14A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, April 1, 2004 Yankees rebound, pound Tampa Bay 12-1 THE MICHIGAN DAILY CRITICS' PRESEASON PICKS TOKYO (AP) - Hideki Matsui stood at home plate, received a samurai helmet called the Kabuto, and raised the gold-and-red armor high for the crowd to see. The New York Yankees ' traditional domination had been restored. Matsui rocked the Tokyo Dome with a two-run homer, thrilling the Japanese fans who worship him. Jorge Posada hit three-run shots from both sides of the plate, Kevin Brown won his first start in pinstripes and the Yankees calmed their jittery supporters back home by routing the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 12-1 Wednes- day night. "Hopefully, we can have many more games like this," Matsui told the cheering crowd from a podium near home plate after the game. After a listless 8-3 loss on opening day, fans back home who got up at 5 a.m. had been infuriated, expecting greatness from their heroes, not grogginess. And then the Yankees fell behind in the first inning when Aubrey Huff hit an RBI single. Owner George Steinbrenner took the first loss calmly, saying, "It's not where you start, it's where you finish." But an 0-2 trip, which would have left them last in the AL East, might have led to a different tune. "It wouldn't be fun. In fact, I made a comment when we were down 1-0 in the first," Yankees manag- er Joe Torre said. "I felt a little tenseness in there. I said, 'Guys, what's the worst thing that can happen? We lose 162 games, big deal. We can still eat, and you're still going to get paid.'" But a day after Tampa Bay surprised the Yankees, the Bronx Bombers' potent offense restored the old order - appropriate for a country tied to tradition - in another game that started before dawn in New York. Matsui tied it with an RBI single in the third. Tony Clark, in the lineup at first base because Jason Giambi's left knee is hurt and Travis Lee is on the dis- abled list, put New York ahead with a two-run homer in the fourth. Matsui, a home-run hero during 10 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, teed off in the fifth inning on a belt- high pitch from Jeremi Gonzalez, sending it deep into the seats in right-center. Flashbulbs popped. Fans jumped and stayed up for a standing ovation, a rarity in Japan. Some of the spec- tators repeatedly bowed to him. The ovation was pro- longed, as if fans were trying to get him to come out for a curtain call. But Matsui, always modest, didn't leave the dugout. "It's really a once in a lifetime opportunity," Alex Rodriguez said. "Who knows when the Yankees are going to come back? It's a pretty special moment." A-Rod came a few feet short of a grand slam in the seventh. The AL MVP had another quiet night in his second game for New York, going 0-for-5 and drop- ping to 1-for-9 with no RBIs. Derek Jeter finally got his first hit, an RBI single ahead of Rodriguez in the seventh, after going hitless in his first seven at-bats. "I was in there saying, 'I'm the last one without a hit,'" he remembered. Matsui had another chance to come up big in the seventh when he batted with the bases loaded, but he struck out against Trever Miller. Posada, meanwhile, homered right-handed off Damian Moss in the fifth and left-handed against Jorge Sosa in the seventh. It was the fifth time he homered from both sides in the same game, the first since June 28, 2002, against the New York Mets. He thought ahead to the 7,250-mile flight back to spring training in Florida. The Yankees were due to land at home just after midnight, ending a 38-hour day caused by the time difference. Tampa Bay, coming off six straight last-place fin- ishes, was pretty much overlooked during its five days in Japan. "We came to play a team that was very popular here," Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella said. "If we can play .500 against New York all year, I'll be very, very pleased." Brown, the 39-year-old right-hander acquired from Los Angeles in December, allowed six hits in seven innings, struck out five, walked none and got career win No. 198. Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera fin- ished with hitless relief. Brown's turning point came in the fourth, when he gave up a leadoff single to Jose Cruz Jr. and went to a 3-0 count on Tino Martinez. Brown came back to strike out Martinez as Cruz was caught trying to steal second. Last year, the Dodgers totaled just 17 runs in his nine losses. But the night belonged to Matsui, Japan's biggest baseball star. When he received the helmet, the videoboard in the Big Egg showed his father in the stands. Many of Matsui's teammates watched. The souvenir of the long trip could prove useful during the long season. When you play for the Yan- kees, where anything short of a World Series title is unacceptable, armor comes in handy. Gennaro Filice: Jim Weber: NutNn' But a 'G' Thang The Realest Last season was a dead heat between Filice and Weber: Filice had the Florida Marlins as his surprise team, while Weber predicted the Tigers would win fewer than 5r ames. This season, the two square off again for ;prognostication dominance. Tigers Record Tigers MVP 72-90 Pudge Rodriguez New York Yankees AL East AL Central Kansas City Oakland AL West AL Wild Card Boston NL East Philadelphia NL Central NL West NL Wild Card Chicago San Francisco 67-95 Ugueth Urbina New York Yankees Minnesota Anaheim Boston Philadelphia Houston San Francisco Chicago New York Houston New York Yankees New York Mets Rich Harden (Oak.) Vladimir Guerrero Brian Giles Houston AL Pennant Winner NL Pennant Winner World Series Champion Surprise Team Breakout Player AL MVP NL MVP Boston Chicago Boston San Diego Bobby Crosby (Oak.) Carlos Beltran Jim Thome M'nine s success relies on small ball By Matt Venegoni z 3 nv 'Daily Sports Writer "Chicks dig the long ball." Or so the ad campaign said a few years ago for Major League Baseball. The Michigan baseball team digs the "small ball." The Wolverines rely on it to win many of their games. Small ball is not necessarily the most popular offensive strategy in baseball, but it can be highly effective -just ask the World Series champion Florida Marlins. Small ball utilizes bunting, the hit- and-run and base stealing. While a sac- rifice bunt may not be extremely exciting, it can be very useful. An example of this comes from this past weekend in the Michigan Classic. In the first game against Oakland, Michigan produced runs by bunting twice in the third inning. Shortstop Jere- my Goldschmeding singled to start the inning, but advanced to second on a bunt single from leftfielder Nick Rud- den. Centerfielder Eric Rose then loaded the bases with a bunt single. A couple well-timed hits later, and Michi- gan was up 2-0 on the way to"a 6-2 vic- tory over the Grizzlies. "(Small ball) has been a part of our philosophy all year - since day one," Michigan coach Rich Maloney said. By virtue of The Fish, Michigan has to play small ball. The Fish is not a homerun-friendly park - it is a large stadium with dimensions of 400 feet to center (which has a tall wall), 330 feet down the lines and 375 feet to the power alleys. Since Michigan plays at least 18 games at home, it tailors its style of play to the park. The first and third base lines are completely grass, not dirt, making it much easier to bunt and get on base. In tight games, the difference between a win and loss can be a sacri- fice bunt or a perfectly executed hit- and-run, all elements of small ball. "We don't have a great deal of power, so we have to do the small game extremely well," Maloney said. "We have worked extremely hard on it. Assis- tant coach Jason Murray has made sure that we can play that part of the game." Michigan has hit just nine homeruns this season, but has stolen 21 bases in 33 attempts. Six of the steals have come from outfielder Matt Butler, the team leader in runs batted in as well. "We try to utilize our speed as much as possible," Maloney said.,"In recruit- ing, we have tried to get that speed." While Michigan has bunted well this season, another key aspect is actually hitting away. As a team, Michigan is hit- ting .317, while keeping strikeouts to a minimum. A team cannot count on hitting a grand slam or three-run homerun every game to win. The Wolverines understand that and have adjusted their play to their strengths. I 4 N ME ' 1 W , a