[新聞] Notes: Yankees trust Clippard

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Notes: Yankees trust Clippard

After five starts, rookie proves comfortable in No. 5 spot

NEW YORK -- It has been less than a month since Tyler Clippard walked into
the Yankees' clubhouse as a virtual unknown, taking the ball and shutting
down the Mets' lineup in his Major League debut.
In that time period, Clippard has made five starts at this level -- some of
them good, some not so much -- but he has referred to every outing as a
learning experience.

On Saturday, the 22-year-old right-hander will see the Mets for the second
time, providing an opportunity to find out how Clippard can fare against a
club the second time around.

"I'm just going to try and approach it like every start -- a very important
start for me and for the team," Clippard said. "Every win is big right now,
so we just want to keep it going."

In Clippard's big-league debut on May 20, he helped the Yankees avoid a
series sweep at Shea Stadium, hurling six innings of one-run, three-hit ball
and even contributing offensively with a double.

Clippard won't be asked to bat on Saturday, playing under more familiar
American League rules, but he also won't be asked to take the team on his
shoulders and provide a performance to stop any bleeding -- not in the middle
game of a series, and not with the Yankees having won nine straight games and
12 of 14 entering Friday's play.

Still, what Clippard proved in his debut against the Mets last month was that
he could be capable of doing so. In the four starts that followed, he has
continued to show that he is also of the mind-set to continue competing at
the same level.

"He came in under the toughest possible situation -- ballclub losing, going
over there [in front of] 50,000-plus people, hostile environment," said
Yankees manager Joe Torre. "He seemed to manage it. If he doesn't make a
pitch, he's angry. It's not like [he] shouldn't be here. That's what's
impressed us."

The Yankees have been so pleased with Clippard's grit that they appear
content to continue on with him as the fifth member of the rotation, joining
four proven veterans as the kid at the back end.

While Torre said that the Yankees have considered it a bonus all three times
Clippard has logged victories, the team does not seem inclined to pull
Clippard from the rotation just because left-hander Kei Igawa, for one, has
been pitching well at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Clippard is coming off his rockiest effort in a big-league uniform, having
been rapped for six runs in 3 2/3 innings by the Pirates on Sunday, but Torre
hasn't wavered in his support.

"[Clippard's] stuff is manageable," Torre said. "Obviously, if there's a lot
he has to work on as far as getting experience, we'll certainly do that. He
really hasn't done anything that has turned us to look at somebody else at
this point in time."

The possibility exists that Igawa could eventually be recalled as a long
reliever and spot starter, with Clippard remaining in the rotation, though
Saturday's results in a less hostile setting may help figure that decision
out.

"It's home-field advantage," Clippard said. "It's going to be a lot better. I
enjoyed that over there and I'm going to enjoy it tomorrow."

Damon scratched: Johnny Damon was removed from the Yankees' lineup about an
hour before game time with a mild abdominal strain, the club announced. Josh
Phelps took over as designated hitter and Melky Cabrera moved to the leadoff
spot.

"It's his stomach, not his rib cage," Torre said. "It's a stomach strain or
muscle strain. It's something I didn't want to get worse, because I wanted
him to play [on Saturday]."

Senior league: When Roger Clemens made his Major League debut on May 15,
1984, for the Red Sox at old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, the Indians' No.
6 hitter was a 26-year-old shortstop named Julio Franco.



Complete coverage >
The two aged wonders renewed their acquaintance on Friday, as the 48-year-old
Franco served as the Mets' designated hitter against the 44-year-old Clemens
-- the oldest hitter-pitcher matchup since 1933.

When a reporter attempted to sensitively couch the question of the combined
92 years facing each other, Mets manager Willie Randolph waved the idea off,
saying that Franco, more the fitness guru today than he was when he went
1-for-4 off Clemens that day in Cleveland, embraces his seniority.

"He likes it," Randolph said. "He loves when you talk about his age, because
he's proud of the fact he's still doing what he's doing after this long. He's
got a big ego, and he loves the fact that he can prance around and flex his
muscles and everyone knows he's that age."

Torre was more to the point when asked about the possibility of Franco
digging in against The Rocket.

"It might make me want to grab a bat again," Torre said.

Good reports: The most glowing news from Igawa's six-inning effort on
Thursday against the Charlotte Knights, Torre said, had been the reviews on
the left-hander's changeup.

Igawa's lack of a consistent offspeed pitch played a large part in the
decision to ship the southpaw to Class A Tampa after six appearances in a
Yankees uniform, but Torre said he received positive endorsements after Igawa
logged his second victory for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

"It's a problem we like to have," Torre said. "We'll certainly probably make
a place for him down the road."

Subway spark: While the Yankees have won 12 of their last 14 games dating
back to a May 30 contest at Toronto -- the game when Alex Rodriguez shouted
at Blue Jays third baseman Howie Clark -- Torre suggested that the Yankees'
turnaround actually may have found its roots in the middle game of the last
Subway Series.

In that game, a Saturday matinee, the Yankees lost starting pitcher Darrell
Rasner to a broken right index finger in the top of the first inning. The
Yankees lost the game, 10-7, but rallied for five runs in the last three
innings to show some "fight" that, in Torre's opinion, hadn't been there
earlier in the season.

"We may have convinced ourselves," said Torre, who noted the Yankees then
took two of three from the Red Sox. "I think at that point, we knew there was
more to us than what we were showing."

Bomber bits: The Yankees plan to play the Mets series with 13 pitchers and a
three-man bench, but they'll shed a hurler before boarding their flight to
Colorado for next week's series with the Rockies. ... Juan Miranda, a
24-year-old Cuban defector, hit his team-leading ninth home run for Class A
Tampa on Thursday and is batting .280 with a team-leading 50 RBIs.

Coming up: The Yankees and Mets match up for the second game of the
three-game Subway Series on Saturday, sending Clippard (3-1, 5.32 ERA) to the
mound for his sixth start of the season. The Mets will counter with 295-game
winner Tom Glavine (5-4, 4.15 ERA), with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. ET on
the YES Network.


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