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Mazeroski's first pitch to begin 1960 World Series rematch

Jun 24, 2008 - 12:15 PM NY Yankees (41-35) at Pittsburgh (36-40), 7:05 pm, EDT

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates will celebrate their past on Tuesday before beginning a three-game interleague series against the New York Yankees at PNC Park.

The Yankees haven't appeared in Pittsburgh since Game Seven of the 1960 World Series, when Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit a dramatic series-clinching home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

A Hall of Famer, Mazeroski fittingly will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for Tuesday's series opener.

After losing three straight games to begin the month of June, the Yankees have won 13 of their last 18 contests.

Darrell Rasner (4-4, 3.64 ERA) will take the mound Monday for New York, opens an interleague road trip at Pittsburgh before visiting the cross-town rival New York Mets.

Rasner worked five strong innings this and allowed just two runs against in Wednesday's 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres. The righthander had dropped his four previous decisions after going 3-0 over his first three starts.

Pittsburgh will counter with Tom Gorzelanny (5-6, 6.59), who will have his hands full trying to contain Jason Giambi and the Yankees' surging lineup.

Giambi, among the league leaders in home runs, has raised his batting average well over 100 points after hitting .164 in April. He recorded a .315 mark in May and is batting .344 this month.

Alex Rodriguez has been hot as well, hitting safely in 17 of the past 18 games and collecting four home runs and 20 RBI while batting .408 this month.

The Pirates have been bitten by the injury bug this month, and they may have lost another important player this past week. Ian Snell, who pitched Sunday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, experienced elbow discomfort and was taken to a hospital for tests.

Snell was limited to a second consecutive four-inning line, giving up eight hits and four walks. He is 3-7 with a 5.99 ERA and has won once in his past 13 starts.

Xavier Nady, Phil Dumatrait and Ryan Doumit have missed time recently, as well.