Yankees resume set with Braves
The New York Yankees hope to gain some ground on the high- flying Boston Red Sox in the American League East race with another victory over the Atlanta Braves, who again visit the Bronx Bombers in the middle contest of a three-game series this evening.The Yankees trail their bitter rivals from Boston, which is currently riding a nine-game win streak, by 2 1/2 games for first place in the division. With the Red Sox beginning a tough three-game interleague set against the National League’s best team, the New York Mets, on Tuesday, the Yanks may have an opportunity to close the gap against a Braves club that has endured a miserable June.
New York kept pace with the red-hot Sox on Monday, receiving a strong performance from Randy Johnson to record a 5-2 victory over Atlanta in Monday’s opener.
Johnson struck out a season-high nine batters over seven shutout innings in his first start against the Braves since he threw a perfect game at Turner Field as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 18, 2004.
Jason Giambi provided the offense for New York, winners of five of its last six games, by knocking in all five Yankee runs on a pair of homers. Andy Phillips finished 3-for-3 in the win, while Mariano Rivera worked out of a ninth-inning jam to notch his 17th save of the season.
Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in the ninth for Atlanta, which fell to 4-20 in June. The Braves haven’t won back-to-back games since May 27-28.
Tim Hudson (6-7) was saddled with the loss, giving up both of Giambi’s blasts in his five innings of work. He also walked four batters and struck out just one.
Taking the mound for the Yankees tonight will be Jaret Wright, who is coming off one of his best outings of the year. The oft-injured right-hander tossed five scoreless innings Thursday in Philadelphia, allowing three hits and fanning a season-best six hitters, before turning the game over to the New York bullpen, who preserved the 5-0 win.
The Yankees’ relief corps figures to get some more work this evening, as Wright hasn’t pitched more than six innings in any of his 11 starts this season.
The 30-year-old resurrected his once-promising career while with the Braves in 2004, winning a personal-best 15 games and posting a 3.28 earned run average in 32 starts. Wright then signed a lucrative three-year contract with the Bronx Bombers the following offseason.
Wright has made four previous appearances versus his former club, all in relief, and has no record and a 9.28 ERA over 5 2/3 innings.
Atlanta counters with Horacio Ramirez, who worked around six walks in his last start to hold Toronto to a run over 6 2/3 innings on Thursday. He left with a 2-1 lead, but the Braves’ shaky bullpen failed to hold it and the left-hander was stuck with a no decision.
Prior to that outing, Ramirez was rocked for seven runs — six earned — and lasted just 1 2/3 innings in a loss at Houston on June 11.
The 26-year-old, who will making his first career appearance against New York, is 1-1 with a 9.26 ERA in three road starts this season.
Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano sat out Monday’s contest with a strained left hamstring and is questionable to play tonight.
The Yankees, who defeated the Braves in the World Series twice during their run in the late 90’s, are 9-8 against Atlanta in interleague action.
Atlanta, which has won just two of its 10 interleague games this season, is 88-73 all-time against the American League, while the Yanks have posted a 100-69 mark versus the Senior Circuit.
Written by on June 27th, 2006 with
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