Yankees brawl, but stay punchless in 12-1 loss to Anaheim Angels

Yankees brawl, but stay punchless in 12-1 loss to Anaheim Angels
New York Daily News


"The Yankees finally showed some fight Monday night, though it didn't help them get back in the win column.

A bench-clearing incident put a spark into what was otherwise a one-sided affair, as the Yankees' march toward October vacation continued with a 12-1 loss to the Angels.

Ivan Rodriguez and Torii Hunter tangled at the plate after a mild collision in the bottom of the sixth, prompting both benches and bullpens to clear and the two players to be ejected.

"He came hard at me, hit me (high) and basically I didn't do anything," Rodriguez said. "He grabbed me from behind. I tried to release him and he came after me. That's basically what happened. I was a little disappointed when he hit me from behind."

Rodriguez and Hunter apologized to each other after the game, and there were no hard feelings as Pudge described the Angels' center fielder as a "professional."

Aside from the near-brawl, the rest of the night belonged to the Angels, who could become the first team to clinch a playoff spot tonight, needing a win and a Texas loss to wrap up the AL West.

Although the Yankees figure to hang around mathematically for another week or so, the hard truth is that with 18 games to go, they sit 9-1/2 games behind the surging Red Sox, who moved within a half-game of first place in the AL East after a 3-0 win at Fenway over the slumping Rays.

"There have been a lot of games where we scored one, two or three runs," Joe Girardi said after the 45th game this season in which the Bombers scored two or fewer. "Pitchers are going to beat you, that's the way it is. We just haven't hit. We haven't been a consistent offensive team."

The Yanks' tragic number for both the division and the wild card is 10 - any combination of that many losses by the Yankees and wins by the Rays and Red Sox will eliminate the Bombers. So even if the Yankees go undefeated the rest of the way, their rivals can hold them off simply by playing .500 ball. Not to mention that the Yankees would also have to pass the Blue Jays, a game ahead of them in third place, and the Twins, 2-1/2 up in the wild card chase.

The Angels got a pair of homers from rookie Brandon Wood, while Vladimir Guerrero and fellow rookie Sean Rodriguez also went deep. The Bombers' only run came on an RBI single by Alex Rodriguez off winner Jon Garland (13- in the first."


CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY:




http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/09/08/2008-09-08_yankees_brawl_but_stay_punchless_in_121_.html