The Empire (finally) strikes back

New York 3, Sox 1

WP: Igawa (2-1)
LP: Wakefield (2-3)
SV: Rivera (1)
HRs: NYY-Posada (2)

Geez, these guys act like they just won the World Series for cryin' out loud (which they haven't done since 2000)

SUMMARY:
It was a pretty straightforward game in the Bronx today, for a change.

Both Tim Wakefield and Kei Igawa (who replaced an injured Jeff Karstens) pitched excellent ballgames, the only real damage being a Georgie Posada 2-run shot off Wake in the 4th; although both teams added a run later, that was the deciding blow in this strangely uneventful game.

HEROES:

1. Igawa: 6IP, 2H, 4BB, 6K- pressed into action when starter Karstens went out after just 6 pitches, the other Japanese pitcher to garner attention in the off season finally came through for New York. His performance not only saved the day, it might have saved their season


2. Posada: 1-2, 2R, 2RBI, 2BB- other than Jeter, who had 3 hits, Georgie had the best day on offense for New York. His homer was a momentum-swinger, and he also scored the 3rd NY run after drawing a leadoff walk in the 6th


3. Rivera: 1IP, 1H, 1st SV- one day after an obituary was being written for his career (by your truly at least) the grizzled vet came in and got the job done for his team. He even sawed off a couple of bats for old times sake, but Tek still singled with his busted stick
   

GOATS:

1. J.D. Drew: 0-4, 2Ks, 5LOB- it's taken nearly a month but the new RF is officially in a slump, and his performance today was downright depressing


2. Big Papi: 0-3, BB, 3LOB, 2GIDP- ditto for Papi regarding the slump as the big man grounded into two rally-killing DPs and fouled out to first before walking in his last AB


3. A-Rod: 0-4, 2Ks, E, 8LOB- all I can say is it's a good thing for him that NY won or the Bronx boo birds would have been back on his case quicker than you can say "fairweather fans"

KEY MOMENT: Top 8th, 2on, 0 out
With Youk (single) and Papi (walk) aboard, Boston had a legitimate chance to pull another come-from-behind rabbit out of its hat.

But then Manny struck out looking, Drew dribbled into a fielder's choice, and after Lowell got an RBI single to break the shutout, Coco struck out looking and a golden comeback opportunity went by the wayside.

RECAP:
Before anyone heads down to the Kazim or the Skyway, let's put today's loss to the Stanks into proper perspective:

• Boston still enjoys a 4-game lead in the AL East


• New York is still in last place in the East, 5 1/2 out & percentage pts behind the Rays


• this had to be one of the most painless New York losses in recent memory

I mean seriously, as far as Sox/Stankees games go this one was as mild as it gets: there were no stomach-turning theatrics, no last-second heart stoppers, no brawls, no records, and no monumental shifting of the seismic plate in the American League.

Nope it was just a plain old run-of-the-mill loss, one in which two pitchers gave it their all, one guy hit a big home run, and the team that was really desperate for a win came up with one when it needed it most.

Oh yeah, and a guy broke his leg. But other than that, nothing.

The fact that the most interesting play of the game may have come on the first pitch says a lot about the "quality" of the "action" today. Before the very-Dodger-like late-arriving crowd was even situated in their seats Julio Lugo lead off the game with a wicked liner directly off Karsten's right leg below the knee.

The ball ricocheted off his leg, and the rookie righty writhed on the turf in pain as Lugo scooted down to first, while everyone else awaited the result of the ugly hit to Karstens. At first he appeared to shake it off, and after testing it he gamely attempted to keep going. But after five more pitches the Stankees' staff had seen enough and pulled him from the game before further damage was done.

Good thing, too. Turns out the kid has a broken leg, and although according to the team doctor he won't need surgery and will return sometime this season, you have to think he will miss a minimum of 6-8 weeks. Either way the untimely, freak injury is yet another blow to the battle-fatigued New York starting staff.

But as I like to say, one man's pain is another man's gain, and embattled Japanese (former) starter Kei Igawa took his chance to show his bosses something and ran with it. The lesser known of the two Japanese starters who got "posted" last winter (the other obviously being Dice-K for any bubble boys out there), Igawa came to the Bronx with a high price tag ($46 mil) but lower expectations than his fellow countryman.

Unfortunately Kei had failed to meet even the minimum requirements. Because in any country, 24 hits in 20.2 innings, 18 earned runs allowed, 9 walks, 5 homers and a 12.60 ERA in 4 starts isn't worth $46 million. Yet that's what the 27-year-old lefty had given the Stanks this season, and for his efforts he was banished to the pen.

But like a Japanese Phoenix rising from the Pacific, Igawa came on in relief of his injured teammate and put the entire Big Apple on his back. He immediately got out of trouble in the 1st when he got Papi to GIDP after Youk had followed Lugo's hit with a single, then struck out Drew with 2 on to end the inning, and you could almost see New York's fortunes start to change.

Igawa and Wakefield (5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 6BB, 3K) were dancing in and out of mini-jams all day, but it was a quick strike in the bottom of the 4th that changed the tide for the 7-consecutive loss Stanks. After Hideki Matsui walked with one out, Posada delivered on a knuckler inside and deposited it into the upper deck in right for a monkey-lifting 2-0 lead.

Not that New York could feel safe with a measly 2-run lead. Not after it had blown leads in each of the last four losses to Boston, including the memorable 6-2 edge that disintegrated during a 5-run 8th and resulted in a 7-6 win for the Sox last Friday. But for some reason today felt different.

Maybe it was the idea that if you kick a dog so many times when its down, eventually it will jump up and bite you. And the Stanks had been playing the part of an unwanted Setter for over a week now.

That's why when Rivera strode out from the pen, his familiar anthem "Enter Sandman" blaring from the loudspeakers, towing his unholy 12.15 ERA behind him, you just knew this time he was going to get the job done.

New York needed this one too much.

Fortunately for Sox fans, we didn't.

NOTES:

-As I mentioned above, Drew and Papi are in full-blown slumps now: J.D. is batting .129 (4-31) with 1 RBI in his last 8 games as his average has dropped from .346 to .278; and while Ortiz is getting base hits, he hasn't homered and has only 4 RBI in his last 7 contests and doesn't appear to be seeing the ball very well (a lot of check swings)

-Manny also continues to scrape the bottom of the barrel; another hitless day (0-2, 2BB, 2K) dropped his average to .188, and speaking of not seeing the ball well, his frozen caveman impersonation on that strikeout by Farnsworth in the 8th was horrendous

-Youk and Lowell both grabbed 2 hits, but Lowell made two more errors, giving him 8 for the season-yikes.

-Coco was ejected for arguing about the call on his strikeout to end the 8th. In his defense, the ball was outside. Against him- no need to slam the hat & bat. Maybe the new cornrows were too tight

-Speaking of frozen caveman, a gimpy Judas Demon took the DH spot today and went 1-4 with a walk. He's now batting .242

-New York left 25 men on base; Boston's count was low for a change-9

-Jeter's hitting streak reached 16 games, and Lowell now has a 14 gamer

QUOTES:

-"This is a huge win for us. We needed a close game to win. We needed a number of people to do a job, and they did."-Torre, nicely summing up the importance of the victory

-"We've had a lot of stuff happen. You couldn't print what was going through my head, or what was coming out of my mouth."-GM Brian Cashman on the Karsten's injury

-"He was all right. Nothing special. He was throwing a lot of hittable pitches, but we were just not hitting it."-Ortiz on Igawa. Way to give credit where credit is due, Papi

-"I would have been frustrated, too. Did you see the pitch? Tough, tough."-Tito on the pitch that got Coco ejected

RECORD: 15-8

AL EAST: Up 4 on TOR/BAL

UP NEXT: Sun @ NYY 1P