Slacker

We're storing yesterday's results in the "to do" file. But if you missed that Yankee win yesterday afternoon? It was a wild one. Luis Vizcaino took the win after 1/3 of an inning of work. Derek Jeter homered, and Andy Phillips was the hero in the 8th inning with a fantastic line drive catch that maintained the 7-6 lead, and eventually the win.

As for today's action?

The Yankees are back in the Bronx for another four-game series, this time against the Toronto Blue Jays.

LHP Kei Igawa (2-2, 7.14 ERA) vs. RHIP Josh Towers (4-5, 5.07 ERA)

With Igawa pitching, let the rollercoaster ride begin. I've said before, I'm not ready to give up on Igawa in the long haul. It would take exceptional talent to be able to go down to the minor league level, change mechanics, and come back up to the major league level one month later without a hitch. That said, Igawa hasn't been given the luxury of the rest of the season to experiment with his new mechanics in the minors. With Hughes and Karstens on the horizon, Igawa probably isn't long for the big club this season. In tonight's game, the Yankees' best hope is to get Igawa through five innings with relatively little damage. He has been decent from the wind-up, but tends to fall apart in later innings when he is expected to work with men on base coming out of the stretch.

This will be the first look Yankees have at Towers as a starter this season. He made a 2 2/3 innings relief appearance against the Yankees on May 30th. In that outing, Towers allowed two hits, one run, no walks, and struck out three.

Should A-Rod expect one high and tight sometime tonight? Something to watch for.

In other Monday baseball:

LHP Mike Bacsik (2-6, 5.20 ERA) and the Nationals are back at RFK to face Woody Williams and the Astros. The Nats are hoping for a starter to give them a quality outing for the first time since the All-Star Break. Bacsik hasn't pitched since July 6th, when he took a loss against the Brewers after pitching five innings and allowing six earned runs.

LHP Brian Burres (4-3, 4.19 ERA) and the Orioles are out in Seattle for a 10:05pm ET start against left-hander Horacio Ramirez and the Mariners. The O's took 3-out of-4 from the White Sox and hope the winning carries over. Burres worked 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief against the White Sox on July 12th. His last start was in Chicago against the White Sox on July 5th. He took the loss in a terrible outing, lasting the same amount of time as he did in his relief appearance on the 12th and giving up seven earned runs on six hits.

RHP Jorge Sosa (7-3, 3.92 ERA) returns from the DL tonight, as he and the Mets travel out to San Diego to take on the suspension-appealling LHP David Wells (4-5, 4.31 ERA) and the Padres. Should be an interesting series, as the Mets come in with a 51-40 overall record to take on San Diego and their 50-40, with big implications in not only the National League East and West races but the wild card as well.

Down on the farm: Tough loss for Matt DeSalvo in S/WB's final game against the Louisville Bats. He held a shutout into the bottom of the 8th inning. Mark Bellhorn, the first batter DeSalvo faced in the 8th inning, hit a solo homerun to tie the game a 1-1. After recording one out, Ryan Hanigan singled and later scored after Sean Henn replaced DeSalvo. Louisville scored three in the inning, and S/WB was unable to recover in the top of the 9th, losing to the Bats 3-1. Tonight, Tyler Clippard is scheduled to make the start against Indianapolis.