Even Steven: Ms-Yanks Gamer III

Another fine outing by Mike Mussina and timely hitting aided by yet another sloppy day in the field for the Mariners paved the way for the Yankees to return to .500. New York looks for the sweep today as Darrell Rasner gets his first start of 2008 for the Yankees. Called up because of the injury to Philip Hughes, Rasner has been stellar in Scranton with four wins in five starts and a 0.87 ERA. Struggling Seattle looks to right their ship by sending Carlos Silva to the mound; he is having a decent season but has struggled against the Yankees historically.

Lineups follow, comment away.

Seattle
I. Suzuki cf	.280
J. Lopez 2b	.298
R. Ibanez lf	.295
A. Beltre 3b	.275
J. Vidro 1b	.200
Y. Betancourt ss	.288
J. Clement dh	.200
K. Johjima c	.190
W. Balentien rf	.200
C. Silva	2.79
NY Yankees
J. Damon lf	.290
D. Jeter ss	.290
B. Abreu rf	.292
H. Matsui dh	.317
J. Giambi 1b	.154
M. Cabrera cf	.293
R. Cano 2b	.150
M. Ensberg 3b	.218
C. Moeller c	.333
D. Rasner	NA

Comments

[attackgerbil]

Ian Kennedy got sent down to Scranton today. Kei Igawa may be called up for the Detroit series....

[Atheose]

I'd be worried if I were a YF right now. Although you never know, Kei Igawa might shock us all. Any of you YF's optimistic?

[AndrewYF]

About Igawa? How can anyone be optimistic about that guy? He's so far shown in Scranton that he hasn't changed one bit.

[Sam-YF]

Frankly if Rasner can give us good innings, im alot less concerned about Igawa. He will be a temporary fix and perhaps can give us some OK innings. I do think that IPK will be back at some point and hopefully will figure out how to be more aggressive and trust his stuff. Its hard to be too down after this weekend's sweep but things could be different after a series with the tribe...

[AndrewYF]

Anyone notice Brandon Morrow threw up and in to Ensberg? Knocked him on the ground. An inch closer, he could have hit him in the face and ended his career!!! Wonder when Morrow's suspension will be handed down? This isn't to mention the several instances over the past few weeks where head beanings (where they've actually HIT the guys) have led to bench-clearings. Yet, no suspensions are being handed down, and no sanctimonious suggestions that those teams are now widely regarded as bush league.

Funny how that works.

Honestly, the Farnsworth suspension (his hearing is Monday) is such a farce, it's almost unbelievable.

[Atheose]

Yeah, unfortunately Farnsworth has a history, and the fact that it was Yankees-Red Sox baseball means it gets blown out of proportions. Though to be honest, if Manny Delcarmen threw a fastball at ARod's head an equal suspension would be handed down.

Doesn't make it fair, but them's the breaks.

[Lar]

I don't know, looking it up, Farns has a history of getting into fights, but not necessarily for throwing at people's heads..

[IronHorse (yf)]

The ball that hit A-Rod in the shoulder blade (he straightened up into it) and the Farnsworth attempted-retaliation were more than comparable. Not to mention one connected and the other didn't. I agree - the F-worth suspension is a joke.

Yankees had a much needed weekend at home following the embarassing series against Detroit.

Bullpen is superb - pretty much to a man. Beyond the mainstays of Joba/Mo, the symbol of guys stepping up is clearly Farnsworth.

And now that he has done it three games in a row, Mussina looks like he has figured out how to pitch with reduced stuff. Any night where his control is off will be frighteningly bad, but he has his control more often than not and is a solid middle/end of the rotation guy, which is more than I expected of him.

Rasner coming up was undoubtedly the right move. Swapping Kennedy for Igawa I'm not so sure of. I wanted Kennedy down and Rasner up, but that was before Hughes got hurt. I don't think Igawa has what it takes and I think he is a drag on the team all around, but let's see how it goes.

I have to say that the NY commentators are a little too aglow for me - there is alot of talk about NY weathering a storm to only be 3 games back. It's true their April schedule was rough, but most elements of the real storm (Posada out, A-Rod out, 2/5s of the rotation unreliable and in flux) will continue for at least a couple more weeks and, in Posada's case, months. A great weekend for sure, but they need a strong May with all of the above still present for me to feel like they heave really come through a tough test.

[Lar]

Also, interestingly, Farns had other offers and closing possibilities, but chose to come to NY instead, to set up for Mo for less money. It's kind of sad that people's been treating him like a joke the last few years.

(Myself included, though I was a fan of his from his Cubs days..)

[Lar]

Also, the Sox are a little lucky (in expected win/loss and 1-run games) so maybe it'll bounce the other way. It's a long season..

[Atheose]

(Re: Moose) Three starts in a row is definitely a trend. I figured him too arrogant to want to change his technique too much, but I guess I was wrong. If Moose can keep it up it will be a HUGE lift for the Yankees, especially if Wang and Pettitte keep pitching well.

The Yankees can deal with two troubled starters. Three... not so much.

[AndrewYF]

The Yankees have 'dealt' with 3 troubled starters every year since 2004.

[IronHorse (yf)]

"The Yankees have 'dealt' with 3 troubled starters every year since 2004". Yeah - and look where it has gotten us...

[Atheose]

Yeah Andrew, but the troubled ones have never struggled as much as Hughes and IPK have.

Not to mention the fact that ARod and Posada are on the DL.