AROD HURT, YANKEES LOSE... WHAT ELSE CAN GO WRONG?

In what may be the highlight of this game, three separate Yankees - Ichiro Suzuki, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez - were hit by pitches, while Raul Ibanez was also almost hit. None of them were as concerning as the one that hit Alex Rodriguez. He was taken out of the game with his wrist immobilized, and the injury turned out to be a fractured wrist that will send him to the DL, read HERE. The timetable for his return is estimated at 6-8 weeks, but there is no official word until the team returns to New York, but this is another blow to a team that has suffered the loss of several key players over the season.

As far as the game goes, Felix Hernandez came into this game leading the American League in strikeouts and with eight consecutive games without a homer. The Yankees ended that streak early, as Curtis Granderson went yard on the third pitch of the game, giving the Yankees an early 1-0 lead. The Yankees, while not exactly taking King Felix apart, did hold him to only four strikeouts through seven-plus innings.

Freddy Garcia, for his part, pitched well at certain points. At one point, he had retired 11 batters in a row, with a season-high eight strikeouts. That strikeout total was his highest since last May 4th, and he pitched 7 1/3 innings - the most in a game since last July 25th. He did, however, give up a home run to Michael Saunders on a mistake pitch in the first, and he ran into trouble in the 3rd, giving up two more runs.

The Yankees' hitting woes continued, as they went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, leaving a total of seven men on base and grounding into two double plays. Their best opportunity came in the top of the fourth, with the bases loaded and one out. However, they were unable to capitalize as Hernandez shut down the heart of the Yankees order.

(In Photo: Boone Logan)

Once Garcia came out of the game, it almost all fell apart. Chad Qualls and Boone Logan failed to record a single out, and the Yankees gave up a key insurance run. For a team that started out with an excellent bullpen, Joe Girardi has to be concerned about how they are performing now. Good opposing teams now have a legitimate weak point in the Yankees defense on which to focus.

In other interesting observations, Mariners runners challenged Ichiro's arm early by running aggressively from first to third on two separate occasions. Both runners came around to score. However, we all got to see just how strong Ichiro's arm is. In the end, it was another frustrating loss for the Yankees. 

Final Score: Mariners 4, Yankees 2.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer




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