Volquez shines as Yanks' streak snapped

In a battle of leaders (Edinson Volquez leading the National League in ERA and Mike Mussina sharing the American League-lead in victories), ERA came out on top.

Volquez went into the game with a 1.64 ERA and it only went up 0.07 runs, as he gave up two earned runs over seven innings, striking out five and walking one.

Mussina received his fifth loss of the season, but pitched well enough to win, despite giving up 10 hits. He gave up four earned runs in eight innings, but three of those runs may not have scored had Johnny Damon not lost a line drive in the lights.

Edwin Encarnacion led off the fifth with a single. After a sacrifice bunt and a ground it, the Yankees elected to intentionally walk Jay Bruce to face Jolbert Cabrera. Bruce is a rookie and Cabrera was 2-2 at this point in the game. Cabrera eventually doubled down the line to score all three runners.

This gave the Reds a 4-1 lead, and they went on to win 4-2 to snap the Yankees' seven-game winning streak.

Hideki Matsui was in the lineup tonight after missing the previous two games with knee inflammation. He went 2-4 on the night.

The Yankees will look to rebound tomorrow afternoon. Dan Giese will start, replacing the injured Chien-Ming Wang. The Reds will counter with 22-year-old Daryl Thompson who is making his Major League debut.