The LoHud Yankees Blog

YANKEES (1-2)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Ransom 3B
Gardner CF

Pitching: Andy Pettitte.

ROYALS (2-1)
Crisp CF
Aviles SS
DeJesus LF
Teahen RF
Gordon 3B
Butler DH
Jacobs 1B
Olivio C
Callaspo 2B

Pitching: Sidney Ponson.

Andy Pettitte (14-14, 4.54 in 2008) vs. the Kansas City hittters.

Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.04 in 2008) vs. the New York hitters.

THEY MEET AGAIN: Ponson was 4-4, 5.85 in 16 games for the Yankees last season. Derek Jeter (29 of 77, 5 HR) and Mark Teixeira (8 pf 15) will be glad to be facing him.

THEY MEET AGAIN, PART II: Former Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth is a Royal and managed to break their heart in a game already by surrendering a bomb to Jim Thome. Krazy Kyle was a Yankee from 2006 to last July when he was traded to Detroit for Pudge Rodriguez. Nick Swisher is 3 for 4 with a HR against him.

HAPPY TO BE HERE: Pettitte is 12-3, 3.59 in 20 career starts against the Royals. He is 7-2, 3.34 in 10 starts at Kauffman Stadium.

HE NEEDS HELP FROM HIS COUSIN: Cody Ransom is 1 for 10.

ROCKING ROBBIE: Robinson Cano is 6 of 11 with five runs scored, three RBI, three walks and two extra-base hits. He has yet to strike out. He needed 19 games to draw three walks last season.

Back with more later.

UPDATE, 12:52 p.m.: Jose Guillen is out of the KC lineup with an injury.

UPDATE, 3:59 p.m.: They renovated Kauffman Stadium, dropping $250 million on the place. The outfield, which used to have only fountains and the scoreboard, now has a party deck in right field, a concourse in center and the Royals Hall of Fame in left. There are new club seats behind the plate, a new press box and much wider concourses. It’s really nice.

Here’s a shot of the stadium:

And here’s the view from the press box:

UPDATE, 4:09 p.m: If you want to read more on the Royals, check out Ball Star, Sam Mellinger’s blog for the KC Star. Good stuff on there.

UPDATE, 4:21 p.m.: Nice ceremony here with fans holding banners in the outfield and an assortment of players from previous years. The group included Willie Mays Aikens, Jim Eisenreich, Ed Hearn, Dennis Leonard, John Mayberry, Fred Patek, Jamie Quirk, Joe Randa, Paul Splittorff, John Wathan, Willie Wilson, Frank White and the great Hall of Famer George Brett.

David Cone is here for YES and they didn’t introduce him. They should have. Cone was a prominent Royal in his day.

UPDATE, 4:26 p.m.: Here is Joe Girardi’s pre-game media session:

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UPDATE, 4:29 p.m.: Krazy Kyle Farnsworth got booed when he got introduced. Hilarious. They hate him here, too.

UPDATE, 4:39 p.m.: After a long ceremony, they’re ready to get underway here.

UPDATE, 4:43 p.m.: OK, it’s baseball finally. By the way, download Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas. Good song. Listening to it all day.

UPDATE, 4:51 p.m.: Sir Sidney got no help from his defense there as Posada’s two-run single should have been handled by Jacobs at 1B. Tex gobbles that up.

Now Cano drills one past Aviles at SS. That’s a 15-game hit streak for Cano.

Yankees up 2-0.

UPDATE, 5:18 p.m.: Pettitte was cruising along until he walked Butler. Then Jacobs had an RBI double that deflected off the glove of Swisher. That ball has to be caught. 2-1 Yankees.

UPDATE, 5:35 p.m: Andy looks pretty sharp through three innings. 3 1 1 1 1 3. Meanwhile the Yankees are letting Sir Sidney settle in a little.

UPDATE, 5:37 p.m.: Another hit for Cano. He’s 8 for 13.

UPDATE, 5:39 p.m.: Swish comes through again with a double to left. 3-1 Yankees.

UPDATE, 5:44 p.m.: Big spot here for Jeter. Single knocks Sir Sid out.

UPDATE, 5:50 p.m.: Sir Sid survives but the Yankees are up 4-1. Pettitte cruising through the fourth, too.

UPDATE, 6:07 p.m.: The Yankees are up 4-1. But they’ve left five men on base, two in scoring position. They have let Ponson off the hook a few times.

UPDATE, 6:29 p.m.: Krazy Kyle pitching for the Royals. Pettitte has been brilliant: 6 3 1 1 1 4. If somebody catches that ball in the second inning, he has a shutout.

UPDATE, 6:36 p.m.: Of course Kyle strikes out the side. How many Yankees do you think just said, “Where was that when we had him?”

UPDATE, 6:58 p.m.: Gee, wouldn’t it be better if Joba Chamberlain used his considerable skills to face Miguel Olivio, Alberto Callaspo and Coco Crisp in a three-run game instead of maybe throwing seven innings on Sunday?

Great job by Pettitte: 7 3 1 1 1 6. 99 pitches / 64 strikes.

Here we are at the Boog Powell International Airport outside of Baltimore waiting for a flight to Kansas City.

Today is the home opener for the Royals and they’re debuting a renovated Kauffman Stadium. So we’re expecting a bit of an issue getting into the park. But hopefully it won’t be too bad. The K is nothing fancy, but it’s a well-kept park and a nice place to watch a game. It’ll be interesting to see how the renovations have changed the place.

It’s a little weird this season as the Yankees will take part in four Opening Days. There was Opening Day in Baltimore on Monday, KC today, Tampa on Monday and Yankee Stadium next Thursday. But it’s not every day you get to see Gene Monahan and Steve Donohue introduced, so it’s all good.

The Yankees still haven’t revealed who will throw out the first pitch on Opening Day in the Bronx. I would think Lawrence Peter Berra and Edward Charles Ford will be involved somehow. How can you open the new Stadium without Yogi and the Chairman of the Board?

Anyway, they’re calling the flight. Check back later for the lineups from Kansas City.

Nick Swisher drove in five runs as the Yankees beat the Orioles for their first win of the season.

A.J. Burnett wanted to go deeper in the game but did his job. This notebook also has updates on Robinson Cano, Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang and Ramiro Pena.

The Yankees were stunned by the death of Nick Adenhart.

The 2009 salary database has been created on LoHud.com. Check it out for any financial data you’re looking for.

There also will be a permanent link on the blog over to the right.

Friday: LHP Andy Pettitte (14-14, 4.54 in 2008) vs. RHP Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.04 in 2008), 4:10 p.m., YES, WCBS 880

Saturday: LHP CC Sabathia (0-1, 12.46) vs. LHP Horacio Ramirez (1-4, 4.34 in 2008), 7:10, YES, WCBS 880

Sunday: RHP Joba Chamberlain (4-3, 2.60 in 2008) vs. RHP Gil Meche (0-1, 1.29), 2:10, YES, WCBS 880

Brian Cashman likes to say that the Yankees play 162 one-game seasons. Win and it’s a celebration. Lose and it’s a disaster.

That’s not how they feel in the clubhouse. But in the outside world, some fans and even some in the media treat ever game like it’s the seventh game of the World Series. Girardi was actually asked yesterday if he had stopped believing the Yankees would be a good team as he predicted in spring training.

So even it was simply to quiet the silly story, today was an important victory for the Yankees. More importantly, I think, they played well. Burnett worked out trouble, the bullpen was dominating, the bench was productive and Mark Teixeira got it going. All good signs with six games left on the road trip.

Here’s Joe Girardi in the hallway outside the clubhouse (which is why the quality is poor):

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and here is man of the hour Nick Swisher:

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YANKEES (0-2)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Nady DH
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Ransom 3B
Gardner CF
Molina C

Pitching today: RHP A.J. Burnett.

ORIOLES (2-0)
Roberts 2B
Jones CF
Markakis RF
Huff 1B
Wigginton 3B
Scott DH
Pie RF
Moeller C
Izturis SS

Pitching today: RHP Alfredo Simon.

A.J. Burnett vs. the Baltimore hitters.

Alfredo Simon has never faced any of the New York hitters.

TO QUOTE THE GREAT BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, THINGS CAN’T GET ANY WORSE, THEY GOTTA GET BETTER: CC Sabathia and Chien-Ming Wang allowed 13 runs on 17 hits and eight walks in the first two games of the season and didn’t record a strikeout.

HOWDY, TEX: Mark Teixeira had an RBI double in his final at-bat last night. He has been 0 for 9 before that.

DOING THEIR PART: Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon have been on base 11 times in the first two games.

NOT DOING THEIRS: Teixeira and Hideki Matsui are 2 for 19.

STRANDED: The Yankees are 3 for 19 with RISP and have left 19 men on base.

ROCKING ROBBIE: Robinson Cano has hit in 13 straight games dating back to last season.

TIME FOR A WIN: The Yankees haven’t been 0-3 since 1998.

APRIL SHOWERS: The Yankees are 23-31 in April over the last three seasons.

Back with more later on.

UPDATE, 11:41 a.m.: Complete shock here in the clubhouse as the players watch the report on ESPN about the death of Nick Adenhart.

UPDATE, 12:07 p.m.: Jose Molina, Edwar Ramirez and Mark Teixeira were all with Adenhart in the Los Angeles organization. Teixeira didn’t know him. But obviously all are stunned.

UPDATE, 12:34 p.m.: “I played with him in spring training. He was a quiet kid,” Molina said. “What a terrible thing for that organization.”

UPDATE, 1:45 p.m.: There was a moment of silence for Nick Adenhart before the game. He was from nearby Silver Spring and lived in Baltimore during the offseasson. … Beautiful day here, 59 degrees at first pitch. Hope you’re enjoying the game via television or radio.

UPDATE, 1:50 p.m.: Hey, a Yankees starter struck somebody out.

UPDATE, 2:04 p.m.: Wow, Burnett is just so good with the action on that curveball and how he spots his fastball to both sides. He has already had three swing-and-misses, six fewer than Sabathia and Wang had in eight innings.

Speaking of Wang, he watched a lot of video with Dave Eiland this morning and then threw what they call a “dry side.” In essence, he mimicked his mechanics without actually throwing a ball.

Wang will throw a bullpen tomorrow and a shorter one on Saturday before making his next start in Tampa on Monday. I asked him what his problem was. “I was lazy,” he said. “Bad mechanics. But I know what I did.”

UPDATE, 2:12 p.m.: Brett Gardner trying to get it started with a single and a stolen base, perhaps the first of many this year.

UPDATE, 2:19 p.m.: Yankees are now 3 for 21 with runners in scoring position.

UPDATE, 2:34 p.m.: Rough third inning for Burnett as he has lost command of his fastball. He has thrown 23 pitches and counting. 1-0 O’s.

UPDATE, 2:36 p.m.: Big strikeout there for A.J. as he leaves the bases loaded.

UPDATE, 2:29 p.m.: Tex goes deep. Take that, Baltimore. 1-1.

UPDATE, 2:42 p.m.: Carl Pavano allowed five runs in the first inning in his first start for the Indians. What were the Indians thinking?

UPDATE, 2:46 p.m.: The Nick Swisher Should Be Playing Everyday Society (of which I am a member) will love that two-run jack. 3-1 Yankees.

UPDATE, 2:49 p.m.: The Idle just gave up two more as Kinsler homered. Hilarious.

UPDATE, 3:05 p.m.: Is it too early to bring in Mariano? A.J. needed a shutdown inning there, not this mess He’s at 75 pitches already.

UPDATE, 3:23 p.m.: Three hits in the last four ABs for Tex. Now he’s hitting .250.

UPDATE, 3:25 p.m.: Ross Ohlendorf pitched a gem today for the Pirates. Six shutout innings so far. It was a good trade at the time but he’ll be the guy they regret losing, not Tabata.

UPDATE, 3:32 p.m.: The drums are beating for Swisher. I can hear them. His RBI single gives the Yankees a 4-2 lead.

UPDATE, 3:37 p.m.: What a tremendous play by Gardner. With the bases loaded, he hit a tapper back to the mound. But he knew his scrappiness would force Bass to make an error, which he did. And two runs scored as Swisher hustled around. 6-2 Yankees.

UPDATE, 3:40 p.m.: Molina RBI single. 7-2 Yankees. The season is back on.

UPDATE, 3:44 p.m.: Like robins and blooming flowers, there’s another sign of spring as Jeter grounds into his first double play of the season. Still, 7-2 Yanks. Be hard to blow this one.

UPDATE, 4:06 p.m.: The All-Star version of Robbie Cano has shown up this season, not the half-asleep version of a year ago. He is 5 for 10 with three walks and four RBI in three games. He just homered and the Yankees lead 9-2.

UPDATE, 4:29 p.m.: What dominance by the bullpen, eight up, eight down, five punch-outs. That was an important inning for Bruney. The great Rivera is warming up. He needs the work as his last outing was on Friday.

UPDATE, 4:46 p.m.: The five RBI match a career high for Swisher. … In the words of John Sterling, how can you figure baseball? Jeter and Damon got on base 11 times in the first two games and the Yankees lost twice. They were 0 for 9 today and the Yankees score 11 runs.

Thanks for reading the game post. Back with more after I get back from the clubhouse.

Jack Curry of the Times is one the finest baseball writers in the country and an even better guy. Unfortunately, he got hit by an SUV on Sunday night in Philadelphia when somebody made an illegal turn.

Jack is doing better and will hopefully be at a game real soon. Fortunately, he did not sustain a concussion or the Times would have done a five-part series on it.

Get well soon, Jack. We miss you in the press box.

One of the best parts of covering baseball is getting a chance to meet players, writers and fans from different countries and learn how baseball is treasured there.

Asian baseball has been a particular interest of mine. In writing about Baltimore starter Koji Uehara on Tuesday, I learned that he was a two-time winner of the Sawamura Award, the equivalent of our Cy Young Award.

I asked a Japanese writer, Gaku Tashiro, who Sawamura was. He gave me the basics and then I did some more research on line.

What a story. Eiji Sawamura was 17 when he faced a team of visiting American stars in 1934. Pitching in relief, he allowed one run over five innings and at one point struck out Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx in succession. Japan lost 1-0 as Sawamura hung a curveball and allowed a home run to Gehrig, although some believe it was Ruth who hit the shot.

The American manager, Connie Mack, tried to sign Sawamura on the spot. But the kid didn’t want to leave home. He instead joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1936 and quickly became an ace, throwing the first no-hitter in the history of the Japanese League.

In 1937 alone, he was 33-10 with a 1.38 ERA. He finished his career 63-22, 1.74.

Sawamura’s career, as you might expect, was interrupted by World War II. Sawamura served in the Imperial Navy and was killed when his ship was torpedoed in 1944 near Taiwan. The Sawamura Award was given for the first time in 1947. His No. 14 was retired the Giants, the first player so honored.

So there you have it. That’s who Eiji Sawamura was.

There’s panic in the streets of Gotham as the Yankees lost again. The National Guard will be called out if they call to 0-3.

A.J. Burnett is ready to get going. This notebook also has updates on CC Sabathia, Dan Giese, Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher.