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Yankees' pitching woes continue as Orioles win rubber game

Apr 8, 2007 - 9:54 PM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Pitchers have had trouble containing Alex Rodriguez, but New York Yankees' starters have had difficulties with several hitters.

Rodriguez hit another home run, but Kevin Millar and Paul Bako homered off Darrell Rasner as the Baltimore Orioles posted a 6-4 victory over the Yankees in the rubber game of a three-game series.

"That was a big win," said Millar, who was booed every time he stepped to the plate. "After they scored three, we came right back and answered back. Bako had a big three-run home run to pull us ahead, but it was a great team win."

The Yankees projected their rotation this season to be Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Japanese import Kei Igawa and Carl Pavano.

On Monday, Pavano lasted just 4 1/3 innings, starting a trend in which Yankees manager Joe Torre has not seen a starter go longer than five innings. Igawa's five-inning stint on Saturday was a season-high, but the lefthander allowed seven runs only to be bailed out by Rodriguez's walk-off grand slam off Chris Ray.

On Sunday, Rodriguez did not wait until the late innings as he deposited Erik Bedard's first-inning offering into the right field seats for his fourth home run of the season.

Rasner (0-1) did not take advantage of the early lead, allowing five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. With one out in the second, he surrendered a two-run homer to Millar and with one out in the fourth, he gave up a three-run shot to Bako.

"I'm very frustrated," said Rasner, who posted a 4.86 ERA during spring training. "I was coming in hoping to relieve some of the strain on the bullpen, and I wasn't able to come through."

"I think we'll be able to get through it," Torre said. "But certainly you don't want to have this on a steady diet. It's not going to be a good year if that's the case."

In the first two games of the series, the Orioles got decent outings from Adam Loewen and Steve Trachsel. On Sunday, Bedard was even better, allowing three runs and five hits in seven innings.

"He stepped up for us today," Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo said. "There's no question about it. He didn't get rattled. That's one thing about Erik, he didn't get rattled. He kept us in that ballgame."

After Rodriguez's homer, Bedard retired 20 of the final 22 hitters before giving way to lefthander Jamie Walker. The lefthander struck out five without a walk and threw 68 of 99 pitches for strikes.

"I just threw more curveballs for strikes, first pitch, any count pretty much," Bedard said. "That was the turnaround for me."

Unlike the Yankees, the Orioles' starters have not had the problem of short outings. In four of their six games, Baltimore starters have worked past the fifth, which is what Bedard was hoping for after going just 4 2/3 frames Monday in Minnesota.

"It's big, just to give six, seven innings to the bullpen is big too," Bedard said. "(I) just try to do the best I can and help my team win."

The Yankees drew to within 6-4 in the eighth inning on Melky Cabrera's RBI groundout, but Josh Phelps flied out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Ray allowed a hit in the ninth for his second save in three opportunities, as the Orioles ended their season-opening road trip at 2-4.