that was sloppy. Hawkins threw inside to Luke Scott with two outs and nobody on. That could have been a "message sent" pitch even though it didn't reach the target. It was a fastball about belt-high, but it missed Scott and hit the backstop. Still, not good enough. The next pitch was up and in and whizzed past Scott's head. The benches cleared (including the bullpens, which got their running in for the day) and when order was finally restored, The Hawk was sent to the showers. Sometimes a message has to be sent (even though it looked like Daniel Cabrera didn't intentionally hit Jeter), but Hawkins should have drilled Scott in the ribs, the hip or the buttocks. It seems like this team can't do anything right.
The Good:Alex Rodriguez. So much for rust. A-Rod provided the only offense for the Yanks as he blasted a long, two-run bomb in the sixth. Too bad the Bombers were down by 10 at the time. Rodriguez finished 1 for 3 with a run scored and 2 RBI.
The Bad:Mike Mussina. It was going to happen eventually, but it didn't have to be this way. The Moose had a chance to escape the first inning with only one run given up (and should have), but with two outs, Jeter threw high to Jason Giambi at first to load the bases and extend the inning. It was a play DJ should have made, but Robinson Cano was late getting to second for the force out. It may have contributed to the arrant toss. Anyway, these things happen and sometimes a pitcher has to pick up his infielders. That was a big negative. Mussina walked in Ramon Hernandez to give the O's a 2-0 lead and then gave up a double, single and triple before exiting on the short end of a 7-0 score. Game over. Mussina suffered his first loss since April 17 with this: .2 IP, 5 H, 7 R (1 earned), 2 BB, 1 K, 1 WP.
Ross Ohlendorf. The Yankee defense was in a giving mood on Tuesday night and Ohlendorf was the recipient in the second frame. Ross issued a two-out walk to Kevin Millar. No big deal, right? Well, it gave the E-man Luke Scott an at-bat (Scott reached on Jeter's blunder in the first) and Scott skied a ball to left for what seemed like the final out. It wasn't meant to be. Johnny Damon misplayed the ball and Millar scored as Scott motored into second. The Big O came unglued after that play, uncorking a wild pitch and an RBI-single before retiring the side. Ohlendorf also gave up a solo shot to Millar in the fourth. I could have let Ohlendorf's performance slide since the Yanks were getting blown out, but it's the second straight shaky outing for the big right-hander. The only positive was he gave the Yanks some innings. Ohlendorf's outing: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R (1 earned), 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 1 WP.
Team defense. The Yanks made two, two-out errors on Tuesday night and they just couldn't overcome them. The Bomber pitching staff combined to gave up 12 runs, but only four of those were earned. This isn't the way winning teams play baseball.
The Ugly:The Captain goes down. It's almost as if the Yanks are being plagued by
Murphy's Law. Jeter wasn't having a good night when he stepped into the box in the third inning (big E in the top of the first, grounded into a double play in the bottom of the first), but it would get worse. Jeet absorbed a 93-mile-an-hour fastball to his left hand and was forced to leave the game. It looked like the Yanks were in line to lose their All-Star shortstop after regaining their All-Star third baseman. Fortunately,
X-Rays were negative and DJ is listed as day-to-day. It could have been much, much worse.
Darrell Rasner (2-0, 3.00 ERA) will try and put all this ugliness behind as he takes the hill and will match up against Garrett Olson (3-0, 3.47 ERA). This will be Olson's first look at the Yanks (and vice versa). The 24-year-old hasn't allowed more than three runs in his four starts this season. Rasner will be working on nine days rest and is 0-2 in two career starts against the Birds with a chunky 13.50 ERA.
Things have to start turning around for this team. Don't they?
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Things are getting ugly. A-Rod comes back and Jeter gets hurt. Anything seem different with this slow start from the previous ones? Eventually, they won't be able to bounce back.