 |
New York Yankees pitcher Kei Igawa walks back to the mound after giving up a run to the Detroit Tigers during the third inning of their MLB American League baseball game in Detroit, May 9, 2008. (REUTERS/Mark Blinch) |
Igawa struggles as Yankees fall to Tigers
DETROIT (Reuters) - Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa's first major league start of the season ended in defeat as the New York Yankees fell to a 6-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
Igawa was brought back from Triple-A baseball to replace Ian Kennedy, but the left-hander had a hard time recording just two swinging strikes from the 64 pitches he threw over three-plus innings.
Ivan Rodgriguez doubled and scored in the opening inning for Detroit before Jason Giambi brought the Yankees level with a home run in the second -- his seventh of the season.
But the Tigers then added three off Igawa in the third to get a real grip on the game. Igawa gave up six earned runs on 11 hits and failed to claim a single strikeout.
The Yankees made a brave attempt to rescue the game in the ninth, rallying with three runs, with runners on first and second base. However, Shelley Duncan flew out as reliever Todd Jones managed to end the threat.
The victory was Detroit's fourth in eleven days over the Yankees, including a three-game sweep in New York last week.
(Reporting by Simon Evans, editing by Martin Petty)
© Copyright 2008 Reuters. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Reuters or its third-party content providers. Any copying, republication, or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
