It wasn't that simple, but I just felt like being clever.
Andy Pettitte pitched into the seventh, Joba Chamberlain continued his metamorphosis into a starter and Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon combined to drive in three runs as the
Yankees clipped the Orioles 4-2 at Camden Yards. Hideki Matsui kept swinging a mean stick, picking up two more hits and scoring two runs. The Bombers snapped their mini-losing streak at two, avoided a sweep and moved one game closer to .500 at 26-27.
A little side rant before I get to the roundup. I said before that I'm not a huge fan of transitioning Chamberlain into the rotation and this plan that the team implemented to stretch him out made zero sense. Joba didn't meet his target pitch count in his previous outing Saturday against the Mariners and finished his throwing in the bullpen. It was more of the same Wednesday night in Baltimore. Chamberlain came in with two outs in the seventh (going 1 1/3 innings on 28 pitches -- well short of the 55 the Yanks were looking for) and finished up his throwing in the pen. He also relied mostly on fastballs and sliders during his stint. How exactly is this supposed to get him ready to be a starter? Instead of holding him out, the Yanks could have used him every other day this past week and maybe won a few games in the process. But that's neither here nor there anymore. On to the recap.
The Good:Jason Giambi. I'll admit it -- I thought the Italian warhorse was washed up. Well, he continued to put me in my place. Giambi singled in Matsui in the second inning (despite the shift and the drawn-in infield) to give the Yanks an early 1-0 lead. Then with the Yanks down 2-1 in the fourth, the Giambino crushed a pitch onto Eutaw Street to knot the score at 2-2. Jay Jay was ice cold in April (.164), but he's tearing it up in May (.322 heading into tonight's action) and has upped his average to .244 overall. Color me impressed. Giambi finished 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and 2 ribbies.
Andy Pettitte. It was another gritty effort by the veteran left-hander. Pettitte tip-toed out of a first and third, one out jam in the first and then finally settled down after giving up a two-run shot to Melvin Mora in the third. He was also helped out by some snazzy defense -- Melky Cabrera (who had a nice night at the dish as well, picking up two doubles) made a nifty catch in center in the fourth and Alex Rodriguez made a pretty stop on a grounder in the sixth. Pettitte also helped himself by picking off Brian Roberts at second base for the second out of the fifth inning. It went down as a caught stealing, but the people know the truth. Anyway, that play proved important as Pettitte eventually walked Mora and then gave up a double to Nick Markakis before retiring Kevin Millar for the final out. Michael Kay doesn't believe in the fallacy of the predetermined outcome, but for one night I'm choosing to believe. Pettitte evened his record to 5-5 with this: 6.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.
Johnny Damon. Johnny D followed up his four-hit night on Tuesday with three more on Wednesday. It's rarely pretty with Damon, but his hustle base hit in the ninth gave the Yankees a big insurance run. Damon grounded to Millar at first, but lefty pitcher Jamie Walker fell too far to the third base side on his follow through and couldn't cover the bag in time. Millar had no chance to make the play, Damon reached on the infield hit and the Yanks grabbed a 4-2 lead. Damon extended his modest hitting streak to five games and finished 3 for 5 with a run scored.
The Bad:Alex Rodriguez. It's nothing to be concerned about, but A-Rod has been scrapping a bit at the plate (his homer Tuesday night notwithstanding). Rodriguez is 1 for his last 11 and 4 for his last 21. A-Rod's error in the ninth also made Mariano Rivera work a little harder for his 13th save and brought the tying run to the plate for the O's. Shake it off, MVP. Rodriguez finished 0 for 4.
The Ugly:Progress stopped. It's official --
Ian Kennedy was placed on the 15-day disabled list before Wednesday's game with bursitis and a strained right lat muscle. Righty reliever
Chris Britton was called up to take I-Ken's place on the roster. Kennedy is expected to miss more than the 15 days because of the nature of the injury and because the Yanks have a tendency to treat their pitchers with kid gloves. But Kennedy hasn't exactly looked like Cy Young out there and with Joba Chamberlain moving into the rotation, it could be a while before we see No. 31 pitching in pinstripes.
Thursday is an off day as the Bombers head to Minnesota to take on the Twins for a four-game set beginning Friday night. Mike Mussina (7-4, 4.39 ERA) will take on lefty Glen Perkins (2-1, 2.77 ERA) in the opener. Perkins has had a nice start to his season -- he's gone at least six innings in his four starts and has held left-handed batters to a paltry .125 average. It will be his first look at the Yanks. The Moose is coming off a shaky five inning win against the Mariners, but sports a solid 3.38 ERA on the road this season. Mussina also loves facing the Twinkies -- he's 20-6 with a 3.18 ERA in 30 career starts and is 10-5 with a 3.42 ERA in 16 starts at the Metrodome.
The push toward .500 begins yet again.
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Giambi's bat can be a huge lift to an offense that's been struggling, if he remains somewhat consistent. Who will pitch the eighth when they take Joba out of a 2-1 lead?