Newsday: Igawa’s ‘08 debut a failure; Yanks fall to Tigers

The Yankees did not have outrageous expectations for Kei Igawa in his first major-league start of the season.

General manager Brian Cashman said: “I hope he pitches into the seventh inning and gives us a chance to win a ballgame.” Manager Joe Girardi said he wanted Igawa “to compete, to be down in the zone, early strikes, ahead in the count, give us a chance to win.”

Igawa fell far, far short of even those modest aims, though, in the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park Friday night. The Tigers crushed Igawa with hard-hit balls on nearly every at-bat. He gave up six earned runs on 11 hits in three innings plus four batters.
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The Tigers batters didn’t miss much that Igawa threw. The lefthander failed to notch a single strikeout, and saw pitch after pitch launched deep into the outfield. By the fourth, after Igawa gave up four consecutive hits and three runs to start the inning, Girardi had seen enough.