04/29: Yankees 3, Red Sox 1: Igawa Impersonates An Ace
Posted by: Jason
Several Yankees were massively clutch on Saturday, helping the team break the losing streak at 7 and set up a possible momentum building game on Sunday.
We now know that Jeff Karstens's leg was broken after taking a Lugo leadoff line drive in the 1st. He bravely continued, pitching through what must have been significant pain. After surrendering a single to Youkilis, Karstens's day was over and the recently demoted Igawa faced David Ortiz with men on first and second, no outs. I was convinced that at least a 2-0 Red Sox lead was a certanity.
The Kei Igawa who could not keep his pitches down...The Kei Igawa who the Yankees Universe had relegated to Scranton...got the fearsome Ortiz to ground into a double play. He walked Ramirez and then struck out Drew to end the top 1st. Thus began a thrilling, improbable pitching performance in which Igawa dominated a powerful lineup. 0 runs, 2 hits, 6 strikeouts.
Igawa told us through an interpreter that he pitched exclusively from the stretch because it improves his control...it also improved his velocity, as he was 90-92 on the fastball.
The Yankees offense was by and large stymied by the familiar Wakefield knuckle ball. Stymied, that is, until Jorge centered a knuckler that hung for a moment as if it was on a tee: Gone, plating Jorge and Hideki, 2-0. Bottom 6: With Jorge on 2nd, Cabrera's seeing eye bloop hit a few inches fair and jumped into the stands, a ground rule 2b. 3-0 for the home team.
The Yankees much maligned bullpen came alive. With 2 men on in the 7th, Bruney relieved Igawa and overpowered Mirabelli, Hinske and Lugo. Farnsworth gave up a run in the 8th but settled down to minimize the damage, including a great series of pitches to strike out Ramirez.
Rivera returned to 9th inning form, allowing a bloop single by Varitek then shutting down the next three batters. Count me among those who don't worry about Rivera.
I found an interesting postgame quote by David Ortiz, which slighted Igawa's performance:
"...Nothing special. He (Igawa) was throwing a lot of hittable pitches, but we were just not hitting it."
Wow, that rare display of frustration indicates that they really wanted that game. With Wang facing Tavarez Sunday, I understand why.
We now know that Jeff Karstens's leg was broken after taking a Lugo leadoff line drive in the 1st. He bravely continued, pitching through what must have been significant pain. After surrendering a single to Youkilis, Karstens's day was over and the recently demoted Igawa faced David Ortiz with men on first and second, no outs. I was convinced that at least a 2-0 Red Sox lead was a certanity.
The Kei Igawa who could not keep his pitches down...The Kei Igawa who the Yankees Universe had relegated to Scranton...got the fearsome Ortiz to ground into a double play. He walked Ramirez and then struck out Drew to end the top 1st. Thus began a thrilling, improbable pitching performance in which Igawa dominated a powerful lineup. 0 runs, 2 hits, 6 strikeouts.
Igawa told us through an interpreter that he pitched exclusively from the stretch because it improves his control...it also improved his velocity, as he was 90-92 on the fastball.
The Yankees offense was by and large stymied by the familiar Wakefield knuckle ball. Stymied, that is, until Jorge centered a knuckler that hung for a moment as if it was on a tee: Gone, plating Jorge and Hideki, 2-0. Bottom 6: With Jorge on 2nd, Cabrera's seeing eye bloop hit a few inches fair and jumped into the stands, a ground rule 2b. 3-0 for the home team.
The Yankees much maligned bullpen came alive. With 2 men on in the 7th, Bruney relieved Igawa and overpowered Mirabelli, Hinske and Lugo. Farnsworth gave up a run in the 8th but settled down to minimize the damage, including a great series of pitches to strike out Ramirez.
Rivera returned to 9th inning form, allowing a bloop single by Varitek then shutting down the next three batters. Count me among those who don't worry about Rivera.
I found an interesting postgame quote by David Ortiz, which slighted Igawa's performance:
"...Nothing special. He (Igawa) was throwing a lot of hittable pitches, but we were just not hitting it."
Wow, that rare display of frustration indicates that they really wanted that game. With Wang facing Tavarez Sunday, I understand why.
Seamus wrote: