Kei Igawa's debut was pretty ugly: 5 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 2 K and a fielding error. Igawa was the first Yankees starter to get 2 outs in the 5th inning this season, but there was still no rest for the bullpen as they had to go the final 4. No matter, as the pen was awesome, pitching 4 shut out innings. Bruney, Myers, Vizcaino and Mo each pitched a full inning.

When Igawa came out, the score was 7-3, Orioles. Going into the final 2 innings the score was still 7-3, Orioles. After a Derek Jeter fly out to start the inning, Abreu and A-Rod walked back to back, setting the stage for a Jason Giambi 3 run HR. Cairo struck out and Posada grounded out to end it. 7-6, Orioles.

Mo was brought in and did the job, keeping that one run deficit in tact. Chris Ray entered to pitch for the O's in the 9th. Mientkiewicz lined out and Melky struck out. 2 outs, no one on, down by 1. Here is where it gets good. Cano singles with 2 outs to keep it alive.

Now, this is where I remembered "hey, I'm writing the recap today, the game is probably over - let me head over to Yahoo! Sports and see what happened." I see 9th inning, 2 outs, Cano on and Jeter up. "We could do this." Jeter worked a walk to make it 1st and 2nd for Abreu. Abreu was hit by a pitch.

Bases loaded. 2 out. 9th inning. A-Rod's up. I laugh, thinking about the semi-long comment I left on Ben's entry earlier today. You can't make it up.

A-Rod had had a great game up to that point. He was the only Yankee to have more than 1 hit and he was 2 for 3 with a homer, 3 runs and 2 RBI. But, here we are... bottom 9. 2 outs. Down by 1. Think of the papers tomorrow. ... Come on, A-Rod.

BOOM. A-Rod slams it to center - a walk off blast. Yankees win by 3. I sent Seamus an IM the moment I saw A-Rod coming up... he wasn't there, so I ended up talking to myself. The transcript:

iFroggynet (4:20:30 PM): Oh man.
iFroggynet (4:20:35 PM): Come on A-Rod.
iFroggynet (4:22:23 PM): YES
iFroggynet (4:22:26 PM): LOL

Riveting. Jubilation. A terrific display of patience by the Yankees hitters in the 9th and, of course, A-Rod, the Finisher. A-Rod's final line: 3 for 4, 4 runs, a double, 2 HR and 6 RBI. All 6 RBI came with 2 outs. Huge day. Giambi had that homer, making him 1 for 3 with 3 RBI. Bobby Abreu also had 3 runs.

It took 10 runs and 4 innings of scoreless pen work, but we're back to .500. Tomorrow, we'll get Darrell Rasner against Erik Bedard.