Vicente Padilla beat the Rangers last night, not the Yankees

Every pitcher has that one team that bangs him around, hit after hit, homer after homer. He wants respect so what does he do? He decides to plunk an opposing batter. This is what Texas Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla tried to do against the Yankees last night: try to get respect by plunking Mark Teixiera, not once, but twice. It backfired on him. All this did was spark a 7-run rally in the 4th inning for the Yankees. That home run by Hideki Matsui put the nail in the coffin on another Yankee win to keep them 1 game up on the Red Sox in the American League East. It prompted Mark Teixiera to shout, "That's what I'm talking about!" while congratulating Matsui after running the bases. A word to the wise to any pitcher thinking of plunking a player on the Yankees: they are a close knit team. You plunk any of their players purposely and it will spark their offense to bring out the heavy artillery. A couple of hits here, a double there, cap it with a home run and you're beat. Congratulations to Derek Jeter on scoring the 1500 run of his career during the 4th inning schlacking of Texas Rangers pitching. You're an inspiration, Cap! Andy Pettitte takes the hill tonight for Game 2. Are we going to see more sparks during this series?