Now Pitching in Scranton, Some Relief for Yankees

Yankees 10, Orioles 6

BALTIMORE, July 29 — The Yankees will almost surely have a new setup man soon. They have switched Joba Chamberlain, the hard-throwing 21-year-old right-hander, to a relief role at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and they continue to receive poor results from Kyle Farnsworth in the majors.

Farnsworth was going to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday no matter what the Yankees did in the top half. The offense, however, erupted for five runs, giving Farnsworth a cushion and dulling the impact of another rocky outing.

cushion v. 緩和...的衝擊；給...安上墊子 n. 墊子；緩衝器
dull v. 緩和


The Yankees outlasted the Baltimore Orioles, 10-6, at Camden Yards to win their first full game since Wednesday. Johnny Damon had three hits and scored four runs, and Chien-Ming Wang worked six innings to earn his team-leading 12th victory.

The Yankees led by six runs when Farnsworth entered, making only his second appearance in the past nine games. The struggles that followed, he said, might have resulted from pitching only once in the previous eight games.

“It doesn't help, I'll tell you that right now,” he said. “I didn't come here to sit on the bench.”

Farnsworth walked the leadoff man, then gave up a two-run homer. He later threw a fastball when catcher Jorge Posada called for a slider, striking Posada on the wrist of his glove hand. As the pitch bounced away, Posada glared at Farnsworth and later stalked to the mound for a curt conversation.

stalk v. 高視闊步地走
curt a. 簡慢的，簡明的


Farnsworth walked off in the other direction after Posada's message. Alex Rodriguez was there to officiate, patting Posada on the chest protector. Posada did not seem upset after the game, saying Farnsworth simply missed the sign. But when asked if he was fine with Posada, Farnsworth said, “We'll see.”

officiate v. 執行職務

Farnsworth, who has a 4.57 earned run average, may not be around much longer. The nonwaiver trading deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday, and the Detroit Tigers have had a scout following the Yankees in two of their last three series.

scout n. 球探；偵察兵；偵察 v. 偵察；觀察(演員，運動員)的表現以估計才能

Farnsworth pitched well for the Tigers two years ago, and they have at least some interest in him now, although a deal seemed doubtful as of Friday. With Chamberlain presumably coming up soon and the Yankees still hoping to pry a reliever from a noncontender — Eric Gagné of the Texas Rangers is the best available — there is less need for Farnsworth.

pry v. 打聽；窺探

“I've been around long enough not to worry about things you can't control,” said Farnsworth, who has only 27 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings. “I signed a three-year deal to stay here for three years. But like I said, you can't control it.”

In Chamberlain, the Yankees have a prospect with a refined repertory and, by all accounts, a solid makeup. The Yankees still view him as a starter for the future, but he has been scratched from his start Monday for Scranton and will work an inning of relief instead.

The plan is for Chamberlain to throw another inning Wednesday, but it is not a stretch to think he could be with the Yankees by then.

Asked when Chamberlain might be promoted, Manager Joe Torre said: “The only thing I know is he's in Scranton, and that's certainly something that's going to be looked at. As far as what date, I don't know.”

Promoting Chamberlain presents a health risk; it is late in his first professional season, after pitching in the Hawaiian winter league, and the innings in the majors will be intense. Chamberlain had triceps tendinitis at the University of Nebraska, an injury that caused some teams to pass on him in the 2006 draft.

triceps n. 三頭肌
trendinitis n. 【醫】腱炎


Yet the benefits could be enormous. Chamberlain throws 98 miles an hour and could overpower hitters the way Francisco Rodríguez did for the Angels and Bobby Jenks did for the White Sox in their first seasons, helping their teams win the World Series. The Yankees, who are four games out of a playoff spot, do not have a shutdown bullpen. Their relievers allowed 9 runs and 16 hits over their last eight innings.

enormous a. 巨大的，龐大的

But the team won anyway Sunday, thanks largely to Damon, who is batting .361 in his last eight games and saved two runs with a catch on the warning track in the fourth inning.

It's great being healthy,” said Damon, who played left field. “Maybe I need to be out in the field more. I can keep my adrenaline going. I feel like I can help our team out there.”

adrenaline n. 腎上腺素

Yanks Fail to Match Solid Outing by Clemens

Orioles 7, Yankees 5

BALTIMORE, July 28 — When Roger Clemens joined the Yankees last month, he gave T-shirts to his new teammates. On the front is Clemens's Rocket Man logo, and on the back, in bold letters, is a personal slogan: Tough All Day.

Clemens was tough Saturday, throwing a season-high 113 pitches on a muggy, 94-degree night. But the Yankees were tough on him, too. For the seventh time in Clemens's 10 starts, they scored two runs or fewer while he was in the game.

muggy a. 悶熱的

The Yankees' inability to handle a rookie left-hander, Brian Burres, doomed them to a 7-5 loss at Camden Yards. Despite consistently pitching well, Clemens has only three victories.

“I have plenty of wins,” said Clemens, who has 351 in his career. “We want team wins. I'm going out there trying to win every time. That's what I came back here for. I didn't come back here to get individual numbers.”

The Yankees rallied in the ninth against Cory Doyne, who was making his fourth career appearance and allowed five hits in a row, including a two-run homer by Jorge Posada. The veteran Jamie Walker restored order, getting Johnny Damon to ground into a double play.

Derek Jeter singled in a run to bring up Bobby Abreu as the tying run, with Alex Rodriguez on deck. But Walker struck out Abreu on a high curveball to end the game.

Suddenly, the Yankees are sliding, having lost their last three full games since winning six in a row. They are nine games behind Boston in the American League East and five behind Cleveland for the wild card.

“We're in a little bit of a funk right now,” said Damon, who had not grounded into a double play all season until doing it twice Saturday. “We had everything going, and our last game in Kansas City put a halt to it.”

funk n. 驚恐，畏縮

Rodriguez is 0 for 10 with four strikeouts since smashing his 499th career home run Wednesday. He struck out three times Saturday and acknowledged that the chase for 500 had made him overanxious.

“They're being extra careful, and I'm kind of playing into their hands,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez has struggled this way before, notably in the 2005 playoffs against the Angels. He went 2 for 15 then, blaming himself for swinging at bad pitches and not taking walks. The same thing is happening now.

notably adv. 尤其，顯然地

“I’ve probably gotten one pitch in the last three games,” Rodriguez said. “But that’s the key: They’re being careful, and you can’t help them. I’ve just got to pass the baton and go to first.”

Clemens reached a round number Saturday: 700 career starts, tying him with Tommy John for sixth on the career list. Clemens turns 45 in a week, but he did not consider it special to have lasted so long Saturday.

“I train to do this,” he said. “Like I told you all way back when I agreed to come back, they don't care how old I am. I came back here not just to eat innings, but to pitch quality innings. That's what I expect to do.

“I think it's obvious what happened before I was here, and how far behind the eight ball we are. There’s no room for error.”

When Clemens left with one out and one on in the seventh, he was trailing by 3-1. In all, he allowed four runs, eight hits and three walks and struck out six.

Clemens's fastball tops out around 91 miles an hour, and while he retains his excellent splitter, swings and misses are less frequent than they once were. In 31 pitches in the first inning Saturday, the Orioles swung and missed once.

Brian Roberts had terrific at-bats against Clemens, taking five pitches in the first before doubling to right on a full count. After a one-out walk to Nick Markakis, Clemens got Kevin Millar to fly out. But he fell behind Miguel Tejada, 3-1, and Tejada pulled a two-run double down the third-base line.

“I guess he kept it fair,” said Clemens, who gestured foul on the field. “I didn't see the replay, but they called it fair.”

gesture v. 用手勢(或動作)表示 n. 手勢

The score remained 2-0 until the fifth, when Roberts led off and saw nine pitches. Again, he waited to swing until the sixth pitch, with a full count. After three fouls, Roberts took ball four and scored on a single by Markakis.

The Yankees did not score against Burres until Hideki Matsui homered in the seventh. Burres worked six innings and held the Yankees to one run and four hits. It was his first career start against them.

“We didn't know the guy at all,” Posada said. “Obviously, you look at the computer and try to see what he throws. But you have no idea how to match up against a guy.”

The only pitcher the Yankees really hit was Doyne, who seemed as if he were failing at a tryout camp. The Orioles hit enough against Clemens and the bullpen to win their sixth full game in a row.

tryout n. 試用，預演

Month for Victory and Hours for Defeat

BALTIMORE, July 27 — Joe Torre, the Yankees' manager, said he believed his team's season turned on June 28, when Derek Jeter drove in the go-ahead runs in a downpour at Camden Yards against the Orioles, bringing an uplifting ending to a dreary road trip.

downpour n. 傾盆大雨
dreary a. 沉悶的，令人沮喪的


That game was suspended because of rain and completed on Friday, serving as a kind of baseball hors d'oeuvre that the Yankees savored. The main course was unfulfilling.

savor v. 品嚐，欣賞；具有...的味道(+of) n.滋味，風味，趣味

The Yankees held on to win the suspended game, 8-7, when Mariano Rivera earned the save in a rocky ninth inning. But they dropped the regularly scheduled game, 4-2, with Jeremy Guthrie and four relievers holding them to seven hits.

“We expected to win the first one, with a two-run lead in the eighth,” Jeter said. “In the second game, he pitched well, that's all you can say. The guy throws a 96-mile-an-hour two-seamer and he’s got a pretty good breaking ball. He just got the best of us.”

The Yankees thus ended the day in worse shape than they had started it. They trail Boston by eight games in the American League East and Cleveland by five games for the wild card. The offense has scored only two runs in 19 full innings since binging for 70 runs in a six-game winning streak that ended Thursday.

The output on Friday was not enough to lift Andy Pettitte, who was one strike from a scoreless third inning but ended up allowing three runs. The Orioles did not score any other runs off him over seven innings, but that was no consolation to Pettitte, who is 6-7 and has lost the groove he felt early this season.

consolation n. 慰藉，安慰
groove n. 【俚】稱心的東西，快活的經歷


“I'm just kind of fighting myself,” said Pettitte, who allowed eight hits and three walks, while striking out five. “I'm constantly having to make adjustments out there instead of it just being together for seven straight innings. I got in a little bit of a rhythm the last few innings, and that's what's frustrating — that I can struggle for a few innings and then it's fine, but yet the damage is done.”

Scott Proctor took over for Pettitte and gave up a leadoff home run to Kevin Millar on a fastball down the middle. Proctor has allowed eight home runs, ranking second among A.L. relievers.

“It's a cause for concern,” Torre said. “He's had success against Millar in the past. He's obviously not locating his pitches the way he'd like to.”

When Torre needed a reliever to take over for Mike Myers with one out and one on in the eighth inning of the suspended game, he bypassed Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth and called for Rivera.

“We had a plan in place,” Torre said. “Everyone on our side knew that as soon as the first guy reached in that inning, Mo was coming in. With the people they had coming up, we felt the eighth was the save inning.”

Maybe so, but after Rivera retired Aubrey Huff on a double-play grounder, the ninth inning turned hairy. Miguel Tejada struck out in his first at-bat since coming off the disabled list, but Corey Patterson doubled and a pinch hitter, Ramón Hernández, singled him home.

hairy a. 【俚】粗野的，令人不快的

Jay Payton bounced to Jeter, who stepped on second for the force out but threw wide of first, prolonging the inning.

prolong v. 拉長，延長

With two outs and a 2-2 count — after a long foul down the right-field line — Brian Roberts shot a double past third base, moving Payton to third. Brandon Fahey followed with a slow chopper to second, where Robinson Canó fielded it and raced Roberts to the bag.

Canó got there first, stomping on second for the force out to end a game that could finally be logged in the record books with minimal confusion.

stomp v. 重踏

Alex Rodriguez, who came into the game with 499 home runs, grounded out in his only at-bat, ending any debate over which home run should count as the 500th of his career.

When Rodriguez batted in the nightcap, camera flashes twinkled with every pitch, the way it is before the first pitch of the World Series. Yet Rodriguez managed only one fair ball in his three times up against Guthrie, walking in the first and the sixth and flying out to shallow center in the third. He lined out to left off Jamie Walker in the eighth.

The Yankees scored in the second on a two-out triple off the center-field wall by Melky Cabrera, who was stranded at third. The Yankees left a runner at third base in four of six innings off Guthrie.

Pettitte survived the second by getting a fly out from Roberts on a 2-0 pitch with the bases loaded, but he was not so lucky in the third.

A leadoff double by Patterson and two walks loaded the bases with two out in the third. The pitching coach Ron Guidry visited the mound, and Hernández came up, working a full count before pulling a four-seam fastball through the left side, scoring two runs.

Another single, by Jay Gibbons, made the score 3-1 Orioles. Although Pettitte had been one pitch from escaping the jam, he seemed to believe he deserved what he got.

“When you have a lot of base runners and you’re in trouble,” Pettitte said, “things like that are going to happen.”

All the flowers are dying - Detective Mattew Scudder

"就像巴士，如果你錯過了一班，過幾分鐘就會有另一班開過來"

那史卡德會再繼續沿著第九大道走來嗎？
葛洛根酒吧，吉米．阿姆斯壯酒吧 .... 戒酒協會 ....

是一個月吧，在30天中，我陪著一個人活過了他的30年，活過紐約的30年。
當然我會很希望史卡德繼續幹那個沒有執照的偵探，
然而66歲的他可能負擔不起我的企求，也負擔不起時代的變遷。

這是一套值得細細品味的小說，但你如果問起我他是什麼樣的小說，
而我的答案會是什麼？偵探？犯罪？還是傳記呢？
或許勞倫斯．卜洛克並不給你上列這些特定的答案，
就好比那個沒有執照的偵探，沒有規矩，不需遵行什麼繁文褥節，自由的很。
姑且，就稱它為故事吧，讓你我可以聊上一整夜的故事，
讓米基喝著12年份的詹森牌威士忌，和馬修聊上一整夜的故事，
當然別忘了配上咖啡。因為，
咖啡讓人清醒，而酒讓人迷亂，多麼完美的搭配。

"我叫馬修，我是個酒鬼，我想今晚只聽就好"

在這我不討論他的文學性，畢竟我也不懂，類型小說啥鬼的。
馬修．史卡德，故事的主角，一個喝掉自己工作，喝掉自己家庭的退休警探。
退休後，就成為一個私家偵探。
然而他並不是無堅不摧而長生不死的偵探，
就好比那個小鬼，他真的以為他永遠都得戴著那副眼鏡，
別著那個自以為高科技變聲器的領結嗎？

不，馬修會酗酒，後來戒了。馬修會殺人，會賄賂，會假冒警察，會栽贓 ...
重點是他會老，就跟你我一樣，他只是個平凡人。
光這點，就令人感動，不是嗎？
你跟他一起經歷的，不僅僅是那些追尋線索及推理的過程，
你跟他一起經歷了那些宿醉、清醒的日子，經歷了衝動、悔恨、放盪，
經歷了興盛、頹圮，以及當他認識的人逐漸的減少，驚覺時光荏苒。

你陪著他成長，不自覺地，你也感覺到什麼在騷動。

"我在當警察所學到的，就是送到手的，就把它放進口袋吧。"

如果你想看到個什麼正氣凜然地打擊犯罪完人，
那我會建議你去看蜘蛛人或超人；
扯破喉嚨地叫一聲，就會有個穿著紅紅藍藍的傢伙冒出來，說要拯救世界。
彷彿他連呼吸都捨不得，只為了不讓地球有溫室效應。

他曾經是個警察，也就是說他曾經代表著制度，
在誤殺那個六歲的小女孩，卻獲頒獎章的鳥蛋事之前。
也讓他討厭制度，所以他沒有執照，沒有填表格蒐集收據這些，
但他卻堅持著不讓枉死的人就此死去，也不讓該死的人逃過一死。
他就固執地像條狗，追著骨頭，不肯罷休。

米基．巴魯，愛爾蘭與法國的混血兒，一個以殺人為業的職業罪犯，
傳說他曾經把敵人的腦袋砍下來放在保齡球袋裡，遇到人就給他看一眼。
他所擁有的一切都不歸他名下，他說這樣一來，警察能帶走的就那身衣服。
而他是馬修最好的朋友。
退休警祭與職業罪犯，酗酒之人與戒酒之人，完美的組合，完美的諷刺。

丹尼男孩，一個黑人，正確地說你該叫他非裔美國人，他是個白子，
比白人還白，不能照光，只能在晚上出沒。
上帝應該要創造一個可以調節光線的開關，他說。
他是馬修的線民，從警察時代開始就是。

伊蓮．馬岱，聰明又美麗的猶太女人，是個妓女。
是在普根酒吧裡，丹尼男孩固定坐的那張桌上，馬修認識了她。
妓女常常會需要一個警察來幫她排除一些麻煩，
當然回報的方式就是她們賴以為生的方式。
從馬修退休之後，他們就再也沒有聯絡，
直到一個來自過去的人，打算殺害掉馬修身邊所有的女人，包括伊蓮。
他們重逢，直到某天，他開始在乎她仍然在接客，
而她告訴他其實她早就休業了幾個月。
於是乎，王子與公主的故事都是這樣，有情人終成眷屬。
錯了，他是個退休警察，而她是個妓女，一樣有個好的結局。

這一切擁有著強烈的對比，強烈的矛盾，你可以稱它們為"不和諧"。
而人生不就是這樣？

"在紐約，有八百萬個故事，八百萬種死法"

八百萬種死法大致上是這套小說極為明顯的分嶺，
在這之前的幾本，薄很多，以所謂的古典推理為主；
至此之後，故事本身步調開始變慢，也真正開始迷人。

據說，作者本來打算停在"Hope to Die"作結，其實是個微妙的結局。

"我從事偵探工作多年，偵察的某種固定過程其實對我來說已經是反射動作。這幾年我偶爾也會試著去做其他工作，但最後都會了解到，我的行業就是偵探，而且的不錯，我的經驗和天生的條件都沒法做其他事情。...
有時明確合理極了，你從街道這端往另一端走，敲每一戶門。這是形容，也是事實，每一個資訊的小碎片逗起許多來，指引你去另外一條街道，敲其他的門。等到你走過許多街道也敲夠了門之後，最後一扇門打開，答案就在那裡，不輕鬆也不簡單，可是要找出真相，這是一個很合邏輯的方法。"

這招是馬修慣用的辦案手法，最後也都能逮到真正的兇手。

"但這招不是永遠行得通的。"

然而在這本書中，他始終在追逐著一個影子，
他不知道他的真正名字，也不知道他真正的樣子，
到最後當他們打算要逮他的時候，他做掉了某處滿屋子的人，
把屍體毀容，而逍遙法外。
A.B.，完美犯罪者，我來似水，我去如風。

"他的回應方式非常有趣：他製作了一份名單，列出所有他認識而死掉的人。"

然而受到了911的衝擊，卜洛克又再度提筆寫了馬修．史卡德。
此時他已經66歲了，這麼巧，馬修也是。

馬修已然是個梭穿於現代中的一個將近70歲的老頭，911是個分水嶺，
所有的事情都會拿來跟911做個時間上的類比，在那之後很多事情都消失了，
雙子星大樓倒了，吉米．阿姆斯壯倒了，曾經的那些悔恨又怎麼能屹立不搖呢？

那些存在於上一代的推理手法，在這個時代亦幾近消失，
科學化的辦案，網際網路的資料搜集，
讓馬修在這個城市中的步調，更顯得緩慢。

繁花將盡，總是讓人胸口鬱悶，而感到哀傷，
我們老了，這句話出現了不只一次，連米基．巴魯都這麼感嘆著。
對照於不斷強調永生的兇手，一次又一次地用著新名字意謂新生，
馬修遲滯的腳步總讓你懷疑他還能追得到兇手嗎？

這次他追不到了，不意外，在得知兇手竟是那個五年前未死去的靈魂時，
推敲出兇手的目標是伊蓮跟自己之後，
他不再追了，不再像以前那般撿起資訊的小碎片，跟敲一扇又一扇的門。
對比於兇手自白不停地壯大的自我，像班巴士，緩緩駛進他們的生命，
馬修所能做的僅僅是將自己的摰愛關在家中，
而死命地護住在這時候最珍貴的東西。

"如果你有負我們這些死去的人，我們將不能安眠，
縱然嬰粟花仍然開在 法蘭德斯的田野。"

艾提塔．里維拉，被流彈射死的小女孩，
吉姆．法柏，曾是馬修的好朋友，被誤殺因為被誤認為是馬修，
....................................................

在我陪著馬修的這些年，那些死去的人都回來了，
傳說中的死亡前夕，一輩子的回憶猶如蒙太奇畫面般在眼前跳動 .....

A.B.死了，第一次，馬修離死亡最近的一次，為了摰愛。
我們老了，再也無法追尋死神的腳步，在那之前先制服他，
我們只能靜靜地，慢慢地，等著死亡來臨。
就像911那些人一樣，死得快到你都來不及寫下來。
英雄老了，總是要老的，這就是讓你感動的地方，
我在想，A.B.之所以設定為A.B.，或許它有那麼點代表死神的意涵。
因為它永遠用不一樣的手法在殺人，沒有規則，
而你也永遠無法知道它真正的名字，以及它的臉，直到死亡前的那一刻。

但最後死神死了，馬修活了，這世界沒一定的準則，
你永遠不懂它想怎麼樣，結局還是美好的，
只是王子有那麼點老，公主也不再年輕，
保衛家園的雙塔倒了，而紐約變了，世界看起來也不太一樣。

"同時，我們其中之一常會站在朝南的窗邊，凝視著遠方。我不確定伊蓮看到什麼，甚至也不確定自己想看到什麼。或許我們在眺望過往，或望向遠方。或者，我有時想著，我們是在眺望不確定的現在。"

我今天在想，年輕的時候你總是會想要騎車騎快點，
但你總是會在某個紅燈停下來。
如果你總有停下來的時候，不是這個路口就是下個路口，
那你為什麼非得要飆過這段路呢？
每個人都有個終點，早點到終點也不會有個獎牌掛在你脖子上，
滿場歡聲雷動讓你感動地想要哭，好像站在全世界最高的地方。
既然沒有，那你在急什麼呢？

那就走路吧，沿著第九大道走。

"阿姆斯壯酒吧裡音樂開得很小，坐在裡面喝酒，消磿個大半天，是一種享受。我到那裡就是圖個這種感覺。我只想把酒喝得剛剛好，很偶爾才想縱情一醉。我通常是喝兩杯波本，再加一點咖啡，直到長夜將盡，才會再喝兩杯，壓住陣腳。我在那裡可以看報紙，可以吃一個漢堡或是來份正餐，如果我不想講話，我在那裡也可以靜一會婼。我不是一天到晚都在那裡，但是，我每天至少會到那裡報到一次。有的時候是丹尼斯一開門，我就進去；直到比利關門的時候，有才出來。每個人都要有個地方可待，不是？"

敬你，馬修。一天戒一次就好。

Igawa's Bad Inning Spoils Chance for a Sweep

Royals 7, Yankees 0

spoil v. 搞糟，糟蹋

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 26 — When Kei Igawa returned to the Yankees last month, after a stint in the minors, he vowed to use the training methods that made him successful in Japan. That includes sprinting in the outfield before games he starts.

vow n. 誓言(make a vow of) v. 發誓要
sprint v. 衝刺 n. 衝刺


So there was Igawa on Thursday afternoon, in the broiling midsummer heat, zipping across the grass at Kauffman Stadium. It is an unusual practice on the day of a start, at least in the United States, and while Igawa might feel more comfortable, he is not showing it on the mound.

One rocky inning by Igawa doomed the Yankees to a 7-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals. They have won six series in a row but missed a chance at their first sweep in that stretch, stranding nine runners and dropping to seven and a half games behind Boston in the American League East.

doom v. 注定，使...失敗 n. 厄運

Igawa, who gave up four runs in the second inning, will probably drop out of the rotation. Phil Hughes is scheduled to make his final rehabilitation start on Sunday for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and is on track to rejoin the rotation at home against the Royals on Aug. 4.

“Teasing is better than frustrating,” Manager Joe Torre said of Igawa. “Because you know he's been trying, he's working at it, and he's very serious-minded about what he does. He pitches well enough to think it's coming, but something gets out of whack and he gives up three or four runs.”

whack n. 重擊

The game was Alex Rodriguez's first since belting his 499th career home run on Wednesday, but the Royals gave him few chances to do damage Thursday. Rodriguez was walked intentionally in the first inning and hit by the first pitch he saw in the fifth, both times against Jorge De La Rosa.

belt v. 【俚】猛擊

De La Rosa, who gave up Rodriguez’s 400th home run as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005, also induced a fly out to center by Rodriguez to lead off the fourth. De La Rosa blanked the Yankees for five and a third innings, allowing six hits and two walks.

induce v. 導致
blank v. 封鎖；變得模糊


Rodriguez came up one more time, in the eighth against Zack Greinke, and grounded out to third base.

Igawa gave up five runs and seven hits — five for extra bases — in five and two-thirds innings. He hit a batter and walked another in the first, but escaped that jam. He was not so lucky in the second.

With two outs, Igawa walked Esteban Germán to face David DeJesus, the batter he hit in the first. DeJesus bashed a two-run double to right to make the score 3-0. After Bobby Abreu overran Mark Grudzielanek’s hit, which went for a triple off the wall, the Royals had a 4-0 edge.

From there, Igawa faced the minimum number of hitters until there were two outs in the sixth, when Gordon tripled and scored on a single by Peña, ending Igawa’s night with a 5-0 deficit. Gordon, the second overall pick in the 2005 draft, later added a home run against Sean Henn.

In some ways, it was a typical Igawa start. He looked good enough in spots to seem like a legitimate major league pitcher. But the overall picture was unsatisfactory, as it almost always is.

Only once in 11 starts has Igawa met the minimum standards for a quality start: at least six innings with no more than three earned runs. He is 2-3 with a 6.79 earned run average, and while the Yankees never projected him higher than a fourth or fifth starter, they expected much better when they invested $46 million in him last winter.

The Yankees’ hitters had chances against De La Rosa (8-10), who entered the game with a 5.61 E.R.A., but their offense sputtered after scoring 63 runs in winning their previous five games.

The Yankees left eight runners in scoring position through the first six innings. Derek Jeter and Abreu both went 0 for 4, with three of their at-bats coming with at least one runner on base.

The Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles will resume their suspended game from June 28 on Friday at 7 p.m., before their regularly scheduled game at Camden Yards. The Yankees lead, 8-6, with two outs in the eighth inning, Derek Jeter on second and Hideki Matsui batting against Chris Ray, who is now on the disabled list. The three Yankees who were not with the team on June 28 — Shelley Duncan, Sean Henn and José Molina — are all eligible to play. ... Catcher Wil Nieves, who was designated for assignment on Sunday, said he has decided to report to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In his Yankees’ debut, Molina, who is Nieves’s replacement, went 2 for 4 and threw out a runner trying to steal.

eligible a. 合格的

Rodriguez Hits No. 499 to Set Date With History

Yankees 7, Royals 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 25 – When Alex Rodriguez was growing up in Miami, he idolized Dale Murphy, the star of the Atlanta Braves, whose games he could watch on cable. Joe Torre was the Braves' manager in Murphy's prime, and sometimes, when Torre would call for a hit and run, Murphy would smoke the ball over the right-center field fence instead.

Torre compared Rodriguez to Murphy after Wednesday's game, a 7-1 Yankees victory over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Rodriguez connected for his 499th career home run with a runner breaking from first and a full count in the eighth inning. It was a liner to right center that just kept carrying.

"He came in and I said, 'That's as good a hit-and-run as I could see,'" Torre said. "It's a little reminiscent of Dale Murphy – you tell him to get the guy over, he hits a home run to right-center field. He's stronger than Dale Murphy, but it's the same principle."

reminiscent a. 聯想到(+of)；懷舊的

The victory was the Yankees' 12th in 15 games since the All-Star break and it cut their American League East deficit to six and a half games behind Boston, the closest they have been to first place since May 9.

"We're not looking at personal statistics," Rodriguez said. "We're just trying to scratch a win every time we come to the park. We're not in a celebration mode."

Yet when Rodriguez faces Jorge De La Rosa today, history will be with him. It was a little more than two years ago that Rodriguez connected off De La Rosa, then with Milwaukee, for his 400th career home run. Now he has a chance to hit his 500th off the same pitcher.

"I saw that a few days ago," Rodriguez said. "The game works in funny ways."

The 499th broke open a tight game in which Mike Mussina used a sharper curveball to work five and two-thirds innings for his first victory this month. It came on the 120th pitch thrown by Gil Meche, who was tiring and left a cutter where Rodriguez could bash it.

bash v. 痛擊

"Joe released the runner on a 3-2 count, so it was the perfect situation for me to keep my shoulder in and try to hit a ball hard and low to the opposite field," Rodriguez said, adding later, "Seeing him the third time, the advantage should go to the hitter, and I was fortunate to do that."

The homer made Rodriguez the first hitter in history with 10 consecutive seasons of 35 home runs, and it turned a two-run lead into a four-run lead. Meche left the game for reliever Jimmy Gobble, and Hideki Matsui greeted him with his 10th home run in July.

Rodriguez, who turns 32 on Friday, could become the first player to hit 500 homers before turning 32. The youngest player to do it was Jimmie Foxx, who was 32 years, 338 days old when he reached the mark in 1940. Rodriguez struck out in his first chance at 500, in the ninth inning Wednesday against Octavio Dotel.

"Never as a kid did I think I would hit one," Rodriguez said. "I was a shortstop. I figured if I hit 100 home runs and got 3,000 hits, that's pretty phenomenal."

phenomenal a. 傑出的，驚人的

The Yankees scored twice in the second when Robinson Cano singled with one out and scored on a homer by Melky Cabrera, who pulled a ball to the grass embankment beside the fountains in right center.

embankment n. 堤岸
fountain n. 噴泉；噴水地；(知識等)泉源(+of)

Cabrera drove in another run in the seventh inning, when his sacrifice fly scored Jorge Posada to make it 3-1.

Cabrera's playing time could be cut soon with Jason Giambi scheduled to begin a rehabilitation assignment for Class A Tampa on Friday. Giambi, who has missed almost two months with plantar fasciitis, told the Associated Press he wants to re-join the Yankees next week.

plantar n. 腳底的
fasciitis n. 筋膜炎

"I don't think so, but I'm pleased he feels that way," Torre said. "I know he's saying he's better, but I don't know how well he's really tested the foot. Next week seems a little ambitious, but you certainly don't discount the ability of Jason Giambi."

Giambi's return could disrupt the rhythm of the lineup by forcing Cabrera or Johnny Damon to the bench more often. Damon, who is getting comfortable in the outfield again now that he is injury-free, said he hoped that would not happen.

"We'll let Joe decide what he's going to do," Damon said. "I plan to be playing."

The Yankees faded in the playoffs last fall after Cabrera took a reduced role with the return of Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield from injuries. Torre said he had not decided how to use Giambi but did not sound concerned.

"If it becomes a tough decision," Torre said, "that means you have a number of people you can use."

Like Torre, General Manager Brian Cashman would not declare Giambi nearly ready. Cashman returned to New York after a day of meetings in Tampa, Fla., satisfied with the direction of the team prior to Tuesday's trading deadline.

"It was just a chance for me to convey in person where I'm at," Cashman said. "I'm executing the same plan I've been executing for quite a white. But, obviously, now I'm pleased our team is playing more to its capability."

Executing his plan means holding onto the top pitching prospects Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Alan Horne, who are all off-limits in trade talks.

The Yankees could add a reliever or a right-handed bat, but some relievers thought to be on the market are not available at the moment, including Houston's Brad Lidge, Tampa Bay's Al Reyes and Cincinnati's David Weathers.

Some available relievers include Chad Qualls or Dan Wheeler of Houston, Damaso Marte of Pittsburgh, Eric Gagne of Texas and Dotel. But for now, at least, none of those seem to be probable fits for the Yankees.

"It's quiet," Cashman said. "If we do something, it probably will be smaller in nature, if anything. We'll see. Until Tuesday, I guess anything's possible."

The Yankees Are Playing Like, Well, the Yankees

Yankees 9, Royals 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 24 — The Yankees are doing precisely what they are supposed to do. They are steamrolling mediocre pitchers, taking advantage of a soft patch in their schedule and roaring toward playoff contention.

steamroller v. 【口】壓垮
mediocre a. 二流的，平凡的

The Yankees buried the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, 9-4, for their 11th victory in 14 games since the All-Star Game break. They are just four and a half games behind the Cleveland Indians for the lead in the wild-card race.

Chien-Ming Wang was the beneficiary of the Yankees' latest offensive eruption. They have scored 56 runs in their last four games and, until the eighth inning on Tuesday, had put at least one runner on base for 24 consecutive innings.

beneficiary n. 受益人，受惠者
eruption n. (火山等)爆發

Before the game, Royals Manager Buddy Bell sounded as if he could sense the ugly night ahead. His starter, Scott Elarton, had a 9.17 earned run average, more walks than strikeouts and had missed a month with a foot injury.

“Scotty's stuff hasn't been an issue,” Bell said. “It's all about command. Hopefully, he'll have that tonight. He'll need it. This is a pretty good team.”

command n. 掌握能力

With command especially important, Elarton walked the Yankees’ leadoff batter, hit the cleanup batter and walked the fifth hitter. One run was in by then, and three more would follow on a single by Jorge Posada and a double by the sizzling Robinson Canó.

cleanup n. 【棒】四棒打者
sizzling a. 【美】火熱的

The Yankees sent nine batters to the plate in the first, and nine more in the second. Elarton would not be around to finish that inning.

He faced five hitters in the second, allowing a single to Johnny Damon, a run-scoring double to Bobby Abreu and a run-scoring single to Hideki Matsui. John Bale, a left-hander, brought Bell no relief: he walked his first three hitters, forcing in another run to make the score 7-0.

To that point, the Royals had sent only three hitters to the plate. The Royals did score twice in the second, but Wang was otherwise in command, cruising to his 11th victory, five more than any other Yankees starter.

Even so, the Yankees’'rotation has become a strength, and it is close to getting stronger. Phil Hughes started for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday, throwing six shutout innings, allowing two hits, striking out seven and throwing 73 pitches. He is tentatively scheduled for one more start as he recovers from injuries to his hamstring and ankle.

tentative a. 試驗性的，嘗試的

The Yankees' unwillingness to part with Hughes or Joba Chamberlain will have ramifications before Tuesday's trading deadline. Without giving up Hughes or Chamberlain, the Yankees will probably have no chance to acquire first baseman Mark Teixeira from the Texas Rangers.

ramification n. 分枝，縱橫交錯

Hughes will rejoin the Yankees as soon as he is ready, replacing Kei Igawa in the rotation. The question is whether Chamberlain will eventually join him in New York.

It would be quite a jump for Chamberlain, who started the season in Class A Tampa and was promoted with another starter, Ian Kennedy, from Class AA Trenton to Scranton on Monday. Manager Joe Torre said that while the Yankees still envision Chamberlain as a starter, he could be a relief option down the stretch.

envision v. 想像，展望

“I’m not sure it's probable, but it's possible,” Torre said, adding that he would be careful with Chamberlain if he is called up. “I think they'll try to get a feel for it. That's why they're moving him to Scranton.”

Chamberlain, 21, was 4-2 with a 3.43 earned run average in seven starts at Trenton. Although the move still seems unlikely this late in his first professional season, there are indications that Chamberlain would favor a temporary bullpen move.

“Whether I'm pitching here or pitching in New York, it's 60 feet 6 inches,” Chamberlain told reporters on Tuesday. “They're not moving the mound back on me.”

Chamberlain's potential move was not the focus of Tuesday's organizational meeting in Tampa, Fla. But all of the top Yankees' executives were there, including the principal owner George Steinbrenner and his sons, Hank and Hal; the team president Randy Levine; the chief operating officer Lonn Trost; Cashman; the senior vice president for player development Mark Newman; the vice president for amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer; the special adviser Gene Michael, and the senior vice president Felix Lopez.

The group met for several hours to discuss alternatives before the trading deadline, with no deals imminent and with the acquisition of Teixeira looking doubtful.

imminent a. 即將發生的
acquisition n. 獲得

After giving away such talent as Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez and Francisco Cordero in failed trades in recent years, the Rangers are under more pressure than ever to make a good deal. They also may decide to keep Teixeira, who is signed through 2008.

For now, the Yankees are pleased with the job Andy Phillips has done. But Torre said there may be better alternatives.

I don't think we know that, because we don't know what's available,” Torre said. “Or if there is someone available, we don't necessarily want to pay the price for that guy.”

INSIDE PITCH

Robinson Canó, who walked twice in the entire month of May, walked three times on Tuesday. It was the first three-walk game of his career. ... To recognize the 24th anniversary of the so-called Pine Tar Game, in which George Brett homered off the Yankees' Goose Gossage with a pine tar-smeared bat, the Royals gave out T-shirts of Brett's powder-blue jersey smudged with fake pine tar stains. Brett, who is now a Royals vice president, caught the ceremonial first pitch.

tar n. 焦油，柏油 v. 塗焦油於
smear v. (用黏或膩的東西)塗抹;塗上(油、油漆等)；弄髒；中傷
powder-blue a. 粉藍色的
jersey n. 平針織物
smudge n. 污點 v. 弄髒，形成污跡

Clemens Gets a Lead and Doesn't Let Go

Yankees 9, Royals 2

KANSAS CITY, July 23 — It is hard to think of any series with the Kansas City Royals as a test. But facts are facts, and when they faced the Yankees at Kauffman Stadium on Monday, the Royals were coming off series victories on the road against Boston and Detroit, the teams with the two best records in the majors.

“We watch the scoreboard, and they've been playing good teams very tough,” Yankees Manager Joe Torre said.
That might be true, but there was not much evidence in this game. The Yankees thumped the Royals, 9-2, behind seven strong innings from Roger Clemens, who earned his 351st career victory. That is 100 more than the combined career total of all of the Royals' pitchers.

thump v. 重擊

The Yankees have won 9 of their past 11 games and have scored 47 runs in their past three. They gave Clemens a 4-0 lead in the second inning and he protected it, allowing four hits, striking out three, and watching the Yankees hitters pile on with five runs in the ninth.

pile v. 累積

For the third game in a row, every Yankees starter had at least one hit.

“It's what you would expect from the lineup,” Clemens said. “The guys are getting it done. The intensity is up when you'd like it to be. It's great to see our hitters walking around with smiles on their faces.”

The Yankees' ninth-inning burst began when Alex Rodriguez singled home Johnny Damon, who had three hits. Rodriguez became the first Yankee to drive in 100 runs before the team's 100th game since Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig did it in 1937.

burst v. 突然爆發

The last major leaguer to do it was Manny Ramírez for Cleveland in 1999. Ramírez finished with 165 runs batted in that season.

“It's pretty cool, but I'm focused on the team,” Rodriguez said. “I'm really excited about the way the team's playing.”

The Yankees were playing their first game this season against the Royals, who have held their own since a miserable start. The Royals had endured 22 consecutive losing months until going 15-12 in June, and they also have a winning record in July.

One Yankees coach has paid special attention to the Royals. Tony Peña Jr., the son of the Yankees' first base coach, Tony Peña, is Kansas City's starting shortstop. That presented a problem in the pregame scouting meeting.

“I'll be in the meeting, but when they start to talk about him, I will move out,” Pena said. “I want him to do well and lose the game. I don't want him to beat us.”

Things went to plan for Peña when his son singled against Clemens with two out in the third inning for the Royals' first hit. Clemens had set down eight in a row to start the game.

The Yankees greeted Odalis Pérez with two runs in the first inning, both scoring on a two-out single by Hideki Matsui. In the second, Robinson Canó led off with a single. It was the first of two hits for Canó, who is 20 for 40 over his past 10 games.

After Andy Phillips popped out, Shelley Duncan came to bat. His father, Dave, the pitching coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, was in town on a day off to watch his son. Shelley's brother, Chris, a Cardinals outfielder, also came along.

“He asked permission if his brother could come down to the clubhouse after the game,” Torre said. “Permission granted.”

Duncan, who had three home runs in his first three games, singled to left field to keep the rally going. Damon followed with a hard-hit double just inside the left-field line, scoring two runs to make the score 4-0.

“Things move a lot smoother when I'm doing something,” said Damon, who started in center and said he might ask Torre for more starts in the field. “I'm always hard on myself. I always feel like, as I go, the team's going to go.”

Only twice in Clemens's previous eight starts had the Yankees scored four runs while he was still in the game. He took advantage of the lead against a Royals lineup that included only one hitter who had faced him more than three times.

The Royals put two runners on in only inning against Clemens, who struck out his last two hitters and issued no walks.

Rookie Duncan Fits Right Into the Yankees' High-Powered Offense

Yankees 21, Devil Rays 4

When the fourth inning was done — after the Yankees had batted around, after 10 runs had scored and it had taken 29 minutes to record three outs — the thrashing that led to the Yankees’ 21-4 victory against Tampa Bay yesterday was still not complete. The Devil Rays had barely dipped into their woeful bullpen at that point, so the Yankees had plenty of time to pad the lead in their latest laugher.


thrash v. (用棍，鞭等)打，痛擊；【口】大勝，擊敗
dip into 舀，掏
woeful a. 悲慘的，令人遺憾的



There would be a chance for Shelley Duncan, who made his major league debut Friday and who began the day as the designated hitter to give Johnny Damon a rest, to emerge as a folk hero in the mold of Shane Spencer. He hit two home runs yesterday, one a three-run shot in the endless fourth, giving him three homers for his career. That is 495 fewer than Alex Rodriguez has.


emerge v. (從困境中)出頭；浮現(+from)
folk a. 民間的，通俗的
mold n. 類型


A few minutes after Duncan took his second curtain call of the day in the sixth inning, Rodriguez smashed a pitch into the left-field seats for his 34th home run this season and the 498th of his career. In the eighth inning, a two-run home run by Robinson Canó put the Yankees’ run tally at 20.

curtain call 要求演員謝幕的掌聲或歡呼聲

By the time the Devil Rays wearily departed the Bronx, the Yankees had scored 45 runs in 28 hours, a testament to how efficiently even a team with significant issues just a few weeks ago can take advantage of the truly troubled.


wearily adv. 疲倦地，消沉地
testament n. 證明，證據(+to)


The 10 runs in the fourth were the most the Yankees had scored in an inning this season, and the six home runs in the game — one of which was a solo shot by Hideki Matsui, who had a game-high five hits — were their most in a game in two years. All just hours after they scored 17 runs in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.

“I've never seen anything like these last two days,” Manager Joe Torre said. “Even in batting practice you don't get hits every time you swing the bats. This was incredible.”

It is nothing new for the Devil Rays to serve as a balm for whatever ails their opponents. As the Yankees try to claw their way into playoff contention, Tampa Bay pitching provided a weekend of feel-good moments for an offense that earlier this season could have used a fraction of these runs. And one that may need more days — and more opponents — like this as the summer wanes.


balm n. 香油；安慰(物)；鎮痛軟膏
ail v. 使...痛苦，使...苦惱
claw v. 費力地奮回
wane n. 衰退期


The Yankees are 9-3 since the All-Star Game break and they have played only Tampa Bay and Toronto, both of which have losing records. Tonight they begin a seven-game trip against two more of baseball's woebegone franchises — Kansas City and Baltimore — trailing the Red Sox by seven and a half games. In all, the Yankees will play 16 more games against teams with losing records before going to Cleveland on Aug. 10.


woebegone a. 悲哀的
franchise n. 特權


“You feel like you should beat teams that aren't quite as strong in terms of record,” said Andy Pettitte (6-6), who allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out eight.

Not that it was an easy day for Pettitte. He sat for so long during the bottom of the fourth — he guessed 40 minutes — that he eventually went into the clubhouse and threw a ball against a wall, just to loosen up. He acknowledged later that as the inning wore on and the scoreboard lit up like a pinball machine, he began to think that it would be O.K. if the Yankees made an out or two.


wear on 緩慢地進行
light up 點燃
pinball machine 彈球機


Afterward, he struggled to locate his pitches. But while Pettitte suffered, Duncan reveled in his star turn. Because the Yankees’ Class AAA team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was on a trip when Duncan’s contract was purchased Friday, Duncan has been on the road for 11 days. He had a clubhouse attendant do his laundry as soon as he arrived Friday, and by yesterday he found himself rounding the bases while the score of “The Natural” played in the background.


revel in 著迷，陶醉
round v. 環繞...而行


“It’s a crazy experience,” Duncan said.

In the dugout, as the fans stood for Duncan, Torre turned to Rodriguez. “I said to Alex, You’re not the guy anymore,” Torre said.

A cat caged in the balcony

A cat should have its torritory, a wide one, just like a bird should fly in the sky.


As I heared you breed them in the balcony and will hold on in the future, I felt very, very peeved and dismayed. I wonder where is your love you stressed again and again and how you cherished your pets. No, I can't see anymore. I don't think giving them something to eat, somewhere to sleep, and some space to be prisoned can be called I love my pets and treat them like my treasures. That's all bullshit.

However, on the other hand, I am the asshole. My poor cat, I'm very sorry I have to expose you for a long time. Everything caused by me, however, was blamed on you, as I experienced them with innocent you. I never forget how you comfort me with your lily-white and lovely looks and I promise you I'll give you a paradise, ture paradise.

I miss you so much, and I believe you too.

A Full Day Concludes With a Sweep for the Yanks

Four starting pitchers reported for work at Yankee Stadium yesterday with a combined career record of 8-22. As uncertain as the Yankees must have felt before their day-night doubleheader, it probably helped to remember who they were facing.

The pitching-poor Tampa Bay Devil Rays had won by 10 runs in the series opener on Friday, but yesterday belonged to the Yankees. Even without a victory by starters Kei Igawa and Matt DeSalvo, the Yankees swept the Devil Rays, taking the day game by 7-3 and the night game by 17-5. Reliever Luis Vizcaíno won both.

The Yankees (50-46) shaved a half-game off the Boston Red Sox' lead in the American League East, reducing it to seven and a half, and they even found a backup catcher, trading a Class AA reliever, Jeff Kennard, for José Molina of the Los Angeles Angels. Wil Nieves will be designated for assignment when Molina arrives.

“He can catch and throw extremely well, and he really shuts down the running game,” Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said of Molina, an eight-year veteran. “He's a quality backup catcher at the very least. He's been an everyday guy as well. We feel we've upgraded, and that's obviously the name of the game.”

HideKi Matsui homered in both games of the doubleheader, driving in five runs for the day. He now has eight home runs in his past 16 games. “So far this season,” Matsui said through an interpreter, “the last two or three weeks have been the best that I've felt.”

None of the four starters worked past the fifth inning. Tampa Bay's Jason Hammel went four innings in the first game and allowed Matsui's first homer. In the nightcap, the Yankees blitzed J. P. Howell for 7 runs and 10 hits in five innings.

blitz v. 急襲

That game became a laugher in the sixth against reliever Jay Witasick, best known in Yankee lore for his 54.00 earned run average in the 2001 World Series. Last night, Witasick threw away a bunt and allowed five runs, including the 497th career homer for Alex Rodriguez, who took a curtain call from the crowd.

lore n. 傳說

The sixth inning of the day game also produced five runs for the Yankees, though the hero then was a lot less experienced. It was Shelley Duncan, who ripped his first career homer on his second day in the majors and also acknowledged the fans.

Nearly every Yankees hitter had a chance to make an impact over the two games. Rodriguez drove in four runs in the second game, giving him 96 runs batted in for the season. Johnny Damon blooped two doubles and, playing left field, dashed back for a midair catch to save two runs in the second game.


bloop v. 打者將球擊至內外野間
dash v. 猛衝


Nieves who had one extra-base hit all season before this weekend, had two doubles in the nightcap. But Nieves also lost his job. In Molina, 32, the Yankees found a veteran who should be much more of an offensive presence than Nieves, the good-fielding, good-natured backup who has hit only .164.

“It's hard when you think you've done everything right, but it's not enough,” Nieves said, adding later: “It's disappointing. You don’t want to go through this. But it's just baseball. This is what happens.”

Molina is part of a family of catchers. His brother Bengie catches for the Giants and another brother, Yadier, catches for the Cardinals. José, 32, was batting .224 (28 for 125) with the Angels and has hit safely in 25 of his 37 starts.

Molina hit .240 in a career-high 78 games last season. He has a career average of .238 and has played in 10 postseason games.

With the July 31 trading deadline approaching, Cashman will continue to look for upgrades but said he was not optimistic.

optimistic a. 樂觀的

“We're open, and we have been, to any idea that makes sense,” he said. “But making sense for two is the problem. That's a very difficult thing in today's environment. That's why things are moving at a glacial speed. But we'll see. I like the way we're getting after it.”

open to 存在..可能性

Manager Joe Torre took no chances in the opening victory, using his four most trusted relievers to secure it after Igawa wobbled his way through five innings.

wobble v. 使..不穩定

Vizcaíno came in with the game tied in the sixth, beginning a bullpen relay that also included Kyle Farnsworth, Scott Proctor and Mariano Rivera in a nonsave situation. Farnsworth struck out two as he tried to refine his slider.

Farnsworth said the pitching coach, Ron Guidry, told him he has thrown sliders with only 15 percent of his pitches this season. That surprised Farnsworth, who usually throws 30 percent sliders. He said he would change the ratio.

“That's basically my out pitch,” Farnsworth said. “If you're throwing nothing but fastballs, hitters are going to look for that on every pitch.”

Vizcaíno (8-2) is second on the staff in victories, trailing only starter Chien-Ming Wang, who has 10. Vizcaíno’s E.R.A. is 1.03 since May 28. He leads all major league relievers in victories and became the first Yankee to win both games of a doubleheader since Lindy McDaniel on May 27, 1970.

“He's one of those magic guys this year,” Torre said of Vizcaíno. “There's always someone on a team who falls into some. We'll call him Magic Man.”

Matsui's Game 1 homer erased a 2-0 lead Tampa Bay had built on homers by B. J. Upton and Ty Wigginton. The Devil Rays had seven hits and three walks in five innings against Igawa, who threw 94 pitches but avoided major damage.

“Five innings and 94 pitches is still not good,” Guidry said. “But over all, one of the good things was how he learned a little bit today about how to pitch out of trouble. That's something he hadn't been doing before.”

Torre said Igawa would get another start, with Phil Hughes scheduled for two more rehabilitation starts for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Teddy Kider contributed reporting.

Long Night for Yanks and Their Pitchers Leads Into Long Day

There were 53,957 fans at Yankee Stadium last night, and those keeping score must have given up fast. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays batted around twice in the first five innings. The Yankees made five defensive changes in the eighth. It made for a messy scorecard and a game worth forgetting.

That was true whether you were making your 491st career start (Mike Mussina), your third relief appearance (Edwar Ramirez) or your major league debut (Shelley Duncan). The Devil Rays flattened the Yankees, 14-4, a dismal opening to a series that includes a day-night doubleheader today.

dismal a. 沈悶的，陰沈的

“Every once in a while, you get it handed to you,” Mussina said. “ Obviously I didn't pitch very well at all, and we played kind of flat. We were never really in the game.

“We've got a long day tomorrow, and we've got to come out and play with a
little more energy and get our heads in the right place. We can’t afford to
get down and lose a handful of games in a row here.”

handful a. 一把

Mussina tumbled to 4-7, allowing six runs and seven hits in four and two thirds innings. Duncan, just called up from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre,
struck out twice with two runners on base before his run-scoring single in
the eighth.

tumble v. 跌落

But Ramirez might have fared worst of all. Brought in to relieve Mussina with two out and a 5-0 deficit in the fifth, he threw 19 pitches, only 2 for strikes. One of the strikes was hit for a grand slam by Dioner Navarro, who had the worst batting average in the majors among hitters with at least 200 at-bats.

fare v. 遭遇

Ramirez walked the other four batters he faced, and he looked rusty in his first appearance in two weeks. After the game, he seemed shaken, fighting back tears.

rusty a. 荒廢的

“My arm is good, I feel good, everything,” said Ramirez, who will probably head back to Scranton soon. “I don't know what happened.”

He ended the interview, saying he was sorry, and then reached into his locker to dry his eyes with his uniform pants. Manager Joe Torre held Ramirez blameless.

“He just hasn't worked,” Torre said. “That's just a product of that.”

The Yankees issued 10 walks, a season high, and they fell eight games behind Boston in the American League East. If they lose the doubleheader today — with the erratic tandem of Matt DeSalvo and Kei Igawa starting — the Yankees will drop back to .500.


issue v. 發給
erratic a. 不穩定的
tandem n. 兩個以上前後排列的人或物


The Yankees (48-46) plan to send down DeSalvo after he starts the second game, and Igawa might also head to the minors soon with Phil Hughes close to returning. In the meantime, the Yankees cannot afford to wait any longer for Igawa to improve. Only once in nine starts has he worked at least six innings while allowing no more than three earned runs.

“It's very important, because obviously we're trying to win games,” Torre
said. “We're not here, in the second half of the season, dealing with a lot
of patience.”

The Yankees have more patience with Mussina, given his long track record. But he has worked seven innings just twice this season, and for a pitcher who usually wins half his starts, he has won just 2 of his last 12.

Things started smoothly, but after Greg Norton led off the third with an infield single to short, Navarro drove a pitch off the fence in right-center for a double. The Yankees were playing Navarro shallow because of his .179 average.

Carl Crawford singled home Navarro to bring up B. J. Upton. The pitching coach Ron Guidry visited the mound, and catcher Jorge Posada set a target low and away. But Mussina said he was too concerned that Crawford might steal, as he did in the first inning, and he badly missed his location.

But Mussina's first pitch was up and in, a dangerous spot against a hot young hitter coming into his own. Upton unloaded on it, sending it screaming into the first row of the distant left-field upper deck for his first of two home runs.

screaming a. 叫喊的，令人驚嘆不已的

Mussina seemed peeved at the tight strike zone of the plate umpire, Scott Barry, but he blamed himself for getting in bad counts and losing confidence in his curveball. That is usually Mussina’s best pitch, and he showed why he cannot survive without it.

peeve v. 使...氣惱

“You just can't be throwing fastball after fastball,” Mussina said. “I don
't have the stuff to be able to do that. That's not how I pitch. If I have
to do that, I'm going to have a tough day.”

The homer made the score 4-0 Devil Rays, and by the end of the night, Upton would be 14 for 28 against the Yankees this season. When he scored in the fifth, on a two-out double by Brendan Harris, it ended Mussina's night and brought in Ramirez.

He walked Ty Wigginton on five pitches and Norton on four to load the bases for Navarro, the No. 9 hitter who had been 0 for 9 this season with the bases loaded.

But after a ball, Navarro hammered a pitch into the right-field seats for the grand slam. It was 9-0, a rout was on, and Ramirez had thrown his last strike of the game. Eight more balls followed before a painful part of the growing process was over. The end of a miserable game was still hours away.

Yanks Waiting for Damon to Also Have a Turnaround

turnaround n. 突然好轉

Johnny Damon and Kevin Long were roommates at Class AA Wichita in 1995. Damon hit .343 and was called up to the Kansas City Royal that summer. He has been in the majors ever since.


In that time, Damon said, he has probably endured many hitless streaks. But his average has rarely looked as feeble as it does now, .233, after the Yankees' 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in a mundane matinee at Yankee Stadium yesterday. Damon is 0 for 17 in his last five games.

feeble a. 拙劣無效的，站不著腳的
mundane a. 世俗的
matinee n. 日場

“I can tell you one thing: I've never seen him work so hard,” said Long, who is now the Yankees' hitting coach. “He's probably taken more swings in the last 10 days than I've seen him take when I've ever been around him.

“He's working at it. He's concerned. We want to turn this thing around as quick as possible. He knows we've got a bunch of guys swinging the bats well right now, and he'd like to join the party.”

There was not much to celebrate in the Bronx yesterday. The Yankees scored twice in the first inning and Toronto scored three times against Chien-Ming Wang in the seventh. Neither team advanced a runner to third in any other inning.

The Yankees missed a chance for a sweep, but they still won the series, three games to one, for their fourth series victory in a row. “If we continue to win series, then we’re in pretty good shape,” Manager Joe Torre said.

Even in losing, Damon showed a glimpse of why the Yankees gave him a four-year, $52 million contract before last season. He worked an eight-pitch walk against Dustin McGowan to lead off the bottom of the first. When he reached on an error in the fifth, a wild pickoff throw moved him into scoring position.

Damon has not lost his strike zone judgment, and he is still a threat to run. The back, calf and rib cage injuries that bothered him in the first half are gone, he said. Damon is simply slumping, and he says he is not sure why.

calf n. 小腿
rib n. 肋骨
cage v. 把...囚禁起來
slump v. (健康等)下降

“My swing feels great, I'm feeling comfortable at the plate,” he said. “Unfortunately, I'm just not getting the job done, and I definitely need to. This team is so much better when I get going.”

Keeping his weight back will, in theory, give Damon more time to see pitches and make it easier to use his legs to drive the ball. Long and the bench coach, Don Mattingly, have seen results before games.

“Donnie and I both saw it in B.P.,” Long said. “We said, Wow, the ball's jumping; he's hitting the ball out of the park. He just needs one good game and he'll be right back on track. I truly believe that, because physically he's in pretty good shape.”

Although Damon spoke hopefully last weekend of someday playing for Tampa Bay, he still seems comfortable with the Yankees and has mostly maintained his sunny outlook. The team is winning despite his struggles, and, he said, “There are much worse things in life than hitting .235.”

But it is frustrating, he acknowledged, to be unable to drive pitches the way he did just last season, when he had a .482 slugging percentage with a career-high 24 home runs. This season, Damon has a .323 slugging percentage and five homers.

frustratine a. 令人灰心的

After walking in the first and scoring on Bobby Abreu’s two-run double, Damon struck out, reached on an error and flied to right. The flyout, against Casey Janssen to lead off the eighth, was especially discouraging.

“I had a pitch that last year probably would have been in the upper deck,” Damon said. “I was just a tad too late on it. I'm not sure how hard the pitch was, 90 miles per hour. Normally, that ball is very easy to hit for me.”

tad n. 一點點，些微

As a team, the Yankees managed only five hits — one more than Toronto had in the seventh against Wang. After Matt Stairs doubled to lead off the seventh and Vernon Wells followed with an infield hit, Frank Thomas drove in a run with a ground out off Wang’s left ankle. Wang said he was not affected, and catcher Wil Nieves said his sinker to the next hitter, Aaron Hill, was in the right spot.

drive v. 用力擊球

But Hill smashed it to center for a game-tying triple, and Gregg Zaun followed with a bouncer up the middle for the go-ahead run.

smash v. 擊潰

When reporters gathered around Damon after the game, he did not question why he would be a story line. But he also does not question his ability.

“I still feel like I'm the guy that people worry about,” Damon said, meaning other teams, not his own.

Clemens Keeps the Yankees Close Enough

Yankees 6, Blue Jays 1

Among the strong impressions from the Yankees' 6-1 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays last night before 52,147 slightly giddy fans at Yankee Stadium:

Alex Rodriguez marched on in his quest for another Most Valuable Player award with a two-run double that provided the tying and winning runs in the seventh inning;

Andy Phillips improved his chances of securing the full-time first-base job before the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline with a two-run single in the same inning and several more slick fielding plays around the bag;

slick a. 熟練的，靈巧的

Roger Clemens, two weeks shy of his 45th birthday, again battled long enough and tough enough to keep his team close before handing the baton after the sixth inning to the shaky pitching hands of the bullpen;

shy a. 【口】不足的
baton n. 權杖

And Manager Joe Torre, who celebrated his 67th birthday, still has a few things to fret about, even though his team won for the fifth consecutive time and for the 11th time in 14 games.

fret v. 使...苦惱，使...煩躁

“This was a nice gift,” Torre said, referring to the result on his birthday and not implying the Blue Jays gave the Yankees something not earned. But Torre quickly added that his relief pitchers have to stop walking batters and forcing him to use Moriano Rivera for five-out saves, as he did last night.

“Eventually, it's going to catch up with you,” Torre said.

catch up with 對...產生預期的壞影響(或惡果)

Speaking of catching up, the Yankees are doing it on two levels. Because Boston and Cleveland lost, the second-place Yankees moved to within seven games behind the first-place Red Sox in the American League East and six games behind Cleveland in the race for the A.L. wild card.

Seven is still a lot. But the Yankees trailed by 12 as recently as July 5 and by 14 ½ on May 29.

trail v. 落後

“There’s definitely a positive outlook,” said Rodriguez, who had the most important hit last night and has 92 runs batted in. Rodriguez drove a 2-1 pitch over the head of left fielder Reed Johnson, who was not playing deep enough to reach the ball that landed in front of the wall.

Two runners scored and the fans chanted, “M.V.P.!”

Toronto Manager John Gibbons came to the mound to replace starter Shaun Marcum (5-4), who mixed his pitches well in giving up only two hits over the first six innings.

mound n. 【棒】投手丘

Four batters later, Phillips drove a bases-loaded single through the left side of the infield off Brandon League to score two more. The victory went to Mike Myers, the first of five Yankees relief pitchers, who faced only one batter, Lyle Overbay, and retired him on a grounder to first with the bases loaded in seventh.

When asked about that critical play, Myers said the most important part was neither his pitch nor his fielding play at first base.

“Andy giving me a good feed,” Myers said of Phillips's throw. “He's so solid over there defensively, it'd be nice to see him there a whole year. He's diving. He's scooping balls out of the dirt. He's all over the place.”

scoop v. 挖出，挖空

Indeed, in the Toronto fourth, with two men on and one man out, Phillips saved an inning-ending double play by scooping a relay throw from Robinson Canó.

relay n. 接力賽中的一程

Clemens scattered nine hits and one walk among three strikeouts as his record stayed at 2-4. He seemed to labor on a humid night and admitted he may have been working too hard on physical conditioning.

scatter v. 散佈，撒於

“I'm not young,” Clemens said. “My body wasn't helping me much. I didn't have much energy. I continue to show Joe I can get out of some of my messes.” His voice took on a determined tone as he continued.

“The training I'm doing is for October,” Clemens said. “That's why I came here. I know what I bring when I go to the mound, especially in this stadium in the pinstripes.”

Others on the same mound in the same uniform are disappointing their manager. Luis Vizcaíno, the most reliable relief pitcher lately, needed a rest last night, and so did Kyle Farnsworth, who is struggling to hold on to his eighth-inning role.

So Torre used Scott Proctor, who walked two men, and Myers, who did well against a left-hander, his specialty; and Brian Bruney, who walked a man; and Ron Villone, who walked a man; and, finally, Rivera, who retired all five batters he faced.

Yanks Capitalize on Blue Jays' Pitching Miscues

capitalize on 利用
miscue n. 【口】失策

There was a palpable emotional swing at Yankee Stadium last night, the kind that makes it seem as if the Yankees are finally in a pennant race to stay.

palpable a. 可觸知的，極其明暸的
pennant n. 冠軍旗

Two outs from what could have been a bitter defeat, the Yankees tied the Toronto Blue Jays on a balk. They won in the 10th inning, 3-2, when a one-out single by Robinson Canó scored Alex Rodriguez. It was the Yankees' 10th victory in their last 13 games, and they are three games above .500 for the first time in a month.

“I don't think we're the same club,” Manager Joe Torre said. “We just seem to be playing with something in mind right now. I think we played hard, but I don't think we went the extra mile a lot of times early on.”

There was an urgency to last night's game, the Yankees said, because of the opportunity it presented. They were facing Roy Halladay, who is probably tougher on them than any other starter. A loss would have been understandable, but a victory could make a statement.

After losing this month to Dan Haren, Johan Santana and Scott Kazmir, the Yankees still needed to prove they could outlast a team with an elite starter. Andy Pettitte matched Halladay for seven strong innings, and the Yankees won the kind of tight game they have lost far too often.

outlast v. 較...持久

“We needed this game desperately; we knew that coming in,” said Rodriguez, who singled to drive in the Yankees' only run against Halladay and made two dazzling plays in the field. “We needed to get this win, especially against a Halladay.”

desperately adv. 不顧一切地，拼命地
dazzling a. 耀眼的

The victory was only the eighth for the Yankees in 22 one-run games this season. They overcame another shaky outing by Kyle Farnsworth, who allowed two hits and made an error on a pickoff throw in the eighth, turning a 1-1 tie into a 2-1 deficit.

shaky a. 不穩固的，不可靠的
deficit n. 不足額，赤字

The Yankees scratched out a run off closer Jeremy Accardo to tie the score in the ninth. Andy Phillips led off with a single, and pinch runner Miguel Cairo stole second. When Melky Cabrera followed with a hard single off first baseman Lyle Overbay, the third-base coach Larry Bowa excitedly waved Cairo home.

scratch v. 刪去，消掉

Bowa charged down the line, just behind Cairo; he saw Alex Rios's throw nail a tumbling Cairo at the plate. But Cabrera had made it to second. Then he stole third.

nail v. 【棒】把(跑者)刺殺出局
tumbling n. 翻滾

“He's got great baseball instincts, that kid,” Torre said. “He's not afraid.”

After Johnny Damon walked, Accardo tried to step off the rubber, but instead balked home the tying run and moved Damon to second. He was stranded there, but Brian Bruney and Luis Vizcaíno held Toronto in the ninth and the 10th, setting up the Yankees' winning rally against Casey Janssen.

strand v. 使...擱淺，使...處於困境

Rodriguez led off. He had angered the Blue Jays in May when he shouted to distract a fielder, and there was some thought that a pitcher might retaliate by hitting him. But when Janssen plunked Rodriguez on the elbow pad with a curveball, he slapped his glove in dismay. This was not what the Blue Jays wanted.

distract v. 使...分心，使...錯亂
retaliate v. 報復
dismay n. 沮喪

Rodriguez edged off first and took second when Janssen threw a curveball in the dirt for a wild pitch. Hideki Matsui struck out, although it looked as if he might have won the game with a long fly ball that went just foul. Janssen then walked Jorge Posoda intentionally.

“I didn't get offended,” Canó said. “You've got a guy hitting .330 and a guy hitting .270, you want the guy hitting .270.”

That guy was Canó, who said he was still mad at himself for taking a first-pitch fastball down the middle from Halladay with the bases loaded and two out in the first. Canó grounded into a force play to end that threat, and he said he decided to swing at the first strike he saw from Janssen.

It came on the first pitch, a fastball, and Canó rifled it down the left-field line. Left fielder Reed Johnson had no play on it, turning and trotting off the field as Rodriguez, his uniform caked in dirt, romped home with the winning run.

trot v. 【口】走
romp v. 輕快地跑(走)

As Canó did a postgame television interview on the field, Cabrera sneaked up behind him, yanked off his helmet and doused him with a bottle of water.

sneak up 偷溜上來
yank v. 猛拉
douse v. 把...浸入水中

“When you win, its fun,” Canó said. “You can see everybodys happy, and you get more confidence.”

With a 47-44 record and their deficit down to eight behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East standings, the Yankees seem likely to grow even more confident. They are 5-1 to start their stretch of 29 games against teams below .500, an obvious chance to gain ground quickly.

Torre said he traced the start of the turnaround to a game that did not even count yet in the standings — June 28 in Baltimore, where the Yankees came back in the eighth inning to take a lead over the Orioles in a driving rain. The game was suspended, but the team's fight was evident.

Philips Makes Case to Stay, and Igawa Doesn't.

Andy Phillips homered in his first major league at-bat, in 2004, and it sometimes seems as if it has been all downhill since. He has had an emotional Yankees career, learning hard the lesson that timing is everything. Now, at last, it may be his time.

Phillips singled in the go-ahead runs in the sixth inning to lift the Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays last night, 6-4. It was the Yankees' ninth victory in their past 12 games, and the second in a row in which Phillips drove in the pivotal run.

pivotal a. 關鍵的

“It's a lot of joy to see what he's doing, especially with what he's been through,” said Jorge Posada, who singled to start the two-out, tie-breaking rally against Josh Towers. “He's come out here and getting a chance to play, and he's doing everything we ask for. It's a lot of fun to see.”

rally n. 重新振作，(網球等的)連續對打

Phillips is batting .375 this month, with the trading deadline two weeks away. Last July, as he helped his wife recover from cancer and a lost pregnancy, he played regularly and batted .165. The Yankees traded for a veteran first baseman, Craig Wilson, and Phillips became an afterthought.

afterthought n. 事後的想法

In the winter, the Yankees tried again to replace Phillips, adding Josh Phelps and giving him Phillips's job in spring training. Phelps outperformed Phillips, who lost time as he helped his mother learn to walk again after a serious car accident. Phillips cleared waivers and reported to the minors.

report to 報到

Manager Joe Torre pledged to play Phillips regularly after his promotion in June, but Phillips started once and Torre benched him for a week. Phillips has started in 14 of 16 games since, and his play may have convinced the Yankees that he finally warrants a long look.

pledge v. 保證給予，許諾
warrant v. 向…保證

“I'm happy I'm seeing what I'm seeing,” Torre said. “He works hard, and he's the type of guy you want to pull for.”

Before Phillips's single — a blooper to center on a 1-2 slider — every run in the game had scored on a homer. The Yankees hit three, including the 496th of Alex Rodriguez's career and Hideki Matsui's sixth in the past 10 games. Robinson Canó homered and doubled, and Toronto's Troy Glaus had two home runs and a triple.

blooper n. 噓聲
center on 集中

Phillips's production at the bottom of the order tempers the Yankees' need for a midlevel first baseman like Shea Hillenbrand. They have no plans to trade any of their top pitching prospects for an elite first baseman like the Texas Rangers' Mark Teixeira, meaning Phillips could keep his job.

temper v. 使緩和
elite n. 精英

“It certainly crosses your mind,” Phillips said. “Anytime you're up here, that's your hope. You're trying to accomplish something and solidify what you're trying to do. But it's not what consumes you every day, because then you start adding pressure.”

consume v. 使…著迷，使全神貫注

Feeling that pressure, Phillips said, was a burden for him in previous stints. When Phillips returned to the Yankees this season, Torre anticipated the problem and told him not to worry if he had a bad day because he would be getting more at-bats.

stint n. 工作期限，吝惜
anticipate v. 預料

“A different approach helps, coming in and having fun and not putting pressure on myself to feel I have to do something heroic,” Phillips said. “Mr. T was huge in that.”

One Yankee whose job seems more vulnerable is starter Kei Igawa, who waded through five innings last night. With Phil Hughes and Jeff Karstens scheduled to make rehabilitation starts this week for Class AA Trenton, Igawa had an uneven outing.

vulnerable a. 易受責難的
wade through 費力地做完
rehabilitation n. 復職
uneven a. 不穩定的
outing n. 體育比賽

He never retired more than three hitters in a row and required three visits from the pitching coach Ron Guidry. Yet the Blue Jays often struggled to pick up his patterns, striking out seven times and taking several awkward swings.

retire v. 【棒】使出局
pick up 掌握
awkward a. 笨拙的

That was a sign that Igawa had good stuff, though he walked 4, threw 115 pitches and rushed himself at times. As usual, he was disappointed.

“It was not good,” Igawa said through an interpreter. “Every inning I had runners on base. I never had a clean, three-out inning. That's what I'm not satisfied about.”

interpreter n. 翻譯員

The Yankees could bolster their bullpen through a trade, although Luis Vizcaíno worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning last night as Torre gave the struggling Kyle Farnsworth the night off, citing Farnsworth's recent workload. Scott Proctor (2-5) pitched two innings for the victory, and Mariano Rivera earned his 14th save.

bolster v. 支撐，支持

Vizcaíno has a 1.23 earned run average since May 28, and Farnsworth's E.R.A. is three runs higher in that time.

But Torre said he had not considered giving Vizcaíno the regular eighth-inning role.

“Farnsie has the most experience doing that for the eighth and the ninth; he was a closer, too,” Torre said. “I'd have to see something really bad from him where he was very inconsistent, and I haven't seen that.”