Lousy Loaiza
By lefty
Esteban Loaiza didn’t pitch well in his Yankee debut. Traded from the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Jose Contreras on the non-waiver trading deadline, he was supposed to strengthen the Yankees rotation. But the 32 year-old right-hander with a career 4.60 ERA was inconsistent with his control — walking four batters and hitting another. In six innings he allowed six hits, and five earned runs while striking out six and allowing two homers, one by Oakland’s Jermaine Dye and the other by Eric Byrnes.
The embarassing outing was ruined, however, by late inning Yankee shenanigans by Gary Sheffield who hit a two-run ninth-inning homer to tie the game, and a game winning eleventh-inning two-run homer by Álex Rodríguez. The Yankees achieved another of their classic, maddening come-from-behind victories with Mariano Rivera on the mound. Their pitching problems are well-documented and numerous, but the Bronx Ba-zillionaires can find convenient compensation with their power bats. Cue King George's evil maniacal laugh.
If you want, or need, to read a recap of this story, click here for an AP version of the game on Yahoo!
