TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Rasner Gives Yankees A Lift

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 11, 2008

DETROIT - Darrell Rasner is giving the New York Yankees a reliable starter at the back of the rotation, something they've been looking for all year.

Rasner won his second consecutive start since coming up from the minors, Derek Jeter hit his first homer of the season and New York ended a six-game losing streak to the Detroit Tigers with a 5-2 victory Saturday.

After beating Seattle on Sunday, Rasner allowed two runs and four hits in six-plus innings against Detroit's powerful lineup.

"He's been a shot in the arm for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "No one says you have to be fancy or overpowering. He's figured out how to use his stuff and he's done it effectively."

Jeter hit a solo shot in the first inning off Jeremy Bonderman, ending his career-long drought of 128 at-bats without a homer to start a season.

"I could really care less," Jeter said with a smile. "I'm just kidding. I wanted at least one."

Rasner departed after Magglio Ordonez's leadoff single in the seventh. He walked one - his first free pass in 12 innings this season.

The right-hander was 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in five outings at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before replacing injured Phil Hughes in New York's rotation. Hughes, Ian Kennedy (now in the minors) and Kei Igawa are winless for the Yankees this year, so Rasner has provided an important boost.

"Every chance I get is a great opportunity and I'm going to do my best to run with it," Rasner said. "I'm not going to strike a lot of guys out, so I can't walk a lot of guys."

Three relievers finished, with Joba Chamberlain pitching the eighth and Mariano Rivera the ninth for his 10th save in 10 chances.

"When you get three down and they've got Chamberlain and Mariano coming in, that's not going to work for you very often," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "You might get one, but you aren't going to get three too many times."

The Yankees had lost seven of eight against Detroit dating to last season.

"You don't like to lose to the same team over and over," Girardi said. "They've hit us pretty well, but Raz did a nice job against them."

Bonderman lasted just four-plus innings in his shortest start of the year, giving up five runs, six hits and four walks. Bonderman has walked 29 batters in 45 innings this season.

"We'd never seen him before, which is tough, and he did a nice job against us," Leyland said. "I'm dumb, I guess, because I was really excited about our lineup against this kid."

Bonderman fell back into his pattern of first-inning struggles, allowing Jeter's homer before walking Melky Cabrera with the bases loaded.

The Tigers pulled to 2-1 in the bottom half on Matt Joyce's first career homer.

"I thought I was going to have to start working out more, because I knew I got all of it, and here he's coming in," Joyce said. "Then I heard the crowd start cheering, so I knew it had gone out."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT