Rasner comes up short; Osborne retires

Appeal Staff Report

Johnny Damon's near spectacular catch " and eventual drop " typified the way the last few games have gone for the New York Yankees and the last several starts have gone for Darrell Rasner.

Rasner, a 1999 Carson High graduate, lost for the seventh time in his last eight starts as the Yankees fell to the Boston Red Sox 6-4 on Friday at Yankee Stadium. Rasner (4-7) allowed all six runs through five innings. All six runs were earned as Rasner allowed 10 hits.

The turning point of the game and for Rasner came when Damon couldn't come up with his spectacular catch with two outs in the third inning and the Yankees clinging to a 3-1 lead. Damon had the ball in his glove, but the ball popped out when he banged into the left-field wall.

The ball actually ended up sitting motionless on the top of the wall for a few seconds. The play ended up as a two-run triple for Kevin Youkilis that tied the game 3-3. Damon hurt himself as a result of the play and is expected to miss the next few games.

"I thought he had it," Rasner said. "Then he falls down, and I look up and the ball is on top of the fence. It was kind of a weird play. I've never seen it before."

Damon ended up apologizing to Rasner for not making the catch. "He apologized, said he had it the whole time," Rasner said. "He was apologetic. I don't know why. He did his best to catch that ball, and I appreciate what he did out there. Johnny's everything for us. He gets us going and he's a huge spark for us."

Rasner worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and held the Red Sox scoreless for the first two innings before Boston scored three runs off of him in the third. Mike Lowell hit a three-run home run off of Rasner to give the Red Sox a 6-3 lead in the fifth.

"I've been on and off," Rasner said. "I'd like to get some consistency here. That's my whole thing right now. I'd like to get going on that and hopefully hit a hot stretch."

At least for now, Rasner's spot in the rotation is safe as Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Rasner will make his next turn. Girardi also said Rasner's line could have been better if the third inning turned out differently.

Girardi said that Rasner would make his next turn and the skipper lamented that Rasner's line could have been better had the third inning progressed alternately.

"He just got too much of the plate a little bit today," Girardi said of Rasner. "If the ball stays in Johnny's glove, it's a different line there as well. Johnny's effort was unbelievable " he ran into that wall at full speed.

"It's not a catch that you're probably going to make, but Johnny's effort was unbelievable. Unfortunately, he didn't have another step to the wall to secure it."

OSBORNE RETIRES

Donovan Osborne has struggled this season with the independent Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, so the left-handed pitcher decided to give up on his dream of returning to the Major Leagues and retired on Friday.

The 39-year-old Osborne, a 1987 Carson High graduate, retired after posting an 0-4 record with an 8.14 earned run average in five starts with the Ducks this season. Osborne struck out 13 through 21 innings.

"Donovan always handled himself with class and dignity as a member of our team," said Ducks principal owner Frank Boulton. "We congratulate him on a tremendous career and wish him the best of luck in the future."

Osborne made his Major League debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1992 and won at least 10 games in his first two seasons. His best year came in 1996 with the Cardinals when he went 13-9 with a 3.53 ERA and established career highs of 198.1 innings and 134 strikeouts.

He was also the winning pitching in game three of the 1996 National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves. During his Major League career Osborne posted a 49-46 record with a 4.03 ERA.