M’s wretched again
NEW YORK – Music boomed in the clubhouse – a sound almost never heard during the Joe Torre era. The New York Yankees may be in last place, but they’re starting to play better.
Andy Pettitte struck out nine to win for the first time in more than a month, Shelley Duncan hit a go-ahead, three-run homer and the Yankees roughed up Erik Bedard and the woeful Mariners during an eight-run fifth inning in a 13-2 laugher Friday night.
“That gives us a feeling of what we’re capable of doing, what we need to do and that we can do it,” Duncan said. “That confidence, I think it’s really building.”
Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui added two-run hits against Bedard (3-3), who gave up a career-high nine runs and lost a series opener at Yankee Stadium for the second time in three weeks.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi served a one-game suspension as the result of an argument the previous night when he kicked his hat and inadvertently sent dirt onto an umpire. Bench coach Rob Thomson finally got a win after leading the Yankees to a 0-2 record when Girardi was sick in the season’s first week.
New York (23-25) is 3-1 since Alex Rodriguez returned from the disabled list and has won three straight games in which opponents started left-handers. The Yankees began the year 3-9 in games started by opposing southpaws.
Seattle, a team with high expectations coming into the season, has shown consistently low energy and lost 17 of its past 22 games. Mariners manager John McLaren was ejected by plate umpire Mike DiMuro in the second inning for arguing after Ichiro Suzuki took a called third strike for the second time.
“We’re struggling in all aspects of our game. It’s a difficult time and it’s ugly,” McLaren said. “It’s extremely ugly, and it’s very frustrating. And if you don’t feel the hurt, you’re not a competitor.”
Seattle is an A.L.-worst 18-31, and no team that fell more than 16 games less than .500 has reached the postseason.
“Playing on this team and seeing what’s happening around me, I feel that something is beginning to fall apart,” Ichiro said through a translator. “But, if I was not in the situation and I was objectively watching what had happened to this team in the past week, I would probably be drinking a lot of beers and brewing it.”
What kind of beer?
“Usually I enjoy Japanese beer, but given the situation, if I was objectively watching the game, I wouldn’t care if it was Japanese beer, American beer or beer from Papua New Guinea,” he said.
New York, which swept three games from Seattle from May 2-4, has outscored the Mariners 32-6 in going 4-0 against Seattle this season. Coming off two wins against Baltimore, the Yankees have stretched a winning streak to three for the fourth time this season – New York has not won four in a row.
Pettitte (4-5) had gone 0-4 in his five starts – all New York losses – since April 20.