• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Igawa rescues Yankees in win over Red Sox

Apr 29, 2007 - 2:07 AM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Kei Igawa has been a disappointment in his brief time as a New York Yankee. He picked a great time to take his first step toward redemption.

Igawa came out of the bullpen in the first inning and turned in his best performance as a Yankee, tossing six scoreless innings in a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Igawa (2-1) began the day with a 7.84 ERA and nine walks in 20 2/3 innings. Relegated to relief duty after his last start, Igawa came on to relieve Jeff Karstens, who left the game after facing just two batters.

"I felt the team needed me," Igawa said through an interpretor. "I felt the surroundings have been negative the past few days. My mechanics were not great in the last outing. In the bullpen I felt relaxed and refreshed.

"We had a meeting before the game and we agreed to be aggressive and attack with first strikes. I felt I had better control by pitching from the stretch."

Yankees captain Derek Jeter complimented Igawa's performance.

"When you get a big pitching performance like Kei did today, it usually gets most teams out of slumps," Jeter said. "Boston is a tough team to shut down. He did a great job of that."

Karstens was hit in the knee by a line drive by Julio Lugo on his first pitch. After a single by Kevin Youkilis, Karstens was replaced by Igawa.

Already missing starters Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano, the Yankees used Igawa's performance to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Igawa allowed two hits and four walks in six innings. He struck out six and left with a 3-0 lead.

"He was great," New York manager Joe Torre said. "He threw like this at times earlier in the year. Gator (pitching coach Ron Guidry) felt he needed to be more compact in his delivery."

Jorge Posada hit a two-run home run in the fourth off Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield (2-3) to give New York a 2-0 lead. Posada scored on a ground-rule double by Melky Cabrera in the sixth to make it 3-0.

"I'm surprised he hit it fair," Wakefield said. "I reviewed it on tape and that ball was so far inside. Dougie (catcher Doug Mirabelli) was diving for it and it was almost behind him. It cost us the game. You have to tip your cap to him."

Mariano Rivera allowed a hit in the ninth to pick up his first save of the season. The legendary closer had been struggling of late and was 0-2 with a 30.38 ERA in his last four appearances.

"I felt good. I challenged the hitters," Rivera said. "My confidence is always good. If I didn't feel good, I would go home. The bullpen was tremendous today. Igawa picked us up. He deserved the win."