Yanks drop finale against Rays

Yanks drop finale against Rays

Pettitte allows decisive three-run homer in seventh inning

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Working out of a bases-loaded jam with only one run scoring in the sixth inning deposited a flash of fire in Andy Pettitte's eyes, his firm glare telling the Yankees' bench to stand clear.

Unfortunately for Pettitte, Carlos Pena didn't obey. The first baseman slugged a game-changing three-run homer and the Devil Rays blasted out an 8-2 victory over the Yankees, snapping Pettitte's six-start winning streak.

For Pettitte, the Pena home run came on his 119th and final pitch of the afternoon. Though Yankees manager Joe Torre later admitted that the team had tried to grind toward a better outcome by having Pettitte start the new inning with 103 pitches, the left-hander had no regrets for taking on the seventh inning.

"They sent me back out there with a lot of pitches, and I wanted to be back out there on the mound," Pettitte said. "If you don't make a pitch late in the game after a guy has seen you four times already, if you accidentally hang something, they hurt you."

The damaging blow came on a lazy curveball to the biggest hitter in Tampa Bay's lineup, Pena, a Yankees Triple-A farmhand last season who tied a Devil Rays club record when his 34th homer landed in the right-field seats.

"Andy didn't do anything wrong," Torre said. "I may have pushed the envelope with him in that last inning, but as far as the way he battled it over six innings, it was another effective start for him. He was hell-bent on going out there for the seventh, and we weren't going to try to talk him out of it, that's for sure."

Pettitte (12-8) had won his last six starts and 12 consecutive decisions against Tampa Bay. He lasted 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and 11 hits while walking two and striking out seven.

Dioner Navarro's third-inning home run off Pettitte boosted Tampa Bay to a 1-0 lead, the Rays catcher's seventh of the season. Pettitte experienced more control troubles in the sixth, leading to the second Tampa Bay run. He issued a walk to Carl Crawford, who moved to second on an errant pickoff throw, then stole third as Pena worked the count toward a base on balls. B.J. Upton brought home the run with a sacrifice fly to right.

The Rays loaded the bases on hits to Delmon Young and Brendan Harris, but Pettitte came back to strike out Jonny Gomes and induced Josh Wilson to hit into a fielder's choice.

The Devil Rays put the game out of reach by blasting Edwar Ramirez for two homers in the eighth: deep drives by Wilson, his second home run, and Akinori Iwamura, his sixth, a two-run shot.

But long before that, the Yankees were victims of sleepy offense on what Pettitte termed a "lethargic" afternoon at the Stadium -- a sunny Sunday afternoon with crisp autumn air, but little noise coming from a sellout crowd of 53,957.

"You want to get the game going," Pettitte said. "It felt like we couldn't get the crowd into it or anything. It felt like it was a little lethargic day out there. That's the frustrating part, more than anything. You're out there battling your tail off."

Then again, with Jason Hammel throwing an effectively wild performance, maybe the fans just didn't have all that much to clap their hands about.

"[Pettitte] pitched well. He gave us an opportunity to win," said Derek Jeter, who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and may be in the market for another day of rest. "He threw the ball pretty well, and we had a couple of opportunities. We didn't get the job done."

The loudest point of the afternoon may have been the yelp let out by Andy Phillips in the fifth inning, drilled by a Hammel fastball on the right wrist. Examined at first base after shaking his arm vigorously down the basepath, Phillips took out some aggression on the catcher Navarro, crashing into the backstop as he slid home on Melky Cabrera's run-scoring double to right.

After scoring, Phillips walked straight down the clubhouse runway and off to an area hospital, on his way for a precautionary MRI and CT scan. He may as well have taken the Yankees' offense with him; except for Bobby Abreu's run-scoring triple off Grant Balfour in the seventh, New York managed little, stranding two in the sixth, two in the eighth and going down quietly in the ninth against Gary Glover.

"We threatened," said left fielder Johnny Damon, who contributed an outfield assist to save a run in the fifth. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get that extra run in -- something that we've been pretty good at all year. We spoiled a good pitching outing by Pettitte again. We should have at least been able to push a few more runs across to make his job easier."

Hammel (2-4) scattered five hits in five-plus innings, walking none and striking out seven for the victory for the Devil Rays, who took two of three in the weekend series. The series was a bit of a dip in the slate for a Yankees club that cannot afford more of the same, particularly with the Wild Card-contending Mariners rolling to town Monday looking to snap their own malaise.

"I don't think it matters who we play. Every team is going to play us tough," Jeter said. "We have to execute to give us an opportunity to win. We've been playing pretty good -- [Tampa Bay] beat us two out of three here, but we come right back."

Kennedy, A-Rod lift Yanks by Rays

Kennedy, A-Rod lift Yanks by Rays

Slugger homers, drives in four to help righty win in debut

By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Somewhere between the curious, the unusual and the downright bizarre, Ian Kennedy found his niche.

The newest Yankee -- though at 22 years and counting, not quite the youngest -- was the only Yankee who seemed immune to the three-ring circus masquerading as a baseball field on Saturday afternoon. He ignored the errors. He brushed off the delays. And while the Yankees and Devil Rays were both unraveling around him, Kennedy remained calm.

He was unfazed, yet amazed, and that was a combination deserving of one Major League win -- a 9-6 decision over the Rays -- and perhaps a chance at many more.

"It felt like it was an out-of-body experience," Kennedy said. "My adrenaline was pumping so much."

And for good reason. Kennedy retired the first four Major League hitters he faced in rapid succession, before two singles -- one of which was made possible only after Alex Rodriguez dropped a lazy foul pop fly -- and a double scored two runs. He stood at 63 pitches through three innings, seemingly destined to greet the Major Leagues as an anonymous rookie with an unremarkable debut.

Yet seven more pitches in the fourth produced three outs, and another 11 got him through the fifth. By the time B.J. Upton homered with one out in the sixth, Kennedy had tugged the game back under his control, and he steamrolled the final five Devil Rays he faced on a total of eight pitches.

Seven innings had come and gone by that point, and Kennedy had allowed just one earned run. He struck out six, walked two and earned not only the win, but countless high-fives and a giant bear hug from pitching coach Ron Guidry.

"I think we're all surrogate parents," said manager Joe Torre. "You want him to do well and you're just hoping that everything goes well."

It did for Kennedy, but not quite as well for everyone else. Aside from the errors -- the Yankees made two, the Devil Rays three -- Kennedy's debut was marred by a confusing episode early in the game, first Akinori Iwamura's bat, and then A-Rod's, was confiscated by umpires.

For several minutes of a game that easily surpassed three hours, chaos reigned. Most of the players had little idea what was happening, while Kennedy stood bewildered on the mound in the midst of a rally that was threatening to become his undoing.

Then, as oddly as it began, the commotion ceased. And one pitch later, Kennedy struck out Iwamura to end the threat.

Turns out Torre's decision to talk with umpires on the field may have had a healthy effect.

"I had no idea what was going on," Kennedy said of Torre's argument on the field. "I'm glad he did. I was throwing way too many pitches that inning."

The Yankees' offense teed off early on a carousel of Rays pitchers, with A-Rod's four RBIs making a quick memory of his early error. With 10 hits in all, the Yankees scored enough so that when Jose Vizcaino later allowed three runs in two-thirds of an inning -- forcing Torre to use Mariano Rivera for the final four outs -- that damage couldn't spoil the rookie's afternoon.

And for Kennedy, Saturday marked more than a win. Saturday was an audition, and Torre was quick to note that his young rookie passed. After snatching up Mike Mussina's slot in the rotation, Kennedy will almost certainly pitch a second time, and from there, the possibilities only increase.

But with Kennedy in that spot, seemingly nothing had changed. The rookie's audition was a success because he played the part of Mussina perfectly -- right down to his trademark hunched back while pitching out of the stretch.

Mussina may yet regain his form, but for now, this new version of the old pitcher will work just fine.

"It comes back to his poise," Torre said. "He just seemed very prepared to pitch this game."

Now, Kennedy has earned the opportunity to be even better. He can take tips from Roger Clemens, he can schmooze with Andy Pettitte. He can even take some pointers from Joba Chamberlain, a Minor League buddy who's been there, done that.

"I try not to be in awe of those guys," Kennedy said. "I knew that as soon as I started looking up to those guys, I didn't want to be shell-shocked at all. I just wanted to act like I belong."

If it was indeed an act, then he fooled just about everyone. On Saturday, he did belong here, and he may just belong here for a long time. One glance at his freckled face and crooked smile summons visions of a boy who isn't meant to succeed in a game won by men. And then another look at his almost eerie composure proves that first glances don't amount to much.

So in one sense, it was all an act. An awfully tough act to follow.

"I got the chills [once the win was secured]," Kennedy said with the win finally secure. "Everybody came up and shook my hands, all the coaches. It came out great, and that's all I was hoping for."

Gator-aid: Wang's gem sinks Sox

Gator-aid: Wang's gem sinks Sox

Ace takes game to new level thanks to Guidry's guidance

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- They walked side-by-side out a blue concrete corridor, through the bowels of Yankee Stadium and up to street level: the 6-foot-3 ace hurler holding a good size advantage over the club's top pitcher some three decades prior.

Clutching a Coca-Cola cup and clad in a baggy Nike T-shirt, Chien-Ming Wang looked down at his pitching coach, Ron Guidry, listening attentively. Wang understood that, even within his afternoon's importance, he still had some growing to do.

Wang took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Robinson Cano homered twice, completing a series sweep of the Red Sox with a 5-0 victory on Thursday. Wang allowed just one hit, but it was the free passes -- four of them -- that chafed both teacher and pupil, vowing to improve upon for next time.

"Back to the drawing board," Guidry said.

One day after Roger Clemens took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Wang did one better, bringing the game into the seventh with the suddenly-dormant Boston offense still holding a zero in the hit column. Mike Lowell finally broke up the no-no bid with a single to right, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

The right-hander, in command of his sinker, slider and changeup, walked four batters but was able to escape the big hit on his way to victory No. 16, tying for the Major League lead. He even garnered defensive help from an unlikely source -- first baseman Jason Giambi, who dove to his right to stab a Dustin Pedroia shot to end the third inning.

Part of Wang's success may stem back to changes made prior to his Aug. 19 start against Detroit, when Guidry began incorporating several small, hard-to-notice mechanical adjustments. Wang said he has also modified his pitch selection.

"The last two times, I have a lot of change of speeds," Wang said. "More sliders, more changeups. [Catcher Jorge] Posada calls good pitches."

"He's such a joy to work with," Guidry said. "He works hard, even as successful as he is. He still takes your criticism you give him so he can get better."

The victory, completing a sweep on the heels of strong pitching from Andy Pettitte and Clemens, moved New York into sole possession of the American League Wild Card lead. New York closed within five games of the AL East-leading Red Sox.

"We know we're better than what we did in Detroit," manager Joe Torre said, referring to a lost weekend in which the Yankees dropped three of four. "There wasn't anything we had to answer to. You're going to do as well as your pitching, and our starting pitching in this series was terrific."

Those were welcome turns of events for the Yankees, considering their dismal 2-5 road trip to Anaheim and Detroit. Now, with 28 games remaining, optimism abounded.

"Nothing's over until your last out," Cano said. "We've got a month left. We've got to keep playing hard and win games."

Cano had both of the first two big hits for the Yankees, reaching Curt Schilling twice to club his second multi-homer game of the season. Cano drilled a line-drive homer to left-center off Schilling to lead off the third inning and then went right back to Monument Park to start the fifth, drawing a curtain call from the paid matinee crowd of 55,067.

"It was a big game," Torre said, "to have a big game."

Bobby Abreu added an important RBI double off Hideki Okajima in the eighth, the 400th two-base hit of his career. A Jason Varitek throwing error down the left-field line on Abreu's steal attempt allowed two more runs to score.

Schilling lasted seven innings, allowing just the two home runs and six hits, walking one and striking out four. Three of the hits were by Jeter, who singled in the eighth off Okajima to complete a four-hit afternoon.

"We need every game," Jeter said. "I'd tell you the same thing if we beat a high school team three games in a row. We need victories, no matter who we play."

Red Sox manager Terry Francona was ejected on a controversial double play in the seventh, as J.D. Drew grounded to third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who lunged for Kevin Youkilis but missed the tag before throwing to first base. Youkilis was ruled out when Torre complained that Youkilis had run out of the baseline to avoid Rodriguez's tag, planting his feet on the infield grass.

"Alex wasn't trying just to make a token tag, he reached out," Torre said.

Joba Chamberlain threw his 11th scoreless inning around a Pedroia double in the eighth, then unexpectedly returned for duty in the ninth, a decision revolving around pitch count and the lack of a save situation for the warmed-up Mariano Rivera.

"Every once in a while," Torre said, "we're going to take certain liberties."

The maneuver did not constitute a change to the so-called "Joba Rules" which have restricted his use, according to general manager Brian Cashman, just a planned evolution. Cashman insisted that he had no issue with Torre's use of Chamberlain, but did say that he would prefer if the parameters of the "Joba Rules" would remain in-house.

"From my perspective, we have not deviated from anything," Cashman said. "There's a game plan in place and we're sticking to it."

After getting one out in the ninth, Chamberlain was ejected by home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez after twice sailing pitches over Youkilis' head. Chamberlain's final pitch was clocked at 98 mph and drew an immediate reaction from Hernandez.

"There is more than a little bit of history between these clubs," said crew chief Derryl Cousins, the second base umpire. "Those were two pretty nasty pitches the young man threw. Up here, you need to be a little better throwing strikes, and we just had to put a lid on it before there was a problem."

The move left Chamberlain stunned, meandering around the infield between home plate and first base while Torre pleaded his case with the umpiring crew.

"I'm new to this whole game," Chamberlain said. "I want to be aggressive and competitive, but not with a negative connotation."