Jeff

Karstens

Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson homered off him. Unless Mike Mussina’s groin injury is worse than believed, Karstens probably isn’t looking at any additional starts. He might be sent down on Wednesday.

They won anyway, but the Yankees would have improved their chances if they had made this move yesterday and started Karstens over Sidney Ponson last night. Now he’s just up to join the bullpen, probably not for more than a few days.

With Carl Pavano coming back eventually, Karstens could pitch well tomorrow and still not get a chance to stick around for long. He’s not someone AL-only leaguers need be too concerned about at the moment.

The Yankees could choose to keep him in Triple-A if they don’t need Sidney Ponson at all before Friday, but Karstens is probably the better choice to start anyway.

Karstens gave up six hits and two walks while striking out one and throwing 83 pitches. He could have had an even better outing had Alex Rodriguez not blown a double play in the third. Mike Mussina won’t return to the rotation until Sept. 5, so Karstens should get another start. He’s not worth using in fantasy leagues.

Karstens has given the Yankees three straight solid outings since being called up last month. He’s expected to lose his rotation spot with Mike Mussina returning Tuesday, but maybe the Yankees will instead send Jaret Wright to the pen if he’s lit up next time out.

Manager Joe Torre admitted that Karstens got his attention with the great outing, but, he said, “We’ve got enough established guys to choose from if we get to postseason.” Karstens is definitely not hurting his case for 2007 work at the very least.

He struck out two in the loss. The right-hander had missed his past two turns due to shoulder fatigue. He will now be part of a six-man rotation for the Bucs down the stretch. While Karsten holds a nice 3.45 ERA and 1.22 WHIP, he was whipped to the tune of a 7.46 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in August and his first start in September didn’t fare much better. Avoid him in fantasy leagues.

He struck out three and walked one, with his only mistake coming in the sixth, where he served up a solo home run to Justin Upton. The quality start was his first in three outings, and just his third in seven starts since August 1. Though he stumbled quite a bit once the calendar turned to August, Karstens will finish the season with a 3.38 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 96/33 K/BB ratio over 162 1/3 innings.

All three runs scored in the bottom of the first. All told, Karstens allowed seven hits while fanning three, walking one and hitting a batter. He’ll carry a 3.27 ERA into a tough assignment on the road against the Diamondbacks next week.