Today's game was washed out...so with the Yankee rotation machinations, it looks like (schedule certainly subject to change) Kei Igawa's next start won't actually happen.

I assume that all the starters (Pettitte, Wang & Moose) essentially will get pushed back a day, Kei Igawa’s start on Wednesday will be skipped and Darrell Rasner would be handed the ball to pitch on regular rest...but who knows what could happen between now and then.

That being said, I, for one, am happy knowing that Igawa's next start will be delayed, even if only for a little while.

Update: Very astute comment from Ben K. noting that the Scranton/W-B game was also postponed and that IPK's scheduled start will be pushed back a day (consequently, he wouldn’t be ready to pitch on Friday).

Steve Serby has a good Q&A with Derek Jeter, covering a myriad of topics - on and off the field.

Darrell Rasner coming through again. 6 solid innings with 2 runs given up. Can you ask for more than that? Well, then you're just being greedy.

The Yankees got on the board first with a solo shot from Derek Jeter (his first of the year as MLB.com and Fox kept reminding us throughout the day) and added a second run in the inning with a bases-loaded walk from Melky Cabrera before a Cano double play ended the inning.

Rasner gave one back in the bottom of the first on a solo HR but settled in after that, giving up only 3 more hits and a walk the rest of the way.

The Yankees scored again in the fourth when with 2 outs, Cano worked a walk and came around to score on a LONG double to center off the bat off Wilson Betimit. Unfortunately, when legging out the double, Betimit, who JUST came back from an injury and was swinging a hot bat, pulled up lame and had to be taken out of the game. Later, it was revealed that Wilson strained his hammy and will be placed on the DL and replaced on the roster by Alberto Gonzalez. Very unfortunate as Wilson was getting into a groove and really provided some much needed offense in place of Morgan Ensberg.

The Yanks knocked Bonderman (who seems like he's been in the league forever but is still only 25...and still very inconsistent) out of the game in the fifth. He gave up a single to Jeter who was plated on a double by Bobby Abreu and that was all for Bonderman. Bobby Seay came in and was greeted with a Jason Giambi double that scored Abreu to make the game 5-1.

The Tigers would threaten in the 7th when Magglio Ordonez singled to start off the inning and chased Rasner from the game. On a side note, it seems as if the Yankee staff know something that we don't. Take a look at Rasner's MLB game long. People forget that he gave up some very good starts (just like this year) LAST year. In those starts, his pitch limit seems to be ~80 pitch area and that trend has definitely continued this year as well. Kyle Farnsworth then came into the game and looked like he was about to blow it when he gave up a single to Miguel Cabrera and a RBI double to Gary Sheffield. At that point, the score was 5-2 with men on second and third with no one out...and miraculously enough, Farnsworth got out of it without any further damage. After that, it was Joba and Mo time and as usual they came through and the game was done...so back to .500 it is.

These announcers have been something else today...

They've gotten the number of outs in the inning wrong, they've called A-Rod "Pudge", mispronounced Derek Jeter's last name...but this takes the cake. They started talking about Joba and to illustrate, they cut to a shot of the Yankee bullpen and focus in on...Chris Britton. You might think I am being harsh...but a couple seconds later, they came back to the same shot and said, "and there you see Joba Chamberlain..." Awesome.

Come on guys, I know you're national announcers and all but this kids been on magazines, newspapers, ESPN and commercials.

Unfortunately, Jonathan Albaladejo's elbow injury, during yesterday's game, has forced the Yankees to place the reliever on the 15-day disabled list. Albaladejo described the feeling as a "pain similar to a needle in the bone part of his right elbow." He'll have an MRI on Monday.

In his place, Chris Britton has been called up. For those keep tracking at home, here is how Britton's season has gone (from the Yankees transactions page and Peter Abraham):

March 23: Optioned to Triple-A.
April 25: Recalled from Triple-A.
April 29: Optioned to Triple-A.
April 30: Recalled from Triple-A.
May 9: Optioned to Triple-A.
May 10: Recalled from Triple-A.

He has managed to pitch well, though. In the minors, he's 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings over 8 games. In the majors, he's pitched in just 1 game, where he pitched 2.2 innings, didn't receive a decision and allowed no runs. Between New York and Scranton, he's 2-1 in 13.2 innings over 9 games with a 1.98 ERA.

In related news, Sean Henn has been claimed by the Padres.

Kei Igawa's first Major League start of 2008 was, in a word, ugh-tastic. The lefty lasted only 3 innings, allowing 11 hits and 6 earned runs. He didn't walk anyone, but he didn't strike out anyone, either. He left the game in the 4th, down 6-1, with runners on first and second with no outs.

It means absolutely nothing, but it's a shame the game couldn't just start at this point. Jon Albaladejo came in and immediately threw his body on top of the grenade. Somehow, his stomach defused the threat, thanks to a double play and a strike out. Six runs is all that the Tigers would end up with in this game as the bullpen was lights out.

Albaladejo allowed 2 hits and 1 walk over 2 and 1/3 innings pitched, allowing no runs. However, his stint ended badly when hye left the game due to an elbow injury. He was in obvious pain. Argh. Hopefully, he's alright. LaTroy Hawkins threw 1 and 2/3 innings of hitless baseball and Edwar threw an inning of that variety, as well. Bullpen total: 5 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts and 0 earned runs.

Thanks to the ninth inning, the Yankees offense had an OK game overall. But, you would hope for more than five runs over nine innings when facing the trio of Kenny Rogers (6.27 ERA coming in), Zach Miner (9.33) and Todd Jones (2.77). And Todd Jones was the one that they scored a majority of their runs off of.

They scored one in the second thanks to a Jason Giambi solo shot. In the seventh, Chad Moeller singled in Robinson Cano to make it 6-2, Yankees.

The Yankees put together a nice rally in the ninth, but it came up just short. To start the inning, Wilson Betemit doubled to left and then took third on a wild pitch. Robinson Cano grounded out to shortstop, scoring Betemit. Johnny Damon provided a pinch hit single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch (Todd Jones was apparently having some trouble). Melky Cabrera grounded out for the second out of the inning, moving Damon to third.

With two outs, the Captain singled to left, scoring Damon. He took second on fielder's indifference before Bobby Abreu doubled him home to cut the deficit to one. The Tigers elected to walk the 0 for 4 (but red hot coming in) Hideki Matsui to put runners at first and second for Shelley Duncan. Shelley could not keep the rally going, flying out to center to end the game. Yankees lose, 6-5, and drop 1 game below .500.

There were some encouraging signs in this one from Jason Giambi, Wilson Betemit and Robinson Cano. Giambi and Betemit, of course, have been mired in big time slumps. Giambi was 2 for 4 with 1 solo home run. In his last three games, he's 4 for 10 with 3 runs, 1 double, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs and 1 walk. Cano was also 2 for 4, to go along with a double, 1 run and an RBI. Over his last five games, he's 7 for 19 with 4 runs, 1 double, 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Betemit who, to be fair, hasn't seen much action this year due to injury, was 2 for 4, as well. One of those hits was a double and he scored a run. In his three games since leaving the DL, he is 4 for 11 with 2 runs, 1 double, 1 home run and 1 RBI. Hopefully, this trio has turned the corner - especially Giambi and Cano.

Tomorrow, Darrell Rasner (1-0, 3.00) will make his second start of the season, against Jeremy Bonderman (2-3, 4.17).

Or is it Ig-tastic?

Here's the line. 3 innings (and he pitched to 4 guys in the 4th, allowing 2 to score and leaving 2 men on), 11 hits, 6 ERs. On the positive side, he did throw 41 of 64 pitches for strikes...so that's a nice foundation to build off of, I guess? Just painful, painful to watch...ugh ^ infinity.

Still, anyone surprised at this? Anyone at all? No? Me neither.

Bryan Hoch reports that Major League Baseball has reduced Kyle Farnsworth's suspension from 3 games to 1. That's a pretty noteworthy reduction, I'd have to say. Given that Kyle doesn't tend to pitch on back to back days, anyway, it shouldn't have any impact.

What should we talk about? The Joba fist pump? Hmm... no, I think I'll take a pass on that one. Let's talk about David Wells. Mike Puma at the Post spoke with David Wells and Hank Steinbrenner about a potential return to the Yankees. Yes, you read that right. That's Yankeeland!

Hank tells Puma that he saw Wells on TV and he was thinking about it at that point. He notes that Wells hasn't come up in any conversations but, "you never know." He also said that Wells will always be a Yankee to him. Wells won't always be a Yankee to me. To me, he'll be a Blue Jay, Tiger, Red, Oriole, White Sock, Padre, Red Sock and Dodger. And, I'd harbor a guess, the reason that he's played 11 different stints on 8 different teams in 21 seasons is because he wears out his welcome.

"I'm in shape, I'd just have to fine-tune a couple of things," Wells told the Post. "I'd need a little bit of time, but not much. Physically I feel fine, real good."

Anyone remember the last game he pitched for the Yankees? Game 5 of the 2003 World Series. He pitched 1 inning and then left because of back spasms. A three headed monster of Jose Contreras, Chris Hammond and Jeff Nelson pitched the final 7, allowing 6 earned runs in a 6-4 Yankees loss. After the game, we heard of his rubber arm, but we also heard that he wasn't working out between starts like he should have been. The team needed him and he failed to answer the call. People are human and it happens to everyone more often than not. But, what stings is when you don't put it a full effort and fail. Then, people question you. After that series, as a Yankees fan, I did not want Wells to return. And he didn't.

Later in the article, Wells is quoted as saying: "New York has always been the favorite of all my stops. When I got traded, I was bitter. When they didn't re-sign me, I was bitter, but I know that wasn't the Yankees, everything was Joe Torre. I wasn't one of his boys. I don't think he liked the way I lived my life or that I spoke my mind."

Yeah, that's what it was. Joe Torre. Look, Joe Torre may not have been perfect (and no one is), but I'm getting a little tired of him being trotted out as an excuse by players who had plenty of their own issues. (Really, these comments shouldn't mean much when you consider, in comparison, the people who have good things to say. But, I know some people latch onto these sorts of remarks, no matter the source).

Let's review. Farnsworth stunk because of Joe Torre. Sheffield and Lofton were dumped because Joe Torre is a racist. Buddy Groom stunk because of Joe Torre. David Wells was traded and not resigned because of Joe Torre. Wells not being resigned couldn't have anything to do with that playoff game above, could it? How about the book he wrote in the offseason that proved to be a distraction when he used it as a platform to criticism teammates Mike Mussina and Roger Clemens? No, nothing to do with it. David Wells was a model citizen and the Yankees had no reason to not bring them back after 2003.

It's probably clear, but I don't want him back. I don't want him back on the basis of performance. His last good season was 2004. When you throw in the personal issues, I really don't want him back. If he didn't like Joe Torre and Mel Stottlemyre... how's he going to like Joe Girardi and Dave Eiland?

Another good game from Moose and some key hits from the sleeping bats of Giambi and Cano were enough to beat the Indians and put smiles back on the faces of the team and Joe Girardi. I guess that averting a sweep is cause for mirth...but the Yankees are still at .500, just finished up a 4-5 homestand and going up against another tough team.

Mussina was matched up against a potent Indians lineup and opposed on the hill by Paul Byrd and was up to the task.

The Yankees scored first in the bottom of the fourth when Johnny Damon led off the inning with a home run to right. Later in the inning and with two outs, Hideki Matsui singled (extending his hitting streak to 17 games) to bring up Jason Giambi who homered on the first pitch he saw to give New York a 3-0 lead.

Cleveland stormed back in the fifth to tie the game when Mussina hit Ben Franciso with a pitch and Franklin Gutierrez followed with a single. Casey Blakes scored them both with an RBI double and was then plated on a Kelly Shoppach single before Mussina got out of the inning. He threw 34 pitches in the fifth and came out of the game after the inning. Gassed after 86 pitches through 5; I wonder if it's the innings or the amount of pitches that we should now be working with as the limit of what Moose can give us.

In any case, the tie didn't last long as the Yankees took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth when Robbie Cano lead off the inning with a double. A line out and ground out put Cano at third with two out before Johnny Damon doubled him home for a 2-out RBI.

THe Yankees scored again in the 7th when Cano homered off of Byrd, which ended his day. Masa Kobayashi came into the game and Wilson Betemit greeted him with a long home run to center. 6-3, Yankees.

THe Yankee bullpen shut down the Indians the rest of the way. Ohlendorf (who has pitched quite a bit better of late) came in for two solid innings while Joba and Mo were their usual selves and the Yankees climbed back to .500 (and Cano and Giambi continued their pursuit of .200).