NEW YORK — The Yankees had all day Monday to take stock of themselves after an ugly two-game sweep at the hands of the Mets dropped them deeper into the AL East cellar.
Alex Rodriguez’s return the lineup Tuesday night was supposed to spark a downtrodden and offensively-challenged team, and while the slugger did provide a home run, his evening was mere sidenote in an indescribably awful 12-2 loss to the Orioles.
“That’s as ugly as it gets,” Joe Girardi said.
The Yankees fourth straight loss featured much in the way of baseball gore — Mike Mussina lasted just 2/3 of an inning to match the shortest outing of his long career, Johnny Damon turned ham-legged and ham-fisted in leftfield and there was even a bench-clearing incident.
The worst of it, however, might have come with the Yankees already trailing 9-0 in the bottom of the third when Derek Jeter took a Daniel Cabrera fastball on the side of his left hand and was quickly removed. X-rays were negative and, after Jeter was examined by team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon, the stated diagnosis was a contusion of the left hand.
“It’ll be fine,” Jeter said while wearing a large soft cast. “Obviously, it doesn’t feel good, but I should be all right for tomorrow.”
Jeter is listed as day-to-day and in the meantime, his team might be on life support just 45 games into the season after falling to 20-25, losing for the ninth time in 12 games.
“You hope this is as bad as it gets,” Jeter said.
Girardi before the game talked about the importance of his team coming “out with a sense of urgency,” but the Yankees took the field Tuesday night and looked like a baseball version of the Knicks.
Mussina started it by issuing a leadoff walk to Brian Roberts, and though Aubrey Huff’s RBI single brought Roberts home for a 1-0 lead, it appeared as if Mussina would escape the incurring just that damage. But when Luke Scott hit a two-out grounder to Jeter, Robinson Cano wasn’t covering second and Jeter’s ensuing throw to first pulled Jason Giambi off the bag. The error turned into an obstacle Mussina could not overcome as 11 Orioles would come to bat in an inning that saw them take a 7-0 lead, with six of the runs being unearned. Mussina left after giving up an RBI triple to Roberts, a slicing drive that Damon got a slow jump on and missed when he dove for it.
Ross Ohlendorf relieved Mussina and ended the first inning by inducing a groundout from Melvin Mora. But he would give up three runs in 31/3 innings, with only one of those runs earned as Ohlendorf became an error victim in the second inning when Damon turned himself inside out chasing, and ultimately dropping, a flyball off the bat of Scott.
Perhaps in retaliation for the Jeter beaning, LaTroy Hawkins threw a 1-0 pitch over Scott’s head, bringing both teams’ benches and bullpens on the field and Hawkins’ almost instantaneous ejection by plate umpire Chuck Meriwether.
“I understand you have to protect your players, but there’s a certain way to go about that and that wasn’t it,” Scott said. “You never throw at anyone’s head intentionally.”
Said Hawkins: “I’m not that kind of person, plain and simple.”
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Hawkins, however, also said, “We got a guy hit and nobody got thrown out,” and later added he expects to be disciplined by the league office.
Hawkins, after the scuffle broke up, walked to the dugout cheered by Yankees fans for perhaps the first time this season.
Those same fans gave a nice but understated ovation — it was already 9-0 — to Rodriguez in the second inning when he came to the plate. Rodriguez later hit a two-run homer — his fifth of the season — off Cabrera in the sixth. But given the events of the evening, it barely registered as significant.
“Every team goes through a couple of these every year,” Girardi said. “I hope it’s our last one.”
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