Rasner brilliant, but Yankees fall

Appeal Staff Report

Darrell Rasner was able to step and match one of the American League's top pitchers in A.J. Burnett, but it wasn't enough for the New York Yankees.

As has been the case many times this season, the 1999 Carson High graduate received little support from what continues to be a disappointing offense that was expected to be potent and the Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in Toronto on Tuesday.

Rasner shut out the Blue Jays for six innings, but couldn't hold onto a 1-0 lead when Adam Lind homered off of him in the bottom of the seventh inning. Rasner had to settle for a no decision after allowing the lone run on just three hits through 6 2/3 innings.

The Yankees went on to lose when Johnny Damon misplayed Marco Scutaro's flyball to centerfield into an RBI double for the final margin. Burnett ended up striking out 13 th

Damon also misplayed the first ball hit to him in the bottom of the first, but Rasner escaped damage after Alex Rios reached on the two-base error by striking out Vernon Wells and retiring Lind.

"He plays so dang hard all the time," Rasner said. "It happens to everybody. I still say he's one of the best center fielders in the game."

After recording the last two outs of the first inning, Rasner then faced one batter over the minimum through the next five frames before he challenged Lind with a 3-2 cutter in the seventh.

The pitch trailed a little too inside, and Lind teed off to send it over the relievers who had started stirring in New York's bullpen, giving them a too-close view of Lind's ninth home run. One out later, Rasner was finished and could not win.

"It was a 3-2 count and I didn't want to walk him," Rasner said. "It was a cutter and it got a little inside. He did a good job of keeping it fair."

"He was great tonight," Girardi said. "This kid deserves better. There have been a lot of games that he's pitched where he could have won games and he hasn't."

Rasner has turned in three good outings in succession, beginning with a long relief appearance on Aug. 8 in Anaheim when he pitched four innings to keep a losing effort close. His work has not translated to a victory, and he said he took little solace in keeping the Jays off the board just as much as Burnett silenced the Yankees.

"It's not something I look at," Rasner said. "I wish I could have gone a little deeper. I wish I didn't give up that home run. There's a lot of things that I can wish."