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Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
Anyway, the first game is now just completed and Igawa seems to have done well enough to win - 5 complete innings pitched, giving up 7 hits and 2 earned runs (both on solo homers), 3 walks with 6 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 6.67 - though Jose Vizcaino pitched the 6th inning and was given the victory. (I don't always understand how the victory is awarded in these cases - someone fill me in on how that's done in this particular situation.) He was followed on the mound by Kyle Farnsworth, Scott Proctor, and Mariano Rivera. Final score: Yankees 7, Devil Rays 3.
In a few hours there will be some postings about the game and assessments of Igawa's work on the New York Times and other New York city paper websites. I'll check those later and follow up.
Recently Igawa's been pitching at a glacially slow pace, with frequent circling off the mound, and I have no idea if this continued today. But surely Torre-kantoku will be interviewed about his impression of the game and we'll see what he has to say about Igawa's future pitching status for the New York Yankees.