From Newsday

Kennedy return not imminent

BY ANTHONY RIEBER | anthony.rieber@newsday.com

May 8, 2008

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Ian Kennedy's boffo performance at Triple-A on Tuesday night earned him the praise of Yankees manager Joe Girardi. But it didn't necessarily earn the rookie righthander a ticket back to New York.

Girardi said Kei Igawa, who makes his season debut tomorrow at Detroit, will get at least two starts with the big club. Unless a big-league pitcher is injured, Kennedy will make at least one more start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

"Obviously, it's a big step in the right direction," Girardi said of Kennedy's outing, in which he threw 7 1/3 scoreless innings. "I love having the competition for the spots ... The other guys are getting their opportunities. There's no timetable ."

Kennedy's next start will likely be Sunday. If he does well, he could replace either Darrell Rasner or Igawa in the Yankees' rotation. Rasner pitches on Saturday in his second big-league outing. He won his first.

Or Kennedy could stay in the minors for longer than he wants if Rasner and Igawa hold on to their spots.

"We need to see consistency," Girardi said. "We don't really have a timetable. We just look for him to get right. If you've got other guys all throwing shutouts, sometimes it's hard. There's no timetable when he's going to get back."

Kennedy was 0-2 with a 8.27 ERA in six games (five starts) before he was sent down earlier this week.

"He attacked the zone," said Girardi, who watched a tape of part of Kennedy's outing. "His changeup was outstanding. I thought he used his fastball effectively. He threw some good curveballs and some good sliders."

Igawa was 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA for Scranton.

Extra bases

Shelley Duncan (1-for-4) was the Yankees' cleanup hitter against lefthander Cliff Lee as Girardi attempted to split up his lefties. Jason Giambi did not play ... Kyle Farnsworth pitched for the second straight night as the Yankees prepare for a possible announcement today that he will have to start serving his suspension for throwing inside to Manny Ramirez. The team had not heard of baseball's decision regarding Farnsworth's appeal of the three-day ban.