Game 4 Live Blog- special guest style!

Hello everyone, Mike Tramontozzi here, filling in for the day. I was bored so I figured what better way to spend an afternoon than watching a Yankee game- and blogging during it!!

Quick thoughts before the lineups and first pitch from Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City (which is renovated and looking sharp):

- So the Yanks finally have a win, and they can thank the new guys as AJ Burnett had 6 strikeouts, while Mark Teixiera and Nick Swisher both hit home runs. Swisher was actually the first Yankee since Roger Maris to have 5 RBIs in their first Yankee start.

- The bullpen once again was great, holding the Orioles scoreless in the final 3.2 innings after holding Baltimore scoreless over the final 4+ innings on Wednesday night. Even Mariano got in on the action, pitching a perfect 9th inning.

- Kansas City will be without outfielder Jose Guillen, who was put on the 15 day DL with a partially torn right hip flexor. Good news for Andy Pettitte, who was beaten up by Guillen last year.

(3:30pm)- Alright here are the lineups:

Yankees (1-2)
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixiera, 1B
4. Hideki Matsui, DH
5. Jorge Posada, C
6. Robinson Cano, 2B
7. Nick Swisher, RF
8. Cody Ransom, 3B
9. Brett Gardner, CF

starter- Andy Pettitte

Royals (2-1)
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Mike Aviles, SS
3. David DeJesus, LF
4. Mark Teahan, RF
5. Alex Gordon, 3B
6. Billy Butler, DH
7. Mike Jacobs, 1B
8. Miguel Olivo, C
9. Alberto Callaspo, 2B

starter- Sidney Ponson

so there are the lineups, very excited to see Swisher getting 2nd straight start in Right. All thats left now is first pitch- gotta switch over to YES HD (now in my room thanks to my new cable box) and get a sandwich. Come on back everyone!

(4:18pm)- Well I have returned, yet the game apparently does not start until 4:30, did not know YES went to a 1 hour pre-game. However it does look super sweet in HD.

Quick notes- Jeter is batting .377 with 5 home runs against Ponson. And the Yankee bullpen has pitched 8 shutout and hitless innings in the last 2 games. Pretty good all around. One thing left- THE GAME!

(4:45pm)- Jeter grounds out to Callaspo at second, followed by a single by Damon and a four pitch walk to Teixiera. That's the Sidney Ponson everyone knows. Hopefully Matsui can do some damage here.

(4:51pm)- Matsui hits a ground ball off Ponson that goes right to Callaspo. Teixiera stopped on the way to 2nd base, forcing Callaspo to go to first and get the out. 2nd and 3rd now, 2 outs and Posada up. First pitch ripped down the line- 2 RBIs for Posada. Bad job by Jacobs not staying in front of the ball. 2-0 Yanks.

(4:55pm)- Swisher lines out to Coco Crisp, stranding Posada at third and Cano at first. Good start for the team though, now Pettitte to the hill for his first start of the season.

By the way- Kaufmann Stadium is apparently being called "the new K", which Michael Kay has mentioned six times already in just the top of the first. This cant bode well for the rest of the game.

(5:00pm)- Great leaping catch by Cano to rob Coco Crisp of a leadoff single. Cano has been doing it all so far this season. Aviles grounds out to Pettitte on a 2-2 curveball, so 2 quick outs for Pettitte so far.

(5:02pm)- Pettitte strikes out DeJesus to end the bottom of the first in style. Very efficient inning for Andy.

Bad Joke Alert!!- David Cone mentioned that the announcing team of Kay, Cone and Flaherty sounds like a law firm, to which Kay responded "an expensive law firm"....thank god the game is back.

(5:10pm)- Ponson recovers to get a 1-2-3 top of the 2nd, complete with 2 Ks (one of Gardner, and Jeter being #2). The first out was a fantastic diving stab by Alex Gordon at third to rob Cody Ransom of a sure fire single. Tough luck for Ransom, but in other news Joe Girardi said that Alex Rodriguez will begin baseball activities next week. Sounds like ARod is on schedule for an early May return- good news indeed. Ok, game's back.

(5:17pm)- So after 2 easy outs for Pettitte, he walks Billy Butler, then Swisher lost a short pop-up from Jacobs in the sun, and Butler scored as the ball bounced off his glove. Jacobs on 2nd, 2 outs and Miguel Olivo up. 2-1 Yanks.

(5:18pm)- Olivo looks overmatched as Pettitte blows a high fastball by him to get out of the inning. Damon- Tex and Matsui will be the three hitters for the Yanks as they try to get that run back.

Side Note- They gave Jacobs an RBI double on the pop-up, which is shocking considering Swisher slid and the ball bounced off his glove. Oh well, it is the KC official scorer.

(5:27pm)- Despite walking Teixiera for the 2nd time in 2 ABs, Ponson gets 3 pop outs from Damon, Matsui and Posada to get through the top of the 3rd. He seems to be settling down, even though he has thrown alot of pitches (and went to 3 ball counts on Posada and Matsui despite getting them out). Pettitte back to the mound for the bottom of the inning to face Callaspo, Crisp and Aviles.

(5:34pm)- Boy Pettitte looks good today. 2 ground balls and a strikeout of Crisp and the bottom of the third is over. The only blemish on his line so far is the one hit and one run from the second. Cano- Swisher and Ransom will be the batters in the top of the fourth. Hopefully the top 2 can do something because Ransom is almost an automatic out at this point (If any of his family or friends are reading, Im sorry- but its true).

Quiz Time- Who hit the first Home Run at Kaufmann Stadium in KC? Cone seems to be stumped so lets see who it is.

(5:38pm)- Leadoff single by Cano followed by an RBI Double for Swisher! This man is on fire the last 2 games with 6 RBIs. Maybe Mikey shouldnt have taken him off Ramos' fantasy roster... 3-1 Yanks

(5:42pm)- Ransom reaches on a fielder's choice as Aviles tried to pick off Swisher at 2nd and was not successful (Ransom hit a bouncer to short). So a fielder's choice followed by a sac bunt by Gardner has 2nd/3rd and 1 out for Jeter. Big inning potential for the Yanks here.

(5:48pm)- RBI ground out for Jeter scoring Swisher, yet a brain fart from Ransom got him tagged out between 2nd and 3rd. So the man who shouldn't have been on-base to begin with gets tagged out on a ball hit in front of him, especially dumb when you have noone on 1st and you don't technically have to go anywhere...When does ARod come back again?

Tex pops out to Callaspo at 2nd, inning over. To the top of the fourth we go, 4-1 Yanks.

Food Alert-I ordered a baked ziti dinner from Napali's Italian restaurant, very excited. However I bet Girardi is more excited about Pettitte's start so far (but he might enjoy baked ziti, I don't know).

(5:52pm)- Another 1-2-3 inning for Andy, who has retired 7 in a row. He has had command of all his pitches, and the only KC hit has been the blooper off the bat of Jacobs that hit off Swisher's glove. So far through 4 innings this is easily the best start of a Yankee starter this year.

Quiz Answer- Who hit the 1st HR at Kaufmann Stadium? The answer? John Mayberry, so congrats to whoever said John Mayberry.

(6:04pm)- Yankees squander a lead-off double by Teixiera, as Ponson also walked Cano on 4 pitches (already Robbie's 4th walk this year- he got #3 in game 19 last year) but struck out Matsui, Posada and Swisher looking to escape further damage. Yet with the way Pettitte is pitching for the Yankees, they may have done all the damage they need already.

(6:07pm)- Right as I finished typing Billy Butler drills a ball off the wall in left-center for a lead-off double for the Royals. Only the 2nd hit Andy has given up, yet it's the first "real" hit of the day off the leftie. Jacobs up now looking for his second RBI of the game.

(6:18pm)- Pettitte works around a lead-off double by Butler to get out Jacobs, Olivo and Callaspo. Royals miss a chance to inch closer, still trailing by 3 runs. Ponson, meanwhile, answers with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth. Surprising 6 innings from Ponson, only giving up the 4 runs, and pitching out of some jams. If I was Trey Hillman (Royals manager) I would be glad with this performance (maybe minus the 4 runs, but he has kept the team in the game). Pettitte back to the mound for the bottom of the 6th.

(6:37pm)- Back folks- dinner arrived, and it was fantastic. Way too filling though, but it was worth it. While I was eating...

- Pettitte once again worked around a hit, this time a one out single by Aviles. 6 fantastic innings from Pettitte, and I think we'll see him for the 7th.

- In comes old Yankee fan favorite Kyle Farnsworth, who already endeered himself to Royals fans by giving up a home run to Jim Thome on Opening Day. On cue, a strikeout of Damon and a strikeout of Teixiera for Farnsworth. Full count to Matsui now, who has not looked good today.

- Matsui strikes out, thus finishing a dominant 7th from Farnsworth as he struck out the side. We now move to the bottom of the 7th, and the question is whether or not Andy comes out- I say Yes.

(6:45pm)- Well Pettitte came back out for the 7th (he had only thrown 84 pitches through 6, so pretty much a dumb question). And he continued to dominate, setting down the Royals in order again. He's over 90 pitches now, so I would assume he's done- and with a stat-line of 7IP, 3 Hits, 1 Run and 6 Ks I would say it's been a good day for Andy.

(6:54pm)- Jamey Wright just pitched a lights out top of the 8th for KC, striking out Posada and Swisher while getting Cano to pop out to DeJesus in left. All in all it has not been that bad of a game for the Royals pitching, especially when you look at how the Yankees scored they didn't exactly mash the ball. And Ponson got out of some tough jams in the 1st and 5th, so if they were to lose I would rest it on their offense, which has been non-existent today.

FYI Pettitte is gone from the game after 99 pitches, on comes Brian "Kindergarten Cop" Bruney to pitch the 8th, and most likely Mo in the 9th.

(6:59pm)- Bruney starts off the inning with a strikeout of Olivo. Good start, up comes Callaspo who has seen 2 pitches in 2 ABs so far. He's now in the hole 1-2, atleast he's seen more than 1 pitch.

(7:01pm)- Callaspo down on strikes, Bruney looking real good. Another solid performance for the Yankee bullpen today. Coco Crisp comes up and promptly pops out to Jeter, so Bruney finishes a quick and dominant bottom of the 8th. Yanks in command 4-1 heading to the 9th.

(7:04pm)- Ransom strikes out to start the 9th for the Yanks. That is the 9th time a Yankee has struck out today, and Michael Kay said his scorecard "looks like my family reunion...lots of Ks"....Im weighing the options of muting the final inning.

(7:09pm)- Jamey Wright with another solid inning of work, getting the Yanks in order in the top of the 9th. He struck out Ransom, then gave up an infield single to Gardner, then picked him off of first. Wright then had Jeter's ground ball up the middle hit off his foot and bounce right to Gordon at 3rd, who threw out Jeter. So it wasn't a basic 1-2-3 inning, but it counts. Mo is on now for the 9th looking to get his 1st save of the year.

(7:19pm)- Ballgame over! Mo comes in and gives up only an infield single to Teahan. He struck out Gordon and Aviles and got DeJesus to ground out to Teixiera. The hit by Teahan was the first hit given up by a Yankee reliever in the last 10 innings- very impressive.

The Yanks win the game and improve to 2-2 on the year, while KC drops to 2-2. Andy Pettitte got his first win of the year, and Sidney Ponson fell to 0-1. Rivera also picked up his 1st save of the year.

Both teams will be back tomorrow night when CC Sabathia will look to improve off his rough Opening Day start when he goes up against Horacio Ramirez. First pitch is slated for 7:10pm.

I am done however for the night. I hope everyone enjoyed it, because I surely did.