Wells' first trip to Bronx a rough one

NEW YORK -- The Pirates arrived at Yankee Stadium as winners of nine of their last 13 games. They had yet to lose back-to-back games in the month of June. They were facing a Yankees team that was returning from a demoralizing 3-9 road trip.
Though they entered Tuesday's game relaxed, the Pirates were somewhat wary of a Yankees offense that sleepwalked through much of their recent trip. Manager Lloyd McClendon called a potential New York outburst a major concern, and hoped that the Bronx Bombers could get better -- as soon as the Pirates skipped town.

McClendon's hopes were dashed when the Yankees pecked their way to a 3-0 lead before collecting four runs in the fifth inning, carrying the home team to a 9-0 victory.

Pirate starter Kip Wells lasted just 4 1/3 innings and was rocked for eight hits and seven runs, six of them earned.

"They had me on the ropes pretty much from the get-go," Wells said. "The runs won't kill you for the most part if you can hold them to one when they have a chance to blow it open. That's what I was trying to take heart in -- the fact that I could have given up three or four in any of those innings before the fifth.

"Then, they beat me with small infield hits, and then they got the big base-clearer at the end that put the dagger in me."

His start starkly contrasted that of Mike Mussina, who tossed a five-hit shutout to earn his seventh victory and second complete game. Mussina was perfect until Daryle Ward ripped a two-out single down the right-field line in the fifth.

"He was outstanding, and that's the ballgame in a nutshell," McClendon said. "Their starter was on his game, and ours was not, and that was pretty evident early."

The Yankees opened the scoring in the second, when Hideki Matsui deposited a solo home run in the right-center field bleachers. The Yanks added an unearned run in the third, and tagged Wells with a third run in the fourth.

Wells allowed the Yankees to score for a fourth consecutive inning when Robinson Cano scorched a double to left-center, and Gary Sheffield drove him in with a single to right.

Wells then hit Alex Rodriguez with a pitch, and Matsui grounded into a double play to advance Sheffield to third. Williams walked for a second consecutive at-bat, Posada singled home Sheffield and Jason Giambi drove them both in with a towering double off the center-field wall.

"Kip got out of whack and couldn't get back in rhythm," McClendon said.

It was a simple statement, but one that completely summed up Wells' night. The pitcher owned up to his performance, and he and McClendon both downplayed the outburst by the recently subdued Yankees offense.

"It definitely feels like the majority of it was my doing," Wells said. "At times, you feel the pressure's on, and you try to make too good of a pitch."

Wells couldn't respond to that pressure, and as the Yankees battered Pittsburgh pitching -- they added two insurance runs in the eighth -- the Pirates' bats remained silent.

The credit for that goes to Mussina and his varied repertoire.

"Tonight, he had everything," Matt Lawton said. "He's got five or six pitches and he was throwing them all for strikes, and he kept us off balance."

Said McClendon: "Pick your poison: the changeup, the breaking ball, the cutter and the 92-mile-an-hour fastball," McClendon said. "He had it all."

Mussina cruised, needing just seven more pitches than Wells to get through 4 1/3 more innings, and Wells was unable to get out of enough jams to keep the Pirates within striking distance.

"I needed to throw strikes as opposed to trying to make a power pitch early in the count," Wells said. "They laid off of them and got to me. They're good hitters, and you can't give them too many opportunities to blow a game open, or they will."

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/