Lowe fires four scoreless innings in bullpen-saving Yanks debut
Derek Lowe spent his weekend thinking about how exciting it was going to be to get back on a major league mound after agreeing to terms with the New York Yankees. On Monday, he got that chance.
Lowe pitched four scoreless innings to close out the Yankees' 8-2 win over the Texas Rangers, picking up his first save since 2001.
"You just keep going, and every inning, they say keep going and then they said go out for the ninth," said Lowe, who took over for David Phelps to start the sixth. "My pea brain said, 'Hey, I can maybe pick up a cheap save here.' It's so important to save the back-end guys. This is a great offense we're playing, and maybe these games will be close the next couple days. So we can use those back-end guys maybe back-to-back days. It's a great team win, and we'll go on."
Lowe spent the past 10 days working in Fort Myers, Fla., with an old instructor as he tried to figure out why his season took such a harsh turn. After going 6-2 with a 2.15 ERA in his first nine starts for the Indians, Lowe went 2-8 with an 8.80 ERA in his final 12 outings with Cleveland before being designated for assignment following his July 31 start.
Lowe felt as if he would be able to contribute to the Yankees, but it wasn't until he went out and retired 12 of 14 Texas hitters on Monday night that he knew his stuff was back to where he wanted it.
"Hitters are the ultimate telltale; they'll tell you how good your stuff is," Lowe said. "I don't care how good you think your stuff is, they're the ultimate answer. If you're getting positive results, then you're doing the right thing. If you're not, you're not. It's that simple."
