Carson's Rasner cuts down Tigers for Yanks
Associated Press
DETROIT - Darrell Rasner is giving the New York Yankees a reliable starter at the back of the rotation, something they've been looking for all year.
Rasner, a 1999 Carson High School graduate and starred for the Nevada Wolf Pack (2000-02), won his second consecutive start since coming up from the minors, Derek Jeter hit his first homer of the season and New York ended a six-game losing streak to the Detroit Tigers with a 5-2 victory Saturday.
After beating Seattle last Sunday, Rasner allowed two runs and four hits in six-plus innings against Detroit's powerful lineup.
"He's been a shot in the arm for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "No one says you have to be fancy or overpowering. He's figured out how to use his stuff and he's done it effectively."
Jeter hit a solo shot in the first inning off Jeremy Bonderman, ending his career-long drought of 128 at-bats without a homer to start a season.
"I could really care less," Jeter said with a smile. "I'm just kidding. I wanted at least one."
Rasner (2-0) departed after Magglio Ordonez's leadoff single in the seventh. He walked one - his first free pass in 12 innings this season.
The right-hander was 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in five outings at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before replacing injured Phil Hughes in New York's rotation. Hughes, Ian Kennedy (now in the minors) and Kei Igawa are winless for the Yankees this year, so Rasner has provided an important boost.
"Every chance I get is a great opportunity and I'm going to do my best to run with it," Rasner said. "I'm not going to strike a lot of guys out, so I can't walk a lot of guys."
The Yankees had lost seven of eight against Detroit dating to last season.
"You don't like to lose to the same team over and over," Girardi said. "They've hit us pretty well, but Raz did a nice job against them."
The Tigers pulled to 2-1, butnfortunately for the Tigers, that was about all they could muster against Rasner.
"We'd never seen him before, which is tough, and he did a nice job against us," Leyland said of Rasner. "I'm dumb, I guess, because I was really excited about our lineup against this kid."