Joel Sherman of the Post heard that Eric Hinske, who the Yankees acquired today, cleared waivers two weeks ago and could have been claimed for the approximate $800,000 left on his contract.

Via Ben Nicholson-Smith.

From Peter Abraham:


Gotta love it.

Peter Abraham shared a press release announcing the Yankees signing of Gary SouthShore RailCats pitcher Edwin Walker. The RailCats are in the Northern League, where the Yankees just plucked Yurendell DeCaster from.

Walker is a lefty that has a 3.26 ERA in 19 and 1/3 innings with 29 strikeouts over 16 appearances. He'll be reporting to Single-A Charleston.

On his Twitter, Mark Feinsand of the Daily News reports that the Yankees have acquired Eric Hinske from the Pirates for minor leaguers Casey Erickson and Eric Fryer. Hinske, 31, is hitting .255 this season.

OurSports Central reports that the Yankees have purchased third baseman Yurendell DeCaster from the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the Northern League. He's 29 and was hitting .344 with 13 home runs and 43 RBI through 37 games. The article says that he'll be reporting to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Peter Abraham has some cool audio from Mariano Rivera's session with the press last night after he collected his 500th save. Read on for a more personal note from Abraham about the closer. Very nice.

As an aside, Mr. Rivera was also honored as the co-American League Player of the Week. Congrats.

Jim Salisbury of The Philadelphia Inquirer talks about potential buyers and sellers at the trade deadline. Of interest, he says:


It's hard to see that happening just because we shouldn't give up on Wang and it's simply a bad time to trade him. In the right deal, sure, but the right deal isn't likely to be offered.

Via Diane Firstman.

Mariano Rivera was ESPN's Sunday Conversation (nice timing, ESPN) and, in honor of his 500th save, they also premiered a feature from Tim Kurkjian called "The Great Mariano Rivera." Check them both out below for some Mo related goodness.



As a bonus, check out a recap of last night's game, with comments after the game from the man himself.

MLB.com's Anthony DiComo (twice) and Bryan Hoch as well as Erik Boland at Newsday have reflections from players and Joe Girardi on the career of Mariano Rivera, following his the collection of his 500th save last night. There's some good quotes in there from Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Trevor Hoffman and others.

Mariano Rivera did something that only one other person (Trevor Hoffman) has done before, which is pick up the 500th save in his career, as the Yankees capped off a sweep of the Mets with a 4–2 victory Sunday night.

Aside from the amazing milestone, Rivera also walked in a run to record the first run batted in in his career. All three of the Yankees' other runs came in the 1st inning.

Chien-Ming Wang allowed 2 runs in 5 and 1/3 innings and got his first win in what was probably his best outing to this point in the season. Wang turned it over to Phil Hughes, who pitched an inning and a third of scoreless ball. Brian Bruney also recorded two outs before handing the ball to Mo in the 8th for a four-out save.

I've never been a huge fan of the save as a stat, but it certainly takes more than just any old pitcher to record 500 of them. This is Mariano's 14th year as a Yankee reliever and his 13th as the team's closer. For him to reach 500 saves means that he has had to record 36 saves per year over 14 years, even assuming he doesn't record another save this season. That number is just insane, especially considering the shelf life of most relief pitchers in baseball.

The Yankees will have Monday off before finally returning to American League baseball as they'll take on the Seattle Mariners Tuesday evening. Joba Chamberlain will take the mound for the Yanks and his counterpart will be Brandon Morrow (I didn't even know he was a starter). Game starts at 7:05 ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 21–11, Seamus: 17–14, Andrew: 5–7

Marc Carig reports that, according to a Major League source, the Yankees interest in Rockies closer Huston Street is, in Carig's words, "serious."

According to that anonymous person, Brian Cashman reached out to the Rockies possibly as early as the middle of May and the Rockies have been looking over the players that the Yankees have in the Minors, in anticipation of a potential deal.

MLB.com's Bryan Hoch and Newsday's Erik Boland report on the spread of the flu through the Yankees clubhouse. Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Phil Hughes have all either been affected or think they might be coming down with it. I'm actually sick, too. Let's all get healthy, guys.

A.J. Burnett carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of the Yankees' 5-0 victory over the New York Mets Saturday night at Citi Field. However, Alex Cora, who had been 0-for-21 against the Yankees' right-hander, singled to center to lead off the frame. Combined with Brian Bruney and David Robertson, the Yankees were able to one-hit the Mets to take the season series from the crosstown rivals.

Burnett struck out a season-high 10 batters in seven innings, walking three and throwing 108 pitches.

Nick Swisher started the Yankees' scoring in the top of the third inning with an opposite field solo home run. It was his 14th of the season and 11th on the road.

The Yankees then broke the game open in the top of the sixth with four runs against Mets' starter Tim Redding. Mark Teixeira hit a one-out double off the wall. Alex Rodriguez then followed with an RBI single up the middle to score the Yankees' third baseman. Robinson Cano doubled Rodriguez to third and catcher Jorge Posada drove everyone home with an opposite-field three-run home run to give the Yankees a 5-0 lead.

That would be more than enough for Burnett. Bruney and Robertson each pitched a perfect inning.

The Yankees are now 42-32 and are on a four-game winning streak. Chien-Ming Wang will face Livan Hernandez tomorrow evening at 8:05 p.m. on ESPN.

Recap records: Patrick: 21–11, Seamus: 16–14, Andrew: 5–7

Andrew Fletcher blogs about the Yankees regularly at Scott Proctor's Arm.

About a month ago, I predicted that it might be September before Brett Gardner would pick up 7+ total bases in a game again, as he did on May 13. I was wrong. The speedster came through with a career night out of the leadoff spot, going 5-5 and picking up 10 total bases in the Yankees 9–1 victory over the Mets tonight at Citi Field.

The game was all Yankees pretty much from the start, thanks to Gardner's performance (5-5, 3B, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI), a nice performance from CC Sabathia, and some hot potato defense by the Mets in the 2nd inning.

The Yankees jumped ahead in that 2nd inning, courtesy of three Mets errors and RBI hits by both Ramiro Pena and CC Sabathia (the big man finished the game 1–4). The Yankees never looked back, and they added 3 runs in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to cap off their 9-run night. The Yankees have now scored 28 runs over their last three games after scoring only 11 runs in their previous five.

It wasn't clear after CC Sabathia's last start whether he would pitch in tonight's game when he was pulled after only an inning and a third on Sunday in Florida with tightness in his biceps. Sabathia did more tonight than simply show up. He allowed a run on only 3 hits and struck out 8 in 7 innings, and was perfect going into the 5th inning before allowing a solo home run to Gary Sheffield. Brett Tomko relieved CC in the 8th and retired all 6 batters he faced to put the Mets away in the series opener.

The Yankees will try to make it 4 in a row tomorrow evening and they'll send A.J. Burnett to the mound to face the Mets and Tim Redding. Redding, as some of you may recall, started one game for the Yankees in 2005, allowing 6 runs in the only inning he pitched for the ballclub. Game starts at 7:10 ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 21–11, Seamus: 16–14, Andrew: 4–7 (as Seamus was filling in for Patrick).

George A. King III at the Post reports that Xavier Nady told anonymous teammates that he'll need Tommy John surgery. Nady didn't tell the post much, but he did say one telling thing: "I am going to have a lot of time on my hands."

Via RiverAveBlues via Jeremy Fuchs via Sports Center.

ESPN.com reports that Brian Bruney apologized to Francisco Rodriguez, for his recent remarks about the Mets closer, through a clubhouse attendant.

Bruney had said that Rodriguez had a "tired act," referring to his celebrations while pitching. Rodriguez responded briefly, saying that he didn't know who Bruney was and stood behind his words, but said he had no intention of engaging in a "media war" with K-Rod.

Rodriguez had some harsher words and then confronted Bruney before a game. And now, with the apology, perhaps they have moved on.

Peter Abraham reports that Xavier Nady's rehab may have hit a serious snag on Thursday night when he had to leave Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's game in the fifth inning, following a throw that he made.

Though the team isn't sure what his exact status may be, Brian Cashman told Abraham that it "could be the worst-case scenario." He'll probably have some tests today.

One detail I crazily forgot in last night's recap was Alex Rodriguez hitting his 563rd home run, tying one Reginald Martinez Jackson for 11th place on the all-time list.
Bryan Hoch and George A. King III have reaction from Mr. October. Congrats to A-Rod.

Next up? Rafael Palmeiro at 569.

Chad Jennings reports that Casey Fossum, signed at the start of May, has opted out of his contract with the Yankees and is now a free agent.

Via Alden Gonzalez.

In the offseason, the Yankees were one of the teams with an interest in Derek Lowe. They opted for CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett and Derek Lowe went to Atlanta, where he would be Thursday night's starter, going against Andy Pettitte.

Neither pitcher lasted very long. The Yankees jumped on Lowe early and often, knocking him out after 3 innings, 11 hits, 3 walks, 8 runs and 6 earned runs. Meanwhile, Pettitte lasted only 3 and 2/3, allowing 6 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits and 3 walks. He did not pitch long enough to get the win. So, who did?

Alfredo Aceves, who threw 2 and 1/3 innings of scoreless ball. This brought his ERA down to 2.16, as he improved to 5-1.

Phil Coke followed and pitched 2 scoreless. The Yanks added 3 insurance runs between the seventh and eighth innings, putting an 11-6 score up on the board heading into the ninth.

Dave Robertson entered and he allowed a home run to the lead off hitter. After a strike out, it was a single, then another strike out. A single put runners on first and third creating a save situation for Mariano Rivera, friend to us all. One batter and 6 pitches later, Mo had save number 499 and the Yankees had a win.

The offense was led by Alex Rodriguez (3 for 5, a home run, 2 runs, 4 RBI and a walk), Johnny Damon (3 for 4, a triple, 1 run, 4 RBI and 2 walks) and Derek Jeter (4 for 5, 4 runs and a walk). Cody Ransom also had a nice game, as he was 2 for 5 with a double, 2 runs and 2 RBI.

Tomorrow night, the Yankees head back to New York to play the Mets at Citi Field. CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.71) faces Mike Pelfrey (5-2, 4.74) at 7:10 PM ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 20–11, Seamus: 16–14, Andrew: 4–7.

Mike Axisa at River Ave. Blues reports that Jesus Montero and Manny Banuelos will represent the Yankees at the Futures Game, which will be played on July 12.

Bryan Hoch's report on Mariano Rivera's at-bat in last night's game has a video of his line out and reaction from the dugout, which includes laughter from Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Ramiro Pena and others. Great clip.

Tyler Kepner says that Mo used Cody Ransom's bat, Alfredo Aceves' helmet and the batting gloves of Melky Cabrera.

Tyler Kepner of The New York Times mentioned this little snippet about cash considerations, having spoken to Brian Cashman:

The Yankees didn't put a runner on base until the 6th inning and they let their scoreless streak reach 14 innings before finally turning things around offensively as the Yankees beat the Braves by a score of 8–4. With the win, the Yankees kept pace with Boston and Toronto, who both won tonight as well.

The pitching was great on both sides through the first 5 innings, as neither team scored through the first four and a half and the Yankees failed to even put a runner on base. Joba Chamerlain kept the Braves out of the run column before allowing a solo home run to Jeff Francoeur in the bottom of the 5th.

The game seemed to turn around when Joe Girardi was ejected in the 6th after arguing a call (and he was right) in which Brett Gardner was sent back to the dugout trying to get back to 1st on a pickoff attempt (Gardner's walk was the Yankees' first baserunner). The ejection was followed up with a solo home run by Francisco Cervelli, the first of his career, that tied the game up at 1 apiece. A two-out base hit by Alex Rodriguez put the Yankees up 3–1.

Chamberlain was able to last 6 and 1/3, finishing with a line of 3 runs on 5 hits and 5 strikeouts. Phil Coke relieved Joba and was not responsible for allowing runs in his 2/3 of an inning, although he did give up a sac fly (run charged to Chamberlain) to start his share of the 7th.

The Yankees scored twice each in both the 8th and 9th innings, capping off an 8-run night since their 15-run explosion against Johan Santana and the Mets ten days ago. Both runs in the 8th were scored on ground outs and the back-to-back RBI knocks by Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira were responsible for the scoring in the top of the 9th.

Mariano Rivera was brought into the game in the top of the 8th, and recorded four outs en route to his 16th save of the season. Mo even got a chance to bat in the game and gave the ball a nice ride, but to the dismay of fans and some amused Yankees in the dugout the ball was hit right at center fielder Nate McLouth.

The Yankees will try to take the rubber game tomorrow night, and if they do it will be their first series victory on the road since winning three out of four in Cleveland from May 29 to June 1. Andy Pettitte will take the mound for the Yankees and he'll face Derek Lowe and the Braves. Game starts at 7:00 ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 19–11, Seamus: 16–14, Andrew: 4–7

In seperate tweets, MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reported that the Yankees have sent the DFA'd Jose Veras to the Indians for cash considerations. Meanwhile, to make room for Cody Ransom, the team has designed Angel Berroa for assignment.

Peter Abraham reports that CC Sabathia threw 30 pitches today and he's feeling good. He'll start Friday.

The Yankees/Braves opener on Tuesday night was not what one might have hoped - the Yankees collected only four hits against the heralded Tommy Hanson and were shutout, 4-0. Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner were the players that had the hits.

Chien-Ming Wang logged a modest appearance, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk over 5 innings. Phil Hughes held the Braves scoreless for two innings and Dave Robertson allowed a run in the eighth. And that's the game.

Joba Chamberlain (3-2, 3.89) and Kenshin Kawakami (4-6, 4.42) face off tomorrow at 7:10 PM ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 19–11, Seamus: 15–14, Andrew: 4–7.

MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports that Mark Teixeira has taken the lead at first base in the American League All-Star voting over Kevin Youkilis. He now holds a 35,632 vote lead. Meanwhile, Derek Jeter has more than twice as many votes as Jason Bartlett.

Peter Abraham reports that Cody Ransom will be with the Yankees tomorrow, according to Joe Girardi. It is unclear what the corresponding move will be, to make room, but Abraham suggests the team will choose between Angel Berroa and Ramiro Pena.

Joe Girardi's protest of Sunday's game has been denied, reports Peter Abraham, who notes that no reason was provided by Major League Baseball.

Chad Jennings reports some progress on the Xavier Nady front: the outfielder will kick off a rehab assignment with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on Wednesday.

In May, Ian Kennedy was diagnosed with an aneurysm. He quickly had surgery.

Chad Jennings has an update. Kennedy will be back with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees this week.Not to play in any games (not for a number of weeks), but to rehab. He doesn't know when he'll start yet, but in the meantime, he's been keeping in shape. Good news.

The Yankees lost 6–5 to the Marlins tonight, as they suffered from some sketchy defense late and a 9th inning rally fell just short. Perhaps more concerning, though, was that CC Sabathia was pulled in the 2nd inning with tightness in his biceps.

Sabathia retired just four batters before he was yanked from this one, giving up a run on three hits and allowing one walk in his inning and a third before he left the game with what he called tightness in his biceps. Peter Abraham reports that Sabathia was told he had tendinitis in the biceps, but also that Sabathia himself hopes to make his next start.

Alfredo "Ahh! Save Us!" came in and delivered yet another nice outing out of the pen, striking out two and allowing just one hit in 2 and 2/3 scorless innings. The bulk of the damage came against Brett Tomko, Phil Coke and David Robertson (but mostly Tomko), as they allowed a combined 4 earned runs over the final 4 innings of the game.

A critical moment in the game came in the bottom of the 7th, when a single by Jorge Cantu that should have only brought in one run brought in two after a throw home from Melky Cabrera got away from Jorge Posada allowed Hanley Ramirez to score to put the Marlins up 6–3. The error became significant because the Yankees got back two runs in the 9th, but a ground out to short by Derek Jeter ended the Yankees' rally and sealed the rubber game of this series for the Marlins.

Peter Abraham also reported that the final two innings of the game were played under protest by the Yankees after it was determined that an illegal substitution was made in the top of the 8th. Marlins outfielder Alejandro De Aza was brought into the game in the bottom of the 7th as a pinch hitter, but was not sent into the outfield to replace Chris Coghlan until a pitch had already been thrown in the inning, making De Aza ineligible (Colghan, the Yankees claim, should not have taken the field to begin the inning, as he'd already been replaced in the lineup).

Fortunately for the Yanks, they will not be in action tomorrow, so the bullpen will get a much needed day off after 7 and 1/3 innings of work this evening. They'll be back at it in Atlanta on Tuesday night as Chien-Ming Wang will get the start against Tommy Hanson and the Braves. Game starts at 7:00 ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 19–10, Seamus: 15–14, Andrew: 4–7

A.J. Burnett's six game suspension has been knocked down to five, reports Peter Abraham.

Josh Johnson allowed only one run and three hits over seven innings, while Johnny Damon's error in left field proved to be the difference, as the Marlins defeated the Yankees 2-1 Saturday night to split the first two games of a three-game series in Miami.

Each team only recorded five hits, but the Marlins made theirs count. Dan Uggla hit a solo home run to center against starter A.J. Burnett in the second inning. Then in the sixth, walks allowed by Burnett set up a run scoring on Damon's misplay out in left. Jorge Cantu put the ball in play and Hanley Ramirez scored.

The Yankees were able to get a run back in the top of the seventh. Jorge Posada reached on a fielder's choice with two out. Robinson Cano followed with a single and then Nick Swisher drove home Posada with a single to right. Up until that inning, Johnson only allowed one hit.

Burnett pitched 6 1/3 innings, striking out eight, walking three and throwing 98 pitches. While he pitched well, Johnson was simply better.

CC Sabathia and Chris Volstad pitch in tomorrow's rubber game, set for a first pitch time of 5:05 p.m.

Recap records: Patrick: 19–10, Seamus: 15–13, Andrew: 4–7.

Andrew Fletcher blogs about the Yankees regularly at Scott Proctor's Arm.

Tyler Kepner has a great post featuring various fun facts from Mariano Rivera's career, as the closer nears his 500th save. For example, Mo has pitched 1/3 of an inning in 19, 2/3 in 12, 1 in 358, 1 and 1/3 in 63, 1 and 2/3 in 34, 2 in 10 and 2 and 1/3 in 1. Check out the post for more.

Updating a previous story, George A. King III at the Post reports that, according to sources, the Yankees have signed 16 year old Dominican catching prospect Gary Sanchez.


The article also notes Yankee interest in LHP Noel Arguelles and SS Jose Iglesias.

Peter Abraham reports that Xavier Nady saw five innings of action in an extended spring game. While he went 0-4, he also made some throws from the outfield and didn't feel any pain. He'll take it easy tomorrow, go again on Monday and a rehab assignment could be in his future.

Abraham also had updates on Jose Molina. Basically, not a whole lot to say. Molina is working and won't see even Minor League action for a week or more. He notes that Damaso Marte played catch, but that's it.

Finally, he says that A-Rod told him that the plan drafted by his doctors was for the third baseman to have 5-8 days off in the span of his first 45 games of the season. Instead, he played everyday.

In last night's game, Brett Gardner hit the outfield wall hard going after a fly ball and was removed from the game immediately. Besides some soreness and a headache, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reports that he's doing better and is expected to be back to normal on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Newsday's Elizabeth Nielsen reports that the Yankees had a scout attend a Pedro Martinez bullpen session, as expected. Nielsen was careful to caution any expectations, saying that the team has "little interest" and that the Yanks "took a gander mostly as a courtesy and to be thorough in their scouting."

It was a great night to be Andy Pettitte. On the hill, he was simply on, holding the Marlins to 1 earned run on 3 hits and no walks over 7 innings, while striking out 7. As if that wasn't enough, he even helped his own cause with an RBI double (video). And then he scored by Johnny Damon singled him around. Beautiful.

The team jumped all over Marlins starter Sean West, working him for 5 runs, 10 hits and 2 walks over just 4 innings of work. Melky Cabrera (who walked twice) had a home run and Derek Jeter, Angel Berroa, Nick Swisher and, again, Pettitte all had doubles. Runs were also scored by Jeter, Robinson Cano and Berroa with RBIs from Jorge Posada and Berroa.

Brian Bruney and Brett Tomko pitched back to back 1-2-3 innings to nail the victory for for Pettitte - in fact, between Pettitte and the Pen, the last 10 Marlins went down in order.

Tomorrow at 7:10 PM ET, game 2 will feature A.J. Burnett (5-3, 4.46) against Josh Johnson (6-1, 2.76).

Recap records: Patrick: 19–10, Seamus: 15–13, Andrew: 4–6.

Last night's loss to the Nationals was the first game at the new Yankee Stadium where a home run was not hit, reports MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. The 34 game streak was longer than the 22 games that Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico logged.

Meanwhile, the AP reports that, after review, Chien-Ming Wang will receive one less earned run for his start on June 10 against the Red Sox. Major League Baseball concluded that a scoring change was needed, issuing an error to Nick Swisher that eliminated a double by Dustin Pedroia and an earned run for Wang.

Joba Chamberlain's results weren't terrible (6 IP, 3 ER) on Thursday night, but he was once again plagued by walks and those 3 runs would be more than enough with a Yankees offense that was completely shutout.

The bullpen, with Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke and Dave Robertson each throwing an inning, was efficient, combining for 1 hit, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts, while allowing no runs.

But, again, the offense was just a giant goose egg. The biggest threat came in the 7th when the team had bases loaded with two outs for a pinch hitting Derek Jeter. He grounded out, but that was it.

There was a scary moment in the eighth when Brett Gardner had a hard collision with the fence. He made the catch, but was removbed from the game. Peter Abraham says that it sounds like a mild concussion and he is day-to-day.

Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher both had two hits with Swisher having the team's only extra base hit - a double.

The Yankees now head on the road for some interleague play. First up, the Marlins. Andy Pettitte (6-3, 4.52) goes against Sean West (2-1, 3.00) at 7:10 PM ET tomorrow.

Recap records: Patrick: 18–10, Seamus: 15–13, Andrew: 4–6.

MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reports that Chien-Ming Wang will stay in the rotation and is set to start Tuesday against the Braves.

Yahoo! Sports' Gordon Edes reports that the Yankees are among four teams who plan to attend a Pedro Martinez throwing session in the Dominican Republic on Friday.

Celebrities for Charity has a raffle with $2 tickets where you could win a pair of tickets to August 8's game between the Red Sox and Yankees, along with a hotel and some cash (plus taxes paid). It will benefit Rosie O'Donnell's Broadway Kids, which is aimed at educating kids on the arts.

Updating a previous story, Derek Jeter had an MRI today and it came back clean, reports Newsday's Erik Boland. He expects to play on Thursday.

I'm not one of the many people who have been saying coming into this week that anything but a sweep of the Nationals in this series, but I have to admit this one was pretty gut-wrenching to watch. The Yankees failed to get anything going offensively, and Robinson Cano killed a 9th inning rally with a double play as the Yankees fell to the Nationals by a score of 3–2.

The one positive (I guess) was that Chien-Ming Wang performed much better than he has in any of his previous starts this season. He pitched four scoreless innings before running into some trouble and allowing 3 runs in the 5th (in Wang's defense, one of those runs were scored by someone who reached because of a bad call). The new father finished with a line of 3 runs on 6 hits in 5 innings of work. Phil Hughes threw two scoreless innings as he continues to be effective out of the bullpen, and Phil Coke and Alfredo Aceves combined for two scoreless innings out of the bullpen as well.

Usually one would expect that kind of pitching to be enough for this Yankee lineup, especially against the Washington Nationals, but the Yankees couldn't get anything tonight off of Long Island native John Lannan. The Yankees were no-hit for four innings before Robinson Cano led the bottom of the 5th off with a home run and didn't score again until Damon led off with a home run in the 9th. Mark Teixeira followed that up with a base hit, followed by two pinch-run stolen bases by Brett Gardner and a walk to Alex Rodriguez, and the Yankees were in position to tie or win this one in the 9th despite the lineup's overall futility. It wasn't meant to be, however, as Robinson Cano grounded to short for a 6-4-3 double play to end a 9-pitch at bat and the game as well.

Joba Chamberlain will try to help the Yankees grab the rubber game in this series tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 ET. His counterpart will be Craig Stammen. The lineup obviously has to perform better than it did tonight, especially against a guy who doesn't even have a photo on his ESPN player page.

Recap records: Patrick: 18–9, Seamus: 15–13, Andrew: 4–6

NJ.com's Colin Stephenson has the latest on Xavier Nady. Stephenson watched Nady take some drills and everything looked OK. Joe Girardi told him that the team wants to see him throw more, probably on Wednesday. After they do that, they'll have to decide what to do with the outfielder next - that could include rehab time in Tampa.

Via Ben Kabak.

MLB.com's Jared Diamond reports that Derek Jeter is day-to-day after exiting last night's win over the Nationals before the eighth.

Joe Girardi thinks that the injury occurred when Gary Sheffield slid into Jeter on Sunday.

"He said he woke up a little sore yesterday, and it was sore to run today," Girardi told Diamond. "We noticed for the first time when he was running tonight that he had a little hitch, and it seemed to get worse and worse, and that's why we got him out of there."

Facing a pack of ex-Yankees (Ron Villone, Wil Nieves, Alberto Gonzalez, Christian Guzman and Nick Johnson all saw action in this one), the home team beat the Nationals on Tuesday night, thanks to a rally in the 7th and a solid appearance by CC Sabathia.

The Yankees offense had a tough time with Shairon Martis, who entered the game with a 5-1 record, but a 5.04 ERA and without a win since May 13. Nonetheless, after 6 innings, he allowed just 2 runs (1 earned) over 4 hits and 5 walks. He excited with a 3-2 lead.

But, old friend Villone relieved him and gave back the lead, thanks to RBI doubles by Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano. Villone had had a 0.00 ERA through 19 appearances this year, but he has now allowed 4 earned runs in as many games and taken the loss in each and every one.

Cano had delivered an RBI single in the 3rd to give the Yankees their second run, following a Melky Cabrera sac fly in the second that scored the second baseman, who was 4 for 4 on the night.

Brian Bruney, activated today, saw some high leverage work, relieving Sabathia with 2 outs and a runner on first, in the seventh. He retired the only batter he faced, sitting down Ryan Zimmerman.

It wasn't all roses, though. Derek Jeter was removed abruptly after the seventh and the Yankees later announced that he was pulled due to stiffness in his left ankle. Hopefully nothing serious.

» Read More

Peter Abraham reports that Chien-Ming Wang's wife, Chia-Ling gave birth to a son this morning in New York City. They named him Justin Jesse Wangs. Congratulations to the new parents.

The Yankees have designated Jose Veras for assignment to make room on the roster for Brian Bruney, according to Ken Davidoff's Twitter page.

Veras has struggled this season, putting up an an ERA of 5.96 in 25 appearances this season. His opponents' batting average and OBP are both somewhat similar to last year, when he was relatively successful, but the slugging average has gone up about 50 points (.404 to .459).

charitybuzz has some Yankees related auctions where you can pick up tickets, memorabilia or some player related experience and benefit charity at the same time. Most notable, meet Mo and send your child to a Jeter-led baseball clinic. Both of those auctions expire tomorrow.

Peter Abraham reports that Dr. James Andrews looked at Damaso Marte's arm and determined that surgery was not needed at this time. He has "shoulder inflammation" and was sent back to Tampa to get back on his throwing program.

Last year, I attended Blog World Expo (in it's second year) for the first time (see my recap) and participated in two panels: "How to Deal with Trolls, Spammers & Sock Puppets" and "Avoiding Disaster: How Not to Use Social Media." It was a lot of fun and a great experience.

I'm happy to say that I'll be back at this year's edition, which runs from October 15-17 in Las Vegas. I'm on four panel proposals, so I am hoping to speak, as well as do another book signing this year, if they'll have me. But, it'll be a fun event no matter what happens!

I wanted to mention this for any of the bloggers that read this blog - they have great programming that applies to bloggers in general, but they also have specific sessions that apply to sports bloggers, as well. Beyond blogging, a myriad of subjects are covered, as well - social media, marketing, business, writing and much more. I'd love to meet some YanksBlog.com readers there and, to that end, I wanted to offer you a coupon code.

When purchasing through their site, use the coupon code IFROGGYVIP for 20% off. Their rates increase on July 1 (though the coupon will still be good after that), so if you are thinking of coming, now would be the best time to buy the ticket for the least amount of money. I hope to see you there!

Fox Sports has a video interview with Derek Jeter, conducted by Chris Rose. It's a fun little piece.

Via Ken Davidoff.

George A. King III at the Post reports that there is a good possibility that the Yankees will sign a Dominican catching prospect named Gary Sanchez. This is according to "industry sources."

"[Sanchez] has been in [the Yankees] camp a lot in the Dominican Republic and is an advanced catcher with big power who can really throw," King quotes a scout as saying. King notes that "the buzz" indicates that Sanchez may be looking for a signing bonus around $3 million.

Via Steve Lombardi.

After their recent words, Francisco Rodriguez confronted Brian Bruney today at the Stadium. Bryan Hoch and Marty Noble of MLB.com have a report and video. Bruney think it's done. We'll see.

Brian Cashman told Peter Abraham that Bruney will be activated on Tuesday, according to Brian Cashman.

For the first time in almost a week, the Yankees defeated a team by actually outplaying them. The Yankees pounced on Johan Santana for 9 runs and A.J. Burnett gave the Yankees 7 shutout innings en route to a 15–0 victory that brought the Yankees back within 2 games of the Red Sox in the A.L. East.

If I told you that A.J. Burnett would be going up against Johan Santana and that one of them would pitch 7 scoreless innings while the other would allow 9 and throw 82 pitches in 3 innings, most people would probably have guessed that Burnett was on the latter end of that. This time, however, it was Santana who got smacked around and it was Burnett who left the game unscathed. Santana was unable to record an out in the Yankees' 9-run 4th inning (Santana allowed 4 in the first; 4 of the 9 runs in the 3rd were charged to Brian Stokes) and Burnett for the most part stayed out of trouble, although he did have to work himself out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the top of the 3rd.

The offense clicked pretty much everywhere, as the only Yankee starters to go without a hit were A-Rod and Nick Swisher. Derek Jeter had 4 hits and Francisco Cervelli had 3, all by the time the 5th inning was over. Robinson Cano also had 3 hits including a home run in that big 4th inning. Hideki Matsui went yard during the inning as well.

The Yankees will have tomorrow off and will welcome the Washington Nationals into Yankee Stadium Tuesday night at 7:05 ET. CC Sabathia and Shairon Martis are slated to start.

Recap records: Patrick: 17–9, Seamus: 15–12, Andrew: 4–6

In addition to our Facebook fan page, we've just added YanksBlog.com to the NetworkedBlogs Facebook application, making it possible to receive notifications of new posts at YanksBlog.com through Facebook. If you are a Facebook user, please consider a subscription.

Thank you for reading and for your support.

Peter Abraham has the latest in the Francisco Rodriguez/Brian Bruney saga.

He also has Brad Penny's reply to Joe Girardi's belief that he hit A-Rod intentionally when he faced the Yankees last.

It's not pretty.

So, earlier today, Brian Bruney told Mike Ashmore the following, when asked about last night's game:


Francisco Rodriguez gave a brief comment to Peter Abraham: "I don’t even know who that guy is," Rodriguez said.

As an update, Peter Abraham followed up with Brian Bruney about his remarks from earlier in the day, as well as Rodriguez's reply. "I stand by what I said," Bruney said. "But I'm not going to start a media war with K-Rod. I don't know him, he's probably a good dude. If he says he doesn't know me, he doesn't know me. I learned to play the game a different way."

Yesterday, we mentioned that Johnny Damon was dealing with a "fluttering" sensation in his eyes.

After being looked at by Chris Ahmad, the Yankees' team physician, Damon is going to skip the caffeine, reports Jack Curry of the Times. Dr. Ahmad suggested that a complete caffeine reduction might prevent a recurrence.

ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure wrote on his Twitter that, according to a source close to the Yankees, they have a 50/50 chance of signing Dominican prospect Miguel Angel Sano.

Via Drew Silva.

Peter Abraham has Francisco Rodriguez's reaction to the comments made earlier today by Brian Bruney about the Mets closer.

"I don’t even know who that guy is," Rodriguez said.

Fair enough.

Andy Pettitte gave up 12 hits in five innings and spot starter Fernando Nieve shuts down the Yankees offense, as the Mets were able to respond a day after Luis Castillo's dropped pop up. The Mets defeated the Yankees 6-2 to split the first two games of the series.

Omir Santos hit a two-run home run in the top of the second to get the ball rolling for the Mets. Pettitte allowed a one-out walk to Fernando Tatis and then surrendered the home run two batters later. Pettitte gave up two hits after but was able to retire the next batter without allowed further damage.

Alex Rodriguez led off with a solo home run in the next half-inning to halve the Mets' lead. However, the Yankees continued to go down quietly against Nieve.

The Mets scored three more against Petitte in the top of the fifth. Carlos Beltran led off with a walk and David Wright doubled, advancing Beltran to third. Gary Sheffield followed with an RBI single, Tatis drove in a run on a fielder's choice and Santos hit an RBI double to give the Mets a 5-1 lead.

This would be Pettitte's last inning, as the Yankees' starters (aside from CC Sabathia in one of the Boston games) have been unable to give the team length. Alfredo Aceves relieved Pettitte and pitched a 1-2-3 sixth. However, he allowed a solo home run to Gary Sheffield to extend the lead to 6-1.

Nieve allowed two two-out hits in the seventh, as many as he had given up in the first six innings. After he left, Derek Jeter beat out a ground ball to allow a run to score. It made the game 6-2, the eventual final score.

The Yankees only had five hits compared to the Mets' 17. All in all, the Yankees have played terrible baseball over their last five games. They are very lucky to have one win.

A.J. Burnett and Johan Santana get the starts tomorrow afternoon.

Andrew Fletcher blogs about the Yankees regularly at Scott Proctor's Arm.

Here is what Brian Bruney told Mike Ashmore, when asked about last night's game:


So, Bruney doesn't really care for K-Rod.

Via Bryan Hoch.

In a matter of brief moments, last night's game against the Mets turned from another disappointing Joba start and bullpen blowup to a memorable victory, thanks to Luis Castillo dropping a pretty routine pop up.

In articles by Bryan Hoch of MLB, Jared Diamond of MLB.com and Peter Abraham, the Yankees react (check out the video on the first and second articles, as well). It makes for a fun read and watch. Oh, yeah: check out this picture.

Peter Abraham has updates from the injured Yankees reliever department.

Brian Bruney will be pitching in game one of a Trenton Thunder double header today. Apparently, the Yankees gave some thought to just letting him pitch in the Majors, but opted to send him to Double-A.

Damaso Marte has an appointment with Dr. James Andrews on Monday. We'll see what comes of that, but Abraham says it's not a good sign.

Chad Jennings reports that the Yankees have sold Triple-A outfielder Todd Linden to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese Pacific League. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Linden was generally the third hitter for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees and has hit .312 with 7 home runs, 17 doubles and 42 RBIs, placing him among the hitting leaders in the International League.

The Yankees opened a three game set at home against the Mets, with Joba Chamberlain going against Livan Hernandez. Joba's result wasn't terrible - except for the fact that he managed to throw 100 pitches in four innings, hence getting himself removed from the game. He allowed 2 earned runs on 1 hit and 5 walks.

He pitched better than Livan, certainly, as the Yankees rung up 6 runs against the veteran righty in 5 and 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, Brett Tomko was pretty bad, taking over for Joba to start the fifth. It went like this: double, runner advances to third on stolen base, walk, 2 RBI double, 2 run HR, strike out, fly out, walk... end of his night. Dave Robertson got the final out.

At that point, the Yankees were down 6 to 3, having scored runs on a Robinson Cano solo homer in the second and a Mark Teixeira two run shot in the third. Derek Jeter added another solo shot in the fifth to make it 6-4. And in the very next inning, Hideki Matsui hit a three run blast to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead.

The mets came right back to tie it up in the seventh, with Phil Coke allowing a run on a double play. In the eighth, Mariano Rivera entered with two outs and no runners on to face Carlos Beltran, who he walked. David Wright followed with a double to give the Mets a one run lead.

The Yankees went down quietly in the 8th and Mo set the Mets down in order in the top of the 9th. What happened in the bottom of the ninth was insane and, for this, I pass you to Seamus Molloy, who watched the game live:

Things were not looking good as Francisco Rodriguez was 16 for 16 coming into the game in save situations. The inning started out innocently enough, as Brett Gardner led off by popping up to the catcher. Derek Jeter kept hopes alive with a single up the middle. Johnny Damon struck out on a 3-2 changeup. Mark Teixeira came up as the Yankees' last hope, and was intentionally walked after K-Rod's first three pitches all missed the plate, bringing up A-Rod, who was 1-14 in his career against K-Rod.

Rodriguez promptly popped up to short right field and threw his bat down in frustration before the ball finally hit the glove of Luis Castillo... and fell out of it. Incredibly, Castillo could not hold onto the routine fly, the ball dropped to the ground, and both Jeter and Teixeira scored to give the Yankees a 9–8 victory. Probably the most bizarre ending you'll ever see to a ballgame. Here's the clip:


And there you have it - Yankees win. Wow.

The offense was led by Hideki Matsui (1 for 4, 1 HR, 3 RBI), Derek Jeter (2 for 5, 2 R, 1 HR), Mark Teixeira (2 for 3, 1 R, 1 HR and 2 BB) and Robinson Cano (2 for 4, 2 R, 1 RBI). Mo collected his first win of the season.

Game 2 is tomorrow at 4:10 PM ET with Andy Pettitte (6-2, 4.22) facing off against Fernando Nieve (0-0, 0.00).

Let's tackle some news.

Mark Teixeira wasn't exactly happy with Red Sox owner John Henry tweeting about the "MT curse" (seeing as the Yankees haven't beat the Sox since they signed Teixeira). But, he played it off and didn't get into it, which is a good way to go. The Post has more.

Joe Girardi feels that Brad Penny's plunking of A-Rod last night was intentional.

Johnny Damon was held out of tonight's game after his eyes experienced "fluttering" sensations when he dropped a fly ball last night. He's going to get looked at, to be safe.

Finally, Peter Abraham shares that the Yankees toy wrestling belt has been replaced with the real deal, thanks to Jerry "The King" Lawler, a wrestler who is an acquaintance of CC Sabathia. Lawler is having a special Yankees belt made up, presumably to give to the team.

From FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal:


Rosenthal notes that it's unlikely the Rockies would trade Street before the July 31 trade deadline - assuming they move him at all.

Via Steve Lombardi.

Tyler Kepner of the Times reports:


Via Steve Lombardi.

The 2009 Yankees Draft Class can be viewed at MLB.com. In the 48th round, the Yankees took Pat White, who was taken in the NFL draft by my Miami Dolphins. Check out The NoMass Yankees Draft Spot for in depth coverage on the Yankees picks.

CC Sabathia and Brad Penny squared off in a pitcher's duel on Thursday night - and Penny won. That doesn't mean CC was bad - he wasn't. He pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 earned runs, two of which scored after he left the game thanks to the bullpen giving up the lead in the eighth.

The Red Sox would score first, thanks to a David Ortiz home run (yes, again) in the second. But, besides that, it was all goose eggs for both teams until the seventh, after Penny left the game and the Yankees finally broke through. Francisco Cervelli scored Melky Cabrera on an RBI single and A-Rod doubled scoring Cervelli and Johnny Damon. Yankees leading, 3-1

After allowing a single, walk and an RBI single to start the eighth, CC's night would be over with Alfredo Aceves making his second appearance in as many nights. He wasn't up to the task and after a single, RBI single and RBI sacrifice that gave the Sox the lead, Joe Girardi had seen enough. Phil Coke was next and, after a walk to load the bases, he retired Jason Varitek and Rocco Baldelli to keep Red Sox within 1.

In the ninth, unfortunately, the top of the order was not up to the task: Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Teixeira were retired in order by Jonathan Papelbon. And the Yankees fall to 0-8 against the Red Sox this season.

Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui (1 walk) and Melky Cabrera all had two hits on the night.

The road trip is now over and we're headed back home to face the Mets, starting at 7:05 PM ET tomorrow. Joba Chamberlain (3-1, 3.79) will face Livan Hernandez (5-1, 3.88).

Peter Abraham reports that Brian Bruney threw 25 pitches of BP today and was fine. On Tuesday, he'll be at Double-A Trenton to begin a rehab assignment.

What's next for Chien-Ming Wang? Peter Abraham has the answer:


I think this is a good call - let's hope it's a turning point.

* - But only in my household.

ESPN.com reports that "A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez," the much discussed book by Selena Roberts has only sold 16,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen BookScan, which tracks approximately 75% of the U.S. book market. The first printing of the book had been 150,000 copies.

After last night's loss, Joe Girardi was noncommittal when asked if Wang would make his next start, reports Erik Boland of Newsday.

The pitcher's arm slot is "all over the place," according to pitching coach Dave Eiland. "One time it's in the right place, one time it's too high, next time it's too low," he told Boland. "Just has varying arm slots and you can't command the baseball when you have that."

Wang is disappointed, of course, even saying that he'd understand if the Yankees sent him back to the pen, says Peter Abraham.

But, Jorge Posada feels that Wang should get another start and I'm not sure I disagree. As Tyler Kepner and Abraham noted, he hit 95-96 miles per hour several times last night. And Eiland says that Wang looks good in the pen before the game - arm slot and all.

Abraham pitched the idea of bringing in former Yankees pitching coach Ron Guidry to work with Wang. When Guidry was on the staff, Wang had consecutive 19 win seasons. I've heard worse ideas, but you wonder if it would undermine Eiland. At any rate, the Yankees need to continue to find work for Wang and to get his mechanics under control.

I'm a little bit late on this because it was mentioned during the game on YES, but the Yanks have announced that the game that was postponed this past Friday against Tampa Bay will be played as the second game of a doubleheader on September 7, which also happens to be Labor Day.

I was assuming they'd play it on the 10th because both teams are off that day, but the Yankees do play 16 days in a row before then and they should be OK getting fans to the stadium on Labor Day.

The Yankees fell to the Red Sox in another frustrating affair at Fenway, this time going down by a score of 6–5 and falling a full game behind the Red Sox in the A.L. East. This loss was brought to us in part by some bad starting pitching, bad defense and bad fundamental baseball early on in the game.

Chien-Ming Wang didn't even make it through the 3rd inning, as Joe Girardi couldn't take it anymore after watching his starter throw 69 pitches in 2 and 2/3 and allow 4 runs. Wang got some help from his defense, as Nick Swisher let a ball get away from him in the 2nd that could've been caught that ended up bouncing in front of him and over the right field wall for a ground rule double. Swisher also cost the Yankees ealier in the inning, when he went too far off of 1st base on a line drive that was caught by the shortstop and was gunned down for a double play (Swisher did, however, make an amazing diving catch on Mike Lowell in the 7th).

Despite Wang's performance, the Yankees did manage to hang around and Phil Hughes was respectable in relief, although he did allow 2 runs in his 3 and 2/3 innings of work. A two-run homer off the bat of Kevin Youkilis caused the blemish on Hughes' line score for the night.

The Yankees did make it interesting in the 7th, as Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira opened up the inning with back-to-back home runs off of Ramon Ramirez to pull the Yankees to within 6–5. That would be as close as they would get, though, as Hideki Okajima was able to work himself out of some trouble in the 8th and Jonathan Papelbon got Jorge Posada to fly out with the tying run in scoring position to end the game.

Pretty amazing that the Yankees are 0–7 against the Sox but are still just one game out of the division lead. It's not uncommon for teams year by year to have that thorn in their side that they just can't seem to handle no matter which team may be hot or cold going into a series. Unfortunately for the Yankees, it seems like right now that thorn in the side is the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees will finish up their series in Bahstun tomorrow night and will try to salvage a game in this one before coming home to take on the crosstown rival Mets this weekend. CC Sabathia will try to help turn things around against the Sox, who will be sending Brad Penny to the mound. Game starts at 7:05 ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 16–8, Seamus: 14–12, Andrew: 4–5

For those interested, day 2 of the MLB draft has come to an end. You can check out the Yankees picks, with some video, on MLB.com. From the tallest Yankee drafted department: with pick 525, they took a 6'8'' righty named Chad Thompson from El Toro High School in California.

For more insightful coverage, check out the NoMaas draft blog.

AccuWeather.com's Tim Buckley publishes the site's findings in analyzing the home runs hit this season at Yankee Stadium. The reason? The dimensions of the park.

The right field wall is shorter by an average of 4-5 feet, but as much as 9 feet in certain areas and the wall itself is approximately 2 feet less than at the old stadium. Accordingly, their research indicates that 19% of home runs hit this season, at the stadium, would not have left the old park. This is about 20 out of the 105 that have been hit out of the yard.

On the current pace, they point out, 293 home runs would be hit at Yankee Stadium this season and as many as 56 of those could be due to the fence adjustments.

MLB.com's Bobbie Dittmeier has stats for 2009 and the last four seasons through 25 games. Even if you take out 20 homers, the 85 home runs would still be the highest of the five seasons - by 12.

Earlier this year, Benjamin Kabak of River Ave. Blues and Steve Lombardi of WasWatching.com discussed the fence dimension theory in detail.

I just wanted to note a small update to the post I made earlier. My mistake - I read it wrong. Sorry for the confusion.

Mark Feinsand of the Daily News reports that Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez confronted former pitcher and ESPN personality Rick Sutcliffe on Tuesday, displeased with remarks that he had made a couple of weeks ago.

Sutcliffe said that Teixeira had been giving A-Rod verbal signals when he was on-deck (and A-Rod was at the plate), supposedly giving A-Rod the catcher's location before a pitch. Update: Sorry, it was the other way around, actually. A-Rod feeding Tex.

Via Peter Abraham.

Let's recap the Yankees hits on Tuesday night. In the fourth inning, Robinson Cano singled. In the eighth, Brett Gardner singled. Recap done.

A.J. Burnett lasted just 2 and 2/3 innings, allowing 5 runs - 3 earned - on 5 hits and 5 walks. He threw 84 pitches. The Yankees pitching for the rest of the game was good - 2 earned runs over 6 and 1/3 - but the offense did nothing with Josh Beckett holding them to 1 hit over his 6 innings of work, leading to a 7-0 loss.

Brett Tomko pitched 2 and 1/3, allowing a run. Jose Veras pitched 2 and allowed a run. Finally, Dave Robertson pitched a scoreless eighth - lowering his ERA to 1.86.

Chien-Ming Wang (0-3, 14.46) goes against Tim Wakefield (7-3, 4.50) tomorrow at 7:10 PM ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 16–8, Seamus: 14–11, Andrew: 4–5.

The Yankees first two picks in the 2009 MLB Draft are center fielder Zachary Heathcott, a high schooler from Texas and catcher John Murphy from The Pendleton School. Video is available on MLB.com and Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues has a profile of Heathcott.

MLB.com's Tom Singer has an update on the American League All-Star voting. Derek Jeter maintains his huge lead in the shortstop race, with 1,511,418 votes - over 800,000 votes more than second place Jason Bartlett.

A week ago, Mark Teixeira was 93,836 votes behind Kevin Youkilis at first base. Tex now has a slim 1,209 vote lead with 833,960 overall.

Robinson Cano is a distant third at second base, A-Rod is 882,131 votes behind Evan Longoria at third, Jorge Posada is in fourth, well behind Joe Mauer at catcher and Johnny Damon is ninth in the outfield.

Finally, MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reports that Melky Cabrera was named the Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month for May. He notes that 11 of Melky's 23 RBI have tied the game or put the team ahead in the seventh inning or later.

In May, the Yankees held their first clubhouse kangaroo since 1995 with Mariano Rivera as the judge.

In honor of Mo's new found role, Marilyn Milian, the judge on TV's People's Court, paid a visit to the Yankees today, presenting Mo with a judge's robe and gavel. MLB.com's Jared Diamond has the story and a picture.

The Yankees were able to take the final game of their abbreviated three-game series with the Rays, as four home runs in the game by the Bombers helped them to a 5–3 win and a series victory over their A.L. East rivals. The Yanks are now a full game ahead of the Red Sox going into their three-game set in Fenway beginning tomorrow.

The Yankees jumped ahead in the 1st via a solo shot by Mark Teixeira, who now leads the American League with 18 home runs. A two-run homer by Nick Swisher in the 3rd made it 3–0.

The Rays were able to tie the game up in the 4th, however, as they got an RBI single by Michel Hernandez and a two-run blast from Gabe Kapler to even things up against Andy Pettitte. Andy labored a bit in his 6 innings of work, but was able to escape with allowing only 3 runs on 5 hits.

The Yankees went ahead for good in the 6th after a solo home run by Johnny Damon put the Yanks back on top, and Derek Jeter gave his team some insurance in the bottom of the 8th with a home run of his own. All five Yankee runs tonight came via the home run.

Mariano Rivera pitched in his third straight game and retired the Rays in order for his 14th save of the season.

The Yankees will be heading into Fenway tomorrow night for another series with their arch nemesis(es). The Yanks are 0–5 against their rivals, despite being ahead after 26 defensive outs in the first contest and having a 6–0 lead in the second. For the other 32 innings or so the teams have played against each other, the Sox have dominated. A.J. Burnett will try to get that turned around tomorrow night against Josh Beckett and the Red Sox. Game starts at 7:05 ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 16–7, Seamus: 14–11, Andrew: 4–5

All-Star balloting for Triple-A has now opened. You can vote online, as many as 25 times. Voting closes on June 26.

Via Peter Abraham.

Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports has an interesting article on Mo's weekend.


See the full write up for more.

Thanks Jack for the tip.

MLB.com's Jared Diamond reports that Brian Bruney threw a pain-free 30 pitch bullpen session today. Peter Abraham guesses that he's 8-10 days and also passes along word from Jose Molina, who thinks he's 7-10 days away.

Finally, Abraham notes that Nady threw from 90 feet yesterday, an improvement upon Friday's 75 feet, which Joe Girardi said would need to grow before he came back.

The Yankees moved back into first place in the A.L. East after a late rally helped the Yankees climb over the Rays in the ballgame and over the Red Sox in the standings (Boston lost to Texas). The Yankees trailed 3–1 in the 8th but a three-run bottom of the inning helped net the Yankees their league-leading 20th come from behind victory of the season.

Both teams scored in their half of the 3rd inning (B.J. Upton RBI double for Tampa Bay, Nick Swisher solo homer for the Yanks), but that was all of the offense until the 6th, when Joba Chamberlain coughed up two runs that put the Rays up by a score of 3–1. Despite the rough inning, Joba had a pretty decent outing, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in his 6 innings of work. Alfredo Aceves relieved Chamerlain to start the 7th and pitched two strong, scoreless innings to keep the Yankees in the game.

The Yankees remained behind until they were able to battle back with a 3-spot in the bottom of the 8th. The Yanks made it 3–2 after Grant Balfour walked in Robinson Cano, and that was followed up by a key play in which the Yankees tied the game when Rays third baseman Willy Aybar bobbled a ground ball from Jorge Posada that could've been an inning-ending double play had he handled it cleanly. Hideki Matsui then gave the Yankees the lead in the ensuing at bat, as he was able to beat out a double play for an RBI fielder's choice groundout.

Mariano Rivera bounced back from his rough 9th inning in yesterday's ballgame, and punched out the Rays 1-2-3 to earn his 13th save of the season.

The Yanks will try to take the rubber game of this series tomorrow evening as they'll send Andy Pettitte to the mound to face Andy Sonnanstine and the Rays. Game starts at 7:05 ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 16–7, Seamus: 13–11, Andrew: 4–5

Forbes has their list of baseball's most valuable fans. Here's how they figured this out:


Using this methodology, they came up with being worth $45 each. The top of the list was the Giants at $78 and the bottom was the Marlins at $11.

Via Steve Lombardi.

Colin Stephenson of The Star-Ledger reports on the progress of Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady.

On Friday, Bruney had a bullpen session in which he threw 20 pitches and indicated that he had no pain. He was reluctant to set a date for his return, but ended up saying he might be out for a week and a half.

Marte had a bullpen session, as well, and threw 25 pitches, including some sliders. Not much detail was provided, so it must have gone according to plan.

Finally, Nady played in an extended spring game and threw from 75 feet. Girardi says that it's a "good sign," but that the team needs to get him throwing from farther back.

Via Mike Axisa.

SI.com's Jon Heyman reports primarily about the Braves release of Tom Glavine. But, there was a Yankees related bit, when Heyman relayed comments made by John Smoltz.


Via Joseph Pawlikowski via Ben Nicholson-Smith.

ESPN.com's Jorge Arangure Jr. reports that Cuban outfielder Felix Perez was suspended for one year on May 26 and cannot sign with an MLB team for one year from that date. The Yankees had reportedly been interested in him.

Perez had said he was 20 years old, but they believe that he is really 24 or 25.

The report also says that, according to sources, the Yankees have "shown significant interest" in both pitcher Noel Arguelles and infielder Jose Iglesias, should they be declared free agents. Their agent filed a request for them to be so on April 20.

Via Peter Abraham.

Mariano Rivera allowed four runs (three earned) in the top of the ninth inning in the Yankees 9-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Saturday afternoon. This game immediately after the Yankees came back to tie the game at 5 in the bottom of the eighth and before the Yankees scored two in the bottom of the ninth. Obviously, the damage had already been done.

Unlike the last time Rivera struggled in a tie game against the Yankees (Rivera gave up two home runs), the Rays kept their damage in the park. Ben Zobrist led off with a triple and scored on a single, B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford also had RBI singles, and another run scored on an error.

Mark Teixeira hit a two-run, no-out double in the ninth to halve the lead, but Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano couldn't even move him over. Old friend Randy Choate retired Cano for his third save of the season.

The Yankees gave CC Sabathia a two-run lead by the end of the fourth inning, but he gave the runs back in the top of the fifth. Zobrist led off with a home run and Joe Dillon reached third after a single and two-base throwing error by Johnny Damon. He would score on a sacrifice fly.

After the Yankees took a 3-2 lead (on one of three of Dioner Navarro's throwing errors), Sabathia gave up a three-run home run to Willy Aybar.

For a while, David Price and Sabathia were the pitchers of record. Price only gave up two hits over 5 2/3 innings, but the five walks he allowed drove up his pitch count and contributed to his early departure. Sabathia gave up five earned runs (the most since April 22) and was done after eight innings.

Matt Garza and Joba Chamberlain will start tomorrow afternoon.

Recap records: Patrick: 16–7, Seamus: 12–11, Andrew: 4–5.

Andrew Fletcher regularly blogs about the Yankees at Scott Proctor's Arm.

Tonight's game between the Yankees and Rays has been posptponed due to rain. No makeup date has been announced yet.

UPDATE: Peter Abraham reports that the game will NOT be made up this weekend.

On ESPN, Peter Gammons had some interesting remarks on MLB's recent 6 game suspension of A.J. Burnett. Check out the clip below.

"I felt Burnett was wrong to throw over his head," Gammons said. "But, there is no doubt in anybody's mind in baseball that Vicente Padilla intentionally drilled Mark Teixeira twice. Now, he gets off and A.J. Burnett, who's protecting his teammates because it's a team game gets suspended for six games. Sometimes you think that nobody in Major League Baseball [has] actually been around a baseball game."

Today was Chien-Ming Wang's return to the Yankees rotation, as he made his first start since that gruesom April 19th affair. Brandon McCarthy (5-2, 4.35) went for the Rangers.

A Johnny Damon solo home run in the first - his 11th - got things off on the right foot and Wang looked good, as well, retiring the first six batters that he faced.

But, he ran into trouble in the third where, with two outs and runners on the corners, he threw a wild pitch that allowed Chris Davis to score. Two more singles brought another runner around, but two runs were all that would score.

Until the fourth, that is. Chris Davis came around to bite Wang again, this time on a two RBI double. At the end of the inning, it was 4-1, Rangers.

In the top of the fifth, Wang retired two hitters, but then allowed a solo home run to Nelson Cruz. That would be the end of his day: 4 and 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K and 69 pitches. Not a great line, but not a horrendous first game back, either. Alfredo Aceves entered and after a little drama (i.e. two walks), he retired Davis to end the threat.

» Read More

MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reports that A.J. Burnett was fined (amount undisclosed) and suspended for 6 games for throwing in the general direction of Nelson Cruz's head on Tuesday night. He has appealed the ruling and is able to pitch until he receives a hearing.

Vicente Padilla, who hit two batters leading up to the incident, did not see any suspension, only a fine.

Former Yankee Wilson Betemit has been designated for assignment by the White Sox, reports Peter Abraham.

Last November, the Yankees traded Betemit, along with Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez to the Sox for Nick Swisher and Kanekoa Texeira.

So far this season, Texeira is 5-2 with a 3.25 ERA in 15 games at Double-A Trenton. On the White Sox end, Nunez is 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA in 16 games at Double-A Birmingham. Marquez, who is injured and last pitched in April, is 0-4 with a 14.54 ERA in 4 starts at Triple-A Charlotte.

The Yankees fell 4–2 to the Rangers tonight thanks to some missed opportunities and some pretty good pitching by the Rangers (probably the first time I've ever said "good pitching by the Rangers" in the four years I've been posting here). The loss, coupled with a win by Boston puts the Yanks in a first place tie in the division, although the Yanks do remain two games ahead of the closest wild card contender (Toronto).

Andy Pettitte had a rough start to the game, allowing 3 runs to score in the first inning and another to score in the second. He also put the first two runners on in the 3rd before finally settling down over the next three innings, as he finished with a line of 4 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings. The bullpen did give the Yankees four scoreless innings, thanks to three zeros posted up by Brett Tomko and one from David Robertson.

The Yankees had a few opportunities to get back into this one, but for the most part squandered them all away. After driving in the first Yankee run in the 1st inning, Alex Rodriguez grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 3rd, and later struck out twice, once with a runner on third and just one out. In all, the Yankees left six runners on base and failed to capitalize on two Texas errors.

The Yankees will wrap up this series tomorrow afteroon as Chien-Ming Wang will get his first start since allowing 8 runs in that putrid 22–4 loss against the Indians on April 18. His counterpart will be Brandon McCarthy. Game starts at 1:05 ET.

Recap records: Patrick: 15–7, Seamus: 12–11, Andrew: 4–4

Peter Abraham has a brief report on the Yankees decision to have Chien-Ming Wang start tomorrow's game. Phil Hughes is headed to the pen, but remains a starter long term, according to Brian Cashman.

Via Steve Lombardi.

During last night's game, Derek Jeter scored the 1,500th run of his career. He's in some pretty cool company. I thought I'd take a look at where Jeter ranks in the top 10 for the Yankees all-time in noteworthy offensive categories, care of Baseball-Reference.com.

Batting Average: 5th with .316 (behind Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs and Joe DiMaggio).

Games: 6th with 2,035 (behind Mickey Mantle, Gehrig, Yogi Berra, Ruth and Bernie Williams).

At Bats: 1st with 8,238.

Plate Appearances: 3rd with 9,333 (behind Mantle and Gehrig).

Runs: 4th with 1,500 (behind Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle).

Hits: 2nd with 2,603 (behind Gehrig).

Total Bases: 5th with 3,779 (behind Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle and DiMaggio).

» Read More

Ed Price at FanHouse reports:


This comes after Teixeira was hit twice in Tuesday night's game. The full article has more.

Via Ross.

Though the record setting errorless game streak came to an end (Jorge! - just kidding, Jorge), it didn't matter as the Yankees crushed the Rangers on Tuesday night, 12-3.

Thanks to three singles, a walk and a balk, the Yankees were the first to score, with two runs in the second. After a Brett Gardner single scored Hideki Matsui, Derek Jeter singled to move Gardner to second and Johnny Damon walked to load the bases. Gardner would score on a balk and Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch to once again load the bases - this time, for Alex Rodriguez. But, he grounded out and the Yankees took a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the third, they would lose the lead, thanks to a two out, three run home run by Nelson Cruz, pushing the Rangers ahead, 3-2.

More singles would help the Yankees bust this one wide open, in the bottom of the fourth. To lead off the inning, Melky Cabrera walked and Gardner sacrificed him to second. Then Jeter walked. Damon scored to bring around Cabrera for run number one. Teixeira, an apparent magnet for the baseball, was hit again to load the bases.

A-Rod would make the second out of the inning on a ground ball that scored Jeter for run number 2, but led to Teixeira being out at second. But, no, the Yankees were not done. Robinson Cano singled in Damon for the third run and Jorge Posada singed home A-Rod for the fourth. And then Godzilla swung and sent a shot to deep right center, for a three run home run. All told, the Yankees batted around and scored 7 runs, giving themselves a 9-3 lead to end the fourth.

The Yankees added three more runs in the sixth, on a Jorge Posada three run home run, but they weren't needed as the Yankee pitching staff was on.

Burnett was good for seven innings, where he struck out 8 and allowed 3 runs on 8 hits and a walk. Brett Tomko pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Jose Veras did the very same in the ninth.

Posada (3 for 5, a homer, 2 runs, 4 RBI) and Matsui (2 for 5, a homer, 2 runs, 3 RBI) were the offensive stars in this one. Jeter was 3 for 4 with a run, raising his average to .319, the highest it's been since the third game of the season. Also noteworthy: A-Rod scored two runs and Cano was 2 for 5 with 2 runs and an RBI.

Tomorrow at 7:05 PM, Andy Pettitte (5-1, 4.10) will go against Scott Feldman (4-0, 3.91) in game 2 of the series.

Recap records: Patrick: 15–7, Seamus: 12–10, Andrew: 4–4.

The rained out game between the Yankees and the Angels originally scheduled for May 3 will be played on September 14, according to Peter Abraham.

MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez has the latest numbers in the fan voting for the American League All-Star team.

Derek Jeter has 1,017,560 votes, with the closest shortstop to him being Jason Bartlett with 435,456. Jeter has the second most votes overall, behind only Evan Longoria.

Mark Teixeira is second at first base, 93,836 votes behind Kevin Youkilis. Robinson Cano is in third at second base, as is Alex Rodriguez at third. Jorge Posada is in fifth at catcher. Finally, Johnny Damon is eighth among outfielders.

Over on their site, NBC New York is hosting a "Golden Local Debate" about the two new, New York baseball stadiums. Very simply, which one is best?

At the time of writing, Citi Field is leading with 52%. The voting will end on June 10 and the winner will be presented with a trophy and they plan to hold a small awards ceremony during an upcoming game. So, head on over and give them a vote.

Tyler Kepner of the Times has a great feature on Austin Jackson as well as an accompanying blog post. Check it out.

Not that it really matters, but a poll taken by folks at Quinnipiac University shows that the Yankees are the most popular team in Connecticut, a bizarre universe where in some areas you can have both Yankees and Red Sox local telecasts delivered to your television set. The poll states that 42% of MLB fans surveyed said they root for the Yankees to 38% for the Sox. 9% of fans say they they are Mets fans.

(via Dan Lamothe)

The Yankees were able to take three out four in their series with the Indians, this time finding a 5–2 victory behind some great pitching from Joba Chamberlain and some suspect (to put it mildly) pitching from Jeremy Sowers and the Cleveland Indians. The victory puts the Yankees a full game ahead of Boston in the A.L. East, and the Yanks are now 15–4 since their 15–17 start to the season.

Joba Chamberlain was dominant tonight in what may have been the best start of his young career. Joba allowed just 2 runs on 4 hits in 8 innings of work. His highlights also included a great play in the 5th, in which Indians' catcher Kelly Shoppach popped up on a bunt down the 3rd base line. Joba ran to the line, about halfway between home and 3rd base, and promptly leaped like a cat chasing after the cap of a milk carton, caught the ball and doubled off Ryan Garko trying to get back to second.

Say what you want about Joba, there are still critics who say he should be in the bullpen and hasn't performed up to his potential as a starter, but let's remember he is (even if it's only nominally) the Yankees' #5 starter and he is 3–1 with a 3.71 E.R.A. and averaging over a strikeout an inning. His WHIP is a bit high but when you average a strikeout every inning, you're bound to take a lot of zero and one-out opportunities away from opposing lineups. And I have a feeling he's not going to be at 1.57 all year.

As for the offense, let's just say if this were a video game, the Yankees played this one on "easy" difficulty. They left 9 men on base, but were still able to come away with 5 runs, thanks to a 4-run 7th inning and a combined 11 walks by Indians pitchers.

This stat has been beaten around like a dead horse already, but I figure I should mention that tonight's game was the 18th consecutive game the Yankees played without committing an error, which is an all-time record.

Also via Patrick via ESPN, I thought I should note that Derek Jeter is one of only five players in history with 2,600 hits, 200 home runs and 1,000 RBI in their first 15 seasons, with the other four being Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle and Al Simmons. I think it's fun to bring up Jeter-related numbers because critics of him are somehow stuck to the idea that Yankee fans tout his "intangibles" despite his numbers, when in reality the intangible factors are simply a nice addition. Make no mistake about it, if you take Derek Jeter's name off of a page and just show his career stat line to somebody as some anonymous player, he is a bona fide Hall of Famer and one of the best hitting shortstops in Major League history. That's not something you can say about every other Captain Intangibles around baseball.

Anyway, the Yanks will be home tomorrow night to begin a seven-game homestand and will be starting another three-game set with the Texas Rangers beginning at 7:05 ET. Vicente Padilla and A.J. Burnett will be the starting pitchers.

Recap records: Patrick: 14–7, Seamus: 12–10, Andrew: 4–4

MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reports on setbacks experienced by the rehabbing Jose Molina and Xavier Nady.

Molina experienced a "twinge in his strained right quadriceps" after collecting a hit in an extended spring game and was taken out of the game. He'll be evaluated by the team's medical staff.

Nady "felt discomfort in his right elbow" during his first throwing session since he was injured on April 14. He wasn't bothered at first, but the discomfort came toward the end of his throws.