April 13th Yankees @ Athletics - Talksox

26 Reasons to Hate Us · 04-13-2007, 10:57 AM

New York (4-4) at Oakland (4-6), Friday, 10:05 p.m. ET

LHP Kei Igawa (0-0, 12.60 ERA) vs. RHP Dan Haren (0-2, 0.69 ERA)

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Igawa makes first career road start
New York (4-4) at Oakland (4-6), Friday, 10:05 p.m. ET
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

They say you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, but Kei Igawa is hoping Yankees fans give him a mulligan for his shaky Major League debut.
Igawa, a 27-year-old Japanese import, makes the first road start of his career on Friday at Oakland's McAfee Coliseum, opposing right-hander Dan Haren.

"I'm going to do my best to do my job and make sure I have my game plan," Igawa said through an interpreter.

The weather conditions figure to be far more favorable than in Igawa's debut Saturday, when his first offering was thrown in 39-degree temperatures and Igawa had surrendered seven runs and eight hits by the time his 97-pitch effort was complete.

"My style of pitching in Japan was to get strikes early in the count," Igawa said. "I hope to be able to do that, because I wasn't able to do it the first time around."

Yankees pitching coach Ron Guidry suggested that Igawa had no second pitch to work off in his outing against the Orioles -- something he hoped was remedied by the time the club's plane touched down in California.

Guidry said that Igawa had fallen into the bad habit of cutting off his secondary pitches, which left them flat and identifiable to hitters, who let them pass and sat on Igawa's mid-to-high 80s fastball.

"Until he does it constantly, all the time, he's going to struggle," Guidry said. "That's the secret to every pitcher."

Pitching matchup
NYY: LHP Kei Igawa (0-0, 12.60 ERA)
Igawa may be a rookie in the big leagues, but he's no stranger to pitching against solid competition. The left-hander was 14-9 with a 2.97 ERA in 29 starts for the Hanshin Tigers last season in Japan, and was a three-time strikeout leader in the Central League.

OAK: RHP Dan Haren (0-2, 0.69 ERA)
Haren is 3-0 in five career starts against the Yankees with an ERA of 2.76. He has struck out 28 batters in 33 2/3 innings against the Bombers. He made three starts against them last year, going 2-0, including a six-hitter at Yankee Stadium on May 14, when he allowed one run and struck out six.

Player to watch
While no A's player has seen Igawa yet, Milton Bradley has already made it known that he's having no trouble handling southpaws this season. Bradley is 3-for-5 with a home run against left-handers so far in 2007.

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Haren searching for first win
New York (4-4) at Oakland (4-6), Friday, 7:05 p.m. PT
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com

OAKLAND -- A's righty Dan Haren can't do much more than he has for the A's thus far. And he's still without a win. Oakland's Opening Day starter has given up one earned run in 13 innings this year, but he's 0-2 despite a 0.69 ERA heading into his start against the Yankees on Friday in the opener of a three-game series at McAfee Coliseum.
Haren has received one combined run of support in A's losses to the Angels and Seattle. He was the victim of a costly error that led to four unearned runs against the Mariners, and in a 2-1 loss in Anaheim, he gave up an RBI single to Vladimir Guerrero in the third, with the game-winning run scoring on an error in the sixth.

"He's been fantastic," A's manager Bob Geren said of Haren. "Unfortunately, the offense -- especially when Dan's pitching -- hasn't been."

Eric Chavez, who had three hits in Haren's first two starts, will try to supply some offense for Haren as he searches for his first win of the season.

"We've got to pick him up, especially against the Yankees," Chavez said. "Thier lineup is tough enough without feeling like you have to pitch a shutout to have a chance."

The last time Haren faced the Yankees in Oakland was in early April of last season. He went seven innings and gave up four runs while striking out eight on his way to a no-decision.

This time around, he'll face a locked-in Alex Rodriguez, who started the season with six home runs in the Yankees' first eight games. Haren has held A-Rod in check in the past, allowing just three hits in 18 at-bats, but one of the hits is a home run.

Derek Jeter, on the other hand, has had plenty of success against Haren, collecting 10 hits in 21 at-bats for a .476 average.

"They have an All-Star team," A's first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher said of the Yankees. "Every single year."

Pitching matchup
OAK: RHP Dan Haren (0-2, 0.69 ERA)
Haren is 3-0 in five career starts against the Yankees with an ERA of 2.76. He has struck out 28 batters in 33 2/3 innings against the Bombers. He made three starts against them last year, going 2-0, including a six-hitter at Yankee Stadium on May 14, when he allowed one run and struck out six.

NYY: LHP Kei Igawa (0-0, 12.60 ERA)
The A's have never faced Igawa, who had a rough go in his first career start. The lefty gave up seven runs (all earned) in five innings, surrendering eight hits and three walks against Baltimore.

Player to watch
No one on the Oakland roster has a history against Igawa, but Swisher might be a candidate to have a good game. Igawa walked three in his first outing and Swisher is a patient hitter with 10 walks already this year.

jacksonianmarch · 04-13-2007, 11:27 AM

I am going with some Giambroids MOJO!

jacksonianmarch · 04-13-2007, 11:34 AM

dude had pimples on his biceps.

riverside sluggers · 04-13-2007, 05:37 PM

So Yankee offense, can you guys bounce back from... *cough* Ramon Ortiz? Sorry I had to, its just so surprising he held Arod & the Yanks down like that

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Kei Igawa (1st career appearance vs Oakland)

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Dan Haren (5 games vs New York, 3-0 record with a 2.76 ERA---Career at McAfee Coliseum in 2 games, 11-13 record with a 3.75 ERA)
Johnny Damon, 5 for 15 (.333 avg) Walk, 3 Ks
Derek Jeter, 6 for 15 (.400 avg) Double, RBI, Walk, 2 Ks
Bobby Abreu, 1 for 5 (.200 avg) Double, RBi, Walk
Alex Rodriguez, 3 for 13 (.231 avg) RBI, Walk, 3 Ks
Jason Giambi, 1 for 14 (.071 avg) 2 Walks, 4 Ks
Jorge Posada, 4 for 15 (.267 avg) Double, HR, RBI, 3 Ks
Robinson Cano, 6 for 14 (.429 avg) Double, 2 Ks
Doug Mientkiewicz, 4 for 10 (.400 avg) 2 Doubles, RBI, Walk, K
Melky Cabrera, 1 for 5 (.200 avg) K
///
Miguel Cairo, 0 for 2
Josh Phelps, 0 for 6, 4 Ks

jacksonianmarch · 04-13-2007, 05:48 PM

it happens. Ortiz was throwing strikes and we were swinging. I was very perplexed with our approach though. Ortiz is known to be wild yet we let him pitch into the 8th. I dont see how that happened.

BTW, Dan Haren OWNS us. I have a bad feeling about this game.

riverside sluggers · 04-13-2007, 05:59 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/espnShow?showID=SRDA

Funny sportscenter clip featuring David Ortiz, a Yankee hat, Jorge Posada, and Wally the Green Monster

yankees228 · 04-13-2007, 06:39 PM

OK, Igawa has got to command his off speed stuff if the Yankees want to have any chance of winning this game. I remember Haren beat the Yankees at least twice last year at Yankee Stadium, including a complete game (on mother's day I believe, they were using the pink bats lol). I like the mojo idea. Giambi is one of the Yankees that hasn't quite got going yet, and against his former team tonight would be a nice place to start. The Oakland bullpen has also been good through the first few games of the year, so I'd rather not deal with the trio of Calero, Duchshurer (SP?), and Street. Hopefully tonight is the night where Igawa really shows what he can do. If I'm remembering correctly the Yankees lost two out of three in Oakland last year, but in 2005 they swept in May and took two out of three in September. If they have hopes of winning this series they have to get one of the first two games, with Pettitte waiting on Sunday.