The LoHud Yankees Blog

The Yankees have the nicest clubhouse in the game. It cleared out tonight like somebody tossed in a stink bomb.

A four-game losing streak will do that to a team. The Yankees have eight losses in their last 12 and already have fallen 5.5 games out in the AL East assuming the Blue Jays hold on.

Joe Girardi said before the game that he wasn’t worried about his job. But at the pace his team his on, somebody in Tampa is going to start asking questions soon. The Yankees built a $1.5 billion stadium and dropped another $210 million on the payroll. This isn’t what they expected. It’s hard to sell those pricey seats when the team stinks.

“We’re going to be OK,” Mariano Rivera said. “It’ll turn around.”

A.J. Burnett boldly said the Yankees “would be ridiculous” once they start playing well. Meanwhile, he and CC Sabathia are 3-3 with a 5.05 ERA. The Tycoon Twins have been part of the problem, not the solution.

But you can’t blame Burnett for being confident. All the Yankees do is talk about how good they will be. There needs to be talk about how good they are. The Yankees have played .539 baseball since the start of last season.

Yes, there are injuries. But the Yankees also are 4 for 32 with runners in scoring position the last four games. They can’t find a reliever worth trusting. The aggressive style of play Girardi promised back when he was hired doesn’t exist.

Even the usually sunny Mark Teixeira was sour tonight.

“We found another way to lose,” he said.

And he’s only been in pinstripes for five weeks.

That’s the move for Bruney.

YANKEES (13-13)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Pena 3B
Molina C

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (2-0, 5.40).

Burnett vs. the Tamps Bay hitters.

RAYS (12-16)
Upton CF
Crawford LF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Burrell DH
Gross RF
Bartlett SS
Iwamura 2B
Navarro C

Pitching: RHP Andy Sonnanstine (1-3, 6.75).

Sonnanstine vs. the New York hitters.

TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.

COKE ON A ROLL: Phil Coke’s last nine outings have been terrific. 7 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts.

REMEMBER HIM: Mariano Rivera hasn’t pitched since Thursday.

SLUGGERS: The Yankees have hit 39 home runs. Only Texas (48) has more.

VALUE THE BALL: The Yankees are 2-10 when they make an error, 11-3 when they don’t. The Yankees have made five errors in the last two games.

MELKY STAYS HOT: Melky Cabrera has a nine-game hitting streak. He is at 14 of 35 in that streak with two doubles and three RBI. He has hit in 14 straight as a starter.

ROBBIE NEEDS A KNOCK: Robinson Cano is hitless in his last 12 at-bats. His batting average has dropped from .378 to .336.

SWISH IS SAFE: Nick Swisher has played in 25 games and reached base via hit, walk or HBP in 24 of them. He has a .427 OBP and a 1.090 OPS.

OFF THE MARK: Mark Melancon has thrown 66 pitches in the majors, only half of them for strikes. His line: 3.1 2 2 2 5 2.

Back with much more later on.

UPDATE, 5:01 p.m.: A-Rod was 1 for 5 with a walk as the DH and slid into second with no issues. He’s scheduled to play again in Florida tomorrow. Still sounds like a Friday return.

UPDATE, 5:50 p.m.: Here is what is sickening about the new Yankee Stadium. The gates open three hours before the game so fans can watch BP. As I write this, here is how many people are in the premium seats watching BP from the front row and getting a good look at the players:

Three.

That’s right, three. Meanwhile, there are people six deep along the foul line in right field and left field hoping to get a ball, get an autograph, whatever. But because of the caste system in place here, they’ll never get closer.

The Rays were all talking about how strange and quiet it seems. I don’t know what the Yankees can do because of the concrete moat they built around those seats. It’s not like they can let regular people just walk down.

It’s ridiculous. It really is. What were they thinking?

UPDATE, 6:02 p.m.: The game within a game today will be Jose Molina and Burnett against Carl Crawford.

Crawford leads the majors with 19 steals, the most after 28 games since Deion Sanders had 19 after 28 games with the Reds in 1997.

Crawford also has stolen at least one base in eight straight games, making him one of six players since 1954 to accomplish that. He has 13 steals in the last eight games and has been successful in 21 straight attempts dating back to last season.

The Rays have swiped 42, the most in the majors. Molina has caught 2 of 9 runners this season. He’s usually much better than that. What transpires tonight will be interesting to watch.

UPDATE, 6:07 p.m.: Joe Girardi met with the media in the dugout before the game today. I was in the back and couldn’t quite hear everything that was going on. But it wasn’t a game of patty-cake.

One of the question was why Brett Tomko isn’t here. He has pitched 13 innings in Scranton and not allowed a earned run. His line: 13 8 0 0 4 15. Girardi didn’t really have an answer other than to say they’re considering everything.

People also are questioning why players like Veras, Ramirez and Albaladejo are still here and not working out their issues in Scranton.

Joe was going with his standard “I have faith in my players” answer. But when your team has the second-worst ERA in baseball (thanks, Cleveland), that faith would seem misplaced.

Girardi also was playing coy with A-Rod’s return, refusing to give many details other than to say they’ll see how he feels. At this point, he has had 39 plate appearances in six games in Florida.

From talking to others, the general perception is that A-Rod will be back on Friday.

It was kind of funny at one point. Girardi was asked about his weak bench and his response was that the roster “would change in a couple of days.” By that, of course, he means when Alex is back. Then he caught himself. “I’m just throwing around random numbers,” he said.

I don’t think much of this is Girardi’s fault, unless you believe his personality isn’t a good fit. You can’t pin the bullpen on him or the injuries. But the manager takes the heat.

UPDATE, 6:26 p.m.: Here’s what A-Rod told reporters in Florida:

“The slide was good. No problems. I feel good,” he said.

UPDATE, 7:08 p.m.: Look at the “crowd” behind the plate for first pitch. What an embarrassment.

UPDATE, 7:11 p.m.: That’s one way to keep Crawford from stealing bases. Strike him out.

By the the way, there are thousands and thousands of empty seats here. I have no idea if there is bad traffic or something else keeping the crowd away. But there are huge gaps of empty seats throughout the Stadium.

UPDATE, 7:42 p.m.: Cano is 0 for his last 13. … Meanwhile somebody just e-mailed to tell me the empty seats were because of the recession. Thanks, Paul Krugman. But there are more empty seats tonight than I’ve seen in the previous 11 home games.

UPDATE, 8:17 p.m.: Looks like A.J. wants to be the first Yankees to strike out a dozen since Jova Chamberlain yesterday. He has fanned seven through four innings.

1-0 Rays as the Yankees have grounded into seven outs against Sonnanstine.

UPDATE, 8:48 p.m.: Runners on first and second, nobody out, Burnett has thrown 104 pitches and nobody is warming up.

Nobody.

UPDATE, 8:50 p.m.: 2-0 Rays. More good fundamental ball from Tampa Bay.

UPDATE, 8:52 p.m.: 110 pitches and it’s 3-0 with the top of the order up. Now there’s some people moving around in the bullpen. That’s good.

UPDATE, 9:08 p.m.: The Bleacher Creatures are chanting “Boston sucks.” That makes sense. The Yankees are 0-5 against Boston and playing Tampa Bay.

UPDATE, 9:23 p.m.: Crawford has stolen a base in nine straight games. The longest streak in the majors since Cory Patterson had nine straight in 2006. The record is 12 by Bert Campaneris in 1969.

UPDATE, 9:42 p.m.: Thats it for Sonnanstine. Rays 3-0 but the Yankees have runners on second and third with one out. Jeter coming up to face Dan Wheeler.

UPDATE, 9:52 p.m.: Bases loaded, two puts, 3-0, Tex up, rain is falling. It’s like a movie.

UPDATE, 9:55 p.m.: The monster arises! Three-run double by Tex with a broken bat as it pours. We’re all tied at 3-3.

UPDATE, 9:58 p.m.: Now we have a rain delay.

If you’re in the Stadium, do not leave unless you hear an announcement.

UPDATE, 10:07 p.m.: The tarp is coming off.

UPDATE, 10:16 p.m.: Next pitch at 10:25 p.m.

UPDATE, 10:29 p.m.: Mariano Rivera was dusted off for the ninth. First action since last Thursday.

UPDATE, 10:54 p.m.: Mo has whiffed 16 without a walk this season. … Close play with Pena. Now it’s up to Molina to try and end it. He’ll face Balfour. Tampa is already on its fifth reliever.

UPDATE, 10:58 p.m.: Extra innings. The Yankees are 1 for 6 with RISP today and 4 for 25 in the last four games.

I was listening to WFAN in the car on the way down. Based on what I heard from Mike Francesa and his callers, this is what they want:

• Everybody fired.

• Everybody traded, except Jeter and Mo. And maybe Andy.

There are 136 games left and half team is on the DL. Calm down.

They are right about one thing: The empty seats behind the plate are a disgrace. It takes away from the atmosphere at the Stadium. The Yankees have to figure out a way to fix that.

Alex Rodriguez is scheduled to play another extended spring training game in Florida today. And while the Yankees are playing super-secret with their plans for the third baseman, it sounds like he’s headed for Baltimore on Friday.

Joe Girardi said he and Rodriguez discussed a scenario where A-Rod would play today, rest tomorrow and then join the Yankees. Or he could play two more games in Florida.

Regardless, it looks like Rodriguez will be back a full week earlier than predicted.

Meanwhile, one-time A-Rod pal Madonna showed up Costume Institute Gala at the Met wearing what appeared to be a peacock on her head.

According to Wikipedia, here’s who Madonna has dated and/or married:

Dan Gilroy (musician)
Stephen Bray (musician)
Jean-Michel Basquiat (artist)
Mark Kamins (DJ)
Jellybean Benitez (musician)
Sean Penn (actor)
Warren Beatty (actor)
Tupac Shakur (rapper)
Tony Ward (porn star)
Vanilla Ice (rapper)
Dennis Rodman (basketball player)
Carlos Leon (fitness trainer)
Andy Bird (“a poor English drifter”)
Guy Ritchie (director)
Jesus Luz (model)

Spicoli, Vanilla Ice, Rodman and A-Rod? That has to be some kind of record.

Tonight: RHP Andy Sonnanstine (1-3, 6.75) vs. RHP A.J. Burnett (2-0, 5.40), 7:05, YES.

Thursday: RHP Jeff Niemann (2-3, 5.68) vs. LHP Andy Pettitte (2-1, 3.82), 7:05, YES

I received this e-mail from a reader yesterday. Wanted to pass it along:

Pete:

Dan was such a good guy and anything we can do to help his name live on would mean a lot to his family.

It was signed by a blog reader named Daniel.

To me this seems like a win-win. You buy tickets to go to a game and help out the scholarship fund at the same time. Here is the link to their eBay site.

The LHYB tried to help the Support the ‘Stache campaign last year to get Jason Giambi voted into the All-Star game. It failed, but we all had a lot of fun with it.

Now comes Nick Swisher.

Because was not a starter when the ballots were put together, Swisher is not on the ballot. But you can write him in.

Three Yankees fans — Frank, Tim and Matt — started a blog to support the idea of Swisher being an All-Star. Swish linked to their blog at his own site.

You can go to the official on-line ballot and vote 25 times.

Sure, it’s a little tedious. But what else are you going to do, work?

Nick is good to the fans and doesn’t take himself too seriously. Plus he pitched a scoreless inning, which makes him the best reliever the Yankees have had this season. That makes him an All-Star in our book.

Friend of the blog Alex Speier from WEEI.com did some Baseball-Reference.com research and found out that Joba is only the fifth pitcher since 1954 to go less than six innings and strike out 12.

The others:

Kevin Appier (Royals vs. Rangers, June 25, 1994): Struck out 13 in 5.2 innings.

J.R. Richard (Astros at Cardinals, June 9, 1978): Struck out 12 in 5.1 innings.

Curt Schilling (Phillies at Braves, June 28, 1997): Struck out 12 in 5.2 innings.

Cole Hamels (Phillies vs. Braves, July 24, 2006): Struck out 12 in 5.1 innings.

Hamels and Schilling lost, too. Richard and Appier won.

UPDATE, 12:43 p.m.: Peter Hirdt from Elias e-mailed to say that these are the only five players in baseball history to do it. Pretty amazing.

UPDATE, !2:57 p.m.: More from Elias:

Only two other pitchers since 1900 struck out as many as 12 batters in a game in which they allowed four or more runs in the first inning: Herb Score (14 SO in 1959) and Nolan Ryan (13 SO in 1973).

Nine of his 12 strikeouts were on called third strikes, the most in one game since September 2, 2001, when Mike Mussina recorded nine called strikeouts in his near-perfect game against the Red Sox.

My former Journal News colleague Sam Weinman is now a senior editor at Golf Digest.com. One of his writers, Matt Ginella, did an interview with John Smoltz.

He talks about his relationship with Tiger Woods, his favorite courses and other matters related to the links. If you’re a fan of baseball and golf, it’s an interesting read.

Here is the linlk to the interview.

Thanks to Sam for the tip.