[新聞] First & last are OK

[leddy (耿秋)]

YANKEES 4, DEVIL RAYS 1`
First & last are OK
Sheffield makes debut at new position; Rivera strikes out side for save
BY JIM BAUMBACH
Newsday Staff Correspondent

September 23, 2006


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - On the field for the first time since clinching their
ninth straight division title, the Yankees still had two huge reasons to
follow Friday's game with great intrigue.

Mariano Rivera returned to the mound for the first time in more than three
weeks - and Gary Sheffield came back from a four-month absence and played a
position that's completely new to him. The early returns from both were
positive.

Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth and gained his 34th save in the Yankees' 4-1
win over the Devil Rays. And Sheffield handled seven putouts with relative
ease, even scooping two throws in the dirt without issue.

But with positive developments came negative ones, too. Kyle Farnsworth's
back locked when he tried to warm up for the eighth, marking the fifth time
this season he didn't pitch because of his back. And Jason Giambi admitted he
is basically going on faith that his latest cortisone shot will fix his left
wrist.

Still, the most important development was Rivera, who has been the Yankees'
most valuable postseason weapon. He hadn't pitched since Aug. 31 because of a
strained muscle just below his right elbow and reported no problems with it.

"Everything is out of there," said Rivera, who struck out the side in saving
Chien-Ming Wang's 18th victory.

There was plenty of life in Rivera's arm, as 16 of his 21 pitches were
clocked at 93 or 94 mph. But at first, his emotions might have gotten the
best of him.

Rivera gave up a soft leadoff single to Carl Crawford, who gave the Yankees a
scare when the barrel of his broken bat hit Jorge Posada on the right side of
the head. He immediately sprinted to the dugout in pain but recovered quickly
and stayed in.

Rivera struck out Greg Norton but hit Ty Wigginton. That's when he said he
calmed down, and he got Dioner Navarro and B.J. Upton looking to finish it.
"I wasn't nervous, I was anxious," he said. "I couldn't wait to pitch."

Sheffield, meanwhile, was nervous about playing a position he had never
played on any level - and he didn't mind admitting it. "He didn't remember
being that nervous before," Derek Jeter said.

Sheffield wasn't tested too much, except for Jeter's throw in the dirt in the
third. After Sheffield scooped it, Jeter was laughing. "I thought I was going
to get in trouble for that," he said.

"I think he did it on purpose," said Sheffield, who later scooped a low throw
from third baseman Miguel Cairo to save a run.

Sheffield played six innings in the field and said he grew comfortable as the
game went on, so much so that he wanted the ball hit to him by the later
innings. That's a positive sign for the Yankees, who could be without Giambi
in the field for a while.

The Yankees revealed Thursday that Giambi has a torn ligament in his left
wrist, but Giambi disputed that Friday, saying he was told that it's either a
tear or "a real bad case of tendinitis."

Either way, Giambi's left wrist is the reason why he hasn't hit a home run
since Aug. 20, and he hopes his third cortisone shot will have better results
than the first two did.

"I have to believe that this will do the trick and get me back to playing at
the same caliber as before come playoff time," Giambi said, "because that was
really my only option."

Rocco Baldelli homered on Wang's fourth pitch of the game, but Robinson Cano
homered in the fourth to tie it. In the seventh, Aaron Guiel hit a two-run
shot and doubles by Cairo and Melky Cabrera made it 4-1.

Cano also had a double in four at-bats and is hitting .340, moving ahead of
Jeter by .002 and to within .004 of the Twins' Joe Mauer. Cano needs 30 plate
appearances in the final nine games to qualify for the batting title, and Joe
Torre said he'll consider playing him for that reason.

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