The LoHud Yankees Blog

Chien-Ming Wang got knocked around by the Red Sox last week, unable to get through two innings before giving up a bunch of hits and runs.

The problem was his arm angle. His body was ahead of his arm, which left his pitches high in the strike zone. A sinkerball pitcher with no sink is easy pickings.

Wang worked on the issue with Dave Eiland twice in the bullpen. It was evident against the Astros as he threw five terrific innings. Wang sliced and diced the Houston lineup, getting 10 outs on groundballs.

After Wang chatted about his outing for a few minutes, George King of the Post asked him how he was getting along with CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Wang said he has talked more to Burnett this spring as their lockers are closer together.

“What does A.J. tell you?” I asked.

“Bad things,” Wang said as everybody laughed.

Might Wang get a few tattoos like his new buddy?

“No,” he said, eyes wide. “My Mom would kill me.”

Notes: Mariano Rivera is a go for tomorrow night, as is Jorge Posada. … Robbie Cano will be back at second base on Friday. … The Astros have a 12-game winless streak and are a pathetic 1-15-3 this spring. They have scored only 52 runs while allowing 119.

YANKEES
Damon LF
Cano DH
Teixeira 1B
Swisher RF
Ransom SS
Molina C
Cabrera CF
Berroa 2B
Leone 3B

Pitching today: Chien-Ming Wang followed by Brett Tomko, Jose Veras, Phil Coke and Jon Albaladejo.

ASTROS
Bourn CF
Smith 2B
Berkman 1B
Lee LF
Tejada SS
Blum DH
Johnson 3B
Bogusevic 2B
Towles C

Pitching today: Mike Hampton.

Notes: The Yankees have won five straight, Counting the games against Team Canada and Team USA, they are 10-10-1. … There is no DH today, so Wang will stand in the box and not swing. … The Astros are dreadful. They are 1-14-3 this spring and look worse than that.

WBC update: Derek Jeter and Team USA play a meaningless game against Venezuela tonight. The semifinals start on Saturday. Jeter is 5 for 19 in six games.

Joba question deadline: Joba Chamberlain has agreed to answer questions from readers of the LoHud Yankees Blog.

You have until today at 6 p.m. to submit one question via e-mail. I will pick the 10 best questions and ask them to Joba later this week. Only questions submitted via e-mail will be accepted. One per person.

The answers — and audio — will appear on the blog later this week, probably on Saturday morning.

Back with more later once we get to Kissimmee.

UPDATE, 9:37 a.m.: A few updates from the clubhouse . . .

Both Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada said their shoulders felt fine after playing last night. … Ramiro Pena has a slight groin injury. … CC’s next start, on Sunday, will be at the minor-league complex. Alfredo Aceves will face the Rays.

UPDATE, 11:02 a.m.: We have arrived at Kissimmee, where the sign out front said there was standing-room only available.

The Yankees added three minor leaguers to the roster for today: Justin Snyder, Addison Maruszak and Eric Duncan.

UPDATE, 11:32 a.m.: The Astros agreed to use a DH. So now Cano is playing and hitting second. Wang is off the hook.

UPDATE, 12:56 p.m.: So Cano had to drive here from Tampa. You watch, he’ll get a couple of of big hits. That’s how it always works.

UPDATE, 1:22 p.m.: 1-0 Astros. Jason Smith tripled and scored on a two-out single by Carlos Lee. Wang nearly made a play on the ball, which went up the middle.

UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: Hampton has held the Yankees to one hit over three innings, a bloop single by Tex. 1-0 middle of the third.

UPDATE, 1:45 p.m.: Wang has retired the last seven batters he has faced, two by strikeout. 1-0 Houston after three innings.

UPDATE, 1:59 p.m.: I think Wang could be done. His line: 4 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts.

Of the 12 outs he recorded, seven were on the ground. His location was crisp.

UPDATE, 2:12 p.m.: Nope, CMW still out there. Still 1-0 Astros. Yanks have four hits and have left three men on base.

UPDATE, 2:15 p.m.: Wang got three grounders. Hampton is done for Houston as Valverde comes in. It’s 1-0 and the first five innings took a little more than an hour.

UPDATE, 2:27 p.m.: Phil Coke replaces Wang. CMW’s line was a strong 5 3 1 1 0 2. It’s still 1-0.

UPDATE, 2:45 p.m.: The Yankees have come all the way back to take a 2-1 lead. Here’s how it happened:

Ransom walked
Molina singled, Ransom to third
Pinch runner Austin Jackson steals second
Cabrera ground to second, run scores, Jackson to third
Berroa singles to right. 2-1 Yankees.

UPDATE, 2:53 p.m.: Brett Tomko on for the Yankees. 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh.

UPDATE, 3:02 p.m.: Cano singles, making him 2 for 4. Well worth the unexpected trip.

UPDATE, 3:10 p.m.: Coke and Tomko each pitched an inning. Now Veras is in and has walked the first guy.

Mariano Rivera looked great in his first outing of the spring. It was a good night for CC Sabathia and Jorge Posada, too.

Jose Tabata has no regrets that he was traded to the Pirates. This notebook also has updates on Damaso Marte and Kei Igawa.

————

LoHud.com is running a NCAA pool contest. If you can pick a perfect bracket, you can win $100 million. If nothing else, try and beat my score.

We are also giving away a La-Z-Boy Recliner each week. To enter, all you have to do is answer the weekly poll question below and pick the recliner you want to win. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of each week.

Meanwhile, two readers have formed pools for your amusement. Go to the LoHud Yankees Blog pool on Yahoo.com.

Click “join existing group” and put in this info:

Group ID: 8523

Password: smooch

You’ll need to be signed up for a Yahoo account if you don’t already have one. It takes a minute if you don’t have one.

There’s a second Yahoo group as well. The Yankees Lohud Blog group ID is 76489. The password: yankees.

Could the Yankees ask for a better night from their Rehab Gang?

· Hideki Matsui (knees) went 2 for 2 with a double, a home run and four RBI.

· Jorge Posada (shoulder) caught five innings and was 1 for 3. He’ll rest on Wednesday and then catch Thursday and Friday.

· Mariano Rivera (shoulder) was Mariano Rivera. 11 pitches, 8 strikes, one easy inning.

Mo said his body will feel sore tomorrow but that it will be a normal sort of soreness. Posada said the one throw to the bases he made came without having a good grip on the ball, but that his shoulder felt fine.

That those three guys are on the field and playing well on Match 17 is a good sign for the Yankees.

Another good sign will be Team USA losing so Derek Jeter can come back. “No comment,” Joe Girardi said when asked who he was rooting for tonight in the WBC.

UPDATE, 11:03 p.m.: But wait! The most clutch third baseman in New York, David Wright, saves Team USA in the bottom of the ninth.

USA! USA! USA! They’re off to the semifinals.

YANKEES
O’Posada C
O’Damon LF
O’Teixeira 1B
O’Matsui DH
O’Nady RF
O’Cabrera CF
O’Ransom 3B
O’Pena 2B
O’Nunez SS

Pitching today: CC O’Sabathia, Mariano O’Rivera, Alfredo O’Aceves, Edwar O’Ramirez.

PIRATES
O’Morgan LF
O’Wilson SS
McLouth CF
O’Jones 1B
O’Tabata RF
O’Pearce DH
O’Walker 3B
O’Jaramillo C
O’Cruz 2B

Pitching today: Virgil O’Vasquez followed by Chris O’Bootcheck, Tyler O’Yates, Evan O’Meek and Donnie O’Veal.

Notes: This will be the first game for Rivera this spring. The Yankees plan to have Sabathia throw four innings then bring in Rivera for the fifth. But Mo will not enter the game in the middle of an inning. … Posada is down to catch five innings.

Derek Jeter could be playing his final game with Team USA tonight as they plan an elimination game against Puerto Rico in the WBC. However a win sends the battered US squad to the next round.

Back with more later.

UPDATE, 3:37 p.m. The game is on YES, by the way. John Flaherty is in the house.

UPDATE, 3:46 p.m.: Mariano Rivera didn’t seem too worried about his first game of the spring. A few of us stood around his locker this afternoon as he ate Rice Krispies and talked about how he wanted to learn a knuckleball so he could pitch until he was 50.

Rivera told us a funny story about how when he was young, he would throw back balls that got scuffed or cut. Mel Stottlemyre asked him what he was doing and explained how a damaged ball could be manipulated by a pitcher.

“He showed me how to throw it so it fell like a sinker or did a little cut,” he said. “I had no idea.”

Asked whether he still throws scuffed balls back, Rivera said.

“Oh, no,” he said. “I keep them now. I know what to do.”

As Rivera talked, teammates came up with piles of cash. Rivera is collecting money from teammates to give to the clubhouse kids for their work this spring. According to well-placed sources, those who avoid paying their dues get the evil eye from the greatest closer of all time until they do.

Watching Rivera interact with his coaches, his teammates and even the media is a lesson in how a professional athlete should conduct himself.

“For me, the best thing about being on the Yankees is being around Mariano,” Alfredo Aceves told me this afternoon. “People know how great he is as a pitcher but he’s also a great person.”

UPDATE, 6:21 p.m.: Went over to speak to Jose Tabata today. He had a rocky stretch with the Yankees last season, playing poorly and getting into a couple of disciplinary scrapes. But after he was traded to the Pirates in July, he played well the rest of the season. Now he’s impressing them in camp with his skills.

Tabata is no worse than the second or third-best prospect in that tattered organization. He said he feels less pressure with the Pirates then he did with the Yankees. “It’s like a family here,” he said.

People with the Pirates think Tabata has a chance to get called up in September, if not earlier.

Only time will tell whether that was a good trade for the Yankees or not. As it stands now, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte did not boost them into the playoffs last season.

UPDATE, 7:08 p.m.: Damaso Marte threw 30 pitches in the bullpen today and felt fine. He had been shut down for a few days with a sore left shoulder. Marte will throw in the ‘pen again on Thursday and could get in a game as soon as Saturday.

UPDATE, 7:14 p.m.: We are underway. For the record, CC warmed up to Numb/Encore by Jay-Z and Linkin Park.

I have some newspaper deadlines to meet, so I’m not sure how many updates I’ll be doing. Enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 7:35 p.m.: Godzilla slapped a two-run double to right. 2-0 Yankees. … Forget to mention this before, but Girardi threw the name of one Kei Igawa into the long reliever mix.

UPDATE, 7:47 p.m.: Jose Tabata stole third on Posada. The throw was high and wide to the inside. However the pitch was low and inside and Tabata got a big jump.

Tabata then scored on a grounder. 2-1 Yankees.

UPDATE, 8:20 p.m.: It’s 6-1 Yankees.

Teixeira doubled to right. Matsui followed with a long homer to right field, the ball nearly clearing the party deck. That’s four RBI for Godzilla tonight. Nady and Cabrera then followed with doubles to the gap in left, driving Vasquez out of the game.

Now the bases are loaded with one out.

UPDATE, 8:27 p.m.: Posada two-run single, 8-1. I would bet they don’t bring CC back out after the long half inning.

UPDATE, 8:37 p.m.: Shows you what I know, Sabathia is back out there to pitch. The Yankees sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the third and scored six runs.

Look for Mo to follow CC to the mound. That’ll be the real story tonight.

UPDATE, 8:41 p.m.: And CC walks the first man he faces.

UPDATE, 8:50 p.m.: Sabathia is done for sure now. 4 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts. Life is good against those NL teams.

UPDATE, 8:55 p.m.: Now pitching, the great Mariano Rivera. Inexplicably, the Big Stein Field PA was playing the find the ball under the cap music instead of Enter Sandman when he jogged in. Nice job.

UPDATE, 8:57 p.m.: CC tossed 59 pitches, 40 strikes.

UPDATE, 8:58 p.m.: Mo struck out the first guy on three pitches.

UPDATE, 9:02 p.m.: It seems the surgery worked. Mo retired the side in order on 11 pitches, eight of them strikes. Strikeouts looking, 1-3, strikeout looking.

Sadly, you knew this would happen. Joba Chamberlain’s terrible fist-pumping celebration has led to a generation of babies adopting his ways.

Check out these two photos. One is of 4-week old Akari, the daughter of one of our readers, Ansky. The other is of Joba.

As you can see, the baby is pumping her fist much like Joba. Just wait until Mike Francesa and Goose Gossage find out about this. Something has to be done.

————

Hey, Ansky, that is one cute kid. Congrats.

Let’s be honest, you don’t want to like A.J. Burnett.

He has been on the disabled list nine times — nine times! — since 2000. The Marlins threw him off the team at the end of the 2005 season because he was a punk. Burnett once threw a no-hitter and walked nine guys. He has two pitches, or two fewer than you would like a starter to have.

What comes to mind when you think of Burnett? Tattoos and a scowl. He’s only 11 games over .500 in his career. He has never pitched an inning in the playoffs.

I was with you. I thought the Yankees should have invested their money in Derek Lowe. Get the safe, healthy guy with the good sinker.

But I’m starting to come around on Burnett.

In the two games he has pitched in spring training — and, yes, I know it’s spring training — he has been so efficient with his pitches that he had to go to the bullpen to finish up his work. After years of trying to throw the wall through the wall, he has embraced the idea of getting an easy grounder to second.

Burnett also has been a clubhouse ringleader of inclusion, peppering Andy Pettitte with questions, hanging out with CC Sabathia and quickly becoming somebody Joe Girardi listens to.

“I didn’t know him at all before and I heard the same things everybody else did,” Sabathia said. “But we talked all winter and since we’ve gotten here, we’ve become pretty tight.”

Burnett, at 32, has come to realize that he’s at a stage in his career where he will either accomplish something or go down in history as one of those guys with a magic arm and an empty head.

Does that translate into 33 starts, a bunch of wins and a tremendous presence in the middle of the rotation? That is what the Yankees are banking on. But until we get into the season, Burnett remains a question mark.

“I know what people think and I can’t blame them,” he said. “But I think I changed about two years ago.”

As for the two pitches, Burnett really has more. Along with his hard, biting curveball, he throws his fastball anywhere from 92, 93 to 97 and 98. He has learned to spot his heater to both sides of the plate and he saves his energy to really bring it when he needs it in the mid innings. Given their poor defense, a strikeout pitcher is just what the Yankees needed.

“Last year when we faced him, he was still dialing it up in the seventh inning,” Johny Damon said. “He’s a different pitcher than he used to be. He doesn’t get rattled and give up that big inning.”

Joba Chamberlain, who marvels at Burnett’s arm, put it pretty well the other day.

“If A.J. is our No. 3 starter, we’re going to be pretty good,” he said.

LoHud.com is running a NCAA pool contest. If you can pick a perfect bracket, you can win $100 million. If nothing else, try and beat my score.

We are also giving away a La-Z-Boy Recliner each week. To enter, all you have to do is answer the weekly poll question below and pick the recliner you want to win. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of each week.

————–

Meanwhile, two readers have formed pools for your amusement. Go to the LoHud Yankees Blog pool on Yahoo.com.

Click “join existing group” and put in this info:

Group ID: 8523

Password: smooch

You’ll need to be signed up for a Yahoo account if you don’t already have one. It takes a minute if you don’t have one.

There’s a second Yahoo group as well. The Yankees Lohud Blog group ID is 76489. The password: yankees.

Details magazine has a story about A-Rod that touches on all the usual subjects. The writer did a particularly nice job of capturing the feel of the press conference, writing about the other players looking like they were dragged to a school assembly.

A-Rod claimed he rides the subway to games on Fridays. That seems a little far-fetched, but whatever.

Details also had him pose kissing himself in a mirror. Why Alex’s posse of advisors thought that was OK is a mite curious, but they did.

(Seriously, does anybody get worse advice than this guy? Anybody? What do you figure would happen if a photographer asked Tiger Woods to kiss himself in a mirror? There would be a two-iron wrapped around his neck. Alex’s ability to continually do and say strange things is amazing. He’s the Cal Ripken of bad decisions.)

Meanwhile, his rehab continues in Colorado. The Yankees have no idea when Alex will return to the team and, frankly, nobody is pushing the issue. These last two weeks have been pretty peaceful.

Hopefully the rehab clinic has plenty of mirrors.

A happy St. Patrick’s Day to all our Irish friends out there, particularly the Foley family.

Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher have become pretty good friends. Meanwhile, they’re fighting for playing time at an important stage of their careers.

Robinson Cano and Damaso Marte came away with good news from their MRIs. This notebook also has updates on Chien-Ming Wang, CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, Kei Igawa, Mariano Rivera, Zach Kroenke and John Rodridguez,

————

Joba Chamberlain has agreed to answer questions from readers of the LoHud Yankees Blog and The Journal News.

Here is how it works: You have until Wednesday at 6 p.m. to submit one question via e-mail. I will pick the 10 best questions and ask them to Joba later this week.

The answers — and audio — will appear on the blog later this week, probably on Saturday morning.

Only questions submitted via e-mail will be accepted. One per person. The answers will appear exclusively on this blog.