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Igawa, Yankees face Mariners, aim for fourth straight win

May 4, 2007 - 2:39 PM Seattle (12-11) at NY Yankees (12-14) 7:05 pm EDT

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The injury-ravaged New York Yankees got a boost from Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina. They now will look for a similar performance from rookie Kei Igawa.

Igawa takes the hill Friday for the Yankees, who aim for their fourth straight win when they host the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.

Pettitte, who has been New York's healthiest and most reliable starter this season, helped soothe some of the Yankees' recent struggles with the pitching staff. He allowed two runs and five hits in six innings, striking out five and walking three in the first game of a doubleheader against the struggling Texas Rangers.

In the nightcap, Mussina returned from the disabled list and pitched five outstanding innings as New York completed a sweep of the twinbill. The Yankees won the first game, 4-3, and picked up a 5-2 victory in the second.

New York aims to keep it going behind Igawa (2-1, 6.08 ERA), who pitched six-plus scoreless innings in a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. The lefthander entered in the first inning after rookie Jeff Karstens broke his leg after getting drilled by a line drive on the first pitch of the game.

However, Igawa had struggled in his previous start, causing manager Joe Torre to skip his last turn and leading to his appearance out of the bullpen. But with highly-touted prospect Phil Hughes and the much-maligned Carl Pavano on the disabled list, Igawa will need to step up.

He will be opposed by Cha Seung Baek (0-0, 4.22), who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in his last start. He finished with a run and six hits allowed in 6 1/3 innings of a 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

However, Baek's spot in rotation is not secure. He was brought up from Class AAA Tacoma on April 23 after ace Felix Hernandez went on the disabled list and could be replaced by the struggling Jeff Weaver upon Hernandez's return.

The Mariners have won three of their last four games but dropped an 8-7 decision to the Red Sox on Thursday.