The LoHud Yankees Blog

Alex Rodriguez will play his first game in the new Stadium tonight. He has heard it’s a paradise for hitters and wants to find out for himself.

A-Rod was 0 for 5 last night but hit the ball hard three times.

“I actually feel pretty good,” he said. “I hit four balls on the barrel. Any time I put the ball on the barrel, good things will happen. I just need to swing at strikes. … I’m very encouraged the way I swung the bat.”

It sounds like Joe Girardi will give Alex a day as the DH. He has played all six games at third base since coming back.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see how the crowd responds to his return.

“I think they’ll be happy to see him,” Girardi said.

Good morning from the Dave Stieb International Airport in Toronto. Here we are are, waiting for an early flight home that, sadly, has been delayed for 90 minutes.

As a result, I stopped at one of the ubiquitous Friday’s restaurants you seem to find at every airport to grab some orange juice and a bagel.

So I’m sitting there at the bar, half-awake and contemplating the juice when the guy next to me orders a shot of something, I think it was whiskey. “We don’t serve alcohol until 11 o’clock,” the waitress said.

“OK, make it a coffee,” he says.

The waitress comes back with a cup and the guy drops $10 on the bar and gives her a look. She takes the cup away and comes back with it a few seconds later, having added a little something. The man happily sipped his coffee.

In airports, as elsewhere, there are few problems that currency can not handle.

As for the Yankees, they start a 10-game homestand today against the Twins (4), Orioles (3) and Phillies (3). Winning six or seven of those games would not seem unreasonable.

The next few weeks should feature the return of some important pieces. Brian Bruney is a few days away. Chien-Ming Wang is probably eight days off. Jorge Posada is down in Tampa, doing the rehab thing. Xavier Nady will start taking some swings today and hopes to be back in June.

Alex Rodriguez hit the ball hard three times yesterday and seems to be shaking off the rust. By the time June 15 rolls around, the Yankees should have the team they envisioned back on March 1.

(Meanwhile, did you ever notice that nobody — fans or media — ever asks about a bad player when he is injured? We quiz Joe Girardi every day on Wang, Posada, Jose Molina, Nady and A-Rod. Meanwhile Damaso Marte could be in an iron lung, wearing a full body cast and have a raging case of the Swine Flu for all we know.)

I will not be covering the game today. But as always, the lineup will be posted once it becomes available.

Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui and the Yankees returned home winners from Toronto.

The Yankees have made batting practice a little more fan-friendly.This notebook also has updates on A-Rod, Phil Coke and Xavier Nady.

Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui get back in the lineup and the Yankees win. It wasn’t that simple, of course. But each did play a big role tonight. Jeter’s RBI single tied it and Godzilla’s homer won it for CC Sabathia.

“We decided we’d both come back today and try and help us out,” Jeter said with a laugh. “It was my idea. I called him this morning.”

Sabathia (2 ER in 17 innings) looks like CC Sabathia. Mariano Rivera looks like Mariano Rivera again and the Yankees got help from guys like Brett Gardner and Francisco Cervelli.

The Yankees have won 4 of 6 and now head home for 10 games.

“It’s a nice little shift for us,” Joe Girardi said. “This is something that you can build on.”

YANKEES (16-17)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Gardner CF
Cervelli C

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (2-3, 3.94).

BLUE JAYS (23-13)
Scutaro SS
Hill DH
Rios RF
Wells CF
Bautista LF
Rolen 3B
Millar 1B
Barajas C
McDonald 2B

Pitching: LHP Brian Tallet (2-1, 4.95).

TIME/TV: 7:07 p.m., YES.

TWO IN A ROW: A victory tonight would give the Yankees two series victories in a row. It also would draw them to within 4.5 games of first place.

THE HOTTEST PLAYER IN BASEBALL: Johnny Damon has been ridiculous in the last nine games. He’s 17 of 38 (.447) with 16 RBI, 10 runs scored and 12 extra-base hits including five home runs. He has at least one extra-base hit in nine straight games and has scored at least one run in nine straight games. His slugging percentage was .460 before this streak started. It’s up to .630 now.

PENA POWER: Rookie Ramiro Pena is 12 of his last 27 with three extra-base hits.

LATER, MENDOZA: Mark Teixeira is up to .202.

SLOW START: Alex Rodriguez is 2 for 15 since that dramatic home run in Baltimore. He has scored one run in five games but has drawn enough walks to build a .350 OBP.

SWISHER SLUMPING: Nick Swisher is 3 for 30 with 16 strikeouts.

STILL THE WORST: At 5.64, the Yankees have the highest ERA on baseball. They’ve issued 133 walk. Only Cleveland (136) has more in the AL.

CC’S BACK: CC Sabathia’s last start was a four-hit shutout of Baltimore on Friday.

Back with more later.

UPDATE, 5:52 p.m.: Not too many updates today from the clubhouse. Jeter took some early BP and said he felt fine. Matsui said his hamstring is OK. No Phil Coke today, maybe tomorrow.

The roof is open on the stadium for the first time this season.

UPDATE, 5:59 p.m.: The Yankees have changed the rules for batting practice.

This from Yankees.com:

BATTING PRACTICE
Remember fans, on game days, arrive early. Yankee Stadium Gates on Babe Ruth Plaza and Gates 2 and 8, open three hours prior to the start of every home game. All fans are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy batting practice and infield workouts from select areas of the Field Level and the Bleachers; specifically, all fans may watch batting practice and infield workouts from Field Level Sections 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135 and 136 and from all Bleachers Sections. Please note, on certain game days the Yankees may elect not to take batting practice, infield workouts or both. Those fans who take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy batting practice and infield workouts from the Field Level and/or the Bleachers may remain until the players leave the field following the conclusion of the Yankees batting practice or 1 hour and 45 minutes after the Gates open. At that time, all fans will be asked to return their respective seats.

This would seem to be a change from the earlier policy of not allowing any fans in the field level who did not have a ticket for those sections.

UPDATE, 6:15 p.m.: Just spoke to a Yankees spokesperson. The new BP rules were put in place today. So everybody who complained, congrats. Your words were heard.

Under the new policy, you can get on the field level. Now, you’re not going to get on top of the field, so autographs are not happening unless somebody stops out in the outfield. But you can close enough to snap some photos, take in the experience, etc.

It’s good the team is relaxing the rules and listening to their fans.

UPDATE, 7:10 p.m.: Damon now has an extra-base hit in 10 consecutive games, tying a franchise record held by Don Mattingly (1987) and Paul O’Neill (2001).

UPDATE, 8:09 p.m.: Sorry for the lack of updates, been busy with newspaper work. Plus it hasn’t been a very exciting game. The Yankees have put six runners on base against Tallet in four innings but are 0 for 3 with RISP. … CC’s streak of 12 straight scoreless innings just ended with a Rios homer.

1-1 in the fourth.

UPDATE, 8:12 p.m.: A fan behind the Toronto dugout just got hit in the back of the head by a piece of broken bat when Vernon Wells grounded out. The man seems OK but the Toronto players threw him towels to stem the bleeding.

I hate to say this, but it’s only a matter of time before a fan gets killed. Bats are broken far too easily and go flying all over the place.

UPDATE, 8:33 p.m.: Great throw by Brett Gardner and great tag by Francisco Cervelli to keep the deficit at 2-1. … Meanwhile, A-Rod got robbed of a double there by Rolen, who has always had a good glove at 3B. Alex is 3 for 19 since he came back.

UPDATE, 8:51 p.m.: Ground ball, past a diving Je … no wait! Jeter stops the ball, flips to Cano, inning over!

Sabathia (6 4 2 2 2 4) has been good enough to get a win. The Yankees need to get something going against the likes of Brian Tallet. Winning this series would be a significant step in the right direction.

UPDATE, 8:54 p.m.: GGBG walks. Here’s the plan. He steals second and then Cervellu bunts him to third for Jeter.

UPDATE, 8:57 p.m.: Or a single up the middle as Gardner runs, that works, too. Runners on the corners, no outs, top of the order up. They have to get something done here.

UPDATE, 9:02 p.m.: The captain of the Yankees, shrugging off the painful oblique pull, delivers an RBI single and we’re all tied up. It’s a Hollywood story. 2-2 here in Toronto.

Now the hottest hitter on the planet has a shot. … But he strikes out looking.

UPDATE, 9:09 p.m.: It’s up to the A-Rod. Runners on first and second, two outs, 2-2 score.

UPDATE, 9:12 p.m.: Another deep fly ball for Alex as the inning ends with two runners on base. It’s like he’s just missing a little something.

Yankees are 1-7 with RISP.

UPDATE, 9:20 p.m.: Trouble for Sabathia as Rolen doubles. The walk of Barajas makes sense as he’s 8 of 19 against CC.

UPDATE, 9:28 p.m.: Nice job by Sabathia working out of the jam. 2-2 to the 8th inning.

UPDATE, 9:31 p.m.: Godzilla does it again. The guy is a difference maker, always has been. 3-2 Yankees. Now you need one more inning out of the big fella before giving the ball to Mariano. You can’t mess around with anybody else out there.

UPDATE, 9:38 p.m.: Boy, Frankie Cervelli has been terrific for the Yankees. Kid was hitting .190 in Trenton and he’s 6 for 19 for the Yankees.

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com has a very interesting piece on the web site today about how some teams appear to be bending the rules when it comes to the disabled list.

Dontelle Willis was out with an anxiety disorder, Chien-Ming Wang with a hip injury, Oliver Perez with a mysterious knee injury, etc.

With the piece, Brian Cashman defends the Wang move and issues this hilarious quote:

“Players are like pets sometimes. If they don’t express themselves properly or fully, it’s all guesswork trying to figure out what’s really going on.”

Woof! Woof!

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jim Leyritz has been hospitalized after threatening suicide. He is awaiting trial on DUI-manslaughter.

According to police, Leyritz became upset Wednesday night because a court-ordered monitoring device installed in his car to monitor his blood alcohol content prevented his vehicle from starting.

Remember that scene in Animal House when Dean Wormer closed Delta House and the boys were standing on the lawn looking shocked as the movers cleaned the place out?

That’s sort of how I picture Yankee Stadium these days. Man, it’s going to be depressing to see them take that place down.

The nice folks from WCBS.com sent along this photo, and here’s a link to a gallery.

This is my 10th trip to Toronto and I finally went to the top of the famed CN Tower yesterday. It’s right next to the Rogers Centre and a friend convinced me that we should go check it out.

The Tower is the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. We could see as far away as Rochester, N.Y., because it was such a clear day.

This shot is of the glass floor that you can stand on and look straight down. It was a bit dizzying:

Finally, here is downtown Toronto from above:

You can read more about the CN Tower here.

New York University held its graduation at Yankee Stadium yesterday and a crowd of 25,760 graduates, family and friends showed up for the ceremony.

The Yankees provided the graduates with one final lesson — nobody is allowed in the Legend Seats unless you pay for them.

Maybe that’s a good thing. People need to learn at an early age in life that we’re not all equal and that only some people get to sit in padded seats close to the field. Maybe this will inspire the young men and women to work harder at their jobs and make enough money to afford $1,200 seats. Let’s face it, the Yankees did them a favor.

Thanks to the Subway Chatter blog for the tip.

UPDATE, 4:10 p.m.: A little further info via the Yankees. The Legends Seats were not used to keep nutty kids from running on the field. Plus the security detail for Secretary of State Clinton asked for the buffer.

So our apologies to the Yankees. But they still should let kids get closer for BP.