Last night the New York Yankees caught a thrashing at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles, by a score of 12-2. The pace for the game was sent in the first inning when the Birds hit up Yankees starter Mike Mussina for seven runs.

“When you walk out there and don’t feel like you’ve ever been out there before, it really confuses you,” Mussina said. “That’s how I felt. I got out there and I felt like I hadn’t been out there forever, and didn’t really know what I was doing.”

Though svene runs crossed the plate when it was all said and done, the Orioles didn’t hit a single home run in the first inning. The rally was started by Brian Roberts, who drew a walk to start out the frame. Aubrey Huff would single in the game’s first run, which Kevin Millar would follow with another single. Eventually, Ramon Hernandez would draw a free pass with the bases loaded to put the Yankees at a 2-0 deficit. The next hitter, Adam Jones, doubled to deep right field which would wind up clearing the bases. With the score now 5-0, shortstop Freddie Bynum singled to shallow right field, which Adam Jones easily scored on. The Orioles weren’t done quite yet though, as Brian Roberts would triple in the 7th run of the inning.

“I’m hoping this is rock-bottom,” manager Joe Girardi said. “It’s an ugly loss and you’ve just got to put this one aside.”

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was hit on the hand with a pitch in the 3rd inning; it would be an injury Jeter would have to leave the game for.

“It’ll be fine. Obviously, it doesn’t feel good. But I should be all right by tomorrow,” Jeter said. “He hit me pretty good. Fortunately, it’s not broken.”

The game got interesting in the 6th inning, when Bronx Bombers reliever Latroy Hawkins threw a pitch in on batter Luke Scott, followed by another pitch over his head (as retaliation for Cabrera’s hitting Jeter). Hawkins was immediately ejected, and both Baltimore and New York’s benches cleared.

“You’ve got to protect your players. That was not it,” Scott said. “You never throw at anyone’s head. You could end somebody’s career, or life.”

Latroy had a different viewpoint.

“The way it looked, he had a reason to think that way. But it wasn’t intentional,” he said. “Jeter got hit. Nobody else got hit. That’s the bottom line.”