06/10: Guillen's Homer in 9th Dooms Yanks
Posted by: Seamus
The Yankees will walk away with only a split in their four-game series with Kansas City, and Mariano Rivera found a new nemesis in the Royals, as the Bombers lost Monday's matinee affair by a score of 3-2. The loss puts the Yankees seven games behind the Red Sox and six behind the Rays for the wild card.
Mike Mussina gave the Yankees what was probably his best start of the season, and sure enough, the one game where he pitches 8 innings and allows only two runs is the only game so far this season in which Moose did not record a decision. The offense did not really back him up, as the Yankees were still being held scoreless when Miguel Olivo put a ball into the seats in the 7th off of Mussina to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. The Yankees did tie the game, however, with a two-run homer by Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the inning.
Mariano Rivera was brought into the game in the top of the 9th to relieve Mussina. Surely that leadoff homer he allowed on Saturday was just a fluke...right? Well, it happened again, and this time it was off the bat of Jose Guillen, who torched the Yankees all weekend. The ball just barely cleared the wall, out of the reach of Johnny Damon and the Royals went ahead 3-2. The Yankees loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th, but Melky Cabrera grounded out to end the game.
Not a very good series for the Yankees, as they had a chance to really gain some momentum against a weak, struggling team before having to head out on the west coast. Heading into two tough series in Oakland and Houston in the middle of June with your record still at .500 does not win you any brownie points.
The Yankees will be in Oakland tonight to face the surprisingly somewhat decent A's. Chien-Ming Wang will start for the Yankees and will face Dana Eveland. Game starts at 10:05 E.T.
Mike Mussina gave the Yankees what was probably his best start of the season, and sure enough, the one game where he pitches 8 innings and allows only two runs is the only game so far this season in which Moose did not record a decision. The offense did not really back him up, as the Yankees were still being held scoreless when Miguel Olivo put a ball into the seats in the 7th off of Mussina to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. The Yankees did tie the game, however, with a two-run homer by Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the inning.
Mariano Rivera was brought into the game in the top of the 9th to relieve Mussina. Surely that leadoff homer he allowed on Saturday was just a fluke...right? Well, it happened again, and this time it was off the bat of Jose Guillen, who torched the Yankees all weekend. The ball just barely cleared the wall, out of the reach of Johnny Damon and the Royals went ahead 3-2. The Yankees loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th, but Melky Cabrera grounded out to end the game.
Not a very good series for the Yankees, as they had a chance to really gain some momentum against a weak, struggling team before having to head out on the west coast. Heading into two tough series in Oakland and Houston in the middle of June with your record still at .500 does not win you any brownie points.
The Yankees will be in Oakland tonight to face the surprisingly somewhat decent A's. Chien-Ming Wang will start for the Yankees and will face Dana Eveland. Game starts at 10:05 E.T.
